Lessons learned; Black creek

A lot of times as a fly fisherman I have to check myself at the door. And by that I mean, I can't get to comfortable with what I'm doing every time I go fishing. I enjoy the challenge of not knowing what is going on with the fish all the time. Solving puzzles is a lot of fun. But I sometimes will fall back on what I know or am comfortable with. I usually catch fish. And sometimes I have great fish catching days. But that does not always translate into me becoming a better fly fisherman.

Have you ever started to feel like you were getting to know a place, and then have something happen to totally reverse that feeling? And I'm not talking about a good feeling turned bad, or the feeling that that you missed out on something. I'm talking about a feeling of revelation!!

This past Friday I took my two boys to Black creek for a little fly fishing. It was a good morning, as we all caught fish. But what made it even better was the shared insight of a passionate seasoned angler who spends all his time fishing Black creek. He is not a fly fisherman. But a fisherman none the less. And he was not one of these "old timers" who now spend their retirement fishing every day either. No! He was a young man in his teens. And his passion and knowledge reminded me of what fishing was like to me at that age. And for that matter, still is today!

He walked around with a seine scrapping the bottom of the stream trying to get some live crayfish to use as bait. He then would put them in an empty coffee cup, and when he had enough, he would start fishing.

We had seen him before, and he recognized us right away. We watched him work as we fished. And soon he was joining the fishing just below the spillway on the opposite side of where we were fishing. We talked back and forth. And he shared with us some fantastic stories of fish caught and lost that would make any ones eyes light up. Stories of giant fish that he had caught right where we were fishing. He told us of walleye that he was catching recently along with some big pike(up to 38" long.) He also told us of a few big 20" smallmouth that he seems to catch every day. He even shared a story of a really nice sized trout that he caught in the spring below the dam. And this is supposed to be a warm water fishery! And finally, the icing on the cake, was a story of an almost unimaginable small child eating 52" beast of a northern pike. Sorry, I had to embellish the "small child eating" part. Anyone who has seen a pike that big will surely tell you that they would not want to swim in water where a fish like that lurked. He had said the big 52" northern took a large creek chub that he was using for bait. And he then told me that he had caught the creek chubs in his seine in another part of the same creek. If even half of his stories are true....it is still an impressive resume'.

This is someone who has made a study out of Black creek and has come to know it well. His use of every bit of knowledge that he has gained was impressive. His enthusiasm and passion for fishing Black creek made me realize how much more I needed to learn about this great place. I am now thinking about how to tie flies to meet the requirements for catching a large northern pike. I am also in process of tying some crayfish patterns for some big bass.

It was a great experience for me. And when I got home I came to the understanding that I was learning from this young man. Usually I focus on fly fishing and how I can learn from my friends who I get to fish with from time to time. But this time I was able to gain insight from a "non-fly fisherman" who had a lot more knowledge about Black creek than me.

When I was a young fly fisherman there were many times when I was able to watch and learn from more experienced guys. And every now and then there would be this one guy who seemed to have it all figured out. He would catch the biggest and the most. He seemed to have the right fly at the right time. He knew where the fish were and how to get the right drift every time. He knew the stream and the fish that lived there so intimately that he was always a couple of steps ahead of everyone else. This is where I wanted to be as a fly fisherman. And to some extent...I still do! I have worked hard to learn from those guys and on my own to try and get there. I know I'm not there yet. But I am always trying to learn more and become the best fly fisherman that I can be. Sharing my passion with others who are equally passionate will only help. And this past Friday the tables were turned and I was able to learn from a younger guy who didn't fly fish.

So I'm sending a special thanks to all of you who have shared the passion with me and with whom I have learned a great deal from. You know who you are!!!!! You are all a blessing....keep it real. Or is that reel? Ha

See you on the stream!

Pond fishing with the boys!

Katie has been going to her summer gymnastics camp this week so....This morning I took my two boys to the local pond for a little dry fly fishing. We took two four weight fly rods and rigged them up with 4x tippet and #12 stimulators. It was great to see them both casting a fly. And even better to watch them catch fish. The best part, besides catching fish, was them watching the fish come up to the surface to take the fly. A shadow would appear below the fly and then in an instant it would dissapear in a swirl. My oldest son Jonathan was doing very well and caught many sunfish all by himself. And even my 3 year old hooked up once by himself.

This kind of fly fishing is perfect for kids! They don't need to cast well or try and get the right drift to catch fish. For the most part just getting the fly in or on the water will get a strike. And this is important because they won't get frustrated or bored becuase they aren't catching fish. They even let their Dad catch a few!!

It is also nice because you don't need a lot of equipment. Just a few fly rods, flies, pliers and a camera. You're good to go! Ho yeah...and some snacks and drinks! You can't forget those.

