The Banner Says It All!!

About a year ago James sent me an e-mail that really caught my eye. It was about a local fly tying party that would be fueled by the consumption of mass quantities of pizza. It sounded great and I let him know that I was ready to go, but that was a year ago, and with family and jobs and everything else that life throws at you, I kind of forgot about it. And I know what your thinking..."How in the world can he forget about a fly tying event?" But I did!

Fast forward to yesterday - I get an E-mail from Mike Simmons from Guys, Flies & Pies with an official invite to this years event. And I must say that it was very nice to hear from him. He had found my blog and made mention of who he was and that we fished many of the same spots. It's nice to connect with local guys who have the same interests, especially when it comes to fly fishing! So I am going to try and go to this year's event and redeem my forgetfulness.

Party starts at 3pm on February 20th(That's a Saturday) ans runs till midnight! Pizza at 6pm and raffles at 8pm.

Hopefully we can all go and meet some new fly fisherman and learn how to tie some new patterns. But most of all....talk "Fish" for a while.

So click here to find out more about his years event!!

Salvation at Spring Creek!

Winter can be a tricky time to spend on the water. You have to deal with frozen fingers and guides. You also have to wear many layers of clothes and make sure to cover your face and head. Frost bite is a very real possibility, and you need to prepare accordingly. I now carry a net with me so I don't have to stick my hands in the water to retrieve my fish - a lesson learned the hard way!

Most of the streams can be frozen over like many of our still water fisheries. But there is always a hearty few who know that not all is lost. In fact winter is probably the best time to fish. Crowds are not a problem and the fish still need to eat. So a few of us hard core fly fishing dudes take to the water that is open. And with our layers of clothing and waders, we stand in water that is barely above the freezing mark, in the hopes of getting our lines stretched and our rods bent. And if we are prepared enough, we might just catch a few fish.

For the past few weeks, with the exception of this past weekend, the temperatures have been a little on the cool side. And we expect this - it is winter after all! The bad part about it is that we have had no snow melt to raise the water levels, and many of the small streams are locked up with ice. The few that have remained open get pounded by fisherman that have been fishing to the same fish on a weekly basis.

Salvation has come from a small inland trout stream that remains ice free all winter long. In fact it's water temperatures stay near 50 degrees all year round. And that means that it is often the best place to spend a few hours throwing flies. And that place is none other than "Spring Creek!"
It has provided us hard core fly fishing guys with a remedy for a severe case of cabin fever.

Small flies and light tippet are the key to consistent action Spring Creek. We have had our best success using #16-#20 pink scuds, with #16-#18 red worms, #20-#26 midge larvae and #20 flash back nymphs taking the rest of the fish.

So here are some photos that were taken from the past two weeks of fly fishing spring creek. I will also put in 2 links here for you to check out some of Lucas Carroll's photography as well.

I hope you enjoy!

Winter Fish and Flies

With the new year now here, I have been thinking it might be time to put up a blog. I know, "it's about time!" But like I said before, I have been trying to cut back a little from my own personal blog so I can devote more time to the www.jprossflyrods.com web site. Besides it gets awfully busy around here during the holiday season....yikes!!!

December was a great month filled with more family and friends than anything else. And it was great to see everyone, even if it was for a short little while. But I am starting to get that feeling - you know the one where you wake up at night in a cold sweat yelling FISH ON!!! at the top of your lungs. Okay - maybe you don't know. But if you know me, that's not out of the realm of possibility. I'm starting to think that the risk of almost certain frost bite while fishing in weather like this is worth it. I mean I endured it last year, how bad could it be a second time around?

December was not completely void of fishing or fish for that matter. I did get out for an hour on December 7th at one of my favorite Western New York tributaries. And even though it was cold, I did manage to hook up with two fish and land one very bright female steelhead of about 5lbs. Happy Birthday to me!!! Other than that morning, I have been in a terrible drought. And as my Dad used to say on Christmas when one of us kids would open all of our presents in a sugar induced frenzy, and then have to sit back and wait as everyone else got to enjoy the rest of their gifts.....wait for it......"You'll just have to sit there and suck wind!" So that's what I've been doing at least on the fishing end of things.

