It’s been quite a while since my last post. Life has been a whirlwind of a time since tying the knot, honeymooning, and switching jobs.
That said, I’ve still been making time to fish and tie flies whenever I can. Most of the fishing has been on a schedule, and that has led me to the Swift River more often than not (our detailed river overviews here, here and here; a Swift winter how-to here).
My wife has shown more of an interest in fly fishing as well, and the Swift has been a great place for her to develop and become confident in some of her skills. The proof is in the pudding!
I’ve fished the Swift a number of times over the past few weeks. Putting in time above and below Route 9, before and after the stocking. This is usually the time of year when you see brookies pushing up for their spawn.
What is odd, and has been confirmed by a number of Swift regulars (including one of the guides, who I ran into and chatted with pretty extensively last week) is that there are very few brookies to be found. Hopefully, they will make their push upstream in the near future. When they do, please mind the redds and don’t put pressure on spawning fish.
Flies and tactics have been the usual fare. Scuds (sizes 14 to 20), soft hackles (sizes 14 to 20), and midge imitations (sizes 18 to 30) have been productive for me. That said, midge imitations have been most productive by far. I’ve found a lot of success with varying up the colors a bit. Mixing in purple, olive, and gray midges into the arsenal has fooled a number of fish.
The biggest challenge to date has been navigating crowds. The Y Pool lot is averaging around 12 to 14 cars, and the Hatchery and Cady Lane are no exception.
People are generally nice and respectful, but we’ve definitely seen examples of folks who are not. I had a particularly unpleasant run-in with some young anglers who hijacked my spot and stood in my run when I took a two-minute break to see a man about a horse.
Returned to my spot and they were standing in the run that they’d watched me fish for the past 10 minutes. Generally don’t have issues like this, but be prepared to deal with crowds if you’re fishing a decent day on the weekends.
There are plenty of fish to be caught but if you seek solitude, you won’t find it at the Swift unless you’re fishing it at night! Be careful if you do night-fish it, and I would strongly encourage you to go with a friend or two, if you do.
My last solo night trip up there I had a bear encounter. Fella was pretty curious and kept coming closer every time I scared him off. I’ve heard other regulars note that this is relatively common, so just take caution.
Overall, it’s been a good experience and I hope to run into some readers there in the near future. If anyone has questions, please feel free to reach out via Instagram (@broker_on_the_fly), and I’ll help however I can.
Great post! You’re an amazing angler and certainly have figured out the Swift River!
Thanks for the informative post, as usual.
Not that anyone should let their guard down, but a week or two ago they had to euthanize a big black bear near Cady Lane:
https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/hampshire-county/480lb-black-bear-euthanized-in-ware/1500175516?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_WWLP-22News
We would have been better served if they euthanized the fishermen who are so ignorant of fishing manners as to stomp around in other people’s water. I had a similar experience last week at the Swift. I was fishing above the Y pool, fishing downstream into a lie and a great gulump fishing upstream walked right into my pool. I restrained myself from getting into a fist fight, packed up and went home and caught some stripers in Sippican Harbor. The yahoos are thick on the Swift, I am sure they all have Trump stickers on their trucks.
Indeed frustrating when another angler intrudes into one’s fishing zone. Hard to say what, if any, bumper stickers were on their trucks. A nitwit is a nitwit regardless of political leanings. Hang in there.
Alex, great post! I was out on Sunday and of all things I got caught in a mini hatch of bwo’s and caught 2 big rainbows on top. 1 was on a size 14 light olive winged adams type thing and the other size 16 parachute! imagine that on the Swift. It took forever to focus on a riser, but they are able to be fooled eventually. If you ever want company on the Swift, hit me up!
The brookies are defitnetley hanging up at the y pool caught the better part of a dozen and lost half that towards the pump house. It’s cold now but the fish are there you can even manage a grand slam if you are skilled and lucky