Swift with Meg

Decide to take Megan to the swift for the first time. Walking in there were two people leaving.  They had only caught 1 small rookie between the two if them.  I thought oh no but I shoukd have known better.  First hole and meg hooked into 3 brookies of  her own.  All in all we finished with 12 trout. Two big rainbows which meg helped me by netting them.  A great day with my daughter.

Saturday at the Swift

Went up to the swift with Billy, Ted and Steve.  The modified hot spot was the ticket followed by a small green hairs ear.  Most fish were taken on the hot spot largest being a nice rainbow by the old dam down below rt 9.  A bunch of brookies are there and the fishing is good for them.  Highlight of the trip was Steve getting his first trout on a fly using a setup I tied on for him.  I tied up a few more of the fly in a couple of variations to see what the trout like best.  I will have to be back to test those patterns.

Miller's river

SKUNKED!!! Enough said. I tried everything under the sun. Soft hackles in pink, orange, yellow, bead headed pheasant tails in 10 and 16, green caddis, red caddis, etc.   Nothing. Fished in the morning from 6 till 8:30 then headed home.

East Branch

Got out to fish with Billy on the East Branch on Saturday 19th for the evening hatch.  What a nice river.  WE went to the gorge area and parked the Prius at the entrance and took his truck down the access road - Thank goodness as I'm not sure the Prius would have made it all the way down the road.  Caught a couple of rainbows and a brown.  I was trying for a brookie as Billy said he caught one earlier and it would have been neat to catch the trout trifecta on a different river.  All but one of the fish came on soft hackles.  The rown came to a fire orange soft hackle which he took with him when he was released as I could not for the life of me get the hook out of the fishes mouth.  I turned and lost another fish in the same hole using an yellow soft hackle as well.  I then decided to start nymphing seeing as I had already caught a fish on a soft hackle. I have been playing with these flies all spring and still can't quite get the feel for the down and across movement of them so I have been fishing them up and down in the stream.  This seems to work well for me. The next fish taken was a nice rainbow on a red bead caddis.  The bow was located just where you would have expected him to be, right in the feeding seem. After that things went quite for a while.  Finally I tied on a small caddis bead head in copper color with a pink soft hackle as the trailer.  Nothing for the longest time.  So Billy and I decided to try some new water as he was not seeing many fish either.  He is still learning the river so we drove down to a nice looking area and waded in.  Working up stream I found a nice seem that looked productive but could not rise a fish.  Working my way further up stream I was on another nice seem just as darkness was approaching.  Suddenly the fish turned on.  It seemed like every other cast I was hooking into a fish.  In a span of about 10 min I had brought 4 rainbows to hand some of them giving quite the aerial display.  AMAZINGLY all of them were caught on the PINK soft hackle!!! Go figure.  I tied the fly on just to tell Meg I fished it and it was the winner for the day.  Got back to the car at 9:30 and was home by 11.  All in all a nice time on the river.  Now I need to tie up some more soft hackles for a repeat on this river.

Something Different 7/11

Well since the trout season in MA is basically over and to have some fun with my cousins we headed north to fish the salmon river in NY for small mouth bass.  This was a kayak trip with Gordie something I have never done.  It was fun with a couple of fish caught by Brian and I.  Joe did not have as good of a time as he was using his fly rod and was having trouble convincing the fish they should be biting what he was throwing. The river was running 185cfs and that was MUCH to low as I sent allot of time bumping my butt on the rocks.  Hopefully next year there will be some more water in the river.  

Tues at the Q

Well back to home waters.  The river has started to reach summer form...  decided to look at some newish water today and headed down stream from the pool.  picked up a nice healthy little brook trout on a light cahill nymph followed that up with a couple of dace.  After working my way down to the footbridge pool with no big fish to show for the effort I fished the run for a little while.  Managed to turn one fish in the slough probably also on the cahill.  In an effort to get back on that fish I switched to a partridge and yellow that I had tied.  This brought nothing to hand - perhaps something that is lighter would have been better served.  Regardless the river seemed to go to sleep around 8:00.  Might have to start fishing earlier in order to find actively feeding trout.

