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.

It’s been a few days since our heavy rain.  Creeks are steadily dropping.  As the water clears and recedes, it presents prime opportunities to fish ambush points with streamers.  The timing couldn’t have been better, as it coincided with the start of Summer Vacation.  I invited my 9 year old nephew to join me.  He’s glad to be on break and was eager to fish with his uncle.  We only had two plus hours to fish and I took him to a local stocked trout creek.  I loaned him a small pair of hip waders and carefully instructed him to watch out for poison ivy.  That feisty plant covers the banks on this particular creek!  I also loaned him a pair of polarized sunglasses.  Half the fun of throwing streamers or hardware, is watching the take.    Finally, I paired him up with a ultra light spinning rod (6lb test) and a gold Panther Martin Spinner.

This trip was about taking my 9 year old nephew fishing.  Let me clarify as an avid fly fisher, I’ve no problem with various fishing techniques that positively engage kids with fishing.  This tight, overgrown creek was not “fly rod friendly” for a fourth grader.  There are plenty of watering holes down the rod to bolster his confidence with a long rod.  This spot also didn’t have wary, wild trout.  It is an ideal place to take a young angler fishing.  Taking kids fishing is primary reason I support limited stocking of select waters.  On this creek, trout were abundant.  We only brought a few to hand, but enjoyed many follows, chases, missed hook ups and plenty of laughs.  The trout jumped on the spinner, as well as most white/bronze/olive streamer imitations (with substantial flash).  In addition, my tiny chartreuse clouser was the recipient of impressive strikes.

During Summer, strong thunderstorms may drop substantial rain.  Our creeks will swell, discolor and will be unfishable for a few days.  As water drops, maximize your streamer fishing.  Here are four tips that will help you fish dropping water:

1. Present large, brighter flies that draw attention.  A size #1 streamer isn’t too much of a meal and make sure it includes flash.  The combination of flash, large size, profile that pushes water and fly color all play a role, especially with off color, high water.
2. Remember that trout utilize cover positions to stay safe, as well as ambush prey.  Tree stumps, downed logs, log jams, uneven bottom,  rocks, drop offs, etc all have the potential to be prime cover positions for trout to lay in ambush of unsuspecting prey.  This particular creek has plenty of downed timber that trout love.
3. Fish the shade during the heat.  Bright sun and open water are not places trout prefer.  Sneak your casts into the shady spots, beneath the overhanging brush, against the log, into the current seam.  If these spots have shade during the heat of the day, even better.
4. Prospect new ambush points during high water.  Increased water flow changes where trout normally hold.  A favorite log jam where you experienced previous success, may fish differently during high water.  Softer current  seams merit attention during high water.  A trout won’t expend  energy holding in a fast current if there isn’t consistent food.  Seek out a softer current, or a subtle flow with current changes and you are more likely to tap into a trout’s ambush zone.

Daffodils are blooming in front of the house and birdsong welcomes each day.  It must be springtime!  The soaking rain we enjoyed last night gave a nice boost of water to our tributaries.  Before the rainfall, small tributaries were especially  low and clear.  We’re now into mid-April and by now, many of our small creeks  experienced an active spawn of steelhead over the past six weeks.  Steelhead spawn sooner in small creeks.  Water temperature warms quicker and they tend to do their business before their brethren in  large tributaries.  While larger systems such as the Cat, Oak Orchard, Sandy, Genny, Oswego and Salmon River all fish well through the month and into May, small creeks can be more fickle.   Low water, quickly warming temperatures and bright sun, convince steelhead to linger less in small creeks.  While there are always stragglers and exceptions, fellow anglers shouldn’t be surprised if the see fewer fish from now until the end of the month.

At the same time, April steelheading offers some of the finest action of the year.  I’m particularly attracted to sight fishing and swinging large streamers for these chromers.  Catch numbers may be down, but the ferocity of strikes, aggressive nature of drop back fish and improved fight make April steelheading a wonderful option.  Here are a few  strategies that you might consider adding to your bag of angling tricks:

