Now is the time for some of the year’s best fishing! Across the area, fish of every distinction are happy and hungry to take a solid presentation, so let’s dive in.
On the Deerfield, flows in most stretches had been trending frustratingly high for wade anglers owing to a seemingly guaranteed pattern of heavy weekend rains. Throughout the entire end of spring/start of summer, we’ve generally been experiencing mild weekday conditions only for a deluge to drop come Saturday. While it’s kept the float boats very happy, we wouldn’t blame any of you waders for wishing on a break from all the rain. This being said, low water intervals have been scheduled on the Fife Brook stretch and beyond as this report is being written and for several days beforehand, so let’s hope that trend continues. With a good amount of rain in the forecast, expect that flows could spike again though.
In terms of hatch, we’re seeing and getting reports of modest numbers of March browns (#12-14), sulphurs (#16-18), and cahills (#14-16) on the mayfly side of things. These are relatively sparse hatches that are tending to crop up later in the day. We have been seeing and getting reports of solid spinner falls, however, these seem to be pretty inconsistent. Aside from mayflies, there’s definitely a variety of caddis around with sizes ranging from as large as #14 to as small as #20. Caddis have been very prevalent in the air especially later in the day, however, the degree to which trout can actually access these bugs is up for debate. This is also the time of year when you’ll start seeing some larger stoneflies crop up. Remember that stoneflies crawl up onto rocks and the riverbank to hatch so make sure to take that into account in terms of presentation. Lastly for hatch, this is the time of year when terrestrial bugs will become increasingly more prevalent so make sure to have some solid imitations of hoppers, beetles, and ants in the box.
For the sake of ease, we’ll break apart our recommendations for approach on the Deerfield into two categories: high water and low water. When water is high (800+ CFS), it’ll be best to focus on the river’s margins and especially where stable structure like rock and wood cuts current and creates ideal feeding lanes. Keep in mind that we are in the heart of trout season so fish will be well distributed both across the river’s channel and throughout the water column. For this reason, it’s a good idea to think about throwing a hopper/dry-dropper rig. If you’re unfamiliar, this system very simply uses a high floating dry fly with another fly dropped off of it via a length of tippet. The second/dropper fly can be any one of a number of patterns. While it’s arguably most common to tie on a weighted nymph underneath your dry, you can also tie on an unweighted nymph which will vulnerably sit in the surface film or even a second dry fly/emerger. The beauty of the dry-dropper rig is that it kills two birds with one stone; your dry fly usually acting as a strike indicator for the dropper pattern while also being an indicator with a hook that could get eaten itself at any moment.
Consistent rising is not super common in high flows, so it’ll often be best to think about prospecting and covering water with your dry dropper rig in higher water. While using it as a search pattern, we recommend running a high floating attractor like a chubby Chernobyl which has a knack for calling in fish from distance to take a look. As far as a dropper goes, consider running a heavily weighted nymph about 3-4 feet under your dry/hopper which should have it riding somewhere near the middle of the water column in many situations. In terms of dropper selection, you can never go wrong with a pheasant tail, hare’s ear, or something jigged like a Walt’s worm or perdigon. If you do run into some bugs coming off and fish on them, it’s often a good approach to try to match the hatch with both your dry and dropper. For example, if you come across some fish rising to sulphurs, it’d be a smart choice to run a sulphur parachute with an appropriately sized pheasant tail under/behind it.
Another prospecting pattern that has been hot in higher flows is swinging streamers and wet flies. This technique is arguably the best way to cover a lot of water as most fish in any given area will get a look at your presentation. There’s a lot of different ways to skin the cat when it comes to rigging for swinging. In higher flows it’ll usually be best to run a sinking head of some kind in order to deliver flies down to the appropriate depth. If you don’t have a sinking line system, consider attaching a versi-leader (available at the shop) to your floating line which should help get you down where you need to be. In terms of fly selection, there’s no need to get crazy complicated. For streamers, an olive woolly bugger has been particularly effective but a solid swing in the right area with most small to medium-sized patterns will turn some heads. As far as wet flies go, consider that you’re generally trying to imitate an emerging mayfly or caddis so keep eyes peeled for what’s coming off and match the hatch appropriately.
For your approach in low water (usually 125 CFS), consider that low flow intervals are arguably the best times to ply the Deerfield’s surface. It’s no guarantee but these periods are generally when we see the most consistent/targetable rising activity along with the most solid hatches. A dry dropper rig will still be a smart choice especially if you’re fishing unfamiliar water, however, you should generally plan to adjust your rig to make it appear much more natural. For instance, instead of running a foamy hopper with a big, heavy nymph intended to punch down through fast currents, you could run a parachute or Catskill-style dry with a lightly weighted nymph, an unweighted nymph that will sit in the surface film, or even a second dry fly/emerger. This choice in rigging is dependent on what the fish are doing. If you’re not seeing much surface activity, go with a weighted nymph. If you are casting to risers, consider a double dry rig. If fish are rising but not taking what you’re offering, consider that they may be keyed on earlier stage emergers; a situation where an unweighted nymph or soft hackle can be absolutely deadly. All this being said, there’s no joy in fly fishing quite like casting a single dry fly to actively rising fish so if you’ve got the opportunity, cut off that dropper and go for it.
