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The combination of increased sunlight, warmer temperatures and melting snow pushed water into our Lake Ontario Tributaries.  If you haven’t yet heard, steelhead fishing improved the past two weeks.  We could still use a soaking dose of rain, but fish are being caught in Eighteen Mile, Oak Orchard, Genesee, Sandy, Irondequoit, Mill Creek, Salmon Creek, Maxwell, Oswego, Salmon River and smaller tributaries.  Depending upon the size of the water, some may be chalky, high and difficult to fish.  Smaller tribs clear quickly and  may be just right.  By just right, I mean w/ decent visibility and enough discoloration to make the fish feel comfortable.  Just a slight push of new water this time of year brings in fresh chrome!

I couldn’t resist the bluebird sky and pleasant temperature that greeted us over the past few days.  Even more difficult, was the daily steelhead report and barrage of digital pics that two of my colleagues shared each morning.  The next afternoon I met Brian and Brian on the creek.  Conditions were near perfect on this smaller Lake Ontario Tributary.  The water was running high, slightly off color and there was still 15″ to 20″ of visibility.   I knotted an oversized brown bugger w/ a chartreuse head and added plenty of weight.  Chartreuse, oregon cheese, hot pink, fuscia and purple are all top steelhead egg patterns for slightly discolored water.  For a rod with small trib fishing, I’m using a 7wt, 10′ switch rod.  This light rod is easy to mend, roll cast, great at reaching tight spots and is a pleasure to fish.

My second plunge pool yielded two nice steelhead.  One darker colored 24″ female and a fresh, smaller, bright male. Leapfrogging upstream, we took turns at the best pools.  Over the next hour or so, I hooked another three fish.  One wrapped me around a brush pile that was too tricky to wade into.  Despite losing that darn fish, it graced us w/ several spectacular sommersalts before saying “adios”.  Another fish unbuttoned as it departed downstream.  Such are the antics of small creek fishing, especially with a solid flow of water.  I tend to fish alone and don’t carry a net for trib fishing.  For a change, it was nice to use the large net that my companions brought.  These two were drifting egg sacks w/ moderate success.  It never hurts to learn from spin fisherman or center pinners.  It was refreshing to watch Brian hook and land a steelhead from below a tiny, overhanging branch that I wouldn’t have bothered to fish.  That said, I think that my oversized chartreuse pattern really stood out in the water. In addition, the longer reach of a fly rod really helps me control and place the fly during a drift.   Losing visibility and needing to head home, we called it an afternoon.  Nice to fish w/ friends and get a sample of what’s on tap the next two months!

If you’re in town Saturday, March 20th,  join us for Angler’s Workshop. There are over 23 unique fly fishing events, workshops, seminars, casting, great raffle prizes, HD movies and more!  I’ll be presenting two workshops (Kayak Fly Fishing and Getting Started in Saltwater Fly Fishing).  Check the upper right hand corner of this Flyfishingchronicles for additional details regarding Angler’s Workshop.

The bluebird sky and temperature in the upper thirties convinced me to leave work early today for Oak Orchard River.  A friend of mine (Norm) was already fishing the river and he invited me to join him prospecting a popular run.  He was chucking a large chartreuse pattern to dredge up steelhead.  I opted to put on a sink tip and fish streamers, slowly on  the bottom.  I fished an 8′ section of T-14 and knotted a white zonker w/ a chartreuse bead head as a pattern.  I took the lower half of the pool and felt a familiar tug within ten minutes.  Soon, I victoriously hoisted a foot long horny head sucker out of the water.  Not exactly what I expected as both the sucker and I looked surprised.  Still, any fish in the winter beats a sharp stick in your eyes!

After some time I hiked upstream and crossed well above of the pool.  I wanted to fish the other side of this popular run and really plumb the trough of the pool.  After another thirty minutes, I felt a solid tug and enjoyed the fight of a hefty steelhead.  This fish was foul hooked and I barely admired the beauty, before a prompt release.  I continued to fish a variety of streamers (purple/white/olive) for another hour with no success.  I really enjoy fishing streamers, especially for active fish.  As nobody around us appeared to be hooking up, I couldn’t say that these fish were active in any way.  In fact, reports indicate that things were slow on Oak Orchard today.  Sometimes, bottom bouncing is your best bet, especially with lethargic fish.  Finally, I re-rigged and switched to a dark stonefly w/ a petite chartreuse head.  On my second cast, I hooked a nice 24″, well proportioned brown.  After the brown, I fished another hour and couldn’t buy a fish.  As much as I enjoy fishing streamers, I think that tiny, natural stonefly patterns might have been the most productive ticket today.  Overall, a beautiful day, nice to fish with a friend, swans keeping us company and a great way to start the weekend.

Saturday, March 6th, I’m presenting  (Kayak Fly Fishing and 1,000 Bass and Pike) and tying flies at the Fly Tying Symposium http://www.jprossflyrods.com/staff/ffaa/index.php in Utica.  This is a great event for kids, stop by if you are in the area!

I’d heard two very favorable reports recently on cooperative steelhead on Oak Orchard River.  If it weren’t a longer drive, I certainly  would prefer to fish there.  Oak Orchard and the Salmon River continue to be the most consistent steelhead waters in NYS this time of year.  It’s a personal angling irony that these two superb fisheries require a several hour commitment.  Not having time to drive West, I opted for a short afternoon trip to our local creek.

A pleasant light snow was falling and there were no anglers present in this lower stretch of Irondequoit Creek.  Will and I fished for an hour, without seeing or connecting with any fish.  I have a lot of confidence in my dark stonefly nymph w/ a tiny chartreuse bead head.  It is a consistent prospecting producer fly for winter steelhead.  Will fished a smaller sucker spawn imitation.  Nonetheless, it was beautiful to walk along the snow covered banks and get outside.  Next, we moved downstream to a tiny culvert hole that sometimes contains fish.  After repeated casts and catching every loose twig in the hole, we hiked downstream.  Will managed to spook a small, darker steelie in a riffle.  It promptly hid under an ice shelf and we never managed a cast to it.  Finally, we drove to Linear Park to check out the action.  We fished for another 3o minutes, then called it quits.  No strikes, no fish, plenty of icing up of our rods and line, but a pleasant day overall.  One center pin angler showed us a picture of a hefty, dark colored fish that he landed earlier in Lower Linear Park.  Otherwise, things seemed fairly slow.  We were also surprised by the wind gusts.  Today felt cooler than the anticipated  20 degree forecast.  Those pocket hand warmers sure are nice and it was a treat to get outside on this early February day.

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!

In the bleak midwinter

Frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron,

Water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow,

Snow on snow,

In the bleak midwinter,

Long ago.

These hauntingly beautiful Christmas lyrics from English Poet Christina Rossetti (1872) were on my mind as I approached an icy stretch of creek in search of late holdover browns and steelhead.  I’d previously walked three other tiny tributaries, scouting for fish.  I managed a creek chub at one, while catching a small rainbow at another.  Considering the recent rain and melted snow, this didn’t seem impressive.  I even checked out a hot spot culvert which in years past yielded fish.  As unimpressive, was the minimal change in water level.  Our creeks could still use a steady soaking.  It can be frustrating to cover hundreds of yards of water that may or may not contain fish, depending upon the right flow.  I’m ready to give up on one of my favorite Greece tributaries as the past two years have been very scarce w/ fish.

Still, we fish because we are hopeful.  Full of optimism and music, I arrived at my fourth creek and walked to a deeper hole.  An ice shelf covered 80% of the water and there was a 4′ open trough in the center.  I tied on a # 4 white zonker w/ a chartreuse bead head.  On my second drift under the edge of the ice shelf, a steelhead engulfed my streamer.  It was fun to watch the slash/take.  After a decent tussle and a quick picture on ice, I released the fish.  Shortly after, that same creek gave up a larger steelhead and a 29″ salmon in an another hole.

You could say we have entered the bleak midwinter.  No problem, there will still be fish out there to catch.  Target the warmer portion of the day, cover lots of promising water, fish the edge of the ice shelf, stalk your target carefully, slow down your presentation, look for fresh fish after the creeks rise, adjust to smaller tippet sizes, less weight and more natural/smaller egg or fly sizes and you will still be able to find fish.  I’ve put away my two handed rod on these smaller creeks and am happily fishing a 10′ 7wt.  The lighter rod allows for increased control and stealth in my presentation.  Enjoy this holiday season and good luck with your transition to winter angling.

We awoke this morning to fresh blanket of snow.  The forecast predicts more snow on tap.  Between the snowfall, rain during the day, and predicted snow, our creeks should receive a nice boost of water.  Many tributaries will be high and muddy over the next few days. When they settle, I predict there will be some fresh steelhead and hungry browns out there.  If you don’t mind the cold, get outside and make the transition to winter angling.  Fewer anglers, solitude, wintry beauty and a break from the pace of the upcoming holidays are all good reasons to fish in December.

It’s tough to find a more effective fly than egg patterns.  As much as I prefer swinging streamers w/ my two handed rod or presenting a realistic nymph, egg flies catch more fish for me during the bulk of the season.  The cold and snow present a great excuse to tie up some patterns or restock your fly box.  I’m experimenting more w/ various color combinations in smaller sizes.  It’s great how an 8lb lake fish can key in on fly smaller than a pea.  I prefer Fly Foam, but there are plenty of good synthetic fibers out there.  Here is a picture of my fly tying desk during egg time.  Happy fly tying and enjoy the season.

The sporadic rains we’ve experienced the past two days pushed a little water into our tributaries Thursday and Friday.  I decided to leave work early to check out two tiny tribs.  Even though they were only three miles apart, one was higher and more discolored.  I liked the tea colored water conditions of the heavier flowing creek and  started fishing a well-known, deep, wide hole below a drop off that held fish over the past month.  Many times, aggressive fish will hit on the first few casts.  After twenty minutes of no luck, I opted to hike downstream and scout.

I soon observed two large browns on a gravel bed.  Thirty feet below them were a smaller pair of lake run rainbows.  I’ll always target a greedy fall steelhead over a brown.  On my first decent drift, the larger steelhead sucked in my egg pattern.  After a few cartwheels and keeping it out of the brush, I snapped a quick photo.  The other steelie took after a few casts and I admired the great color on these precious fish.  Fun to spot them in shallow water and see their interception of a decent fly.  Egg sucking leeches sure hook their share of fish for me!  A good pair of eyes and polarized glasses sure help too.

With limited daylight left, I drove a few short miles to another creek and hiked directly to one hole.  My fourth cast yielded a 27″ steelhead that took off downstream.  That same hole soon gave up a decent brown and a smaller, 14″ steelhead.  Nice to catch three fish from one spot.  To cap off the day, I removed a trash bag from my fanny pack and picked up trash along the creek en route to my car.  I always keep a few plastic grocery bags in my gear bin and encourage others to pick up trash, especially on private land.  We’re seeing more posted water and a possible reason for prohibiting access is trash from anglers.  At one spot, I picked up a corn can, worm tin, beer bottles, lengths of mono, plastic jigs, etc.  We take so much from these waters, let’s protect them and all pitch in to keep them clean.

Finally, when I arrived at my car I observed a tan caddisfly on the back windshield.  It must have been a size #16 and it hopped around my car.  December and caddis are unusual.   We’ve been blessed with an unseasonably warm Fall and I found this little guy an ironic icon to help welcome Winter!

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to reflect upon and appreciate the many blessings that enrich our life.  We live in a beautiful region, in a free country and enjoy public access to numerous fisheries.  Upstate New York boasts a superb  fishery; lake run fish,  wild trout, warm water  fish and every variety of waterway from canal to creek to Finger Lake.  Based on the quality and diversity of our fisheries, you might say that NYS anglers enjoy Thanksgiving every day!

Mike and I were fortunate to receive a Thanksgiving blessing from our wives this morning and we snuck out for some pre-turkey angling.  We checked out a number of local spots, East of Rochester.  No surprise in the low water level, as we still need rain.  We saw a few fish at each spot and managed to stick several, but they sure were spooky.  Dropping down to 6 lb test and smaller egg/nymph patterns also improved our odds.  Playing with different colored egg patterns or various nymphs helped too.  At some spots, we would sneak up and stay low to the ground.  Other spots required a stealthy cast w/ no weight.  Several times, a simple cast would spook a pair of shallow water browns or the odd steelhead.  There are a few fresh browns slowly moving in, but most appear to be waiting for more water before actively spawning.  Several of the steelhead we witnessed already appear roughed up by their scuffles to obtain eggs from browns and salmon.   Of the three creeks we visited, only Irondequoit showed us a pair of live salmon, marginally hanging on in a shallow riffle.  My hunch is that there are plenty of browns in Lake Ontario still waiting for an increase in the stream flow.  Let’s hope we get some rain soon and I can’t wait to see how conditions change as we move into December.