Yeah, above the route 9 bridge is fly fishing only and catch and release. Below the bridge there is another section that is catch and release only for a certain portion of the year. After Cady Lane, down in Bondsville you can keep up to the daily limit. And you are correct, the huge browns are becoming a more frequent occurrence but they are darn near impossible to land. The water is gin clear so most guys are using like 2-4lb line on both spin and fly tackle so if they get hooked they usually break you off. I've seen trout in there exceeding 15lbs and I think they shocked one that was about 18lbs last year (or in that ballpark).
Cecil, if you want to keep up to date on the state of the swift fishery, this guide provides pretty frequent updates. He can get a little preachy but the blog is very informative.https://millersriverflyfishingforum.blogspot.com/
I've fished with him before. Good dude. And reasonable rates if you want someone to show you around. Last year I did an offseason (early Nov) trip with him on the Millers for a half-day and I think it was $100. Well worth the money to learn a good number of spots on that river.
He's a good dude if you do exactly what he does and nothing else. The guy hates literally everything from spin fisherman to kayakers to other blogs. I attempted to have a civil dialogue with him on multiple topics that he was flat out wrong about and he didn't even allow my comments to post. Spreading misinformation to hundreds of people and only allowing comments that agree with you is actually quite dangerous. That being said he is a good writer and very knowledgeable and I appreciate his river reports, just wish he'd keep the negativity and poorly thought out opinions to himself.
Yes he's very preachy. If you don't fish a weightless fly on a floating line your a sinner. If you can sift through his biases you can learn a good amount of information.