Finally....you can not replace the time that you spend with your kids. You may have to untangle some lines and keep them from falling in the water. And you don't often get to fly fish yourself very much. But, it is worth it! They get to be successful at catching a fish on a fly. How cool is that!
Tight lines!

Irondequoit steel!

After a very busy week of unpacking from a family reunion, getting ready for Katies birthday party this past weekend, and missing out on a invitation to the West Canada......I needed to wet a line!!!!!

Late last week my family and I met some friends from our church at Irondequoit creek for some fishing and a picnic. While the kids played and the wives talked, Dan and I rigged our rods. You guys remember Dan!

I had met Dan a number of years ago at church. And while we talked the topic of fishing came up. I told him I was a fly fisherman and that he should come out with me sometime and give it a try. Well, it's now 6 years later and we have been out a number of times since then. He know owns three fly rods and has ventured out by himself a few times. With success I might add!

The creek was high and off color with only about 10 inches or so of visability. We tied on larger darker flies under indicators and began drifting closer to the stream bank and seams where the fast water met slow pockets or shallow gravel bars in the stream.

After a little effort and lots of adjusting I finally hooked up on a small fish that quickly came out of the water and shook the fly. I thought it might have been a small rainbow. But the state only stocks them in the spring to imprint them so they will hopefully return in a few years as a steelhead. The next fish I actually landed. And it was a rainbow/steelhead. I examined the fish to see if there were any deformaties or fins clipped. There were none! Was this a wild naturally reproduced steelhead? My next fish was also a small rainbow. And now I am really getting excited. Not that the fish are big(they are only about 6 to 8 inches long). But becuase the steelhead that enter Irondequoit may be successfully naturalIy reproducing. Now I will have to make a call to the DEC to see what they might say. But just knowing that the potential is there for a stream to produce wild fish is something to get excited about.

My last fish of the morning was not like the others. It barely moved when I hooked it. And when it did move, it just shook a few times and then came up to the surface and rolled. It did not have the silver sides of the first three rainbows. It had a golden shine to it....a brown trout! But it was not to be, as a few more head shakes popped the fly out.

Dan meanwhile had walked down to where I was and started fishing close to me. I then put him in the run I was fishing in the hopes that he would find some success in the high water. It took him a while to get the drift right but when he did he seemed to get a pull down here and there. But no fish!

We then all met up for a quick lunch and some good conversation. But we didn't have the time to go back down to the stream and get Dan into some trout. That will have to wait for another day. But he did finally get to fish his nice new 5 weight fly rod.

It was good to get out with Dan. Especially since he missed our 3rd annual Fly Fishing trip this spring. But he did say he was ready to go for a fall trip. Anyone interested?

All the fish I hooked were fooled by a #12 beadhead peacock woolly bugger.

FW Midge and other Ideas

Back from the PA trip! Everything went well...lots of fun! Saw some trout in the little stream that ran through the campground and park. Including one trout that was pushing 15 or 16 inches.

Anyway I wanted to share a couple of things with you now that I am back. First is a midge pattern that I have been playing around with for little while now. It's design is probably nothing new. But, I have been trying to get a good floating emerger pattern that will be durable and not sink. Even with constant abuse from the fish. In the past I have tied small #20 midge emerger patterns with snow shoe hare's foot for a little wing. This seemed to work pretty well. The only catch was, after every fish you needed to apply dry fly floatant. The act of applying floatant to a fly after every fish is nothing new. I have been doing it for many many years. The only set back to this(for me) is when there are trout rising everywhere taking emergers and you have to spend that extra time applying floatant instead of casting to fish. I finally saw a photo of a small mayfly pattern that showed a small bit of foam for a little wing. And that prompted me to try that for the midge pattern. This solves the problem of having to take a time-out to dry your fly before casting to the next trout. I know this sounds a little crazy. But for me, time on the water is precious! And I want to take full advantage of it. That means that if I can find a way to have my fly on or in the water for longer, I will do it! Of course it may not always translate into more fish caught. But for me it is worth the effort. I am, and so far to this date, have always been a sucker for simple, durable, well thought out fly patterns that catch fish!!!!

So....I will include a photo of the pattern here. And the recipe too!

1. Hook - #18 through #24 Curved scud of choice
2. Thread - Brown (or color of choice)
3. Rib - Gold small Ultra wire ( or color of choice)
4. Wing - white foam cut from a thin sheet bought at the craft store
5. Thorax - black super fine (or color of choice)

Other colors that would work are a tan or cream version, white, red, and of course black.

