A few weeks ago, Ashu posted on the blog that he would try to fish the Deerfield on Memorial Day. I asked him if I could tag along, and he was kind enough to let me.
So, we had a mini-blog writers’ outing.
Action was very slow for me early in the day. The water was 50 °F, and it was cold the day before. Did that slow down the fish? Last time, on a warm day, it was lights out. This morning, I had to work pretty hard, and, at one point, was one-for-three after hours of work.
Thankfully, the activity picked up at noon, and we went down-river to a spot that had water at 60 °F. That changed everything. The fish were more available, the air warmed up a tick, and we saw many bugs buzzing around.
The big news is that I finally caught my first Deerfield brown trout.
It didn’t look fresh off the hatchery truck, but I’m fine if it was. I landed quite a few rainbows (some really chunky ones, too) and another brown, in what ended up being a double-digit day.
I’m not sure why it is, but some of the Deerfield trout fought like crazy. Maybe there’s something in the water?
It was serendipitous, and I ran into Richie Malloy. He was one of the guys who took me to the Deerfield for the first time, last January. Check out his Instagram. He’s a hunter, incredible cook and an angler on both fresh and salt.
Ashu and I also ran into Mike Vito of the Deerfield TU chapter. I’ve emailed with Mike, and he is such a great guy. They’re doing great stuff for conservation.
No magic fly today. I think it was all about the drift and being at the right place at the right time.
Hope you all are having a great Memorial Day. Thank you to all of our troops!
Great seeing you and Ashu this morning, Jo. There was a GREAT tan caddis hatch at the Bridge to Nowhere this afternoon. Felt like I was in a National Geographic episode as the bugs were so thick and the water was churning with hungry trout! Hope to see you both again soon. Tight Lines.
Mike Vito, VP
Deerfield River Watershed TU
So great to meet, Mike!
Note to self for the single fly tournament on 6/1/19 to 6/2/19 this year….maybe I’ll visit the BTN in the afternoon with some Tan Caddis!?
Nice to meet you too Mike! I’m sure our paths will cross again in the near future
Were you fishing during a release or at low levels, i.e. 130cfs? I know a few places to fish at 130cfs, but I’m clueless as to where to fish during a release of 800cfs or more.
Yes, at those flows. I fish the same stretches. The fish are located in slightly different areas, but they’ve been there. Low flows do require different tactics: cast from the bank whenever possible, wade slowly and carefully, lighter flies and smaller flies, and avoid plastic indicators if possible.
During low flows, I tend to concentrate on faster water since strikes are fast and the fish have less time to decide. They also feel a lot safer since they are tough to spot even in surprisingly shallow water. Fish do hold in slow backwaters, but they are super difficult to stalk especially since ripples tend to carry even when approaching from downstream.