George Adams wrote:
Gary,

The Swift *was* running low until today, when Quabbin began to
overflow. It's still not bad....63 CFS is actually a good flow, but,
as is normal for the season, the river is full of leaves, twigs, pine
needles, and assorted other junk. Given that the Swift will likely be
the only fishable stream in New England this weekend, I expect it will
be a bit crowded. (even the "secret spot") I haven't fished it in a
couple of weeks, but I had two really good days just before the rains
started. If the weather improves, I'll give it a look over the
weekend, but if it's as crowded as I think it will be, I'll likely
pass on it. Maybe I'll see you there.

I had a report from Sunday that the water was higher than expected at the
Cold Spring bridge - my friends didn't want to wade it. I agree with what
George says about it being crowded on the weekend. The last time I was
there (first weekend of October, even saw George in the parking area) the
water was really low and there were 4 guys at the secret spot - and many
more fishing upstream from the Route 9 bridge. I would plan on going
further downstream, but you never know - people might hear rumors about the
water level and stay away. I would head to Cady Lane and start from there,
but if the parking area was crowded, I would bolt directly to B*ville (which
is rapidly becoming as crowded as the secret spot).

If you want to drive farther and the water levels come down (as they should)
I've heard that the Gorge was fishing well 2 weeks ago - of course, the
flood probably washed any fish down to Long Island Sound last week...
--
Stan Gula
http://gula.org/roffswaps