Father daughter fly fishing trip

This past week I had the chance to fulfill my daughters wish and make good on a promise to take her fishing. And although the temperature hovered in the mid-30's, she still wanted to go for it, and boy did we!

Our objective for the afternoon was to get into a few lake run steelhead or drop back browns. Conditions proved to be a little difficult, especially when slush drifted past us all morning. But we prevailed and found a few willing fish to take a fly. Katie had a lot of fun fighting, landing, netting and releasing several nice brown trout before the cold got to her - a problem that was solved with a stop at the corner gas station for snacks!

All in all it was an amazing few hour of fishing with my daughter. I can't wait till next time!

Winter Trout - Inland Style!

With conditions being what they are on most of the WNY tributaries, I have been turning my attention to our wonderful inland trout streams, and have been having a blast doing it!

Lot's of trout have already been caught this cold and chilly year while dead drifting all kinds of scuds, midge larvae, nymphs, and small buggers, with a certain local stream being very good to me this year already. But recently I have been wanting something a bit different....

For a while now I have wanted break out the big streamers and give them a swim through some of WNY's finest trout water. And last week was my first opportunity to do so. It turned out to be a great experience, and it filled that void for doing something different. But even when I got a few good fish to move to a fly, I couldn't get one to commit 100%, and therefore, couldn't bring one to the net. Then I got a report from Lucas Carroll, who hit up that very same spot a few days later, that described a much better day of catching then I had had. He and Jim Guida received more attention from the trout than I did and were able to put several nice fish in the net. Good news!! But I still was thirsty for my first inland brown caught on a streamer, so when I saw that the recent warm weather had brought stream levels up to near perfect conditions, I got my stuff together and made it happen.

Fishing turned out to be great. I moved some good trout, and had several fish commit to take the fly. All the fish were taken on a large weighted rabbit strip streamers. And unlike low water conditions when fish usually swipe at the fly mid current, these trout were right up next to the shore, and would eat the fly after a strip or two away from the bank.

Boy do I love this kind of fishing!!!

Winter fishing in WNY

After a what has seemed like an eternity, I have found my way back to the stream. Not that I was lost mind you, but rather, I have finally found some time to chase trout.

I have been able to get into trout at both an inland trout stream and a LO tributary. The tributaries have provided me with both a brown trout and a steelhead that averaged somewhere around 4-5 lbs., while the inland streams have given me practice in my light line and small fly fishing.

The trout that have come from the tributaries have been caught while using large streamers. And in both cases the flies were fished low and slow, giving the fish plenty of opportunity to catch up to the fly and eat it in very cold weather.

The inland stream has been fishing really well with plenty of action coming on small midge larvae and scuds. And when the fish have been pressured, I have been able to show them something different and still catch fish. And that fly has been a #10 silver BH gray woolly worm.

I have also witnessed fish starting to spawn on the inland stream, which is a wonderful sight because it does not get stocked and is completely dependent on the successful spawning of it's wild trout. And even thought they are smaller than there lake run brethren, I would consider them just as beautiful, if not more so.

So our cold winter continues with plenty of snow and frozen streams, lakes and ponds. But that doesn't mean the fishing has to be put on hold. In fact it may be one the best times to find your own piece of water, before the hordes descend down onto your favorite water in another month or two.