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Living in Upstate NY these past two weeks, we were blessed with unseasonably pleasant weather.  This mid-winter temperature break afforded  decent winter angling conditions.  Now that colder weather has returned and there is snow on tap, it’s nice to enjoy quality fly tying time.

The past year, I started to heighten my tying and fishing of streamers.  I’ll always love the dry fly, technical nymphing, summer terrestrials, and all things saltwater.  That said, there is  something alluringly attractive to throwing meaty streamers for piscatorial predators.  Streamers bring out the brute in fish.  Streamers are fish finders.  As good, streamers are fun to tie.  I like to tie batches of streamers.  Multi-use, mixed color streamers that I can use for salmon and steelhead, bass and pike, as well as our stream trout.  Olives and browns are the predominant colors and each streamer has plenty of movement.  Some of the new spandex, wiggly dubbings are great additions to streamers. I’m also using more ostrich plumes over maribou.   Most are weighted, some are tied without weight.  I refill my different fly boxes and set aside a dozen of my better flies for donations to Angler’s Workshop (March 20th @ Brighton Twelve Corners Middle School), Trout Unlimited or Upstate Fly Fishers.  Completing each streamer and restocking fly boxes is a hopeful process.  As fisherman we are optimistic.  Perhaps one of these streamers I’m working on will help me in a rematch with that  monster Oatka brown that escaped me this past Fall?  Hope springs eternal and happy streamer tying.

The pleasant break in wintry weather motivated me to make the drive and fish the Salmon River for steelhead.  I had the day off and liked the forecast of mid-thirties for Pulaski.   I convinced Will F to join me and we splurged, bringing along  local guide Jay Peck http://www.jaypeckguides.com/main/.   Jay recently fished the Upper Fly Zone on the Salmon River with considerable success and we liked our odds.  It had been too many years since I last fished w/ Jay and it never hurts to draw upon the expertise of a guide with plenty of water knowledge.  Besides, Jay is an affable, patient guide and he maintains an informative website for trout and tributary anglers.

The nearly two hour drive seemed shorter with good conversation and anticipation of the fishing adventure.  We decided to fish the Lower Fly Zone and were geared up by 9 am.  As it was MLK Day, plenty of fellow anglers shared similar expectations.  We located a nice stretch of deep water and started nymphing with dark stone imitations.  We fished a 12′ leader with an indicator and concentrated on the softer, deeper, slower water.  Before too long, I noticed my indicator dart upstream and promptly missed my first fish of the day.  The takes were surprisingly soft and we missed plenty of hook ups.  Comfortably layered up and fishing with patience, we concentrated on a deep pool that  held multiple fish.  We lost plenty of flies on rocks and Jay enthusiastically changed patterns every twenty minutes or so.  These fish sure get pressured and have seen their share of flies.  Over the next six or so hours, we must have hooked 12 to 15 steelhead, losing the majority of fish after a brief run or an escape downstream into the faster current.  A few nice fish were brought to net, including a scrappy 3lb holdover brown that Will landed.  Most fish were lost, as the hook pulled or we lost a fish downstream in the faster current.  It’s not wise, nor warm to stumble around boulders and fall into the chilly river after an errant steelie.  We couldn’t see the fish due to the heavy current and deeper water.  Freakishly, I foul hooked two respectable fish (30″ to 32″) within ten minutes and then lost a third minutes later.  No matter how pretty the fish, it’s not right to take a picture of a foul hooked fish.  I didn’t get many decent fish pics, but we hooked plenty of fish and overall it was a very pleasant winter fishing trip with friends.  As much as I like our local waters, it’s tough to find a better concentration of steelhead than the Salmon River.   Contact Jay if you want help dancing with steelhead on any of our tributaries and stay warm!

The gentle warming trend of upper thirties convinced me to leave the fly tying bench and head out to Oak Orchard River.  It was a pleasant, mostly sunny afternoon and no gloves were needed during fishing.  It’s always a winter treat to fish without gloves, as well as not worry about iced guides.  There were only two other cars in the parking lot and I had several hundred yards of river to myself.  I broke out my two-handed 8wt and opted to slowly drift and swing streamers.  The water was crystal clear and flowing around 300 cfs.  Nobody liked my white zonker, nor a brown bugger.  Covering plenty of water, I changed to a # 6 dark olive bugger and within a few casts, hooked a 3-4 lb brown.  I carelessly lost the brown as it got closer.   Nonetheless, I enjoyed a good look at it and was glad to hook a fish on this January day.  After that, with determination I bounced my fly on the bottom, covered plenty of water.  My effort  didn’t produce another strike.  Overall, a nice day winter day to get outside.  The highlight of this trip was watching a beautiful pair of trumpeter swans feed and patrol a close stretch of water.

I’m not sure how many fish were in the section I fished, but Jay Peck and Carl Coleman later confirmed that “the Oak” had been stingy recently.  With all the smaller creeks iced up, your best bet these days is on this river, the Genny, lower Irondequoit, Salmon River or any of the other decent sized tribs with moving water.  The slightly warmer temperatures the next few days might likely help in your quest for a winter steelhead or holdover brown.  Remember to layer up and keep that fly close to the bottom and moving slowly!