I also have some ideas that you may want to try while trico fishing. We all know that trico fishing can be challenging. Fishing small flies to weary trout is not everyone's cup of tea. I must admit that I have trouble seeing my size #20 or #22 fly from time to time. So if I do lose sight of the fly, I try and guage the distance of my leader. And when a trout rises in the vacinity of where I think my fly is, I raise my rod to set the hook. So far this has worked really well. But another great idea is to tie on a #16 or #18 ant, beetle or other dry fly pattern(caddis) with a little hi-vis yarn wing. Then tie a 12" to 20" section of 6x tippet off the bend of that fly, and attach your small trico pattern. This will give you something close to your trico pattern to focus on that you can actually see. And when a fish rises near that hi-vi pattern....raise the rod tip to set the hook. You may even find that the trout may take the larger pattern too!! Fishing a two fly rig like this will require some carefull planning. You will have to open up your cast a little to get a larger loop so you don't tangle the flies. And making several casts on the side of the stream where there are no fish would be a good idea. This will allow you to see the two flies drift and see how they look on the water. When you get the hang of casting the two flies, get in position and make your cast to rising fish. Be sure to leave your cast a little short so the the bigger hi-vis lead fly is just off to one side of the fish or above or below the fish. This will allow the small trico pattern to be right on point and in front of fish. This is why you pick a spot off to the side of the stream to practice your casting!!!!

Tight lines.....and have fun!

More Weight!?!?

A recent discussion with a friend has prompted me to share some ideas with all of you. Our discussion was centered around nymphing, and more specifically the use of weight. My friend was sharing a story about fishing a deep run that he was nymphing with another friend. Neither of them were catching fish with the nymph rig that they were set up with. My friend, who was unsatisfied, added more weight! He then proceeded to hook up several times in that run and take some nice trout while the other friend caught nothing. What they couldn't see at the time, was was a little drop off in the run that the trout were holding in.The one friend who didn't add weight was drifting right over the fish.

This is a tough topic because so many people that I meet on the stream fail to recognize that they need more weight when nymph fishing. And for what ever reason, they have trouble accepting that fact. I think it is because of a number of reasons. But perhaps the biggest is that they probably have caught many fish before without the use of a lot of weight. Why change? And this is where most people get stuck....including myself!

For slow, shallow and even runs the need for more weight isn't usually a factor. But in every other nymphing situation, I have found that the addition of more weight has made a difference.A huge difference. It can make a day of a few nice fish into a day to remember.

I recall such a story from a year ago....we were all fishing a nice deep pool with a good current at the head that seemed to drop off sharply. We were fishing the middle and tailout of that pool with good success. The only problem was, we could see some really nice fish holding on the other side of the pool sitting near a cut in the stream bead. We would drift and drift trying desperately to get our flies in front of the fish. We would even cast further upstream to try and give our flies more time to get down. The trout just sat there finning away in the current. Then a friend and I added more weight. An additional small split shot was added just above the other. This was they key. It put the fly in front of the fish and soon we were hooking up with these larger trout holding on that cut. The addition of weight made a day of 8" to 12" inch fish into a day with some really nice wild 15" and 16" inch browns.

More often than not the addition of extra weight will get your fly to the fish faster and keep it there longer. And in my book that means more opportunity to catch that nice trout, and more of them.

What I start off with when nymph fishing, is a size bigger split shot than I think would I need. I then adjust my indicator to keep that weight bouncing along the bottom. I add the weight about 4 to 8 inches above the fly(sometimes closer), and adjust accordingly. Some fish will need that fly right on the bottom. If this is the case, put the weight just a few inches above the fly. If you can't get the fly in front of the fish or you aren't getting any strikes...Instead of casting further upstream(to give it time to sink) add more weight! Add a small amount of weight at a time. Until you get that fly in front of the fish. I have found(for me) that casting further upstream to give your fly the time to sink doesn't work as well as adding more weight. Any little current or lift of the rod will move the fly out of the range of the fish, and by the time the fly is on the bottom again, it has drifted well past the fish. That little bit of extra weight will keep that fly in front of the fish longer!

I know that not every situation will require the addition of more weight. But more often than not, it does! And I am only talking about dead drifting a nymph here. With the upcoming summer months, when trout will often start to pool up and will not move as far to take a fly, it will often require precise dead drifts to regularly take fish.

Photos by Lucas Carroll

Oatka Creek; June 16th

Yesterday morning I was able to fish Oatka creek in Scottsville for about an hour or so. And It started with taking a few stream samples to find out if the rumors are true. The rumors of golden stones! I had heard reports of some guys seeing some stones flying around in the evening as of late, and based on what I found, the rumors are true!

My samples turned up the standard march browns and crayfish, but also some really big golden stone fly nymphs. I'm talking a #10 or better. And plenty of them. A lot of fun to watch them crawl around. And they are really fast too!

