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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.

During winter break a friend graciously offered his town home in Dauphin Island, Alabama.  My wife and I love to travel and we figured that our nine month old son didn’t have much say in the matter.  What’s a twenty one hour drive, when you want to get out of the cold and snow?  Well, our baby was very cooperative with the travel.  The weather wasn’t nearly as kind to us!  We stopped seeing snow on the ground just North of Mobile, Alabama.  Our night time temperatures were in the upper twenties and the Gulf Coast water temperature dipped to a frosty forty five degrees.  Unheard of for this warmer region!

I did what any die hard saltwater angler would do, I went fishing and practiced casting.  Signs of bait were scarce and the angling reports discouraging.  A well known pier didn’t produce any fish for the bait anglers over the weekend.  When I asked the manager of the pier when the fishing was last decent, he replied, “November 17, our water temperature was 72 degrees”.  Every angler I spoke with mentioned the big chill and difficult conditions.

Undaunted, I started by fishing a tiny creek that had two great blue herons working the shallows.  I figured it had to be warmer than the bay water.  No luck there.  Another day, I awoke at dawn and fished the mouth of a marsh/creek channel that was surrounded by oyster beds.  No luck there.  Next dawn, I fished around a point and deep drop off at a secluded beach stretch.  No luck there.  The final trip, I prospected around a series of rock jetties with good moving water on the end of the island.  No luck there.  It felt good to cast and feel the salty breeze.  I’m sure Dauphin Island has decent fishing for spotted sea trout, redfish, flounder, bluefish, croaker and ladyfish when the water warms up.  It seems like a very productive fishery.  That said, I’m not sure I could have located fish, even with electro shocking.   We certainly enjoyed plenty  of fried seafood, local hospitality, great sunsets and quality family time.  Like any fishery, one trip doesn’t define the quality and it’s always nice to have things to look forward to.  I’m hopeful that down the road, I’ll be blessed with a rematch and better fishing conditions at Dauphin Island.

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.

With such a sunny forecast  I invited my father to fish with me this afternoon.  My father taught me to fish and I feel fortunate that we are able to fish together.  Our goal was to enjoy the warmer day, get outside and perhaps find a fish or two.  We went to a local Lake Ontario Tributary where I saw a few browns mid-week.  To my surprise, I couldn’t locate any of the fish scouted several days ago.  Next, we drove to a second creek that previously contained a number of browns and steelhead over the past few weeks.  Again, these fish must have dropped back to the lake and the water was nearly a foot lower.

On our third creek I located some jittery browns.  I fished without weight, trying nymphs and olive, then brown streamers.  Many refusals to my flies.  Switching to 6 lb test and a tiny, realistic egg fly, I was finally able to convince a smaller brown to take my offering.  These were some of the more spooked, less aggressive lake run browns that I have seen.  Let’s hope we get some rain.  My hunch is that there are a bunch of browns and steelhead waiting to push further into our tribs, given a decent water level.  My advice is the fish the larger tribs, as they have more water and less spooked fish.

With rain forecasted and the day off on Monday, we drove to the Salmon River to chase early season cohos and kings.  We knew that on Wednesday, prior to our arrival, the Salmon River experienced its’ first strong push of cohos.  Fortunately, our late weekend timing was superb.  The cooler nights and light rain brought in even more  fresh salmon.  Most of the moving fish pushed through the lower stretches of the river.  The typical hustle and bustle of salmon mania in Pulaski was in full swing.  Hotel rooms were scarce, plenty of out of town license plates, fish cleaning stations open for business, tackle shops hopping and plenty of crowds in the popular stretches.

We spent the majority of our time fishing the Upper Fly Zone.  The fish were harder to catch and we only hooked one steelhead.  Yet,  the serenity, Fall foliage and wild red rasberry picking made the trip memorable.  Even better, we managed to hook a number of salmon.  Plus, there are plenty of 5″ to 10″ trout/salmonid fingerlings all over each hole, ready to jump on your fly.  Neat to see a small trout feed on a caddisfly, feet away from a larger salmon.   The fish were not aggressive and we didn’t see any evidence of eggs/spawn in the system.  That said, it was very cool to watch so many fish move up the river and to tangle with fresh salmon.  Can’t wait to get some eggs in the river and bring in those steelhead!

