I fished the Swift and landed a trifecta of trout: brook, brown, and rainbow. I hit the pipe area in the morning and headed in the afternoon above Rt. 9.
Five fish came to the net, including a 15″ brown at the hatchery pipe area. I lost quite a few, as I am fishing small flies, and, often, am casting downstream. It was a “hard work” type of day. The fish continue to be very selective.
Still, it was fun. In the afternoon, dozens of fish, all around me, started to rise. Flying ants were all over the river around the Y Pool, and the trout were unabashedly feeding on them. Dimples on the water for as far as the eye could see. The Hemlock Pool area was particularly fun, as I could see the trout and their rises and takes.
Note well, though, that the ants were really small. Here is a photo showing the contents of a trout I stomach-pumped. Size 30. I don’t have flying ant patterns that small, and so, I fished the emerger fly that you see in the upper-left in the photo. Six takes in all.
The brookie population continues to rise. A good sign.
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Nice brookie! Great to see a highly pressured and heavily stocked river like the swift still producing some brook trout…can you imagine how the good population would be without all those pressures?! Did you catch that brookie in the lower section? I heard that there are wild brookies and browns further down below the C&R section.
I caught various brookies all over the river. I think they're moving up as they get ready to spawn.