IT'S TIME TO ROCK!

April 30, 2004 - I had a chance to converse with a few of the local snoops and despite the poor water conditions plaguing many of the area's major watersheds, the fishing has been quite satisfactory. FFF casting guru, Dave Benoit, visited his camp on the Deerfield recently and abducted a handful of stout rainbows while combating somewhat liberal water releases. He reports that insect activity was absent leading him to adjust his tactics to accommodate the sluggish residents. Dave's ammo of choice was the deadly Heron fly, a fly that I have enjoyed much success with in past years.

Sterling resident, Randy Schmidt sought relief from the area's high water by perusing a smallish brook located on the west boundary of Quabbin Reservoir. Now we don't want to disclose any secrets (we'd have to kill you) but it resides only a double haul from the Swift's west branch off Rt. 202. The system was laden with native brookies in the 4-6" class, which came with relative ease to the fly.

The Willimantic River in Connecticut had just come into it's own previous to the latest rain event and anglers were enjoying the initial Hendrickson-Red Quill hatch of the season. Look for moderating water conditions to increase the insect activity, and barring any monumental precipitation, the river should be in great shape in a few days.

While we're patiently waiting for the flood to recede, has anyone entertained the notion of prospecting one of Cape Cod's kettle ponds? To quote one of the area's frequent visitors after a midweek sojourn, "it's like it was 25 years ago." Trout devotee's Len Renauld and Charlie Peters returned from a recent outing to Nickerson State Park in Brewster where they snared all four species of stocked fish (tiger trout in the mix). Since neither angler measures a day's success or failure in terms of numbers a lengthy conversation (and some arm-twisting) yielded the fact that their total catch was in the vicinity of 50 fish! Our commendation of the week goes to Renauld for his 20+ inch brown trout that he assumed was a holdover from a previous stocking.

HERE'S THE DRILL
FAQ:

DO I NEED A BOAT? No!

WHAT SIZE TACKLE? 9' 5 or 6 weight should do the trick.

WHAT ABOUT LINES? You will need a floater (in case of a diptera hatch) and an aggressive, all sinking or 10' sink-tip type 6.

AND FLIES? Heavily weighted (8-10) olive, black or peacock wooly buggers when prospecting, and a selection of midge adult and emerger (18-20) patterns should you encounter a hatch. Also consider smaller quilled wet flies which can be a delight to fish when the opportunity presents itself.
Since many of these ponds can be circumvented in a mornings fishing the key to success when prospecting is to stay on the move until you locate your quarry. Recently stocked fish tend to be very social and will often times remain stagnant in ample numbers seeking a comfortable habitat to reside. This is particularly true during the early season before water temps have the opportunity to moderate.

THE PONDS? Some of our favorites remain… Crystal in Orleans, Big Cliff, Flax and Little Cliff in Brewster, Schoolhouse in Chatham, Goose in Harwich and Scargo in Dennis.

If you would like specific information regarding the Cape's freshwater opportunities please don't hesitate to contact Jim Bender at 508.752.4004 or email jbender@gis.net.

Good fishing and safe wading,
JB