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…
Yesterday I stopped by the Swift with the intention of fishing for colorful brook trout, which is something I always look forward to each fall. I caught several rainbow and brook trout on both dry and sub-surface offerings. The surprise of the day goes to a huge brown trout at the Swift. I was nymphing the riffles below the hatchery pipe when I felt a hit. I set the hook and initially thought I was snagged until the fish shot…
I was at the tying bench tonight, and tied up a batch of my favorite flies for the Swift. These are also my choice flies to fish in the fall. I plan on heading to the Swift in a couple of weeks to chase after big brook trout. I’m sure I’ll catch a few chunky rainbows and browns while I’m at it. If anyone is interested, I have extra flies that I’d be willing to give away, and I’ll take…
I was fishing recently and decided I wanted to make a video to show others how to tight line nymph. I’ve taught many people who have never picked up a rod how to use this tactic. It’s a fantastic technique to have in your bag of tricks if you want to be more successful and diverse on the water. I’ve used it countless times when the water is skinny, fish are easily spooked, or there’s simply no room to cast. …
A couple of weeks ago I was out at the swift on a Sunday. September and October are my possibly my favorite months for fly fishing in New England. I’m especially looking forward to October. This afternoon, I only had a short amount of time to fish, so I walked to the area down from the hatchery pipe. The brook trout in this area are finally wising up, and won’t eat just any old dry fly that comes their way. …
It’s hard to believe it, but I’ve been writing this blog for over a year now. A special thank you to those of you who have emailed me with kind words about the blog. I’m so glad to hear that it’s been helpful for others. I started this blog partly to share a bit of the knowledge I’ve learned over the years, and to keep a journal of my fishing trips. I’m a completely self- taught fly fisherman, and it…
A good friend of mine was in town visiting this weekend, and mentioned he’d like to try fly fishing. I’ve taught quite a few people how to fly fish over the years, and I’m always excited for the opportunity to teach someone new. It feels great to share my passion with someone, and to see them feel the same excitement I do when they hook a big trout. With all the recent rain, we headed over to the swift on…
Over the weekend, I hit the swift river below route 9 and caught several trout on my favorite dry dropper rig. It’s fairly simple rig and consists of two flies that are easy to tie. I had success with rainbows and brook trout on the same two flies. The brook trout alternated between taking the dry fly or emerger, and the rainbows seemed to prefer the smaller emerger fly in a size 30. Here I am fishing to some risers…
Wow, it’s been a busy few weeks, but I finally got outside again. I took a trip to the Swift river on Good Friday, and it was indeed a good day. I expected a lot of crowds, but there was plenty of room down below the Route 9 bridge. The flows on most Massachusetts rivers are still high, and I’m excited to check out my other favorite steams once the water levels lower. Most of my success came from tight…
Swift river trout are notoriously picky and a little nonsensical. Most often, it can take time to find the right flies and techniques to convince these fish to accept your fly. Other times, I’ve seen them take some of the most ridiculous looking flies ever tied. In any case, it helps quite a bit to have a few staples in your back pocket. Over the years, I’ve developed a few old reliables that I feel are particularly effective on this…