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Post by jskowron on Oct 12, 2007 17:04:24 GMT -5
It's been kind of quiet around the forum lately. Anybody been out? I stopped at a little tributary of the Westfield on the way home from work for about 15 minutes. No fish, but at least there was water. What pattern do you guys use this time of the year?
Jeff
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Post by Uplander on Oct 12, 2007 18:52:38 GMT -5
Nope. I've hung up the rod and reel 'till next spring.
Made the transition last weekend to bird hunting. That'll carry me through December....
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Post by jlibs on Oct 14, 2007 18:20:42 GMT -5
Well, this time of the year I usually get up to the Salmon River a few times with the 9wt for the bruisers. The water, as we all know, has not not been condusive for the salmon so far. We'll see what happens. There's still time. As for the rivers here in the Berkshires, the water is back up in most places. I saw 4 cars at the C&R section in Glendale on the Housy yesterday.
With the poor fishing conditions here, I've been working on my first bamboo rod (from scratch) and tomorrow is the bow season opener for whitetails. I took my tubs of gear, rods, etc. out of the truck today and filled the space back up with a tarp and other stuff for the deer. It was kind of a moment while making trips to the basement, but I perked up when I thought of the upcoming deer season. I'll start to fly fish again in another month or two and go through the winter here at a few local spots I know that hold some stockies that keep me busy for 30 minutes at a time until my fingers feel like they are freezing off.
As for flies I'd use now, I'd use the trusty standards that attract such as larger nymphs (size 12) beadhead prince, hares ear, PT, etc. but I'll also use a grannom type caddis. I hear reports of dead drifted beads/eggs working well right now.
I'm looking forward to all of our amazing guest speakers.
JLIBS
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Post by hoxie on Oct 15, 2007 7:50:37 GMT -5
I fished the North Branch of the Hoosic yesterday afternoon, between 11:30 AM and 2 PM, from Bona's Garage in Clarksburg to just below the Front Street dam in North Adams.
Up until the last 15 minutes, all I had to show for it was a 7 inch dace. Then, just a little before 2 PM, I caught a small brown and a feisty 13 inch rainbow.
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Post by alsaman on Oct 16, 2007 22:27:06 GMT -5
Planning to go this weekend with friend and his father in law. We're hoping to hit the East branch of Westfield. Anybody know how the water levels are? I haven't been there at this time of the year.
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Post by jlibs on Oct 17, 2007 8:28:04 GMT -5
BCFF had a great meeting with guest speaker Jack Smola last night in Pittsfield. Someone else asked about the Westfirled this time of the year since we got a little rain. Jack and another member said the Westfield is still extremely low and was a trickle just very recently. You might find another spot with more water and more fish. Good luck.
Our next guest speaker is Nov. 19th at 6:30pm by Ed Bauchiero - Ed will focus on the process of going to Alaska for the first time. In addition to the slide show and talk, Ed will provide a 6-page handout on how to select a lodge, what questions to ask a lodge, flies for specific game fish, etc. -Not to be missed if you're planning a trip to AK or if you've been there several times.
JLIBS
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Post by jskowron on Oct 17, 2007 11:17:47 GMT -5
Though the water is low, there are fish in the C&R areas in the deeper pools. The water temperature is good, and the fish could be caught and released with no more than the usual, not temperature related stress. As a guide, Jack probably wouldn't want to bring people there, but it should be ok for a day out with the in-law. Obviously, the lower down you go, the more water. The East Branch along route 9 north of Chesterfield Gorge is still low and was extremely low just a few weeks ago. There are probably few fish up there. There are generally deeper plunge pools in the C&R section, but you might not find much water in-between them. That said, unless you want to drive a little to a tail-water (e.g. Farmington, Swift, Deerfield), you don't have too many options in the Pioneer Valley. I say give it a try- there are fish in there, and even if you don't catch them, the scenery is beautiful and you'll have relative solitude. Let us know if you go and how it was.
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Post by alsaman on Oct 18, 2007 11:56:31 GMT -5
Thanks for the info on the Westfield. I think we'll give it a try and if it's too low head to the Deerfield or Swift. I'll let you know if we had any luck!
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Post by dw on Oct 18, 2007 16:26:58 GMT -5
I drove by the Millers today and levels were not bad. I would expect the westfield to be low, but not desperately. I'm not sure if the state stocks the EB of the Westfield in the Fall, but they may.
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Post by jskowron on Oct 18, 2007 18:30:04 GMT -5
According to the state website, they stock the East Branch during the fall in the the town of Huntington. This would limit the stocking to the lowest sections of the C&R area down to the confluence along route 20. There will be fish there. I haven't fished the area in the Fall in about 8 years, but I remember seeing a lot of fish but catching very few (most likely due to factors related to my abilities moreso than behavior of the fish).
I look forward to your report, alsaman.
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Post by JoeOverlock on Oct 19, 2007 21:42:22 GMT -5
I fished the North Branch of the Hoosic yesterday afternoon, between 11:30 AM and 2 PM, from Bona's Garage in Clarksburg to just below the Front Street dam in North Adams. Up until the last 15 minutes, all I had to show for it was a 7 inch dace. Then, just a little before 2 PM, I caught a small brown and a feisty 13 inch rainbow. Aww Jim.... We shocked that whole section for the Trout Unlimited stuff and there were only about 10 trout in 300 yards (I'm rounding up). Go downstream... a few mile.... ;D |
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Post by alsaman on Oct 20, 2007 21:54:08 GMT -5
So we fished the Chesterfield Gorge end of the C&R section on the Westfield today from around 11-4:30. The rains last night brought the water levels up pretty good (almost too high). It was actually higher today than when I fished it in early July. There were some sporadic hatches of tiny BWO #18-26 and some occasional rises. Caught just one 12" brown (on a BN dace) and a salmon/brown trout (?) parr (on a prince nymph). It was a beautiful day to be out on the river though. We didn't get a chance to go down to the lower end of the C&R but tomorrow should be a good day for fishing as long as it doesn't keep raining. (We left during a rain shower that lasted about 30 min.)
About that parr - at first I thought it was just a brown trout parr. After releasing it I remembered that salmon have been introduced to the Westfield. Although I didn't look very closely, the more I think about it, the more I think it was a salmon parr. A couple things that make me think this: the pectoral fins were rather large, the parr marks were very distinct and it was holding in very fast water. I didn't pay attention to the tail fin though. Could this be possible?
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Post by dw on Oct 21, 2007 18:47:53 GMT -5
Probably the the size of the jaw is the best way to tell the salmon parr from browns. Either is possible, but odds are much greater that it was a salmon parr in the Westfield. The brown trout's jaw would extend past the eye, the salmon parr's would not.
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Post by dw on Oct 21, 2007 18:53:32 GMT -5
10 trout in 900 feet is not good. It is better than no trout in 900 feet however. It was a pretty tough summer. I would have expected 60 to 90 in all size classes in that kind of length. I drove along the river in Stamford a month ago to the MA border. I didn't see severe problems and a steep mountain stream enters a mile above the MA border which I though would keep things cool. I didn't see long stretched missing shade. I checked a couple of bridges and the view suggested it could use more pools. Still there should have been more juveniles than what you got. I expect the district biologist was suprised.
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