Any angler looking to take up fly fishing or brush up on basics may be interested in an upcoming fly fishing camp.  This June, I’m collaborating with Creative Themes Day Camp in Penfield to offer an eight session evening fly fishing camp.  Creative Themes Day Camp is an excellent location to offer this fly fishing camp.  There are a series of connected ponds with warm water species and a stocked trout portion of Irondequoit Creek.  In addition to the fishing possibilities, there is a covered pavilion to review gear, knots, insects, fly tying and more.

This hands-on fly fishing camp will be held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6pm to 8pm.  Campers will receive two helpful instructional handbooks.  In addition to instruction, plenty of practice fly tying, casting and fishing is built into the experience.  Each session showcases a specific fly fishing topic.  The draft outline of the camp includes:

Tuesday June 5:  Equipment and Casting Basics

Thursday June 7: Knots and Fishing Practice

Tuesday June 12:  Insects, Identification and Fly Tying

Thursday June 14:  Insects, Identification and Fly Tying

Tuesday June 19:  Reading the Water and Fishing Practice

Thursday June 21  Reading the Water and Fishing Practice

Tuesday June 26: Tributary, Warm Water and Saltwater

Thursday June 28:  Caring for our Waters, Fly Fishing Ethics and   Wrap Up

The cost is $130 and this experience is open to youth over 12 and adults.  Click here for registration and additional info.   Please feel free to pass along this camp information to any interested fly fisher.

When the hendrickson hatch is in full swing, there’s no river I’d rather fish than the West Branch of the Delaware.  The WBD is a bug factory.  This river provides a substantial emergence of hendricksons, along with other tasty insect species for trout.  Prolific hatches produce trophy trout.  Few rivers in the East rival the biomass of insects that are available on the West Branch.  Even fewer waters produce so many 18″ plus wild trout.  Still, it’s not a river without complications and a myriad of challenges for the angler.    The insects and fish are there, catching them is another matter!

To cap off Spring Break I managed an overnight trip to the West Branch of the Delaware.  I invited a wonderful father and son duo from church to join me.  They are eager fly fishers, having taken up the sport several years ago.  It was their first trip to the Upper Delaware River System.  We stayed at the West Branch Angler Resort  and spent a day and a half fishing the Lower East Branch, the West Branch Angler Resort water and the Special Regulations/Trophy water on the West Branch.  The father managed three quality fish nymphing riffles.  The son experienced success as he hooked a couple of nice fish using a Quill Gordon or his personally tied Antron Rusty Spinner.  He didn’t get them to net, but it was a positive start by reading the rise form, selecting the appropriate fly pattern, casting, mending, executing the drag free drift and picking up the slack line in time to hook the trout.  Just deceiving  these wild, wary fish to take in low, slow water conditions deserves recognition.  I’ve witnessed plenty of anglers experience less catching success on their first foray to the WBD.  Well done for a first time trip to  the Upper Delaware System!

I redeemed myself from my last trip to the WBD.  Experience and stealth sure help on this river.  Each day I landed several fish in the upper teens.  My largest was a measured 20″ brown trout that gobbled a Foam Shell Hair Wing Rusty Spinner, size # 16.  Even landing a few nice fish, it’s tough not to feel like the river has the upper hand right now.  It is highly challenging to catch them.  The bugs are there, but so is the incessant wind, the low flow and heightened selectivity and wariness of the WBD trout.  On Thursday, we saw minor white caps on the West Branch during the hendrickson hatch.  That shuts down 98% of the dry fly fishing.  Heavy wind gusts deter rising trout.  It’s tough to master dry fly fishing with 20 mph gusts.  Another complication is that the low flow rate of 270 cfs makes for exceptionally spooky trout.  A year ago when I fished the WBD it was flowing at 1,600 cfs (Like most anglers, I’m concerned about the low water, lack of rain and forecast for warmer temperatures).  Low water may bunch up trout and move them to particular stretches of river, but they are also more well sensitive to out of water threats.  Loud talking, foot steps, boots scraping or a minimal wake puts down feeding trout.  I didn’t see as many shallow bank feeders this trip.  Most times, they appeared to prefer the comfort of deeper water.  Another complication to catching these fish is the quantity of insects available.  Apple caddis, early black stoneflies, yellow stoneflies, blue quills, blue winged-olives and hendricksons are all on the menu.  You have to determine which insect and what stage of the hatch these fish prefer.  Couple the sheer number of insects on the water with gusty wind, inconsistent risers, low water and spooky trout, and you have a perfect angling scenario for technical, dry fly fishing.

