Swift River Fly Fishing
On Saturday evening my friend David called to ask if I wanted to go fly fishing on Sunday morning. He didn’t have to ask twice! After a short conversation and a follow-up email and phone call, we made plans to meet at 5:15am and head to the Swift River of central MA. We had fished the Swift a few times before and found it to be challenging. The water there is crystal clear and ice cold. There are large Rainbow and Brown trout visible everywhere but they are highly educated to the ways of the fly fisherman! Some of the most wily trout I’ve ever encountered.
David picked my up at 5:20am and off we went. The sky was still dark and a light mist fell. By the time we got to the river, the sun was up. We had decided to fish the MA State Fish Hatchery section – called “The Pipe” rather than the famous (infamous?) “Y” Pool. We found the parking area, geared up and walked in. Several other fly fisherman were already in the water but a short hike downstream led to open water with quite a few large trout. We headed in to the water to begin our long dance with the trout. The sky cleared and the sun peeked out.
The fish were feisty! They were obviously sipping below the surface and occasionally jumped and cleared the water. None of the other fisherman were hooking anything but David hooked a trout shortly after we arrived – but it broke off. We tried drys – large and small, nymphs, midges and streamers. The fish just ignored everything we threw at them. After a little experimenting, I discovered that some of the fish got worked to a frenzy if I bobbed my “special fly” up and down as it neared the end of its drift. After a few hours I had hooked and lost 3 fish – including one that put up a great aerial display before breaking off. David hooked and lost 4. Only one of the other fisherman hooked a fish (and lost it) just as we were preparing to leave. It would have been fun to bring a Swift River Rainbow to hand but it was a great morning none the less. Shortly before we left, I took this underwater video of a large trout swimming.
See the full size (640 by 480) video here: Swift River Trout.