October day at the Swift River
I decided to spend another October day at the swift river. The idea of landing that huge brown proved to be too much of a draw. I did see the brown a couple of times, but it was moving around and seemingly not interested in flies. I did however manage to catch a wide variety of trout.
There was an endless population of rainbow trout there to take a fly. I think I ended up catching more bows than brook trout, and probably thirty or more fish in total. There are even a few rainbows in the 7-8″ range, and all were caught on sub-surface flies. I had an uncoordinated day, and lost 6-7 flies in the trees or due to a fish breaking off. Most of these flies were my top performing flies, so that brought my “second string” flies to play. And lucky for me, those flies did just as well. It also reminded me that it’s good to get outside of your comfort zone. Once you know what works, it’s good to know what doesn’t to further inform your own fly tying. It’s also important to remember what works for you. There are flies that other people swear by that I’ve never caught a trout on.
I tied up my own version of a scud pattern. I took what I see from other patterns and added my own flair to it. More on that in my next post as I don’t have a photo of them yet. The scud accounted for a good portion of trout caught, but I only tied up two as a trial. I’ll be tying more next time I’m at the vise.
Another fly I fished on Saturday was new to me, and I discovered it on the river. I caught a rather large rainbow, and noticed a fly stuck to the roof of its mouth. I removed the fly for the trout, took a photo of it, and later put it on as my second fly. It worked well, and now I have another fly to add to my collection. It’s a fortuitous take on the idea of stomach pumping, which I don’t do because I believe it to be harmful for the fish. I also believe that fly fishing isn’t rocket science, so why treat it like it is?
Anyhow, here are a few fish and I will post more on that scud and how to tie it this week. Here are a few from the day, and follow me on Instagram if you like seeing pictures of fish as much as I do: @troutandfly
4 thoughts on “October day at the Swift River”
Sounds like a great day on the Swift. The brook trout are really something else color-wise this time of year, aren’t they?
I like to fish scuds also and look forward to seeing your version of it.
Best, Sam
It was a very fun day, and I enjoyed taking a break on the banks to watch the leaves fall. I agree, the brook trout are really something this time of year. Definitely my favorite fish to catch.
I’ll post the scud this week, and I’d like to hear about your pattern as well.
Jeff
My scud is pretty simple with a few wraps of non lead weight, a piece of old tippet, a narrow strip of plastic sandwich bag tied in. I dub the body somewhat loosely with sow bug / scud dubbing in beige. Tie down the plastic bag strip just behind the hook eye, then create segments with the tippet wound around the fly body. Brush out the dubbing on the bottom with Velcro to create legs and it is done. It looks pretty good and I have good luck at times with this scud.
I like the twist on using a plastic bag and tippet. I use a copper wire for the segments on my version. I’ll post a photo of it this week.