River 20 CFS; 64 F at 6:00 am

New water

Decided to head to some new water today. While fishing the quinnie has been fun I feel like I'm starting to know the fish by name.  Do I decided to try the Miller's.   This would be my second trip to the river having been on it last year once as well.  I decided to fish the bear's run area. This is a big river or at least much bigger then I'm used to. 

While I'm still learning this river I don't really expect to catch much.  Having gotten a river guide it helps but you still have to read water and drift correctly. I managed 1 brown trout my fish on this river he came from an inside seam on a curved bead head pheasant tail nymph. 

He was on the inside seam of a run and the nymph needed some tungsten help getting down.  I followed that up with about 1/2 a dozen dace the largest going around 8 inches.  Walking out I spoke with another angler who was swinging wets.  He had better luck then I scoring 2 browns and a rainbow n. Claimed the hot fly was a partridge and orange.  I had tried a yellow with nothing to show and the other angler echoed my experience. Go figure.  I had that in my vest and opted NOT to tie it on.  I will probably try and make another trip some time soon to explore the area some more.

River 55cfs; 67F

Fri Q trip

The quinnie is starting to heat up.  Not the fishing mind you but the river itself.  The levels are starting to really drop and the fish are starting to get holed up.  The diet has also changed.  Running some soft hackles up the river this AM there was not a single dace was even interested.  Odd to say the least.  Turns out the river dynamic might has changed.  Tying on a caddis nymph followed by a light hendrickson nymph yielded much better results.  The dace were now active and a rainbow liked the caddis.  Both are much smaller than what had been working but there was no denying they were what the fish wanted.  Go figure.....all told the tally for the day was a single rainbow trout and 8-10 dace.  If I had a little more time I think the change in the flies would have produced many more fish.

Father's Day Trip

Well all I wanted was to take my little girl fishing in a real stream with fish.  I got my wish.  To make the day a bit more fun and easier I purchased some waders from Cabela's in the smallest size they had.  Meg being the trooper that she is loved them and was a real good sport thorough the day.  As it is with fishing with Kids I got to watch more then fish but Hey that's what I wanted.  We caught a nice little brown int the big pool by the brook.  Since Meg loves Fish he came home with us.  Moving up stream to one of my favorite runs we both shared a rock in the middle of the stream while she fished.  Luckily the Rainbow who has been hanging out int he run found her worm to be a good offering.  He gave her quite the fight and with plenty of line out she had the opportunity to learn about drag and how to fight a fish.  It was a blast.  The trout was slated to come home with us as well but unfortunately he had other plans.  As I grabbed for the line to get my hand under him he wrapped around me and the rock.  Pulling the line yielded nothing more then a hook with no fish attached.  I think I was more upset then Meg but hey when you get lemons you make lemonade and she learned that not all fish can be caught.  We fished for a little while longer but she got board and let me fish trying to catch another to go with our brown trout.  After snacks were done where an ant brought a blood curdling cry; who knew eating crackers while sitting on the bank would bring ants?!? We fished a bit more and then called it a day.  What more could a Dad ask for.

Tues on the Quinnie

Sorry no pics today.  After getting a few hits on some soft hackles from the other day I decided today would be a 2 fly soft hackle day all day.  There is some different presentations for saft hackles one is to ccast up river and let the flies float down to you the other is to cast across and float the flies down and across the seams.  After today I can comfortably say that I MUCH prefer the upstream presentations.  Actually both fish I took were that way but regardless it feels better to me.  Which is to say I think I getting better drifts and I have better control over the line.  Fishing up steam into the water I'm most comfortable produced a dace and a nice little brown who gave a heck of a fight before spitting the hook at my feet only to get tangled in the top fly before getting netted.  I caught him upstream of where I would have been catching fish but the water looked good to me to.

Fri Morning 6/6

After Mother Nature decided to dump over 0.5" of rain on the river yesterday I managed to get out before work this morning.  The river was cool (61F) and the water was flowing (56cfs).  Which is to say this cool wet spring has been good for this river.  I started out with a pheasant tail and hairs ear nymph combo.  That has been working nicely on this river all spring.  It seems the fish are keyed up on one or the other.  Today the Dace liked the pheasant tail in the section of quicker water up from the trout brook pool.  Working up stream further found me needing to add some length to the indicator.  Once that was accomplished this fellow came to hand after a nice fight in which he put himself on the reel quickly.  After this terrible pic of him he self released showing he still had some fight left in him.  Getting the monkey off my back I switched to some soft hackles I had tied last night.  Using the same tandem of a hairs ear and pheasant tail except this time in soft hackle I worked my way back down stream.  I have come to realize that I am a terrible soft hackle fisherman.  I have no faith in the technique and when I get a strike (of which there were numerous today) I fail to manage to get the hook set.  As with many things I'm sure with some practice I will eventually get it down but it is very frustrating to have suck hard takes with nothing to show for it.  

