Colliding Seasons

In "normal" years we hit the rivers by late March, toss leaden flies to stupid hatchery trout and then by late April Spring is upon us with shrinking flows, warmer temperatures and rising Trout!!!

That will not be the case this season. There's just too much water on our part of the planet to recede that quickly and before we know it the shad will start charging up our coastal rivers followed by striped bass.

That's when the real fishing starts!!!!

I'm getting to the point where if the fish I catch was stocked I'd just as soon fire up the grill and enjoy it.  It's probably a rainbow with next to zero chance of survival and can easily be replaced with a stocking truck visit. (you're right, I don't think too much of hatchery bows.)  I give a pass to native brook trout and brown trout because of their ability to survive.

More rain from Wednesday to Saturday.  Tie some shad flies.

Ken

The Riffle Beater

 

I could see the trout working the choppy surface and I really wanted to take a shot at it BUT made it almost impossible to float a dry amidst the chutes rapids and the boulders. I came back 3 days later with a fly that would take the abuse and still float.

1. Size 10 or 12 standard dry hook

2.Wing - white deer hair

3.Body- Senyu Laser dubbing (a light color)

 4. Tail - Golden Badger hackle fibers

5. A long Grade A golden badger hackle

This fly really shines on rough pocket water ( Millers in Erving) or the EB but is only so so on glassy water like most of the Swift.  

Always carry some!!!

Rain

Eastern Ma had 2.5 inches of rain on Saturday

It will be awhile.

Ken

Slowly but Surely

 

There's a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore like an idiot" - Steven Wright

The great deluge may be over.  Rivers, which have been busting their banks for two weeks, seem to be in retreat.

Here are the numbers for today and where they were last Wednesday, the day with the highest flows this year.

Millers (today) 1670 cfs, last Wednesday 3000 cfs

EB (today) 1080 cfs, last Wednesday 1830cfs

Swift (today) 650 cfs   Last Wednesday 716 cfs

Ware River (today) 690 cfs  Last Wednesday 841 cfs

Don't start fooling yourself that it's safe wading because it isn't.  Give it a week!

Ken

 

Flood Update

 

No, I didn't catch this brown recently because the rivers have gone crazy.  As of this morning the river flows are as follows:

Millers - 3000 cfs

Swift - 716 cfs

EB - 1830 cfs

Ware - 841cfs

I believe that this is the highest I've ever seen these flows and I'm not being overly cautious by saying that you shouldn't even attempt wading flows as dangerous as these.  These rivers could drop by 80% and they would still be too high. I could suggest a "thin blue line" but they may be flooded too.

Hold your horses and take a deep breath, Real Spring will be here shortly followed by a bone crunching drought (most likely)!!

Tie Flies

Ken

Jumping The Gun On The EB

  

"The two best times to fish is when it's raining and when it isn't."

Chesterfield Gorge Access Road

I've had a couple of flyfishers sniffing around to see if any streams are producing, the EB in particular. The answer is NO, especially the freestones. As of this morning (3/8/24) the EB is flowing at 348 cfs and that is with them reducing the flow in half yesterday. With more rain this weekend.........!!!   The Millers is at 1790 cfs. Forgetaboutit!!

Freestone temperatures are hovering at 40 degrees.  Your best bet  would be to hit a blueline this weekend.

By the way, the Swift is at 490 cfs as I type. Don't expect the salmon to fly over the dam and into the Swift.  A little late in the year for that.

Tie Flies!!!

Early And I Mean EARLY Morning On The Millers (Trico Time)

 

Thomas Ames Jr. calls them the White Winged Curse. They can hatch by the millions on sunny warm Summer mornings and it appears that every trout in the river is feeding on them except they will refuse YOUR finely crafted Trico offering every time.

Welcome to the Trico hatch in sizes 22 to 28. Some anglers will draw swords with these critters but after a while will be scanning the surface to find insects that are more accommodating or at least something that you can see!!

How do I fish a Trico hatch?  There are two times. One is in the very early morning. The males hatch before first light and can be taken on the surface or in the surface film. That means you should be on the water around 3:30 in July and a bit later in August. The mid morning spinner fall is stage 2 but I like stage 1.  The trout don't seem as spooky with the darkness.

The conventional wisdom is that your fly should be black with a white wing.  Olive and brown bodies work well too like the one in the photo.  So does a long 7x tippet. 

Where to find Tricos? The Farmington is full of them as is the Millers River. On a summer morning you can see thousands hovering above the Upper Trestle Pool. The guardrails on the bridges are loaded with them.

So, hit the water before dawn in July or August for a real challenge!!

Ken

Fishing The Evening Rise On The Upper Trestle Pool - Millers River

 

"Maybe your stature as a flyfisherman isn't determined by how big a trout you can catch but by how small a trout you can catch without being disappointed."

John Gierach

You are looking at what may be my favorite dry fly water on the Millers River. Look at the photo! The first thing you can see is that it is NOT early Spring after the stocking truck has left. The foliage is in full summer bloom. It's also not October with leaves falling after the stocking truck has left again. It's high Summer!!  This is the time that the "old masters" waited for. They were not ready to flog the water on a freestone at mid day because your chances of success were limited.  They waited for "things" to happen on their streams. Shade begins to settle on the water which makes the insects more active and in turn the trout become more active. Water temperature drops, not by much, but enough to start the feeding cycle again.

The Upper Trestle Pool

Look at the photo again! Notice that the RIGHT side of this Pool is in the shade on hot, sunny day in July.  I'ts only about 6:30 and almost a 1/3 of that pool is in the shade. By 7:30 half of the pool will be shaded and browns will be beginning to rise.

Don't worry about the correct pattern. A size 14 or 16 comparadun in tan will do it all!

If you can force yourself to stay out beyond 8:30 you may have dry fly action that you can dream about on a cold, wet February night!!! Like right now!!!

Next - Predawn mornings on the Millers

Ken