Now the fishing - I could see fish rising in the flat water above the bridge in Scottsville. The trout were gently sipping away at something I couldn't see. Midges? Small mayflies? I made a guess and put on a small mayfly emerger. It soon became apparent that I did not have the right fly, as not one fish even moved to look at my fly. I then went to a small midge emerger. And this too was ignored by the trout. I then remembered that the trout have been seeing lots of mayflies come off the water in the evenings. And again the next morning if the conditions are right. This prompted me to tie on a #14 hair wing march brown dry fly(even though the trout were feeding on something much much smaller.) This change seemed to work. I was now getting trout to look up and even move towards the fly. But still no takers. So what do you do when you seem to have the right fly, but still no taker? You go down in size of course! So on went a #16 march brown dry. Boy was that the difference. Almost every trout was now moving to the fly and many fish came up to take it. But I had to be right on with my cast and it had to lay softly on the water.

I think the reason why the march brown pattern worked so well was because the trout have been so conditioned to seeing them and feeding on them for several weeks now that they just can't resist taking advantage of a well placed dry. This tactic has worked well for me in the past too. In fact I have had some of my best dry fly fishing in the mornings. I am beginning to realize that the trout may just be more willing to take a properly presented mayfly during peak hatch periods in the morning, than during any other time during the day. But, like anything else it probably requires more research.

Look for golden stones in the evening along with everything else. That means you can probably start fishing a #10 or #12 stimulator during the evening hatch.

Enjoy the photos!

Oatka & Spring creek beat down

Luke has been putting his time in lately at Oatka and Spring creek. A lot of time. Enough time to make me a little green in the gills. He has even been joined on occasion by Jessie and his wife for some fly rod bending action. In fact since the 1st of this month he has logged more hours on the stream than the New York state senate has in Albany. Oh wait a minute....do we still have a New York senate?

Anyway...the fishing has been great! At least that's what I've been told. Dry flies, emergers, nymphs, scuds, midges....it really doesn't matter, the fish need to eat and those guys have been feeding the trout a regular diet of what they want.

Prolific evening hatches have the trout feeding on sulphurs, march browns, light cahills, midges and of course caddis. And there have been some green drakes as well. Which means that if you hit it right, you could catch some nice trout with a very large dry fly. And compared to some of the smaller mayflies we will be dealing with late next month....these green drakes are like sailboats on the water. Huge tom HUGE!!!

Both Jessie and Luke had a good time fishing together last week for an evening catching some fish on dries and bugs in their teeth. Or at least it seems that way from some of the pictures I've seen. Oh well, I guess a little extra protein wouldn't hurt. Speaking of photos....all the photos you see here were taken on his new camera.

If you can't get out there for the evening hatch....don't worry, Luke has that covered as well. Nymphing with small flies, and I mean small, like size #26 midges to be exact, has been a great fly fished deep. It must be nice to be able to see the hook when you tie those things up Luke. I guess those days are over for me. I'm lucky if I can tie on a size #20 fly! Anyway....Luke and his wife went out this past week as well, and each caught a number of fish in the "Honey Hole." And if you don't know where the "Honey Hole" is...well let's just say it's a prime piece of water. Especially in the summer. And I'm not giving the "Honey Hole" location away....ha! Ummm, I just remembered that I think everyone who reads this already knows where the "Honey Hole" is.

Enough about the "Honey Hole" lets talk about Spring creek...or is it Spring brook? I forget. Like the name, the trout seem to confuse most anglers. But not Luke. Or Jessie for that matter. Those boys have put a beat down on those spring creek fish like what the Orlando Magic did to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland, like Spring creek has(or had) a reputation of being tough, the best the east had to offer. In steps Orlando(Luke and Jessie) and systematically destroys Cleveland leaving them to ponder what went wrong. I would have used the Yankees vs. Red Sox analogy, seeing as I am a big fan of the Yankees. But after what has happened recently, I don't really feel like it's worth getting into. Bloody Red Sox!!! Okay enough about sports. Luke took a few photos earlier this week of an obscenely large brown trout that is now swimming around the creek terrorizing both fish and man alike. A fish that he was unable to catch. It seems as though it was the only fish to escape the fly fishing stylings of "cool" hand Luke. Hey wait a minute here....is that the fish Jessie hooked on our May fishing trip in the Oatka? The now fabled 40" incher? Anyway....Luke again caught many trout using smaller than normal flies. Size #26 midge larvae I was told. Hey, what would be the word for more than one larvae....larvie, larvy, larveas? Just a simple question really...isn't it? Sorry about the tangent. Back to fishing news....Luke also caught a very nice brook trout. A fish that seems to have eluded me at spring creek. But then again I don't get out to spring as much as I would like. But that's okay. At least that's what I tell myself. And I must say that I do really enjoy hearing all the fly fishing reports from everyone. Bob, Jessie, Luke, Rich, thanks for not indulging too much! I can only take so much....ha!

Please spend some time looking at Luke's award winning photography!!!