• Look for the shadow, not the fish.  Darker fish blend in well and a shadow can give away a non-moving steelehead.  Bright, overhead sun can be your friend.  Use it to your advantage to look for shadows and strive to keep your shadow off the water.  The picture shows a 28″ female that is easily detected by her shadow.
• Look for that crimson slash around the gill plate, the white of a mouth, a quivering tail, or the gentle sway of a holding fish.  Unless they are actively on gravel, most larger tributary fish will prefer deeper holes during bright sun, or gravitate towards logs/boulders/undercut banks.
• Find spawning suckers and you will likely find a few opportunistic post spawn browns or steelhead.  Look for the darker shapes, larger figures or nervousness of suckers as telltale signs that larger tributary salmonids are present.  It’s tough to beat a sucker spawn fly w/ a dash of chartreuse to entice that greedy steelhead!
• Spooky steelhead require different, lighter tactics.  Drop down your tippet size (4lb to 6lb), lengthen your leader (10′ to 12′), minimize the flash and color on your fly, and deliver your cast with as much stealth as possible.  I prefer to use a white yarn or black yarn indicator that barely makes any splash.  These are less likely to cause alarm with a wary, shallow water steelhead.
• My best streamer success with low, clear water steelhead comes with sparse, realistic minnow imitations.  I sometimes fish lightly dressed, translucent saltwater bait fish patterns.  These are more realistic in profile than a typical rabbit zonker and offer a more subtle approach.
• Target the most aggressive steelhead in the bunch.  Also, there is no need to make dozens and dozens of casts to a fish that sees your fly, yet doesn’t respond.  Switch flies, vary your patterns and make each cast count.  When a fish actively moves away from your fly, then your presence is likely detected.  If I don’t dupe a fish within my first ten casts and I know that my fly has been in the zone, I switch patterns or techniques.  Or, I continue to scout other areas of the creek that might present more cooperative fish.
• Lastly, leave those wonderful reproducing females alone!  It’s a magnificent sight to witness steelhead spawning.  If a female is on gravel and in shallow water, let her be.  It’s a treat of nature to enjoy this spectacle.  She merits protection.  We have several waterways that actually have a degree to natural reproduction, well worth preserving.  Besides, she’ll be a fine target as a drop back fish in another few days.

The sting of Syracuse University Basketball losing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament was affecting my psyche.  As an incorrigible SU hoops fan, our premature loss to Marquette left an unsavory taste in my mouth.  Rooting for  Orange Basketball is a wintertime passion, second only to angling.  I wanted to ease the memory of 18 SU turnovers.  Add the collective collapse of most Big East Programs, and you know that March was an unkind month to  NY  basketball fans.

The forecast was chilly (28 degrees high, windy, and plenty of bright sun).  I drove three miles to Irondequoit Creek.  I wanted to scout an upper portion of the creek that sometimes holds spawning steelhead.  This brushy stretch of Irondequoit also has a nice mix of  holdover and wild brown/rainbow trout.  After an hour plus of dredging streamers and scouting the creek, my only catch was ice on the guides.  To my surprise, I didn’t see any signs of steelhead and couldn’t raise the local trout.  I did glimpse a stunningly large coyote that watched me from above the creek.  The coyote bolted when we made eye contact.  Just the sight of him made my day!

I hiked back to the car and contemplated heading home to watch more of the Elite 8.  On a whim, I drove well downstream and decided to prospect heavily fished waters in Penfield.  There were only a few anglers fishing in the park and the opposite side of the river didn’t have any anglers.  I crossed the creek and prepared to fish a large, deep pool.  I removed my sink tip and tied on a 10′ leader w/ 8 pound fluorocarbon tippet.  Weight was secured a foot above the fly and I decided to fish w/ a #14, chartreuse bead head hare’s ear.  I prefer to fish tiny nymphs and smaller, bead head patterns when the water is low, super clear and cold.  I find that smaller nymphs and stoneflies offer a realistic,  fishing advantage in pressured water.  The photos in this report offer a snapshot of some of my favorite steelhead nymphs and stoneflies.

I methodically nymphed my way up the length of this heavily pressured pool.  Towards the top of the hole, in a slight current seam, my indicator dove downward and I pulled tight to a scrappy chrome buck.  This 23″ steelhead darted around the pool, before I beached it.  Great to see the fly stuck in the corner of the mouth.  After a quick picture and keeping the fish in water, I returned to the same spot.  On my next cast, I hooked and landed a 21″ female.  She also put up a fine fight in and I was able to keep her out of the rapids.  Within another half hour of fishing, I managed another tiny rainbow and lost two suckers.  It’s gratifying to enjoy a degree of success on fish that survived the egg sack gauntlet.  Holding these gorgeous fresh fish also took my mind off basketball.  Satisfied, I made my way back to the car and picked up discarded angling trash and bottles/cans that I found along the river bank.

The combination of melting snow and weekend rain raised water levels in our tributaries.  An additional 5″ to 7″ of snow that fell Sunday will eventually add more fresh water to creeks and rivers.  Couple our existing snow pack and gradual warming temperatures, and our tributaries will continue to be in good shape for steelhead.  It’s early March, prime time for swollen creeks and we are due to witness  steelhead on the move.

