Midnight Mousin' - Small stream 2014

Sunset over WNY

Yup…It’s that time of year again. Time for a little midnight mousin’.

Over the past several years some friends and I have made plans during the dog days of summer for a late night rendezvous with some local small stream brown trout. 

We try and meet up right at dusk to give us the opportunity to get tied up, go over the game plan and even walk in before it gets too dark.

Curtis, Jessie & Flyfish Horton

I had been watching the water gauge closely over the past few days, as some recent rain had brought the stream levels on Oatka creek up to just over 3.0 – a level that would make for some very difficult fishing at night. But as the weekend approached, the water subsided, and was now reading right around 2.85. Not ideal, but doable. The only hope was that the water would be clear enough to enable the trout to see our mouse patterns. The lower and clearer the water – the better the results!

This year I would be joined by a few old friends JessieHollenbeck of Wide sky Fly Fishing and Bob Burrows, and also a few new ones – FlyfishHorton and Curtis AnDré Lindo.

The creek seemed to be in good shape, but in the dark, how can you really tell? And we weren’t about to go around shinning lights in to the water to find out either.

Oatka at night

Curtis and Flyfish Horton were first up in a favorite spot of ours that typically holds plenty of willing trout, but after more than a half hour of fishing with only one good pull, we began to wonder if Oatka would give up any fish. Jessie and I soon joined the fray, and even with a move to some other downstream locations and a few more splashes and pulls, we all still remained fishless. We soon worked our way down to Bob’s location and found out that Bob and his wife Kim hadn’t faired much better.

Flyfish Horton and Bob left, leaving just the three of us pour saps to figure it all out for ourselves. And with another half hour of no action under our belts, we decided to make the move to Spring creek. And as we navigated our way out of the creek with lights now on, we could see why the trout weren't willing to commit to our flies - The water was still well stained.

Curtis' 1st mouse caught brown

A new start was what we needed, and as we started out for the stream Jessie said what we all were thinking - “I have a good feeling.” A feeling that would be proven right over the next hour or so.

Spring creek was fantastic, even though it took a little while for it to happen. Fish began to respond to our fly patterns with splashes and pulls, and then, as Curtis fished a new spot with a new mouse pattern – it happened – Fish on!! Finally one of us put a fish in the net. A few pictures later and Curtis gently released his first mouse caught brown trout. We were now on the board – well – at least Curtis was!

By then our fishing time was nearing its end, but not before we tried one more spot at Jessie’s suggestion before the walk to the car.

For the next twenty minutes we each hooked up and landed fish including a really nice fifteen inch wild brown, and as I was walking out, I watched as both Curtis and Jessie hooked up again. 

15 inch wild brown

A little bit later I got a text from Jessie letting me know that they each landed several more nice trout before the action slowed.

What a night!

One of the mouse patterns we used.

One of Jessie's Spring creek browns

Curtis and a well fed 14" inch brown

I’m just glad we stuck it out till the end. Perseverance was our lesson on this evening….what a blessing!

Birthday Fishing

A nice pre-spawn female brown trout. Photo taken by Jessie Hollenbeck

With the recent extreme cold and snowy weather that we have been getting, much of the WNY tributary fishing I like to do will be put on hold until a prolonged thaw. Not that I mind fishing in temperatures well below freezing mind you, rather, the streams I like to fish will be locked up with ice.

These conditions, believe it or not, are a welcome change….at least for me. I can now work on filling fly boxes, making repairs to gear, changing old fly lines and work on producing some art for my portfolio. It will also force me back to my favorite inland trout streams and rediscover those skill sets that are required to pursue the trout that inhabit them.

But before I relent to the inevitable, I had an opportunity to fish for about an hour at a local WNY trib on my birthday. My wife accompanied me and I had fun watching her fish through the head of a run with a streamer. And although she didn’t get a pull from a fish, she stuck it out and did amazingly well. But I do have to say that if I had an extra pair of waders for her I know that she would’ve gotten into a few fish. She is certainly very capable. In fact, during our first year or so of marriage I convinced her to join me on the Salmon River on more than one occasion. And on one of those trips to the “Staircase” in the town of Pulaski, NY we did pretty well for ourselves, and more than that, I watched Colleen out-fish every other angler there. She ended the morning with five fish hooked and almost two landed. Yes almost! I had a part in that “almost” when I went to tail a rather large Chinook salmon and realized that I was not in the right position and retracted my hand to reach around the other side, the fish took a small run and popped the hook. “Fish Off!” She was not happy and I got a well deserved razzing from the other anglers who were watching her manhandle a thirty pound Chinook to shore only to watch her husband botch the landing……ughhh! I am glad that was not the whole story, because she did hook and land a gorgeous ten pound steelhead that we had to chase downstream for at least a hundred yards before landing. She certainly proved herself then, and did again on this day whether she caught fish or not.

I ended the day with three fish landed and a few more hooked and lost, but it was great to have her there with me. And as I was able to land my last fish I was joined by my friend Jessie Hollenbeck of Wide Sky Flyfishing. We shared a few stories, swapped flies, took a few photos and then said our goodbyes.

Not a bad way to spend an hour of your Birthday right? ….Right!

If you are ever in the WNY area and want to experience our fantastic lake run trout and salmon fishery, make sure to contact Jessie Hollenbeck.  Jessie has an amazing knowledge off all our WNY tribs and is patient teacher which, in my opinion, makes him an exceptional guide that will do everything to make your trip a success.

See you on the stream!

Fall Inland brown trout on the fly

Michael Simmons with his inland beauty

Fall fishing for inland trout is one of my favorite kinds of fly fishing to do. One; the stream is almost void of people. And two; the fishing can be outstanding. The only bad part of fall fishing the inland trout streams is that little voice in the back of your head telling you that you need to get out to a Lake Ontario tributary in search of the first salmon of the fall. But experience tells me that adventure is still a little bit down the road.

So…….

Last week on Monday, Michael Simmons of Guys, Flies &Pies and I hit up an inland trout stream for a last ditch effort to convince some of the local brown trout to eat some flies before the lake fish in our neck of the woods make a run for it.

We arrived at location X to witness several trout feeding on trico spinners. A few delicate casts with the JP Ross Beaver Meadow two weight lined with 6X tippet and a #22 black trico spinner pattern promptly put those fish down. But all was not lost as we witnessed a good number of fish sitting near the bottom of a very nicely shaded pool….time to switch it up!

The fish in the pool were now our target and we went at them for a while with various nymphs trying to get the precision drift necessary to get them to eat. But when you have fish stacked on top and next to each other it is more difficult than one might imagine.

We each managed a few really nice trout, with Mike getting the big fish of the day. In fact he boasts that it is probably one of the biggest inland trout he has caught to date! And it was a gorgeous inland wild brown of almost 15” inches.

Enjoy the photos of some of WNY’s finest wild brown trout!

Note: With all the cool and wet weather we have had lately, it won’t be long until we have our first good run of lake run salmon and trout in WNY. I will try and get out and find time to get accurate reports when this happens.

Tight lines!