View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BlogFlyFish.com (@blogflyfish)

It was a 4 am wake-up call for me because I knew it would be a long drive to the Westfield River’s East Branch (our overview here). Thankfully the roads were vacant, and I made good time.

A dose of rain had swelled our New England rivers. But it seemed like a good weekend for fishing with cooler temps and fall foliage at long last here. It’s a great time of the year to be outside!

I met up with Joel Watson, and we plied our tightlining trade at some choice spots. The water was very high and so we targeted some of the soft seams. Joel managed two ‘bows, and I saw a very small but very pretty wild brook trout. We decided to decamp for the Swift River, where water flows were not so high and at which we at least could see the fish.

We threw streamers and some favorite patterns and saw some good fish that were colored up for autumn.

For fun, I fished with my new Diamondback Ideal Nymph rods, using both the 1-wt. and the 2-wt. I need some more sessions, but I can confidently say already that they’re amazing rods. Gear Review post in process.

I also had my 000-wt. ready at the Swift in case there were rises. There was none, unfortunately. Then, tragedy struck: at some point, I lost the rod tip and doubled back along the trails to find it. Amazingly, I crossed paths with an angler who later found it! (Many thanks, AJ!) A good ending, for sure.

Enjoy Indigenous People’s Day here in New England!