Fly Fishing Information On The Millers, Swift, Middle, West and East Branches Of the Westfield River and the Ware, and Mill rivers. YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR MA. FLY FISHING INFORMATION, the top ranked fly fishing blog in Massachusetts! WHAT FLY FISHERS READ!!
"Forget about cleverly timing your cast. The key to the Tricos is to simply make as many accurate casts as you can and hope that one of them coincides with the trout's cycle. Put the fly 8 inches to a foot upstream from the trout- again and again and again. You will risk putting the fish down, but even if you do, it will probably come in a matter of minutes. If it doesn't, you won't have an trouble finding another one to cast to." - Ed Engle on fishing the Trico hatch or another small fly that's hatching in abundance
I first wrote about this dreaded time of the year back in 2010 and that is when we turn the clocks back. Gone, until mid March, are the sublime evenings that I have spent on my favorite rivers when the sun begins to settle behind the hills to that witching hour from dusk to night. I am a devotee of the evening rise and will always be. I just can't understand why soooo many flyfishers just totally hang it up before dark. They must think like golfers or maybe they are afraid of the dark. I don't know but they are missing the BEST time to be on a river. Come to think of it I shouldn't complain. I seldom see crowds at dusk and that's a good thing!!
The Freestones In November The banner photo at the top of this blog was taken in mid November on the EB. We caught trout that day and then followed it up a week later with another great day that included some BWO action. Many will limit their trips to tailwaters at this time of year and leave the freestones alone. Big mistake!!! The EB, Millers and the Ware provide very good action during November and the crowds are gone.
Don't fall into the conventional wisdom that the Fall means big flies. Most of the calories that a trout will consume in November will still be insects and young-of-the-year baitfish and they are small.
Open Dates
November 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. These are good for 3 hour or 6 hour trips on any of the rivers mentioned on this blog.
I also would like to thank you! I’ve been fly fishing for a little over a year now and I can’t even begin to explain how helpful your blog has been to me. I’ve checked it daily since April and it’s helped me put countless fish in the net! Seriously thank you! -Reader Zack
This was the kind of day that I wrote about on Sunday- gray, overcast with a slight hint of drizzle. Perfect BWO weather on my favorite BWO river- the EB. Except I only saw one of the above insects in the few hours that I was there. That's ok because I wanted to play a different game. It's been tiny flies for a while and I wanted to pitch something meatier. What would friend Gary, the Admiral of the Westfield, do in a case like this? Maybe Pats Rubber Legs. It's worth a try. The river was last stocked three weeks ago and we had two rain events to scatter the trout so things would not be too easy. They would certainly be able to see this fly!!
They certainly did!! All eleven smashed this deep drifting bug and on one cast a bow hit the offering as soon as it hit the surface. All casts were within 20 feet and ALL trout hit on the drift. It's the only way to fish this fly.
The lucky spot was the Bliss Pool from the fast water above the main pool down to the mid section.
I decided to head downstream to the next good spot, The Chronicle Pool, and switched flies to a hellgramop (yup, you guessed it. That took another 5 before I called it an afternoon. It was a good 2 1/2 hours!!
This river is full of trout and if I had more time I would of caught more.
If I were you I would take the time to get up there. BTW, the bridge detour is history as is the 8 mile detour.
I've booked some dates since I posted the openings just yesterday. Don't wait too long. All of these rivers are fishable!!!!!!
Finally, clarity has arrived. It has been a mess of an Autumn. First, I smashed my knee up in mid September which forced me to cancel that month which forced me to double up at times for October. Finally I stopped booking and worked through the backlog. Now I'm ready to go on with what has always been a very good month. November has temperatures that are close to that of April - cool but not cold with some real balmy thrown in for good measure and there are a lot of trout out there!!!
My open dates are: 10/30, 10/31, 11/1, 11/2, 11/3, 11/9, 11/10, 11/20, 11/21, 11/22, 11/23, 11/24, 11/25
These are dates for 3 or 6 hour trips to the Swift, Millers, EB and the Ware rivers. All of these dates are first come, first served and the rates are on my blog.
