Streamside blog - 12/27/2014

About to hit the cable pool on the Quinnie. Setup is a stonefly with a caddis nymph trailer.

Hooked into two at the stretch above the turn, nothing landed... Yet.

Stream side blog - quinapoxet river 12/20

Well, the Pats play the jets today at one, which means it will either be unwatchable at halftime, or not watchable until halftime. So it's to the stream on this lightly snowy day. Looking for a winter holdover or maybe a stream bred brookie.

Streamside Live Blog - Quinnie

Flows a little high, but temperature is good. See if I can coax any winter bows to the net.

-NC

I'll take a winter brown! 

Back at it

Well, it's been a LONG year, and unfortunately like my blog posts, fishing has been far and few between. But I'm ready to get back on the saddle. Not sure why, but I have a good feeling about this Winter as far as holdovers go on the Quinnie. They are there every year, but I think this Winter will be better than most.

I did have a chance to fish the Millers recently. The brown pictured was taken on a swinging caddis nymph. Flows have been manageable but it looks like most of the Fall stockers didn't stay long. That's OK, because as we all know the Millers is a terrific holdover location, especially if you have access to a watercraft that can get you to the places where you cant just "park and drop."

If you are planning to hit the Quinnie this Winter I'd suggest the River road sections (both upper and lower road closures) as well as the Cable pool (Trout Brook). These tend to be the best spots for holdovers. Additionally, the Quinnie is notorious for having brookie-invested pocket water upstream and downstream from "the bridges." These are not easy access locations, and you have to really work to get the fly in an eatable position, but if you can get it done the fishing will be better than average. As for flies, this is a great time of year for woolly buggers, pheasant tails, and your typical variety of caddis nymphs. I myself favor the Black and Green beaded caddis larva trailed behind a Black woolly bugger.

Flows right now are at 25CFS and will most likely hit 30. I'll be heading to the lower river road section this Saturday, perhaps I will see some of you there.

-NC

Stocking update

Just a quick note prior to my "start of Spring" blog. If your heading out today, try the river rd bridges on the holden side of river rd, and the rte 31 bridge. Those were hit last week by the stocking trucks.

Tigh lines!

-NC

TU and Rushing Rivers Institute needs volunteers!

Attention all conservationists, trout enthusiasts, and outdoors people, we need your help! We are looking for volunteers for Wednesday, August 28 starting at 8am, to help with some local stream restoration work on the Wekepeke river in Sterling, MA. The Central MA Chapter of TU has teamed up with the Rushing Rivers Institute, Nestle Waters North America, and the Town of Sterling to improve, restore, and reconnect the waters and environment of the Wekepeke river as part of grant funded work from TU National and Nestle. We are at a very crucial point in the project and are looking for volunteers to help with the removal of a structure that is affecting stream flow. If you are interested in helping and/or learning more about the opportunity, please send me a message (nmcomeau@gmail.com). This is a great opportunity to get involved locally, learn about this great little stream, and have fun doing so! http://www.wekepeke.org/tu-project

Tailwaters until September

Over the past month or so, I've fished about as often as I've updated this blog - which you can tell is not that often. I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. We were complaining about high flows early in the season, and now look at us - eating crow and not catching now fish - unless you're hitting a tailwater. If it wasn't for today's massive rainfall, we were heading for single digit CFS water flow on the Q. Its currently up to 50 CFS but will not be there for long. My guess is we'll be back to 10-20 by the weekend. I'm not sure if today's downpour will stimulate the bugs or fish at all, but its worth a try, I may be out there this evening. I'm sure you all know the past few weeks have been dreadful on the Q and other Massachusetts freestones. I did hit the Millers and Quinnie earlier this month and the best of the day were the two rainbows pictured. The hefty bow below was from the Millers and was a lot lighter in color than normal Millers River Trout. Typically, after being in that water for a month or so, the rainbows develop a blackish color, and the pink becomes more of a dark red. The browns get a bit darker as well, and the typical "butter belly" becomes more of a silver or light black/brown. So I was surprised to catch a fish that looked like it belonged in the Swift! Maybe its a sign of better water quality?! I wont hold my breath...

So, until September or so, its the tailwaters to keep us busy.

The Swift: This will be the most popular. If you're OK fishing within 10 yards of someone, then you'll do fine and catch fish. If you're not so fond of that, and happen to have a canoe or kayak or float, head downstream to the second bridge (Cold Spring Rd), put in below the bridge and fish DOWNSTREAM. Everyone likes to head upstream, but there are terrific stretches down past the houses and above the dam. You will catch fish on small (sz 20-24) pheasant tails and scuds.

The Deerfield: If you are OK with the drive (for me it's a little under 2 hours) this river is a gem in the summer. Big fat dries and terrestrials will catch fish during low and high flows during the day. Streamers work well too. Check out the flow release schedule and plan your trip accordingly. I usually fish the stretch just below the Fife dam right up until they release the water (~9am), then head downstream to the Zoar Outdoor parking lot to fish for another hour or so of low flow. Once the water is up, you can head further downstream and pick your spot along rte 2 - streamers and buggers, or Chernobyl ants if you can reach the edges. Head back to the fife stretch for the evening rise when the water comes down.

Tight Lines,

-NC