Sunday Morning

Well after unsuccessfully trying to get my cousins and uncle to go fishing at the swift with me I decided to head to the quinnie.  Walking down I was met by 2 people fishing the main pool.  The guys were very nice and we chatted for a little while as I rigged up.  One was tossing a lure and the other was fishing worms.  The worm guy caught 3 while I was talking with his buddy.  I decide to start with a pair of soft hackles.  They were not that productive mainly due to my slow reactions.   Leaving the big pool and heading up stream to the next run produced nothing. Similar to when I fished it with dad.  Since I had enough of that I decided to head down stream.   I have been down there much this year.  Fishing my way down there produced a tiny brook trout in some pocket water on a hairs ear.  Working down stream produced a nice lively brown in a deep plunge pool.  He came hard for a hairs ear and after a few good runs was released unharmed.  Well that was 2 of the 3 species of trout that can be found on this river.  So far this year the Rainbows and Brookies have been hard to find so while I was hopeful for a 3 species day you can never tell.  Working my way down didn't produce much in the heavy water.  Finally reaching the Pine Tree pool I was hopeful but not optimistic.  Last time I was down here it did not produce much of anything.  When the flooding happened a few years ago the pool changed a bit and has never been as good as it once was.  However my pessimism was unnecessary as shortly after entering the pool I hooked up with the final trout in my 3 species day.  Meg has been bugging me to keep some fish lately and since this river gets really low and warm in the summer it is unlikely the rainbows that are stocked will survive.  So in order to appease my daughter I decided to keep him (lower fish).  He really didn't fight all that well and pretty much bull dogged it staying the center of the stream.  He also tired quite quickly which is not surprising given the water temp.  I assumed that he would not be enough for the family so decided to continue to see if he had a buddy in the same hole.  After a little while a second fish also came to hand taking the same curved bead head pheasant tail as the first and came home for dinner.  Needless to say Meg loved the fresh trout which given her love of fish is not all that surprising and one fish was enough for the family as Nora did not like it one bit.

Spring Tues

With a bit of a memorial day hangover I got to the river a little late. I fished down stream to the pine's pool with no luck and decided to head up stream.  I was fishing a soft hackle in front and a small bead head flashback pheasant tail trailing.  Since the trip down was uneventful when I jumped to the other side of the river I tied on a grey scud and another beadhead pheasant tail trailer a little bigger then before and with no flashback.  The walk up river was also uneventful until I hit the brook pool. This is where everyone fishes by evidence of the equipment left in the newly fallen tree and the worm box trash left streamside.  Intending on heading up above to the run I just couldn't resist the begining of the big pool.  Since I had to cross over to get where I was planning on fishing there was no harm in casting a line before wading across.  Fortunately for me the dace were in the section of the stream.  After playing with them for the better part of 10 minutes I finslly managed toy get one of the hook.   The little bugger managed to get it all wrapped up into a mess so in order to save time I cut the flies off.  What to tie on.  Well the water was perfect for that soft hackle that I was using before and the pheasant tail was smaller so the dace would be fun.  Tied it on and on the second drift through something slammed it hard.  A nice 8" brown who thought he was a flying fish repeatedly launching himself from the water.  Once to hand he was released unharmed. Another drift or 2 and something big thought my float looked appetizing.  Two strikes later and it was time to head to work....never did get that fish to come to an actual fly.

Fri return

Well I had to take Friday off for some family commitments but those didn't begin until 10. So what was I to do. Easy talked my Dad into a trip to the Q for a fly fishing trip.  Figured I had the fish patterned after Tuesday but unfortunately NO.  The hairs ear brought nothing to the net. All that was managed was a small brown on a pheasant tail?!?! Fish haven't been hitting that all season.  Did manage a stock bow in one of the deeper sections of the river on a black cone head woolly bugger.  He pulled a steelhead trick and came shooting out of the water to the head if the pool only to come back down and head to the back of the pool where he lost me.  A nice size fish with a well executed plan on how to loose a fisherman.

