Fly Fishing
Massachusetts
So how many of you guys fly fish? I used to tie tons of flies during my college days, and I fished the streams around Holden pretty hard. I remember bringing my catch back to college and cooking it up in the community kitchen. Man, I got some weird looks. Then I got into saltwater fishing for stripers. Probably almost thirty years since I fished streams, but I am getting the bug again. Stopped by Cote's in Leceister today and picked up some materials. I can't believe they are still around.
I am looking forward to hunting some of the streams again. I can still picture almost all the spots I used to fish. Pete
Love fly fishing!! My parents were both from Newfoundland . Every summer until I was 14 we used to go back for two weeks to visit . My dad lived to salmon fish . I caught my first salmon and lost another when I was 12. Nothing compares to a salmon on a fly rod.
Yes Bye I love to flyfish as well caught my first atlantic salmon on the Lomond river . My dad was from Newfoundland as well a guess the hunting anf fishing is breed into us .
No way me son !! That was my dad's favorite river. I caught mine in my mom's home town Trout River. Where was your dad from?
Crazy that BH3138 and SH have history on the same water - very cool!
I may enjoy fly fishing even more than bowhunting... It's close, and in the fall the bow and deer win... But the rest of the year... The fly may have it.
Started fly fishing in 3rd grade and fly tying in 4th. Did some commercial tying in high school and really enjoy it.
I have to many dang passions :)
We are going to need to do a Bowsite Fly Fishing trip this spring. Anyone up for an evening on the Millers come May? :)
I enjoy the challenge of it like archery compared to guns. Don’t do it as much as I like to. My family’s from New Brunswick and grandfather was known to skip work an fish mirimichi often. I visited the hatchery there a few yrs ago but didn’t mend a line. I will someday. As a kid I heard a many Newfie jokes. As an adult I’d love to visit their. Small world...
I have never fished the Miller's. I would love a tour.
Will, I used to hike into the woods in Holden, following small streams and fly fishing for six inch long natives. I would stick the top half of my 5 weight into a handle/reel seat that I glued a dowel into. Crawled on my hands and knees to get those little guys.
Spent a lot of time on Chaffins Pond in Holden as well going after big bluegills with little nymphs. BTW, I plan to be there tomorrow, but I will be using tilts. I am on the hunt for perch.
Git er done Pete - fry up some fillets!
There are some awesome wild trout streams in that area... My favorite though is in the town west of you. Its so small, most people think it couldnt have anything but frogs and salamanders in it... But it's LOADED with 5-10" wild brookies. The doe I shot this year actually was within 100yds of it, which was really cool. We are fortunate to live in an area with so much good water and woods.
The Millers is awesome. I wrestle with when it's most fun... April-May-Early June Trout like nuts... June early Sept... Trout early and late or at night, and smallies out the ying yang. Not big, mostly 8-12"... But they annihilate deer hair bugs, gurglers, streamers and just about anything you toss... super fun. It's "any man" fly fishing. You dont have to be a wizard with line control, or toss a gorgeous double haul or single hand spey cast... Just get your fly out and hold on. FUN!!!
love to fly fish. I am sort of a in wader's hiker if you will, I love to get away from the roads and crowds, that's how I find most of my deer hunting spots. When you find your self soaked in sweat two miles from the truck following a deer run in your waders you know you have a problem, a good Problem!
Have a bunch of rods and flies etc. but got too busy to fish last year. Fixing the time thing this year - retiring! Haven't been to the Deerfield in several years, need to get back up there. There's a certain run that really comes alive at dusk...
Closer by, I'm near the Quabog, and work right next to the Swift. (The lower parts are over-looked by the folks who crowd the C&R stretch.)
Plan to hit a few ponds also.
TO BOWHUNT just waking up my son I can walk but I can't run this morning . I know TROUT RIVER been there small fishing village good seafood restaurant there got some kaplin and beer .My dad was from Curling relatives around the CORNERBROOK area .MY cousin has a camp on the Humber river not far from deer lake we should go for a beer sometime can talk about the great place of Royal Newfoundland .
Swamphunter that's crazy. My dad's from Curling too. I have a bunch of relatives in Cornerbrook and I have a cousin who has a camp on the Humber. Small world. I'll DM you later with my phone number.