'My fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought or bribed or impressed by power" - Robert Traver
Fall and Winter mean scuds to me. Now, I fish them during balmier weather but not with the conviction that I do when the sky is a steel gray sheet of overcast with a hint of drizzle and a temperature that is in the mid 40's and slowly sinking. Here's why I think they produce better in the above conditions.
1. They are a REAL exoskeleton insect with that shell that screams "nourishment" to any trout that is in the area. At this time of year they become one of the larger prey items on that watery buffet table. (there is a "shell" pattern out there that incorporates a human finger nail or toe nail as the shell back and it's supposed to catch trout. I wouldn't know but I may try to find out!!!)
2. You MUST fish this critter slowly and near the bottom. Mid current will kill the effectiveness. I stopped building weight into this fly and use micro shot 4 inches above the fly (tied onto a tippet tag so I don't loose too many of these guys) or no weight at all.
3. My favorite flow conditions are fairly shallow riffles such as the Bubbler Arm of the Swift, below the Pipe, below the Crib Dam and in the broad riffles below the Duck Pond. (There, you just got more information than you will find on any other blog!)
4. Size 14 and 16 do it all!
5. I don't like very bushy scuds because real scuds aren't that bushy.
6. Even in watery environments where scuds are rare the trout still take them.
Good luck with scuds!!!!!
A Lost Net
Reader Zack found a net on the Swift two days ago. Name the location and the Brand of net via email, not in the comments section, and let me know and we will try to get it back to you.
The State of the Rivers
Everything at this time (10 am on Sunday) is perfect but we will get an inch of rain today BUT it shouldn't harm any rivers except for the Millers but even there I think we will have good water to fish. The Swift will stay the same, The EB will shoot up and then in 48 hours will be normal and the Ware will weather (sorry for the pun) the storm.
Thought you (and your blog readers) might be interested in seeing this big brown that I got at "the Pipe" yesterday evening. Fished up around the duck pond most of the day, headed down to the gauge parking area late afternoon. As is usual this time of year, the pipe cleared out by 3:30 and I had the place to myself. After getting some beautifully colored up brookies in the 10" class, and missing a couple bows, I saw a what looked like a submarine move from downstream into the feeding lane below the pipe. To make a long story short, after a dozen fly changes and probably close to 100 casts, I finally got the take (heart jumped into my throat). The fish made a good run - I tightened down on my drag to try to stop the fish before he got all the way down to the tree - risked breaking him off, but maybe better than getting too much line out and if the fish found the tree or another snag it would be game over anyway. He did stop and turn and I managed to slowly work him back and cornered and netted the fish in the slack water on the hatchery side below the pipe. No witnesses as I was the only one there - but I did get some pics (I almost never carry my Go Pro anymore, but I had some kind of premonition that I might need it yesterday - weird!). Got the fish on a #22 orange thread midge and 6x tippet. Probably in the top 2-3 trout I've ever caught - taped out at two-and-a-half hands, which would be close to 25" with my 10" span - I'm guessing maybe 6 lbs. Also got a 3 lb. chunkbow in the shallow riffle below the duck pond, and a boat load of brookies. All in all a banner day on one of the best rivers in New England!
Tight lines!
Mike from Andover
Mike, Thank you for sharing this awesome moment. And on a #22 orange thread midge w/6x to boot!!!! YOU DA MAN!!!
Where are the biggest browns in New England??? RIGHT HERE!!! The are more just like it on the Swift!!!
In case you haven't noticed, flyfishing has become fashionable lately. This kind of snuck up on me so I can't tell you exactly when it happened, but I knew it had happened when well dressed, youngish but middle-aged, demographically correct people began to appear on TV casting with fly rods or looking over expensive tackle, not in those insipid Saturday morning fishing shows, but in slick commercials hawking credit cards and painkillers. - John Gierach The Gnat - Size 20
I love Autumn flyfishing!! I get everything at once - unbelievable surface action with fine leaders and tiny flies. Then there is the streamer action which everyone believes in for all the wrong reasons. Conventional reasoning states that big trout, knowing that winter is a-coming, will put on the feed bag and chase streamers. But there is a glitch is this theory. Tom Rosenbauer of Orvis once stated that most of the calories that a trout consumes during the year are consumed in May and June. There's a lot of trout food then. A trout doesn't know what a calendar is and will eat when the water temperature is in that range that controls the trout's biological system. October is a good month for good trout temperature and so is November but December - not so much. The water is colder and the trouts metabolism is slower. One can have good fishing but the game is slowing down. I still fish small streamers in the Fall especially on the Swift with all of it's pint-sized brookies that serve up a buffet table for the browns and bows. And I fish streamers much like I fish nymphs - a short line high-sticked through likely looking holding areas. Don't fish streamers quickly. Small baitfish don't move through a stream with the agility of an otter. They may dart from one spot to another but it's usually to seek cover or be eaten. High sticking a streamer mimics an injured baitfish as it drifts downstream. It's an easy meal!!!! Blue Wing Black Body Dry - Size 24
As I said earlier I love Autumn and it's tiny flies. Last year, before the FLOOD, I had great dry fly action down in Cady Lane working size 22 and size 24 emergers and adult duns in the same sizes to very secretive browns and outsized brookies.