A question we get in the shop a lot is where to find fish during low water and while it may seem a bit nebulous, there are some formulaic elements to keep in mind. The first and arguably most important is depth adjacency. You want to find areas with depth ample enough to hold fish even when the water is low. A good rule of thumb for this is if you can’t clearly see the bottom of the river, you’ve likely got enough depth to hold fish. This isn’t to say that trout won’t pull out of those depths into shallower/faster water—in fact they usually will when on the feed—but just that it’s generally a necessity to finding fish during low water. In longer, riffled runs you’ll often find that one shoulder of the river offers holding depth while the other features a gradient into shallower, wadable depths. In shelved pocket water, you’re looking for bowls/pockets which, again, are deep enough that you cannot clearly make out the bottom, and so on.
A second critical consideration to finding fish in low water is understanding how fish will distribute across the river’s channel when flows are low. In some situations—take the Bridge to Nowhere for example—you’ll find a long run in the center of the river with shallow shoulders on either side. During high water it’s common for many fish to move into the often slower margin/shoulder water, but when flows are trimmed and those shoulders become too exposed, many of those fish will file back into the center of the river. In some situations, it’s just the opposite, where the river’s margins are cut deeper, and fish will choose to hold there. Another key element to this concept is time of day. When the sun is high, it’s common for many fish to seek out depth and hold there, usually nymphing if they’re on the feed. You might find an individual here and there willing to rise in such areas, but midday keeps many trout wary of occupying the upper levels of the water column in low water. At low light, though, it’s very common for these fish to either rise up over holding depth, or move into shallower, often faster water altogether. When flows are down, dawn and dusk are critical periods for dry fly activity for this reason.
Alright, enough on the Deerfield for now. Elsewhere on the Millers River, flows are starting to come back down into a more reasonable range after a long period of high water. The river is running at a rate of just over 700 CFS as this report is being written. This being said, there’s a good amount of rain in the forecast so expect that levels might spike again. Beyond that, much of what’s been said about the Deerfield in higher flows will also be true on the Millers. Prospecting with a chubby and fast sinking dropper nymph will be a good approach in many situations. Focus your attention on slower margin water and shoulder seams where many fish will be pushed up into so long as flows remain relatively high. You can try your hand at some streamer fishing but keep in mind that back-cast space tends to be pretty limited on the Millers, especially during higher flows, so you might want to consider jigging streamers at close range. This approach can be done on a standard rig with a floating fly line but will be much better attempted on a mono/contact rig if you’ve got one. If you’re going to go the former route, just make sure you’ve got enough weight on your streamer to maintain good contact with it. From the tying perspective, sculpin helmets are a great option as they’re very heavy and find depth quickly.
Further west on the Westfield River, things continue to be a bit funky. Most reports have indicated poor fishing around the Chesterfield Gorge area. Flows on both the main stem as well as the branches are relatively ideal, and we’ve also received reports of solid bug activity, but it seems like there’s just not many fish present in the system at the moment. Keep your eyes peeled in the coming weeks as hatches may redistribute the fish that are present into more ideal areas, however, the Westfield is not the first place we’d send you at the moment.
Below Quabbin on the Swift River, the situation also continues to be a bit short of ideal. Although some fish have started to move around a bit more, most reports indicate that the lion’s share of the river’s trout are still bound up at the Y-Pool, the hatchery pipe, and structured areas both up and downstream of the boat launch. Some have speculated that this fact owes to low flows—the river is running around 50 CFS as this report is being written—however, that flow rate is relatively typical for this time of year and in years past, fish have had no problem operating in that water level. The hope was that the arrival of the sulphurs—one of western Mass’ best hatches—would redistribute fish across the river but the sulphurs are here, and the trout have not responded as we had hoped. Similar to the Westfield, keep your eyes out for increased movement as this hatch continues. The good news is that sulphurs on the Swift tend to continue coming off well into summer, sometimes all the way through August, so there’s still plenty of time for things to turn around.
In terms of approach for fishing sulphurs on the Swift, the most successful angle of attack tends to be early stage emergers (#18-22) on long, technical leaders. Later stage emergers like parachutes or dun patterns can be successful at times, but it’s usually the most vulnerable looking imitations that do the trick best. In terms of rigging, many will tell you that you need 8x tippet and a 0wt. rod to even get a look, which is, shall we say, a bit exaggerative. In most situations, 6x on a 3 or 4wt. will do just fine and if you find them really feeding (especially in faster water) even 5x can get the job done.
Lastly, also keep in mind that the special regulation (no keeping above Cady Lane) begins on July 1 so a lot less fish will be coming out of the river very soon, so long as everyone plays by the rules. People are bold especially on the Swift, though, so keep eyes out for poaching and make sure to report it if you come across someone playing unfair.
