I fished the Deerfield on Saturday. Since I slept in after a late night, it was a fairly short trip. Still, I was able to make the most of it. We had a slurry of action right away. I got into a nice brown and Pete broke off two big bows. After that, the action slowed way down. We cherry picked the best looking water and only had a handful of misses to show for it. However, towards the end of the day, the bite turned back on. In a span of 10 minutes, I went 2 of 3 with a sucker and a nice bow.
Even with the lack of action, my impression of the Deerfield was favorable. There is plenty of good water to cover, some of it hard to access. In addition, there are many holdovers and even some wild fish. Pete and I fished in a fairly hard to access stretch, leading me to believe the fish we hooked were wild. Perfect fins and white tips. Also, most of the action was more towards the middle of the river. We didn’t have too much luck in seams near shore. This may be due more to fluctuating releases from upstream dams than anything else. The fish stay more towards the middle during low flows and move out once they release water. Since we got there two hours before the scheduled release, we didn’t want to risk it.
I also want to thank blog reader Ben Liang for pointing me in the right direction. Ben was setting up at a popular pullout when I ran into him. We chatted for a while and I explained that it was my first time at the river. Without hesitation, he told me about some good spots in the river. We need more anglers like Ben and that is the point of this blog.
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Great post! Have yet to fish the Deerfield as it doesn’t seem worth it given the flows and the long drive, but I will hit it one day.
Thanks Jo! You should try it sometime. There is a lot of water and potential for solitude. A lot of spots do get significant pressure as well. This is a good link for flows: http://www.deerfieldflyshop.com/
Many years ago the erratic flows caused me to give up on that river. Now, with some of the tightline techniques it might be worth another try even if I hit a release. Tough to give up a 30minute drive to the Farmie vs 75minutes to the Deerfield! Glad you made it out as the best days are closing out rapidly.
Thanks Steve! I think the flows vary greatly by season. In the spring and summer (or after heavy rain in Vermont), I think they play around in the flow. Before the rain, they had the flows dialed down to a proper schedule though. If you play it safe, then tightline nymphing will work regardless of flow
I am glad you connected on the Deerfield, Ashu. It has been many years since I have fished there, and I found it to be tough fishing at that time. The older I get I settle into a comfort zone of either the Swift 20 minutes away or occasional small streams nearby for natives. Years ago I was like you and loved to seek out different rivers to fish. Keep at it, young man.
Regards, Sam
Thanks Sam, I appreciate your kind words. I will definitely get out as much as I can over the next month or so and I hope to try some new water around Thanksgiving. Have you gotten out on the Swift lately? I heard that the brookies are on their redds now
Ashu, I have gotten out briefly the last two nights after work on the zone of the river I fish, but have not seen any redds, but believe the brookies to be on them wherever they might be. I know I have not hooked any brookies for a couple of weeks now so I believe they are in parts unknown to me tending to their fall ritual.
The DFW stocked rainbows in October, but I have been unable to connect with any of those either. In fact, fishing was better for me before stocking took place! Prior to stocking, there were several nice fish that I could count on to be rising in their usual zones, but have not seen that kind of activity in several weeks now.
One was a very nice brown that would rise periodically underneath an overhanging tree branch which I hooked briefly on an emerger tethered below a Wulff style dry fly. It rolled over on its broad side and I could clearly see it was a brown. He has not been around lately either.
Regards, Sam