I snuck out for two hours this afternoon to try my hand at terrestrials.  I was excited about having time to trout fish and to explore a section of Irondequoit Creek that I used to fish twenty years ago.  Upon arriving at the creek, I realized left behind my vest (fly boxes/tippet/nippers/hemostats/leaders, etc).   Several of my friends keep a fly fishing specific check out list before each trip.  Not that bad an idea…

Fortunately, I carry a small plastic box of back up/emergency fly fishing items.  I was able to scrap together a few beetles, as well as several streamers (see photo of my limited flies).  Armed w/ half a dozen flies and only 7x tippet, I hiked downstream.  The trail doesn’t follow the Creek, so I ventured through plenty of heavy brush, briars, meadows and swampy vegetation.  It sure seemed muggy and I was soon drenched w/ sweat.

Once on the river, I worked my way upstream casting a beetle imitation.  Early on,  a small fish nipped my fly and a decent brown jumped over my fly as it landed.  Both fish were in the same shady run, but neither hit the fly.  After that I fished several hundred yards w/ not a strike.  Long casts, stealthy approach, prospecting into shady zones and no trout.  Finally, I landed two chubs near a bridge.  Striking out on terrestrials, I tied on a brown bugger and enjoyed three follows from trout in a few short minutes.  The fish didn’t hit the streamer, but the flashing follows were promising.  In hindsight, I should have switched to my limited streamer collection sooner.  Just as I started to get excited about streamers, a thunderstorm moved in, the mosquitoes descended and it was time to head home for dinner.  Nice to get outside and enjoy our local fishery.

Went fishing on the Oatka with my father-in-law and my friend Will.  Water levels were high but they were on there way down from several days of rain.  At 3.1 in height and 250 cfps the water had a brown tint but was clear enough to see the bottom in most places.

We thought we would try beatles and found only rising fish would take them along the banks.  There were not a lot of risers but Will caught one nice 16″ brown this way.  Most of the fish were taken with either nymphs or streamers.  Other than Will’s none of them had any size.  We only fished from 11am to 3pm.  I think if we had more time we would have dialed into some larger fish.  Regardless it was a very nice way to spend an afternoon on July 4th.

Another year another Spring trip to the West Branch of the Delaware River.  This year’s trip included about 14 members from our Canandaigua Trout Unlimited Chapter.  As always everyone had a great time fishing with each other and enjoyed their stay at the West Branch Angler.

Every year I think I have learned enough from the previous year to think I can conquer the West Branch.  Every year the West Branch teaches me a lesson.  This year I learned how important it is to have long leaders (at least 12 foot), to cast down stream to a rising fish, and to learn how to nymph between hatches (make sure you are scraping the bottom with your nymph).  These lessons prevented me from getting closed out of fish on this trip.  In total I caught 6 fish two of which were of any size.  That may not sound like much but for me it was a victory.  I know I have more to learn but the West Branch is such an incredible challenge and beautiful place those victories are very rewarding.

In fact this video shows how challenging the West Branch can be.  Watch as my friend, Dave, gets shut out by 3 very large brown trout.  If you have ever fished the West Branch you will feel Dave’s pain.  Watch and weep.

Here are some pictures from this year’s trip:

Need something to do while you wait for the first hatch of the season?  Go to the Fly Fishing Film Tour in your home town.  It is a series of high energy films about fly fishing.  They are the kind of flims that will make you want to grab your gear and go fishing right after the film.  Our Trout Unlimited Chapter – Canandaigua, NY, announced that the Fly Fishing Film Tour is visiting us on March 21st.  If you live in the Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse areas, you are not going to want to miss this.  Click here for ticket information.

On Saturday I decided to go take a look at some of the streams closer to my house.  Most of them have been subjected to heavy farming and runoff and don’t look so hot.  They tend to be very muddy, have lots of algae and have limited bug activity.  From time to time when I am on streams like this one I have noticed foam on the water.  My first reaction when I see something like this is that it must be polution.  Fortunately I have a fly fishing friend who is a toxicologist.  He once told me that the foam is not pollution but a break down of organic material that is agitated by the stream.  Just in case you ever wondered about this there is a more detailed explanation on this site:  http://www.lakesuperiorstreams.org/understanding/foam.html