Elsewhere on the small streams/creeks, things continue to be absolutely white hot. All the rain we’ve gotten has done wonders to keep creek levels and temperatures ideal and the fish are absolutely loving it. In terms of approach, you guessed it, dry dropper or bust. As we’ve said in previous reports, it’ll be best to select a dry fly that can withstand the punishment of lots of eats and takes minimal maintenance to keep floating. The first instinct is of course a chubby Chernobyl or some other kind of foam body fly, which is a fine choice, just make sure you’re throwing sizes that creek fish can actually get their mouths around, usually #14 or smaller. As far as droppers go, weighted nymphs tend to work best in the creeks. Fly choice isn’t terribly important so long as your selection can find depth quickly, an essential element to fishing dry droppers in the limited real estate most creeks provide.
All this being said, throwing small streamers can be lights out, especially immediately following a rain event/spike in flows. Don’t worry too much about fly selection; again just make sure you’re throwing something that smaller creek fish can actually take a bite out of. The most important consideration is rigging, for which we have two recommendations. The first is just throwing a heavier small streamer on a floating line with a 7.5’ tapered leader. Remember that when throwing streamers on a floating line, a longer leader will allow the fly to sink down more but will decrease your contact with the fly, a shorter leader doing just the opposite. For this reason, a 7.5’ leader with some tippet seems like the sweet spot. Secondly, you could try throwing a versi-leader attached to a floating line for some extra sink. We really only recommend this option in significantly higher flows as a versi-leader can be a bit ostentatious in the confines of a creek.
Alright, enough trout talk for now—this is an excellent time of year for warm water bites of many distinctions. We’ve received reports that northern pike fishing has been productive where they are present, with most fish being taken on larger streamers. The pike in our fishery tend to be pretty wary, so it’s important to take that into account in your approach. You’ll want to be careful with highly visible sinking line systems, especially in fisheries with clearer water. Remember that while pike are unchallenged apex predators where they exist in Mass, they are also keen and precise hunters who are known to study potential pray sometimes all the way back to shore/the boat. While fishing for pike, make sure to fish every cast all the way back and don’t be afraid to give it some final action before going to recast (think figure 8) as lots of pike strikes happen right at your feet.
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Aside from pike, the bass bite is pretty hot right now. Both smallmouth and largemouth are in their post-spawn period which means that many fish have the feed bag on after the trials of spawning. The key to bass fishing at this time of year is deducing where in the water column they want to eat—off the bottom, middle-column, or up top. In this regard, a lot can be drawn from the conditions one is fishing. During low light periods early and late or under heavy cloud cover, you’ll find many bass willing to take a shot at the surface. Under high sun and/or around midday, you’ll often find fish reluctant to feed on top, a time when fishing bottom-oriented patterns like craws is a wise choice. Time of day and conditions will also determine a lot for where bass will be in any given fishery. Both large and smallmouth will often seek out shady cover during the day, especially as daytime temperatures increase. This could be stable wood, rocky bank structure, grass and lily pad lines, etc. During low light both early and late, though, many bass will leave these areas of cover and actively go on the hunt. As we said before, topwater bugs are often a great choice in such situations and are of course a pleasure to fish, however, pulling a big streamer around open areas adjacent to structure can also be deadly.
Lastly, it’s worth it to mention that carp fishing can be extremely productive at this time of year. Many fly anglers still don’t have carp on their radar which is something that they should change if they know what’s good for them. While exceedingly difficult to both pattern and catch, there are few freshwater fish that will find backing quicker than the humble common carp. In terms of approach, know that carp are very discerning, especially in the clear water that they’re generally found in in western MA. Your best opportunities will come when individuals or groups of fish come close to shore in their feeding efforts. In such situations, it’s essential that you keep a low profile and minimize your movements to avoid spooking fish. Keep in mind that with carp, it’s usually the case that if you spook one of them you spook all of them. When taking a shot at actively feeding carp, you’ll usually want to lead the fish by a few feet, “dragging and dropping” the fly into the fish’s line. In terms of gear, be wary of going too light as these fish can really test the limits of your equipment. A 7wt. rod paired with a floating line, long leader, and 2x tippet or heavier is usually a good rig to run, but don’t be afraid to change around as needed. In terms of fly selection, remember that carp are predominantly bottom-feeders (although they will occasionally feed on the surface) and have a wide array of forage options with everything from craws to insect larva, even berries and other vegetation. Keep a lot of options in the box and don’t be afraid to shuffle around your presentations.
Off the water, we have two free casting clinics coming up, one on June 18 from 5:30-6:30pm and another on June 28 from 8:30-9:30am. These clinics are targeted at beginners and those just looking to get into the sport. They are completely free of charge, but we do have limited space in each session so please plan to pre-register by calling the shop or shooting us an email or DM on social media. Also remember that we will be holding drop-in fly tying every Saturday starting at 10:30 AM. These are free form sessions so just bring your vise, tools and materials for anything you’d like to tie. Other than that, keep eyes peeled for more programs and events coming soon. As always, thank you for your continued support from all of us here at the Deerfield Fly Shop and we wish you luck next time you’re on the water.
