THE BLACKIE HEATS UP June 11, 2005 - Lower Forty customer, Tom Daniels recently filed this report on the fishing opportunities that are available on the Blackstone River in the Albion section of Rhode Island… "The Blackstone River in the Ashton section of Lincoln/Cumberland, RI is fishing at its peak. Caddis in brown, gray, tan and emergers and pupa in the same colors are taking BIG fish. The best time to be on the river is 6-9PM as we are finding steadily rising fish most every evening. There are some blue wing olives mixed in along with a few sulphurs. Art Hansen, a river regular, took several large browns on a "usual" in subtle yellow/orange color and on a soft hackle gray trimmed to float in the film as a cripple or rising emerger. I expect the sulphur hatch to become prolific in the next week or so. The water level is now perfect, but keep in mind a few days of rain can affect the levels dramatically. SEE http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=01112500. When the discharge is above 900 cfs, the river is difficult to wade and fish. We are in prime time now for the month of June. Browns and rainbows average 14" and up. Many are holdovers from the fall stockings. I saw one of our river regulars land a 3 lb. brown around 20" on a caddis on top just recently. This river is full of big fish and they are on top! At first glance, the 2/3mile stretch of prime water can look intimidating to anyone unfamiliar with the river. In fact the wading is easy, and there are several prime areas that are holding the biggest rising fish. As the water warms, which will likely end fishing in early July, the trout move to different sections of the river. Local knowledge is a key on the Blackstone." "Dr. Dave Reale who drives here from NH weekly calls it "the closest thing to western big river fishing" in the area." "I recently introduced Ken and son Dylan, good customers of The Lower Forty, to the river and had them on rising fish in minutes early one evening. Unfortunately they had to leave early and at about 7:30. I had rising fish without moving 10 yards for the rest of the daylight!" "I did read of the MA DEP recently permitting the City of Worcester to reopen a landfill for dumping of "semi-toxic waste" in close proximity to the Blackstone in Worcester. While I don't have the full details, perhaps some of the regular report readers know of this development. After the strong efforts made in RI to reclaim this great river, it seems a shame to threaten what is becoming a terrific spring trout fishery. Email me at tdaniels@dlt.state.ri.us and I'd be happy to provide more info on how, when and where...on the Blackstone River, still a well kept secret!" Good fishing and safe
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