That is truly crazy I thought I was the only one down here .
It has been thirty years since I tied trout flies. Not pretty, but it is a start. Trying to get some midges tied up so I can hit the Swift in a week or so with a friend. Not sure how I am going to thread a tippet through these things, never mind tie the knot. My eyes are not what they used to be. Pete
Awesome Pete! Those zebra's will catch, as will the leech, brassie and pupa.
Getting ready for small stream, wild trout time...
I like that fly Will. Even I may be able to tie that one up.
Pete - Spiders are super simple. Fish em dead drift in the film, swing them, dangle them, they work great many ways. Olive, Yellow, Orange and Black are really good. This one is an 18, but 10-20 are good sizes, with 14 being my overall favorite.
Grew up fly fishing and tying flies my whole life. Just havent done it in years. Miss it terribly. Was lucky enough to go to Alaska with my dad and brother years ago, on a trip of a lifetime fishing along side of grizzlies. Got some amazing pics vids and memories before my dad passed. Keep saying i want to get back into it.
Taxman I'm sure your dad would also like that.. sounds like your trip was a blast!!!
Taz - that sounds absolutely amazing. I'm not big on destination trips... But, if I could do a few, you have 2 of them down - Elk bowhunt and AK fly fishing. I'd like Labrador brookie fishing (catching 4-8# brookies for days would be, well... Frigging awesome!) and Iceland to fly fish for sea run trout, char and salmon... Though on that one I may pack a mountain bike too.
Sounds like we need a Bowsite fly fishing get together to augment the Saddle Outing :)
I am off to the Swift River in about two hours to try out my new tiny flies. Last time I was there I was dating my wife. I have been married twenty nine years. I will be using the same fly rod, reel, and line.
To further complicate people's fly fishing bucket lists - Everglades backcountry for Tarpon is one everyone should add. Sight fishing to 100lb+ laid-up fish in 3 feet of water is about the most challenging, but fun fly fishing experience I've had. It's the closest thing to spot and stalk archery hunting you can get, except that the real work starts once you actually stick something in your target...
Like a few of you, I started with trout in the western part of the state and up in NH and VT. Then moved to stripers from shore, then kayak, then boat. Now I seem to be reversing the process - I only took my boat out once last year, and I've started doing little trips to wild brookie streams in the whites.
Heres a shot of me battling a 8 or 9 lb rainbow with mommy and her 2 cubs on the shore
Cool shot of a mom and her 3 cubs. Just such an incredible trip flying out everyday to somewhere remote
Another shot of the cubs standing on their hind legs watching as mommy attacks a boar that was hiding on the banks. Just incredible
Taz that’s awesome and a high on my bucket list. The 3 cubs are like students moms school of the wild.
Was restocking my woolly bugger selection and had a stroke of genius. A simplified Kreelex fly. This is a "guide" fly all the way, literally about 1.5 minutes per fly! And when those stocked trout are lusting for spinners and flash... swinging this little guy ought to produce. Thought you fly folks may like it: #12 3xl hook Brass bead with 5 or 6 tungsten wraps. Kreelex in gold for the tail. Flashabou or Krystal flash probably work too. Gold ice dub spun in a dubbing loop for a body and wing, which is then well roughed and brushed with velcro. Super simple. Fast. Easy tie... looking forward to messing with it on the water!
Nice job will. I sometimes laugh when I look in my fly boxes at a hundred different patterns and realize I use the same half dozen 90 percent of the time. I tell myself I might need them someday.
Stillhunter - sooooo true! My favorite fly box, is my small stream box. It's about the size of a cigarette box - 2 sided. I have to go back through it, I'm pretty sure it's getting a bit unruly. But with that little space, it literally is about 4 streamers / flymphs that I use and a similar number of drys. Those little wild fish are far less picky than their big river family.
Love the simplicity of small streams... small box of flies, a hair of extra tippet, floatant, heamostats and nippers and I'm off. THAT, feels good...
I should do the same. I am more of a carry the kitchen sink kind of guy. Thou I very rarely need it. I like to hike out to some tough to get at pools. When you get far from the truck I hate the idea of wanting something and not having it.