As for other fly fishing things - I have been spending some time at the vise. And that means filling in some holes in the fly boxes and trying out some new things for my next adventure. I'll post some photos here of those flies, but you can find the recipe for these flies at the jprossflyrods site. So enjoy and make sure to get out there if and when you can. I know spring creek is always open and so is Oatka and Irondequoit creek too! Trout have to eat even in winter, we just need to take advantage.

Happy New Year!!!!

Changes!

As many of you know, I have been blogging for the JP Ross fly rod website for a while now. And I have really loved the experience. It has provided me another avenue in which to share and enjoy one of my passions - Fly fishing!

I try to write for the web site at least twice a week. This leaves me with little time to keep up on my own blog, so I will be posting fewer blogs in the near future. I will still try and keep posting a few times a month, but for now look on the JP Ross fly rod website for updates and other news from me and my travels to all the fishy places I like to go.

In the past week and a half I have had the opportunity to get out and fish a number of times and share a few of those mornings with some friends. Friday was one of them and I met up with Luke and Jessie for some great action on Sandy creek. We all caught fish and Luke took some really fantastic photos, including one of my biggest brown trout of this year....so far. And you can see more of his wonderful work at his flickr page! Thanks Mom for giving me a few hours to fish with Luke and Jessie. It reminded me a bit of the times you used to take me up to the salmon river.....thanks!

On Monday I fished with "Mr." Rich and his friend Mike. Rich has known Mike for a while now and they have fished many streams, rivers and lakes together for years. So it was a pleasure to finally meet Mike in person and talk with him about some of his adventures. I hope it isn't the last time either. I also spent much of that morning running around netting fish for the both of them. I netted 2 steelhead for Mike and a nice male brown trout for Rich - his first ever lake run brown! I caught a small sucker, and that was it for all of us that morning.

So here are some pictures from the most recent adventures on the stream. I'll update when I can, but for the mean time, check out the www.jprossflyrods.com for my latest blog!

Thanks for all your support. See you on the stream!

Fly Fishing Video trailer!

I thought I would post a video I first viewed at Moldychum.com. It is a short trailer on fly fishing for trophy fish in the U.S. The idea being that you don't have to travel to exotic places and spend thousands of dollars to catch trophy fish. The video, by Jason Jaacks, is aptly titled "No Passport Required" and shows off some of Western New York's finest lesser know tributaries. In fact, many of the video clips show spots where we fish on a yearly basis. And I think you will recognize them. I think it's great that these guys took the time to promote the fantastic trophy fishing we have in the U.S. and in New York. Most of us don't have the kind of money that is required to search out fish like the ones in the video in faraway places. I know that videos like these will often spark a mass influx of fly fishermen to the area, but with the proper education in stream etiquette and fishing practices it could actually prove to be an enjoyable experience.

So I hope you enjoy. I certainly did!

No Passport Required from Jason Jaacks on Vimeo.

Great November fishing on Sandy Creek

November has been the month of the brown trout. At least it has been for us that fish the Western New York tributaries. And as it has always been, they make their way into the streams as the Chinook salmon are just about done with their fall spawning. There will always be a few fresh salmon that will still make their way into the streams, but it is the brown trout that will now start making a big push into the tributaries. The males show up first. They work their way upstream into likely holding areas and wait for the females to show up(isn't this always the case? The males waiting for the females!). This can get interesting as they will often hold were salmon are spawning or have spawned. The salmon don't like this one bit and will often try to chase the brown trout out of their territory. This little battle for territory is a lot of fun to watch, especially when you are standing in the stream just 10 feet away. The down fall is the fish don't always respond to a well presented fly. And how could they. They are busy either protecting their territory or trying to stay out of the way if an angry 20lb. salmon. But fish can be caught! And it is often at this stage in the season when the fishing can be really good.

I met Mr. Rich at Sandy creek this Monday to hopefully experience some of that really good fishing. And although the morning started a little on the slow side, it would not end that way.