If you fish you are an optimist.  That’s good, because you need a healthy dose of optimism to be successful during tough conditions on the West Branch.  There are angling tricks and strategies that you may employ to increase your hook up possibilities.  A few dry fly tactics for this technical tail water include:

• Avoid entering the water or wade even slower than a heron.  If you can cast to a fish from land, do it.  Keep your rod tip low, stay low and avoid lining the fish.  Even one extra false cast might alarm these fish.
• Wear drab, dull clothing.  Multiple times, we spooked fish merely by walking on the road above the river.  Bright colors, sudden movement or casting shadows can all be avoided.  During low water and with bright sun, these fish have a wide cone of vision to detect potential threats.
• Position yourself upstream and to the side of the fish.  This position allows you to make a fly first presentation, keeping the tippet above the fly.  You want the fish to see the fly first, not your leader.  I like to drop the fly 8′ to 10′ above the feeding fish, straighten/mend my drift so that the fly is lined up to drift directly into the fish, fly first.  As your fly drifts, purposefully point your rod tip at the water and gently shake out coils of line to feed and extend the drift.  If the fish doesn’t take, let your fly gently drift well beyond and then it will swing to the side.  Gently pick up or twitch/retrieve your fly, taking care not to spook or line the fish.
• Maintain patience, observe the fish and determine if it have a feeding pattern, what it is feeding on and when is the optimal moment to manage a presentation.  You may need to cast between the narrow window of calmness, when the wind doesn’t blow.  I like to cast to a feeding fish when the feeding ring is still visible.  The rings of the rise form may  reduce the fish’s cone of visibility.  The fish is also returning to a holding position before the next feed, so your cast has the potential to be less noticed.
• If you have placed 5 or 6 accurate, drift free casts on an actively feeding fish, change patterns.  Select a fly with a different profile, color variation, smaller/larger size, etc.  A larger pattern may be exactly what is needed to command the trout’s attention during a heavy hatch period.  Continue to study the rise form of the trout.  Or, simply seine the surface of the water to determine what insect/stage is being consumed.
• Go for that most active, aggressive fish.  Those are the ones that are more likely to inhale your offering.  If you are within casting distance of several feeding fish, opt for the most active of the bunch.  That fish is more likely to be a player and take your fly.
• Fish as long a leader as you may comfortably cast.  I’m already using a 16′ – 6x fluorocarbon leader.  If you have the good fortune to hook a fish, let it run.  Gently let the fish pull out any spare line and calmly fight the fish from the reel.  These are strong, acrobatic and heavy shouldered fish that will gradually wear down w/ consistent,  lateral rod pressure.

Finally, I wanted to share an ugly angling incident that I witnessed firsthand.  On Friday, I was one of three men fishing a 200 yard stretch of the Special Regulations Area.  Two fellow fly fishers approached from above and they were heading to a rocky gravel point, well below where anyone else was fishing.    Observing that these two men were heading to the rocky gravel point, the two fisherman near me, abruptly reeled in and noisily waded across and downstream the long pool.  They intended to cut the new arrivals off at the rocky gravel point, at the other side of the river.  These two rude wading anglers put down my fish, spooked all fish within several hundred yards and intentionally blocked out the new arriving fly fishers.   It was a boorish, inconsiderate, unethical angling act and I’m surprised that only a few minor words were exchanged.  We all love to fish and want to catch fish.  That’s not an excuse to ruin fishing for others or to purposefully cut off a fellow angler.  We can all do our part in sharing the resources, promoting ethical angling and maintaining the integrity of our beloved sport.  A little consideration and communication can go a long way.  If those aggressive wading anglers had of shared or held back, there likely would have been more rising trout for all parties to share.  Let’s continue to do our part to promote good will and friendship among anglers!

On Good Friday a friend and I fished the Upper Delaware River System.  The conditions weren’t ideal, but it was our only chance to fish.  We decided to make the lengthy car trip, despite an unfavorable forecast.  There was a heavy frost the previous night and it took hours for things to warm up.  The high temperature for the day barely reached fifty.  There was also a steady stream of wind, with gusts up to 25 mph.  Finally, the water was super low on the West Branch, flowing around 280 cfs.  So why would we make this multiple hour trip with poor conditions?  In a word, bugs.  The mayflies still hatched and trout found ways to feed on them.

Figuring that there wouldn’t be much surface action until late morning (when the air temperature warmed up sufficiently), we selected a spot on the Lower East Branch to nymph.  It was 37 degrees when we started nymphing.  Within his first five casts, my friend hooked a hot rainbow that raced downstream.  He lost it after a minute, but it was a promising start.  Within another ten minutes, he landed a foul-hooked rainbow.  At least they were interested.  Over the next hour plus, he fairly landed another 15″ rainbow that put forth an admirable fight.  Those Delaware System rainbows sure are fighters.  I struck out nymphing this gorgeous pocket water.  There was a rare splashy caddis rise or two, but nothing consistent.  The only consistent aspect was the growing gusts of wind and the chill we felt wading deep across this run.  Even with thermals underneath, I felt cold after a few minutes of deep wading.

It was nearing noon and we decided to leave the East Branch to prospect the Upper West Branch.  We selected a stretch in the Trophy Regulations Area.  We had the entire pool to ourselves.  In years of fishing this stretch, I’ve never witnessed it so low nor seen the rocky gravel bars as exposed.  For an hour and a half, we looked, observed and hoped for bugs or rising fish.  Again, the only thing steady was the wind.  We decided to bail out before 2 pm and drove downstream towards the PA Gamelands.  The Upper and Lower Gamelands appeared to be happening places, as there were half a dozen cars parked in each lot.  If you fished the Oatka recently and counted the 22 angler cars present, those 6 cars might not seem like much.  Still, we wanted more space and drove to the lower river, aiming to find fewer anglers.  We ended up below Balls Eddy and enjoyed a 300 yard stretch of river to ourselves.  Around 2:30 pm, flotillas of blue quills started to appear.  They were soon joined by decent numbers of hendricksons.  This was what we drove for.  Except, there weren’t surface feeders.  We waited, observed, walked and never saw consistent risers.  The wind picked up some more.

We knew that all these mayflies were floating downstream.  So, we drove another 2 miles downstream.  It was out best decision of the day.  We found a lower river spot with a few anglers, but plenty of space to spread out.  Around 3:30, blue quills heavily emerged, along with some hendricksons.  It was windy, but there were a couple of current seams out of the wind that trout managed to feed.  Our newest problem was the selectivity of the trout.  There were so many darn blue quills on the water that your fly was hugely outnumbered.  I missed two and managed to land a strong 11″ rainbow.  It appeared that they were feeding on blue quill cripples or emergers, along with the sporadic hendrickson.

Fellow anglers wrapped it up around 6pm and we had a large stretch of water to ourselves.  I started scouting behind series of boulders that provided shelter from the wind.  If the wind didn’t blow to heavily, there were some snouts gulping the significant biomass of bugs floating in the film.  They were also exceptionally selective and easily spooked.  Loud talking put them down, heavy footsteps put them down, gentle wading put them down and any poor presentation spooked them out of the shallow water.  In many instances, I was only afforded one or two drifts, before spooking a fish.  Even attempting to time a feeding fish and employing a 16′ 6x flourocarbon leader, I managed to botch fish after fish.  It’s rare that I don’t stick fish on my rusty spinner patterns.  I called my friend over and he managed to easily hook and land a nice 19″ brown that was feeding out from the bank, away from the back eddy/not near boulders.  Sometimes it’s all about being in the right place at the right time.  I’m glad that he got one, because those guys sure got the best of me.  Still, it’s always a pleasure to sight fish to large snouts and to enjoy a major hatch.  The Delaware System is a bug factory for a reason.  If you go, bring your A+ Angling Game and hope that the wind blows less.  As for me, I can’t wait for my next trip to the West Branch.  I’ve got some angling redemption on my mind…

Come check out the April 4th Meeting of Upstate Fly Fishers!   JP Ross of JP Ross Fly Rods in Utica will be doing a presentation on his Trout Power program.  J.P. is promoting West Canada Creek, it’s trout and the surrounding area and businesses.  Trout Power is about growing commerce, community spirit, and industry around the conservation of trout.  If you haven’t yet met JP, you will enjoy learning about West Canada Creek, Trout Power and the JP Ross line of products.  JP is a positive angling force in New York State and is as passionate about fishing as the rest of us.

If you want to learn more about the trophy fishery of West Canada Creek, attend this meeting.  It’s a fishery that routinely gives up 20″ trout and is well regarded for stellar insect hatches.  The Upstate Fly Fishers Meeting is at the Pittsford Rec Center (Spiegel Community Center), 35 Lincoln Ave, Pittsford. Meeting starts at 7 PM with a fly tying demo, followed by raffle prizes and our speaker-JP Ross.

Some time ago I predicted that we might experience a shortened steelhead season.  Well, I was partially wrong.  We’re at the doorstep of April and there are still steelhead around.  In many systems,  spawning has taken place and there are  a few drop back fish.  In other creeks, there are fresh fish, they still have eggs and they need to spawn.  Predicting fishing this season has been difficult with our yo-yo temperature.  The water warmed up quickly, then quickly cooled off.  Night time lows in the twenties tends to quickly chill water temperature.  The only prediction that I can make with certainty is that we need rain.

I recently fished a small tributary.  When I arrived at my first hole, I was surprised by how low and clear the water was.  It was afternoon and both the air and water temperature were chilly, hovering around 40 degrees.  What most surprised me, were the dozen steelhead calmly stacked up in the tail out.  It’s always a marvelous sight to behold a pod of 20″ to 30″ fish, gathered together in formation.  Of course, with so little water, there weren’t many places to hide.  These fish still have eggs and or milt and are waiting for that solid push of water to comfortably spawn.  If low water persists and the water temperature rises, they may attempt a spawn in lower portions of the creek, forced to select poorer spawn habit.

I witnessed several steelhead actively spawning.  I could have observed them for hours.  The way they fin, glide about, chase each other, flash on their sides, etc.  It’s a real spectacle of nature to watch the ritual.  Some are easily spooked, others are surprisingly protective or aggressive.  It’s cool to watch how they react to another rival.  Larger males energetically chase off smaller suitors.  If you’re lucky enough to come across a pair on a gravel redd, please leave them alone, especially the female.  I don’t like to fish for actively spawning fish.  There’s natural reproduction on some  creeks.  It just seems prudent to protect them when they are on nests.  Besides, does any species really like  to have their intimacy disrupted?

During this short fishing outing, I was able to trick a couple of non-active spawners.  These steelhead were hanging out in large, deeper pools.  Initially, I  seductively swung streamers to no avail.  I could see them, but only managed one curious follow after multiple pattern changes.  Even my most realistic minnow imitations didn’t solicit interest.  Next, I drifted a stonefly pattern, followed by other nymphs and I continued to strike out.  I tried several egg patterns and couldn’t manage a strike.  Finally, I tied on a foam hopper as an indicator, placed 3′ of 6lb flourocarbon tippet to the bend of the foam hopper and tied on a tiny, half-pea size # 16 multi-colored egg pattern.  My egg pattern was smaller than a single roe.  The takes were super subtle and I had to watch the body reaction of the fish, as it was my best indicator if a fish was interested. Changing my presentation tactics to light line, a stealthy  presentation and tiny mottled egg pattern finally yielded fish.  They were colorful, acrobatic and a great way to close out the month of March.  Now, if we could only get that good rain…

The recent exit of Syracuse University in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament put me in a funk that only fishing could cure.  My sympathetic wife, an SU grad, understood my grief.  It was a magical hoops season that ended short of the Final Four.  I’m proud of the SU crew and all the obstacles they overcame.  Still, the sting of just missing the Big Dance in New Orleans hurt.  Spending a quality day fishing was a sure remedy for March Madness Blues.

My plan was to target steelhead in the morning and fish the hendrickson hatch in the afternoon.  With all the warm weather we’ve experienced, Spring was popping along at a remarkable clip.  During the previous warm spell I’d heard reports of stellar steelhead fishing, as well as the start of our seasonal mayflies.  My only steelheading dilemma was which tributary to fish.  Ultimately, I opted to fish a local tributary East of Monroe County.  My spin fishing friend fished this same stretch less than two days before.  He talked about over a dozen hook ups, acrobatic, line breaking steelhead and the difficulty of landing these torpeedos.  I laughed at his inability to land the majority of fish hooked and chalked it up to angling error .  Little did I know that my turn would come and there were factors for those lost fish.

I arrived at a local tributary at dawn and was glad to see no cars.  Immediately, I noticed waking fish moving up and down a long run that ended in a logjam.  Whatever fish were in this 40 yard stretch of creek appeared active.  I roll cast a hot bead black soft hackle steamer and solicited my first response on the third cast.  It was tough not to notice the take, as my line quickly tightened and the rod jumped forward in my hand.  I managed to beach this 22″ steelhead as it shook my hook.  Next, I moved 20 yards upstream and cast again.  As my streamer swung mid current, it was smashed.  I pulled tight and promptly popped my 8 lb flourcarbon tippet.  Over the next fifteen minutes, I either lost or broke off several more fish.  It was my turn to reflect on my lousy landing percentage of fish.  These fish were so hot and aggressive, I now empathized with my friend’s misfortune of lost fish. I also reflected that it was time to make some adjustments.

I clipped my leader, tied on new 12 lb flourocarbon and opted for a hot bead, white soft hackle streamer.  Within a few casts, I landed another mid-sized steelhead.  Over the course of two plus hours, I hooked 10 steelhead on streamers and landed five of them.  One bright fish was landed fishing upstream, while the rest were on the swing across the creek channel, or against structure/brush.  There was a pod of suckers spawning in the middle of the run and I think that it made these fish even more aggressive.  My best fish was an elegant 31″ drop back female hen, post spawn.  She was long and thin, clearly lacking eggs and looking to feed.  To hook ten fish in slightly over two hours is stellar.   I was sated with steelhead.  It was not even 9 am and I turned my thoughts to dry fly fishing.

Minutes later, I was winding my way below Route 104 to connect to the NYS Thruway.  I’d heard that there were hendricksons on the Lower West Branch of the Delaware River, as well as the Main Stem of the Delaware River.  What’s  a three hour drive when you can fish a nice mayfly hatch on the surface?  I stopped by West Branch Anglers Resort and chatted with Sam B.  I also dropped off a few nice gourmet cookies, intended as a small measure of gratitude to the WBAR crew.  Over the course of a season, they put up with my inquisitive phone calls about angling conditions.  Truth be told, I wouldn’t have made the drive if Sam hadn’t provided his candid appraisal of how things were fishing.  I trust the WBAR crew to be fair and measured about conditions, not inflating the fish catching.  Some chunky molasses and peanut butter cookies were the least I could offer.  Besides, I needed to pick up some new flotant.  West Branch Anglers Resort  is a shop that sells Tiempco Dry Magic Fly Flotant, truly super stuff.

Since it wasn’t yet April 1st, I couldn’t legally fish in NYS.  I opted to fish the PA Gamelands.  There were only two other cars in the parking lot.  I arrived to the River before 1pm, it was still sunny and there was a slight breeze.  I hiked down the trail and soon beheld this crown jewel of a fishery.  Not to my surprise, there was a 18″ plus feeding brown with a few feet of the foot path, tucked behind the slack water of a boulder.  That feeding brown made the drive worthwhile.   I enjoyed sitting down, watching it feed as I rigged my 5 weight.  Eventually, I tired of watching it and was ready to time and place my cast.  The fish appeared to be feeding in an oval pattern, rising 2-3 times every 30 seconds.  I crept into position, timed my cast and dropped a nice hendrickson emerger into the feeding lane.  That darn fish few on another natural, within inches of my pattern.  My fly/presentation was scorned several times.  Eventually, I lined the fish and it bolted out of the shallow water.  Not the ending I imagined, but it sure was nice to see a surface feeding fish.

Over the course of the next five hours I landed two browns and one rainbow.  My best trout was a 19″ brown that slurped down a rusty spinner imitation.  All fish came on dry flies.  Honestly, I expected to do better.  There was minimal angling pressure and I had hundreds of yards of river to myself.  There were a few # 14 hendricksons, several early black stoneflies #14-#16, the odd caddis and a healthy hatch of mahogany duns # 16 to # 18.  I suppose they are more accurately called blue quills, but the body sure looked mahogany to me.  There seemed to be enough bugs.  The problem was that the fish wouldn’t rise with any consistency and the wind picked up throughout the afternoon.  If the wind stopped, a fish might rise once, then not again for several minutes or more.  The water was barely at 300 cfs and they were also super spooky.  Even wading cautiously, I put fish down.  It was a surprise to witness  WBD trout this selective this early on, as well as easily spooked.  Still, I’ll take 3 decent WBA trout on a dry fly in March!  Overall, it’s tough to complain with the bountiful angling that NYS afforded me this fine Spring day.  Steelhead in the morning and surface feeding trout to mayflies in the afternoon.  My guess is that few states boast the same combination.  Get on the water, enjoy Spring and may you dream of mayflies!

It’s fair to say that anytime is the right time to fish for steelhead.  These aggressive, acrobatic and colorful fish are fun to catch, period.  Steelhead are worth chasing whenever you have time.  They are in our tributaries from late September through early May.  On the Salmon River (Pulaski, NY) they even be caught in the warmer summer months (Skamania strain).  In most of our Lake Ontario tributaries, steelhead numbers are greater late Fall through early Spring.  Once the warming days of March arrive, steelhead numbers substantially pick up.  In fact, March may be the easiest month of the year to catch a steelhead.  If you haven’t yet cleared your calendar for some early Spring fishing, get to it!  March and steelhead go hand in hand.

During March more fresh fish leave Lake Ontario daily to enter tributaries.  This coincides with the slight warming of water temperature, increased daylight and the need for steelhead to spawn/reproduce.   A heavy, warm rain has the potential to trigger a substantial run of fish.  The more fresh the fish, the more likely it is aggressive and willing to move for a fly.  Also, the lower in the tributary you locate a fresh fish, the more connected they are with their habits from Lake Ontario.  This may especially be a factor in a fresh steelheads’ willingness to chase down a large streamer/bait fish pattern.  I’ll always opt for the chance to hook a fresh, explosive silver bullet recently departed from Lake Ontario, over a winter fish ten miles upstream.  Experienced anglers understand that there is a difference in behavior between a  bright chrome steelie that inhabits a lower tributary for less than a day, compared to a darker steelie upstream that’s been in the system for several weeks.  Fresh fish are more cooperative regarding fly choice, as well as striking harder and fighting better.

This season I’ve been surprised by the low water conditions on our smaller creeks.  While the Genny is presently flowing well over 4,000 cfs and Oak Orchard is moving along nicely, our smaller creeks keep trickling along.  The solid downpour we experienced on Thursday barely elevated creek levels.  In March I’m used to seeing these small creeks another six inches to a foot of water higher.  That said, this has been a unique season.  Some steelhead spawned as early as January.  Early black stoneflies started emerging two weeks ago and I’ve already seen a # 14 tan caddis emerge on two different water systems.  Most of the anglers I’m talking with think that fishing conditions are nearly a month early this season.  Any guesses when we’ll see our first hendricksons this year?  Anyway, water level and water temperature play a critical role in determining how long steelhead stay in a system, when/where they eventually spawn and how long they remain in the tributary after spawning.  The ten day forecast looks unseasonably warm.  This could be the type of season when the greatest number of fish enter in March, produce a quick spawn and retreat due to lower water level/higher water temperatures.  Or, low and  warmer water may just force these fish to spawn sooner and lower down in the tributary.  My best advice is to pay attention to weather patterns, rainfall and plan accordingly.  This advice is more small creek specific.  Larger systems (Oak Orchard, Genny. Oswego, Salmon) are likely to fish well into early May.

I managed to fish twice this week.  The first trip was on the heels of an 18 degree overnight low temperature and there was limited shelf ice on the creek.  It was cold and I suspect the fish lethargic.  We swung flies and each of us managed a bite.  I assured my friend that he would stick at least one fish around a particular “honey hole”.  I was so confident in my assertion of the fishiness of that hole, that I wagered a drink at the local watering hole if he couldn’t entice at least one fish.  It was Norm’s first time at this particular stretch of river.  Within a few casts of the best part of the hole, a nice 26″ female steelie smacked his cone-head streamer as it was twitched around a logjam.   That hen gave up a nice fight, possessed nice clean lines and helped shake off the chill.  She also earned me a nice draft from a local establishment.  I think that Norm immediately became a believer in that hole.  He enjoyed even better success when he returned to fish that same spot three days later, this time fooling two chunky drop back browns.

My second trip was late Friday after work.  I visited two small creeks within 30 minutes of Rochester.  The first tributary was super low and clear.  I managed a 6″ rainbow/steelhead in a plunge pool, fishing a mottled Oregon Cheese egg pattern.  It’s always nice to see wild fish, regardless of size.   In that same plunge pool, I also lost a small steelhead on the same fly.  I then drove to another creek and scouted several hundred yards of creek.  Nowhere could I visually see any concentration of fish or fish on gravel.  Towards dusk, I hiked to a massive bridge hole within a mile of Lake Ontario.  Previously, there were two float fisherman plying the waters.  Now that it was free, I tied on a large black soft hackle bugger w/ a chartreuse trout bead head.  On my fifth swing into the slack water, my streamer was hammered by a fresh 24″ hen.  She cartwheeled, tugged, then leaped like a tarpon.  It was a beautiful fight from a beautiful fish.  It was a great way to close out a Friday.

On my way back to the car, I picked up an assortment of monofilament, hooks, cans, bottles and other trash left stream side.  I’ll never understand why fellow fisherman leave long stretches of fishing line in trees, on rocks, bushes, etc.  March is not only steelhead time it’s also a great time to pick up any trash that might be left around our water.  Foliage is not yet out and the trash stands out.  It’s easy to spot and easy to pick up.  My tip is to keep a plastic bag in my chest pack.  That way,  I have something convenient to put the trash into.  Let’s all take a little time to pick up and to help keep trash out of our wonderful fisheries.

This past week streamer fishing improved.  I managed to fish three times and each trip exclusively swung flies.  Every trip I hooked several fish.  The takes were neither subtle nor casual.  They were aggressive, rod jolting, wake you up and hold on to your rod strikes!  It was the best period of swinging flies that I’ve enjoyed since November.  Nothing shakes of the chill of winter like the tug of a steelhead or brown attached to the end of your line.  Of course, our mild winter has been another blessing, as we’ve mostly avoided cold and wintry conditions.  Still, it’s far more pleasant to not deal with block ice and sub-freezing temperatures.  Best of all, fish are more active and willing to move for a swinging fly with warmer winter temperatures.

This year I’ve seen steelhead on gravel as early as January.  I have witnessed empty redds from steelhead that finished their spawn.  Yesterday, I spotted a pair of spawning fish in a bed.  I also saw plenty of early black stoneflies and several tan caddis on the water.  Our daytime temperatures have been warmer, evening temperature less severe and many creeks have enough water for spawning fish.  The ten day forecast going into the first week of March depicts a warming trend.  It’s a good bet that most steelhead will be spawning early this year.  All signs point towards an early Spring and get on the water if you have a chance.

If you are tired of drifting egg flies and stonefly nymphs, now might be the perfect time to experiment with swinging flies.  Here are a few tips to help get you started:

• Use a 7 weight or 8 weight, fast rod that provides butt strength and speed to  comfortably cast streamers.  Consider a 10′ rod or longer.  The longer rod allows for improved distance, reach and mending when fishing.  Readers of this blog know that I’m a big fan of the JP Ross Switch Rod.
• The leader system doesn’t need to be fancy.  I utilize two simple leader systems.  For fast and heavy water, I loop to loop connect a custom built 5′/7′/9/11′ Tungsten T-14 sink tip, looped to a 3′ stretch of 8 lb or 12 lb flourcarbon leader.  The T-14 sink tip is loop to loop connected to my floating fly line.  The 3′ flourocarbon leader is loop to loop connected to the T-14.  I then connect my streamer with a Lefty Kreh/Non-Slip Loop Knot.  For slower, shallow water I employ a simple 9′ flourocarbon leader.  I loop to loop 5′ of 25 lb flourocarbon butt material to my fly line.  I then blood knot 4′ of 8lb or 10lb fluorocarbon to the butt of 20 lb flourocarbon.  Finally, I connect my streamer to the tippet with the Lefty Kreh/Non-Slip Loop Knot.  These are simple, no-nonsense leaders that manage to turn a streamer over and require minimal formulas and only two diameters of flourocarbon.
• I tend to incorporate weight into all my streamer patterns.  Cone heads, hot beads, tungsten beads and wrapped weight all help get the fly down into the water column.  Another option is to place a split shot directly above the eye of the hook, or to place split shot 10″ or 12″ above your streamer.
  

  Hot Bead Fly Tying Kit – Click Here

• Fancy flies are great and show
  beautiful craftsmanship.  That said, I catch more fish on basic white, black and olive patterns than anything else.  My standard 3″ white soft hackle streamer,  or 3″ black/olive bugger style are producers day in and day out.  My go to fly this week has been the Hot bead, white soft hackle chenille streamer.  If the water is discolored, you might want to fish larger, brighter streamer patterns that push water.  If the water is low and clear, you might be benefited by fishing smaller, more realistic, natural patterns.  Many anglers observe that drop back browns seem to prefer white patterns.  White may best represent forage fish that these browns feed upon.  Steelhead appear less picky, but chartreuse can be a real trigger color for fresh fish.
• Vary your presentation and constantly make adjustments.  Sometimes a fish will hit as the steamer sinks, sometimes it will hit on the swing, other times you may solicit a strike actively retrieving.  This past week, several fish lunged upon my streamer as it sank.  Other fish tugged on it as it swung upwards through the water column. Other fish ate while I twitched it upstream in 4″ mini-strips.
• Cover plenty of water.  Nearly all my strikes this week came from deeper, slower pools.  Also, most hits came on my first few casts through undisturbed water.  I’m looking for more aggressive, territorial fish that are willing to move to smack a fly.  In several cases, my first cast produced a  fish.  You may fish several pools with no luck, then find 2-3 cooperative fish in the next hole.
• Continue to pay attention to stumps, roots, logjams and other creek structure.  These lake run fish are comfortable around trees and there is a strong correlation between fishing this zone and your hook up ratio.  Let’s remember to treat our steelhead and browns as the precious resource that they are.  Take your time releasing these fish, leave them in the water and smash down the barb on all flies.  Finally, we need protect those redds, especially for small, high quality water creeks that possess natural reproduction of steelhead.

Many thanks to everyone who participated in Angler’s Workshop on Saturday, February 4th.  Close to 200 people were involved (instructors, sponsors, volunteers and participants).   The way so many friends, fellow anglers and family members made this event a success was a blessing.  Our quality schedule of workshops, casting demos, sponsor tables, Angler’s Theater, fly tying demos and raffle prizes were popular.  It’s especially nice to see the sharing of skills, technique, knowledge and history among fellow fly fishers.

We also raised $1,350 for the Canandaigua Chapter of Trout Unlimited, the Seth Green Chapter of Trout Unlimited and Upstate Fly Fishers ($450 per organization).  That is well over the $800 we donated in 2010.  If you missed Angler’s Workshop, we’ll be back even better in February of 2014!

Our streams barely received a burp of water between the latest snow run off and light rain.  I was hoping for an invigorating push of water  to bring in fresh fish.  I recently scouted several small creeks East of Rochester.  They appeared pitifully low for mid-February.  After driving some distance, I eventually located a larger creek with slightly more water.  There weren’t any cars in the parking lot, so I decided to make a go of it.  There were however, plenty of angling tracks in the snow pointing to popular holes.  Based on the plentiful tracks and beaten path through the snow, I wasn’t the only one recently fishing that stretch of creek.  I ventured in the opposite direction of the tracks and began walking the bank, looking for visible fish.  If you have decent light and some elevation from the bank, it’s not uncommon to spot fish.  No such luck.  After covering 1/4 mile of stream, I decided to venture back upstream, past all the tracks into an unfamiliar stretch of the creek.

My decision to probe new water was fortuitous.  There were less angling tracks and I liked the looks of the deep, slow moving creek.  A massive log jam stretched across the creek.  This was a series of stumps, root clumps and trees creating structure in the water.  There was also a massive scum line for fish to hide under/feel more secure.  All that wooden structure seemed super fishy.  I nipped off  my estaz stonefly pattern and tied on a chartreuse bead-head, olive bugger around 3′ in length.   I couldn’t back cast due to heavy tree cover and resorted to long roll casts.  That’s when my JP Ross Switch Rod  comes in handy.  Roll casting a good distance, slinging big flies, mending across a current and twitching the desired presentation of a streamer.  To my surprise, I struck out at the massive logjam.  It sure looked fishy and still can’t fathom why a fish didn’t at least flash upon my streamer.  Doesn’t it frustrate you when you fish really productive water that doesn’t reward you?

Moving 40′ upstream, I casually rolled a cast against a root stump.  Within seconds, a moving wake sucked in the olive streamer and I strip set on a hefty, long brown or steelhead.  It was an awesome bite that feeds the spirit of the winter angler.  The take was visually awesome, my strip set fine, but my darn tippet weak.  That fish shook its head, rolled twice and snapped my 8 lb tippet above my fly knot.  There must have been a nick in that fluorocarbon, because I typically land plenty of quality fish on 8 lb fluorocarbon in the winter.  At least I knew that there were fish in the vicinity and that I was doing something right.

I decided to rest that slow stretch of water.  It doesn’t hurt to let things settle down.  I hiked upstream and scouted out new water, keeping eyes scanning for signs of fish.  I didn’t see any fish, but made mental notes of holes that I intended to fish in the future.  After 30 minutes, I returned to the slow stretch of water where I broke off that nice fish against the root stump.  This time, I lengthened my leader with fresh tippet material and knotted on a chartreuse hot bead, white soft-hackle chenille streamer.  In this slack water stretch, 100′ above the spot where I lost the first fish, there was a upturned root clump.  I roll cast my fly 30′ downstream towards the far bank, threw a downstream mend in the line and let the current pull my weighted fly towards the center, into the root clump.  As my white streamer started to swing into the middle of the current, an assertive 24″ steelhead hen smacked my fly.  She put up a nice little fight and was soon brought to net.  It was nice to admire her prominent black spots and striking rose colors.

In a little over an hour of fishing, I lost a hefty fish and landed a nice steelhead.  I needed to get home and was satisfied with that winter outing.  Driving home, I reflected upon the experience.  Both fish were on streamers and both were against fallen logs/stumps.  These tributary fish return to the comfort of tree structure when they leave the lake.  Over the years, some of my most memorable streamer hits have been around logjams, roots or against fallen trees.  The risk of getting snagged or losing your fly are outnumbered by the fishy benefits that these wood zones offer.  Losing a fly is  a risk you take when you fish here.  The bottom line is that tree structures are fish havens.  They merit our attention both as conservationists and anglers.  If you’re looking to target those drop back browns or steelhead from Lake Ontario, it won”t hurt to made additional casts to logjams and root stumps. I’m already looking forward to my next trip and know that I’ll pay a little more attention to these fallen trees over the next two months.

After my last bumbling episode for steelhead, I figured that I needed angling redemption.  Problem was, I didn’t have much time to fish.  Between teaching, coaching, parenting, fishing presentations and Angler’s Workshop, I just couldn’t finagle time to fish.  Don’t you hate it when other commitments get in the way of fishing!  After several attempts at creative scheduling, I developed a plan that allowed an hour to spend on the water.  It wasn’t ideal, but some time on the water is better than no time on the water.  Since I didn’t have time to drive to my preferred location, I drove to a nearby small creek.

I never gear up at the car.  Instead, I walk to the stream, sit down and quietly observe  conditions.  Spending time monitoring the water, listening, glancing over fishy areas with my polarized glasses and slowing down my approach tends to pay dividends.  The water was flowing nicely and slightly high.  There are great gravel beds, pools, logjams and structure in this small creek that attract steelhead.  The water clarity was fine, there was some overhead sun and I was afforded good visibility for spotting fish.  I didn’t spot any fish below the bridge hole, but opted to tie on a white chenille, soft hackle w/ hot bead streamer.  The combination of white, maribou, soft hackle, sparkle, and chartreuse hot bead is a tasty morsel for winter steelhead.  You can dead drift this, deeply mining the darkest portion of  a hole.  Or, this streamer can be actively retrieved or presented on the swing.  All ways catch fish.

I tried a dozen different casts and retrieves at the bridge hole with no success.  There weren’t visible signs of a steelhead.  Next, I took advantage of the overhead sun.  Sunlight provided me with clear water visibility and  I scouted downstream.  Below a series of logs, I promptly spied several dark shapes.  The fish were in a foot of water on a gravel stretch, jockeying and chasing each other.  They also detected my movement and darted for cover.  I thought to myself that it sure seemed early for those steelhead to be on gravel.  I sat back down on a hillside that afforded me a clear view of 30 yards of water.  Within a few minutes, the fish were at the top of the run.  They positioned just above a logjam, below a gravel bank drop off.  I let them settle down and didn’t want to spook them again.  I crept way below downstream, crossed the creek, then carefully positioned myself 20′ above the fish, kneeling and staying low.  That initial approach and presentation is so important.  I didn’t want to stir up the water and send a discolored batch of water into these fish.  I also wanted to stay low, so that I didn’t spook them any more.

Casting from my knees, I lobbed my white streamer out to tease a fish.  I swung, dead drifted, changed streamers three times and couldn’t spark any interest in those fish.  I could see them chasing each other, siding up and interacting in their territorial/pre-spawn way.  They repeatedly ignored my streamer.  With the clock ticking, I decided to lengthen my leader and tie on a # 14, light mottled pink egg sack.  I high stick drifted the fly down steam, towards a pair of fish and the steelhead rushed my fly.  I was so surprised by the aggression and sudden movement, that I didn’t set the hook/tighten up.  My second cast was off, but the same fish showed interest.  My third cast was drifting a foot above her in the water column, when the nice hen quickly rose and sucked it in.  She darted downstream, under a log and it took several minutes to catch up with this fresh female steelhead.  She wasn’t huge, perhaps 23″ or 24″, but had a nice silver and rose glow to her cheeks.  She looked chunky and well-fed, evidence that she eaten well in Lake Ontario.  I would have preferred to catch that special fish on a streamer, but the egg pattern immediately worked.  I’ll take those results in an hour of fishing.   Now that we’re entering mid-February, look for more fresh fish each day.  Covering plenty of water, mining your fly in different pools and observing behavior of these fish will contribute to your success.  If you see fish that won’t feed, don’t be afraid to experiment with different fly patterns.  Finally, as we enter spawning season, let’s stay off nests and make sure we continue to release these beautiful steelhead.