Tuesday at the Q

Hit the Q this morning before work.  River is running around 140 cfs today. Fishable but hard wading.  

Managed to find a nice bow and a pair of browns.   Lost a good fish after a few aerial displays in my favorite hole on the river.  A flash back hairs ear was what they wanted probably due to the slightly off color or the water. Also needed some weight to get it down. Couple of pics.

The Bow:

One of the Browns:

This is the only river I have ever caught all 3 species of fish on.  Today it was not meant to be...perhaps another day.

West river

West river...a former top 5 wild trout fishery of Massachusetts.   Every year I try and fish this river with my Dad. You see this is where I first learned to trout fish.  My Dad lived near one of the tributaries when he was a kid a he used to know this river like it was his back yard - mainly because in that day and age it was. Anyway the last couple of years have been hard in this river as the beaver have moved in and dammed what was a nice free flowing river into at best a warm water pond.  Dad and I made the yearly trip to the river with the promise of trout. Unfortunately the only fish willing to cooperate were the ever present dace and after catching enough to loose track of how many I had enough to carry me through till next year's pilgrimage. Hairs ear ruled the day.  Size did not matter.

Q in the am

Decided to try some exploring on the Q today.  Went down one of the more famous tributaries.  It's really nothing more then a trickle but today it held fish.  Caught 8 on an even mix of a elk hair caddis and a bh hares ear.  All browns but non the less it was some fun. Hopefully the coming rain won't blow things out.

Quinnie 4-21

Fished the quinnie again today. Caught a dace small enough to used for shiner bait on a small bead head hares ear. The fish actually took the hook. Lots of fish hitting the indicator today. Switched to a caddis dry and nothing doing.  Turned one good fish at the hidden pool bit after that he would not come back.  Should have tied on a green caddis nymph as I had one on my boots when I was leaving.  Go figure.

River 90CFS Temp:50F

Quinnie

Well the quinnie has finely settled down a bit and gotton some fish last week.  The road pools were filled with people. Not many catching fish. I went with dad and he lost the handle on my spinning reel. No fish to had but a few bites. Overall this river looks to be in good shape after running around 1000cfs. Hopefully the coming rain will move some of the remaining fish around. The river was running around 100cfs today with air temp in the 70's.

Swift in Spring

Went out to the Swift river on Sunday 23rd of March.  To say it was a slow day would be an understatement.  First skunking of the year. In this river you can usually see the fish and in turn they can see you.  So at least you know you're casting at fish.  Not so with today...no fish to be had in the usually spots.  Where there were fish there were LOTS of people casting at them.  Did manage to find one small pod of 3 and had a single take but nothing after that.  I don't know if the fish are getting wiser or what but it seemed that you got one chance at them and that was it.  No amount of changing flies would help either.  There doesn't seem to be much life in the water these days additional evidence was the presence of the hook and worm crowd being right at the rt. 9 bridge all stacked up like fish trying to get over a dam.  I went down to the hatchery pool and tried my luck there as well.  Met 2 fellow fishermen coming out and they said they were skunked as well.  Go figure.  Hopefully with the better weather the Swift will get an infusion of some life.

Swift river Feb 9th

Was at the swift today. Got up there around 1:30 and fished until around 4. Landed one fish, missed a bunch more. I must have been napping a bit today. The fly of the day was a black stone in a 16.  Tried a soft hackle I had tied with no love.  The lower section of the river was not passable with the prius so I had to fish the c&r section.  There are a few fish still around up on this section mostly where you'd expect them.  The day ended while I was fishing 2 different size stones and the leader broke while setting the hook on a nice size fish.  I hate leaving on that note but it was getting late.

Swift river

Well time to revive this blog.  It will be focused on my fishing adventures.

Fished the swift river at the end of January.   Caught one fish on a curved Bhpt on the pickup at the end of a drift.  The fish was caught and released in the riffle section near the pipe. Not bad on a cold winter day.