This action continued through the Winter at the Y Pool (where else!!) and worked in the Tree Pool for most of the Summer.
It also worked with a different color scheme of fly a year ago on the Farmie, home of that late July, early August Needhami hatch. That little fly is referred to as the tiny Hendrickson. The fly that you see on the right, in light brown, is perfect for it. Blue Wing Olive - Size 24
The BWO may be the most popular tiny fly being cast today. Now, some say that size 24 isn't small enough. But you can tie a size 26 fly on a size 24 hook and fool trout and get better hooking with the larger hook. The trout don't seem to care if the fly is presented correctly.
Let's not forget the Gnat. With a peacock body and a palmered hackle it's a buoyant fly and can mimic the Winter Caddis that we find on the Swift and the Farmie.
These flies (with more to come) are offered on this site. You can find them, and others, at the bottom of my home page. P.S. All flies are tied by me and I ship quickly!!!
BTW - Thank you for all the comments that you send in. These are REAL comments about your fishing experiences, successful or not. And you're not afraid to let people know where you fish which is much appreciated. We get more than double the the comments of other blogs!!!
BTW AGAIN - We have double the page views of any other fly fishing site in central New England. THANK YOU AGAIN.
I don't fish the really famous Montana rivers much anymore and when I do I usually hit them at off times - between the major hatches when, as a guide once told me, "there are fewer rising trout but more rising trout per fisherman" - John Gierach
EVERYTHING IS FINE! The Millers was at 1100 cfs on Friday and is now down to 838. That's high but if you pick your spots (Bridge Street and the RT 2 rest area) you should do well with weighted ANYTHING. By mid week the flow should be down in the 400-500 range which is very good.
The EB went from 1500 cfs on Thursday to 162 as I write (early Sunday morning). It can't get any better than that!!! I've gotten good reports of great catches on this river with very little angling traffic. Now, the fish were ponded up two weeks ago during the low water and the deluge of last Thursday will scatter them but they are still there. Fish the EB!!!
The Ware
This river is producing and I heard one story of
someone with a 20 fish day. That can happen but it happened after the stocking and before the deluge which means we will now have to work for our fish. That's not a bad thing.
The Swift
Our Crown Jewell is living up to it's reputation and if you don't believe me just read the comments section of the last three posts. It seems we are "dancing with brook trout" again on New England's BEST brookie stream (stream born fish!!!). This river is producing from top to bottom. Sam, the "Boss of Bondsville", is getting it done on the lower end of the river. BTW, if your "Swift Experience" is confined to the Y Pool and the Pipe you are missing EVERYTHING. Again, don't do the same old routine. EXPLORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Another fact about the Swift - many if not most of our "flowing waters" that are large enough to wear the label "river" are saddled with Wastewater Treatment Plants and sometimes bad things happen. Back in the 90's some company tried to "treat" an untreatable substance at a WWTP on the Millers. It was a stinking disaster!! In 2011 Hurricane Irene shut down every WWTP in the Deerfield Watershed. Where do you think the waste went??? Even the Farmington has had it's problems. BUT not the Swift!! There are no WWTP on the Swift and my guess is there never will be. The closest we come to a WWTP is the heavily monitored and mostly benign outflow from the Hatchery. WWTP work well only when everything works well.
Midges
I've had requests for some tiny dry flies suitable for the Swift for this Fall and Winter. Stay tuned this week for those!!!
