A Tailwater Outing

It’s my birthday this month. When the Mrs. asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I said: “Fly fishing!”

So, today was the day. Last night, I was a bit paralyzed about where to fish. Work and family stuff, i.e., Real Life, has taken up a lot of my time. To have a whole day to fish was a real treat, and I really wanted to max out.

In the end, I opted for the Swift. I wasn’t keen on the long drive to the Farmington, and many more local waters are still very high. My strategy was to fish the Swift, but, try and avoid the crowds.

I decided to hit a few spots, starting at the Hatchery Pipe area before dawn. My plan was to move south to Bondsville and below.

I arrived at the first stop and patiently waited for some light.

The air was cold, and I saw no bugs that early in the day. But, the fish were willing. I caught a pile, and this rainbow was quite a fighter.

As the anglers proliferated at the C&R area, I headed for the dirt lot. I crossed paths with one of the Swift regulars, who fishes nearly every day. Just then, a Mass. Environmental Police SUV pulled up. The officer had just busted someone with NY plates who was using bait. She was looking for people down-river, who had with them oodles of buckets. Planning a fish fry? After a friendly conversation, the officer drove away. I’m glad they’re enforcing the regulations.

My friend and I continued to chat. We compared notes. This person is one of the most capable anglers on that river–and, yet, he is incredibly kind. That’s a rarity, IMO. He and I both avoid the one or two pompous anglers who fish the river. We said our farewells, and I went to the next destination.

At the next stop, a very good-looking brown aggressively took a Rainbow Warrior. It had a translucent dorsal and fully formed pectoral fins. Are there wild browns south of Bondsville?

I headed further south. And, there were quite a few brook trout and some rainbows, but, they required work. I fished a lot of water, some of it new to me. Many runs seemed devoid of fish. With the river low-ish, they were in the deeper sections with broken water and required much walking to find them.

The further downriver I went, the more I saw brookies starting to stage for their autumn spawn. The JT Special continued to dupe them. The Rainbow Warrior also took a toll. I didn’t have to change flies much.

At Bondsville and below, I was the only angler.

In the end, it was a double-digit outing. 15, maybe? Lost a few, but not too many. A beautiful day.

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13 thoughts on “A Tailwater Outing

  1. I was at the Swift on Thursday and noticed a cream colored Mayfly around size 12 coming off the water just before dusk. Any idea what it was?

    1. Could be a Cream Cahill. They are on the Swift through Sept. I’ve never seen the White Fly on the Swift. This is late for either, but my guess is Cream Cahill.

  2. That very well could be it. I was catching fish on the surface with a parachute Adams. Wrong color fly but it worked pretty well.

  3. The Swift is a real gem. I am glad you had a good day and made the most of it. Beautiful brookies and rainbows. The DFW put in some real beautiful rainbows this year. I haven’t caught many lately, but those I have gotten lucky with are in the 16″ to 18″ range and very broad and fight like there’s no tomorrow. Very few browns caught this year compared to last.

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