We walked down the trail to the stream and slowly made our way downstream searching for fish. And to my surprise Rich spotted the first fish. He had spotted the fish as I was just about to move further downstream. The reason why it was a bit of a surprise was because I usually am good at spotting fish. But not today! Rich pointed out that the fish was in a run tucked carefully behind a submerged rock. And sure enough it was there. I just had to strain my eyes a bit to see it. So I took a step back and watched as Rich began to work the fish. After a minute or so, I had to try and find my own fish. And I didn't find any until I came across the tail out of a long flat run. It was here that I saw the salmon and brown trout holding together. It was also here that I saw the salmon trying to push the trout out of their spawning area. I got into position and gave it a try. I did finally hook up with a brown trout, but it had been foul hooked so I popped the hook off as quickly as I could.

I continued to walk downstream after that. And I made my way to the root pool. The root pool is a nice deep pool that has a rather large tree on the opposite side of the stream. Its roots make their way into the bank and the stream on the far side in an attempt to keep it standing. But this year a very large section of the tree broke off and fell into and across the pool. This has made it difficult to land any fish that is hooked in the pool. And it came in to play this morning, as I lost the second fish I hooked when it ran under that limb. I tried to put as much pressure as I could on the fish, hoping to turn it. But the only thing I got out of that exercise was a broken tippet and a lost fly.

Things would take a turn for the better at the next run. And in the last half of the morning of fishing I manged to land two small male Atlantic salmon of about 22" to 24" inches in length and my best brown trout of the season so far. A very nice male brown trout of 28" that was probably close to 10lbs. And thanks to Rich, who had made his way downstream to where I was, I was able to get a few photos for this blog!

I had to leave, but Rich had the run now and continued to fish for a little while. I got an e-mail an hour or so later from Rich saying that he did manage to hook up twice and land a nice coho salmon of about 24" inches or so. A great morning for the both of us!

But I must say that this is becoming a typical scenario for Rich. He seems to wait until the very end to get his fish. This past spring he waited until I had walked around the corner and out of sight before he hooked and landed his first ever tributary steelhead. Luckily Luke was there to net the fish and take a few photos for him. And this October at our trip to Oak Orchard, Rich waited until the very last minute to hook up with a huge Chinook salmon. It was an epic battle that ended well(thanks to coaching from Bob and Luke). And Luke was there again to take some great photos of some very tired but happy anglers. And now this past Monday, Rich again waits until the end to put some numbers on the board. My only question is why? He has the skills to get into fish. Is it because he has a flare for the dramatic? Or perhaps he is like a lizard that needs to sun itself before it becomes active. Or perhaps he just doesn't want his mug to make it on this blog. I'm not really sure what the deal is, but I hope he changes his mode of operation soon. I can't keep getting e-mails after the fact, it's killing me!

All joking aside, it was a great morning to be out on the stream. And thanks Rich for taking a few photos for me. Next time make sure to get a fish before I leave!

Fall trib fishing at it's best!

The salmon are just about done, we have had great water conditions, and the trout are starting to show up in greater numbers each day. What else can I say? I think the title says it all. "Fall trib fishing at it's best!"

Yes the fishing seems to hot right now, and the beginning of November is proving to be fantastic. But there is a chance it could get even better. Yupper doodle doo! Even better. How you ask? Well just consider this for a minute. First of all the water levels are near perfect right now. And with any more precipitation they will be even better. That means that the brown trout and steelhead will have plenty of water to start their journey. And high water means more fish will enter the stream. Second - we still have plenty of salmon around. This means that some salmon will still be spawning. Often you can find trout sitting with the salmon or just behind them. They use the salmon to hide behind and as a feeding station. And it is often a good choice to start with an egg pattern when you find trout in this position. And third - I have only seen mostly male trout up to this point. Things get interesting when the females start to show up. Once this happens you will start to see females and males pairing up together. And before they get into full spawn mode the males will become very aggressive. This is a good time to try large streamers and swing them or dead drift them into holding fish.

Those three reasons are why this years tributary season is shaping up to be a really good one. