Fall Tributary Season 2020

Ethan works a nice pool

 

Has it really been that long since my last post.....really?

Jonathan with a nice October King

Oh well.

Here it goes.

I will try and put up a few posts in short succession to highlight some of the past fishing trips over the course of the year.

I will start with this fall tributary season, and hopefully add some backlogged stories as I go.

This year’s WNY tributary season was pretty normal, at least from my experience.

We had water, not a lot, but more than what I had seen in some past years. And that allowed for the salmon migration to start right on queue. Fish moved up all fall, and even had some opportunities to push way up into some of the smaller freestone tribs with the occasional pulse of rain and/or canal release.

Ethan with a streamer king

Even though we caught some fish, we didn’t ever seem to find a good group of fish, and had to put in a lot of steps just to find the few we were able to catch. But, that’s fishing. Each year is different, and some years are better than others, especially when it comes to finding plenty of fish that are willing to take a fly.

Our best flies this year were woolly buggers tied in olive, brown and black and in sizes #4-#6. We primarily dead drifted pockets and pools and swung them in tail-outs and runs. Or, a combination of the two.

Woolly bugger king

As the fall progressed, we started to find more and more trout in the local streams. And like every other year, we match the hatch with egg patterns. As the salmon run winds down and the spawning is complete, the lake run brown trout start to pair up to begin their spawning. Here is a great opportunity to target the pools, deep pockets and runs for early lake run steelhead/rainbows and other brown trout that have yet to get on the gravel to spawn. You can also witness some of the spawning that takes place, like the salmon, in the shallower gravel sections of the stream. But remember, these fish are trying to naturally reproduce. And even though there isn’t a high success rate in natural reproduction, it does happen, and it is recommended to leave actively spawning fish alone.

Once late November comes around, the brown trout start to come off the spawn and will eat almost anything and everything…..including a swung streamer!

Jon's first fall lake run brown

In a couple of weeks winter will officially be here, at least meteorologically speaking. That means the fishing will slow way down as the stream temperatures drop. And that’s when the fish will start to pool up and hunker down. We will need to slow our presentation down, and keep those flies in the zone. Fishing the afternoon will usually be better, because as the day warms, so does the water. And any warming of the stream will mean the fish will become more active.

Enjoy the upcoming Holidays….and hopefully I’ll see you on the stream.

Make sure to check out these links of local guides and craftsmen, along with other major brands that we use while on the stream

Wide Sky Fly Fishing

Streamwalker Nets

JP Ross Fly Rods

Waterworks - Lamson

Jay Peck Guides 

Cortland Fly Fishing 

Rio Fly Fishing 

Temple Fork Outfitters

Ethan and a big post spawn hen

Egg patterns and post spawn lake run brown trout

Jon with a big drop back

Ethan with a nice streamer caught male brown trout

First fall lake run rainbow