This afternoon, I convinced my brother to take a break from his home improvement project.  We hadn’t fished together in a few months and were due for some brotherly time on the water.  Problem was, it was nearing dark and we barely had 30 minutes to fish.  We promptly drove to a local creek.  We were glad to see that there weren’t any other cars around.  A benefit of fishing during cold weather is reduced crowds.

Grabbing the JP Ross Switch Rod, a large net and my waist pack, we  hiked to a deep plunge pool.  We didn’t have time to put on wading gear.   I tied on a chartreuse estaz stonefly pattern and  lobbed a few casts next to a fallen log.  Within a few drifts, the line came tight and I pulled tight against a pulsing fish on the other end.

Since I spend a lot more time on the water, I convinced my brother to take over the fly rod.  The steelhead began a tug of war, jumped acrobatically and then took advantage of the ripping current to depart downstream.  She crossed under a log and was moving towards the next bend.  Despite not wearing waders, I grabbed the net and jumped in the icy creek.  My plan was to keep her out of a brush pile downstream and to drive her upstream, towards a shallow gravel bar.  After several valiant runs and narrowly dodging the net, I managed to slip my net under this beautiful 27″ female.  We were all grins and I was pleased to share this special moment with my brother.

March conditions may be fickle, but the promise of quality steelheading is strong.  Another friend of mine landed 1o browns/steelhead in a similar, small creek over the weekend.  Here are a few tips to help get you started:

• Capitalize on fresh run fish that enter during higher water.  These fish often stop to rest below  water falls, plunge pools, around logjams, behind boulders and in deeper water.  Lake run fish often gravitate towards downed trees and the protection they provide.
• Choose a tributary that has a minimum of 1′ to 2′ or more of visibility.  Bright egg patterns and streamers tend to be effective in discolored, high water.  Darker, more realistic patterns tend to be favored in clear, low water conditions.  That said, it’s tough to argue with the color chartreuse.
• Spend your time learning and fishing one or two particular tributaries.  Angling hours and quality time on the water build up your knowledge base, hone powers of observation and allow the angler to become more intimate with a particular fishery.  There’s also a lot to be said about gaining confidence in a particular fishery.
• Constantly make adjustments to your presentation.  This is especially true if you know you are fishing a pool that contains fish.  They may want a dead drift, slight swing, major swing, minor twitch.  Adjust the weight of your fly, tinker with the distance of your indicator, taper to lighter tippets in clear, pressured water, vary your fly pattern.  Sometimes, pressured fish require a very subtle, realistic patterns such as a #14 dark nymph, #16 caddis larvae or even a #16 mini-egg imitation.  Other times, larger, bright egg patterns seduce new tributary fish.
• As the season progresses, keep those polarized glasses handy and with stealth, walk the banks looking for fish.  Dress in drab colors and pay special attention towards downed logs, drop offs and other structure.  These lake run fish gravitate towards stream structure.
• Before you cast, make a mental note of how and where you intend to land the fish.  Visualizing and anticipating a promising landing spot, helps your fish fighting, decision-making process.  I like to carry an over sized net with telescoping handle.  This is great for safely netting these larger fish.

Our slight warming trend got the best of me.  All that snow melt running into our creeks was too much temptation.  When Monday’s temperature pushed above forty degrees, I knew that I had to find a way to get to get on the water.  I wasn’t as concerned about the WNY Flood Watch, as I was finding an hour to fish.  After work, I had a darn dental appointment that I couldn’t cancel.  That left me precious little time to fish.  I reluctantly attended my dental cleaning and secretly hoped that there would still be time to fish.  Sitting in that dental chair and putting up with poking and prodding, my anxiety was soothed by the prospect of rising water and fresh fish.  Once done, I hurriedly threw my waders and gear on at the medical parking lot. 

Within minutes, I’d driven to a tiny creek that was less likely to be blown out.  I initially hoped to fish Irondequoit Creek, but the snow melt turned it a chocolate brown.  Irondequoit Creek was also flowing near the banks and moving at a fast clip.  The smaller creek that I chose had fresh, moving water and a tolerable, foot plus of visibility.  As I tied on my fly (purple & pink soft hackle bead head), I looked down and noticed tiny, early black stone nymphs emerging.

What an awesome sight to behold, as they are a pleasant harbinger of warmer weather and hatches to come!  The size #18 nymphs crawled about and enjoyed the sun, readying themselves for their imminent molt.  The body of these tiny black stones were much thinner than my more robust, imitative flies.  I captured a few macro photos and savored the scene.  I can’t write enough about the symbolic hope of what these early black stoneflies represent.  To the angler, they are the first non midge/baetis hatch of the year, they occur towards the end of winter and represent the gradual warmth of the season. I’ve never seen early black stones in Dec or Jan, always late February and early March.

I’d like to tell you that I tied on a perfect stonefly imitation and promptly got into fish.  Instead, I decided to stick with my purple and pink soft hackle bead head.  The water had a slight tinge, was up and I wanted to present something that stood out for these lake run fish.  I positioned myself next to an ice shelf and cast along the edge of the ice, letting the current sweep my fly under the ice ledge.  On my  fourth cast, my leader stopped in an unnatural drift and I pulled tight to a hefty steelhead.  The fish initially burrowed against the bottom, then thrashed about on the surface.  Finally, it wizened up and took off downstream.  Crossing under two logs and around the bend, I finally netted a chunky female just short of 30″.  She had a gorgeous broad tail with plenty of dark spots all along her backside.  It was a treat to admire this beautiful fish.  I safely returned her into the current and watched her power into a deep holding slot.

I ambled back upstream to the other side of the pool, hoping that the first fish hadn’t disturbed everything.  Within a dozen casts, I hooked a slightly smaller female.  This smart gal rolled several times, then darted downstream.  Close to a hundred yards later and through several snags, I netted a brighter, 27″ female.  I even took a portion of my rod apart to get it under a downed tree that she took advantage of!  After letting her go, I gave thanks and knew that it was time to head home.  I had an hour to fish and this was a great way to end the month of February.  Let’s hope that March is even better.

After reading Craig Dennison’s post about Irondequoit Creek I thought I would take a stab at fishing farther upstream hoping to get at shot at some larger browns.  In fact I was fishing approximately 20 miles south of Lake Ontario.  Every year I am amazed at how far from Lake Ontario the Salmon, Browns, and Steelhead swim to spawn and feed.

What I found this Sunday was very low water conditions (19 cfs, 4.24 ft), smaller browns huddling together in a couple holes, and many salmon spawning around them.  There were no lake-run Browns anywhere in sight.  Any stocked browns that I did see looked stressed and did not have any interest in feeding or striking streamers.  If I get time next weekend I will move down stream and see if I can get into some of those browns Craig has been talking about.

Columbus Day offered a pleasant forecast, beautiful foliage and the opportunity to spend time on the water. During the school year, I don’t get many chances to fish on a weekday.  Thus, I jumped at the chance to fish during non-weekend hours.  I decided to fish Irondequoit Creek late morning, then join friends on Oatka Creek.  I expected to find trout at both locations, but didn’t expect the quality of fishing to differ so greatly.

I packed my 7 weight rod and my game plan was to throw streamers on both waters.  For a backup plan, I brought a box of hefty foam terrestrials.  The first stop was Irondequoit Creek.  My intention was to target greedy, pre-spawn browns.  At the same time, I knew that there was the odd king salmon hanging around.  Over the course of half a mile of creek, I saw a total of four salmon.  More empty redds than salmon.  They were in such shallow water and so vulnerable, that I mostly left them alone.  It sure was tempting however, to creep up behind one and nearly grab it by the tail!  Fun to see those guys rocket through shallow water and spray everything!  Each season, the spectacle of salmon in shallow water reminds me of my adolescent angling adventures and chasing salmon every which way.  It would have been easy to purely target salmon, if the browns weren’t so darn aggressive.

Each cast into a pool w/ any depth yielded an attack from a 6″ to 14″ brown.  On some pools, I landed several trout.  I missed more than I hooked.  They would quickly strike the dark brown streamer the instant it landed in the pool.  The immediacy of the hit and the  visual enjoyment of seeing these predatory browns charge, was reward plenty.  In one particular plunge pool, I landed four gorgeous browns.  No huge fish, just decent small creek browns averaging 10″ or 12″.  While I prefer to fish a custom t-14 sink tip in lengths of 5′ to 7′, the water was so shallow that I was fished a standard 9′ fluorcarbon leader.  I added a single split shot above my cone head streamer.  That weight allowed me to comfortably cover depths up to 5′.  Another benefit, is that the standard leader casts easier without the custom sink tip.

For a change of pace, I drove to Oatka and met up with two friends (Will and Dave).  It’s always nice to catch up with friends and enjoy quality fishing time.  They were able to pick up a couple on sunken terrestrials and nymphs.  I managed to fool one brown on my third streamer imitation.  Good water flow, minimal angling pressure and I wasn’t getting cooperative trout with streamers.  A common rule in fishing is that you don’t leave fish to find fish.  I left really good fishing to find fish. If friends weren’t involved, I would have stayed on Irondequoit.  After a mediocre two hours or so on Oatka, I drove back to Irondequoit Creek and opted to fish a slightly lower stretch of creek.  Not to my surprise, the first pool w/ decent crossing logs, yielded a plump 14″ male brown.  It was one of three fish chasing my streamer as it swept across the current.  Over the next hour, I quickly worked several hundred yards of creek and landed another ten or so browns.  Towards the end, I finally landed my first rainbow of the day.  It was a tiny 7″ specimen with red tipped fins that would have rivaled a brook trouts beauty.  I even departed the creek early, well sated with the number and quality of fish that I experienced.  Fall is a special time of year and those brown trout were especially territorial and opportunistic.  Pre-spawn browns are a treat and don’t hesitate to prospect with streamers over the next month or so…

Now that our leaves are turning, angler’s thoughts turn to chasing salmon.  As the calendar rolls into mid-October, it is prime time to target salmon, staging brown trout and greedy steelhead.  That is, on tributaries with a decent flow of water. Like most anglers, I was thrilled with the constant rain during the workweek.  I was confident that our smaller tribs received a good boost of water. Frustratingly, it wasn’t enough for the first strong wave of fish.   The mid-sized creeks pushed up and were muddy for a day or two, quickly dropping by early Saturday morning.  The smaller creeks rose even less.  Not enough to bring in any Lake Ontario fish to some of our parched creeks.

I’ve scouted several small tributaries around Rochester the past few days.  The salmon aren’t in yet, with the exception of larger rivers and a mid-sized creek such as Irondequoit.  At this point, small creeks don’t have fish.  They will, but we need a longer soaking rain to drive in fish.  The larger tributaries (Cat/Oak Orchard/Genesee/Oswego/Salmon, etc) all have decent water flows and thus fish.  The mid-sized tributaries may have an odd fish or two (Sandy/Salmon Creek/Irondequoit/4 Mile, etc), but are still sparse with numbers.  I only saw two salmon Saturday morning while on Lower Irondequoit Creek.  I counted five times as many anglers, most chucking prodigious amounts of split shot.    If you are desperate to dance with a salmon that is fair hooked, stick to the larger tributaries.   Fresh salmon can hold in fairly fast whitewater.   Oak Orchard and the Salmon River may be your best bet.  Or, consider targeting local freestone trout.  This is a great time to prospect with streamers, nymph larger stones/caddis imitations, or to pursue bass before they hunker down with cooler temps.  Another option is to clean out those fly boxes, update your salmon/steelhead patterns and to double check those knots on your terminal tackle.  A few minutes of preparation with your knots may just ensure that you land that Fall Trophy.

Finally, now through next month is a great opportunity to introduce a kid to tributary fishing.  We are still a month away from snow, really cold temps and big fish will be visible in shallow water.  I consider from now until Thanksgiving, the best local chance to help a kid land a decent fish on a fly rod. Even if a fish isn’t landed, you’ve helped get a youth outside and to appreciate the beauty of our waters.   Go invite a local kid or family member fishing and savor the experience!

This heat wave significantly elevated river temperatures.  It’s just not prudent to target trout in local streams when the water is low and air temps are in the nineties.  I was supposed to fish and show a friend local trout options for Irondequoit Creek.  Instead, I suggested smallmouth bass on a local, warm water creek.  Smallmouth surface action can really heat up during the warmth of summer.  Besides, bass are much more temperature tolerant over trout.  There are a handful of reputable smallmouth waters around Rochester (Oak Orchard/Sandy/Black Creek/Genny/Mill/4 Mile/Salmon/Honeoye Outlet/Canandaigua Outlet) -just to provide a few places to start.

The temperature was still pushing 90, humid and it was perfect for wet wading.  We hiked to the first hole and I tied on a chartruese deer hair slider, while Jessie tied on a brown crayfish streamer.  On my second cast, a fiesty smallmouth jumped on the chugging slider.  From then on, it was top water time.  Over the next three hours, we landed 12 to 15 aggressive smallmouth bass on top water divers, sliders and poppers.  Great fun to wet wade, tease the fly over promising bass water and anticipate a strike!  It’s funny how some of the smaller bass make the most explosive strikes.  Twitching, stripping hard, popping, slow retrieves, etc all produces strikes.  The deeper holes produced several fish, while the shallow stretches produced zero strikes.  It wasn’t uncommon to walk a hundred yards or more between promising fishing spots.   It was enjoyable to leap frog fishing holes, share techniques and laugh when one of us missed  a strike.  I’m certainly looking forward to my next top water adventure and aim to tie a few more deer hair sliders before now and then.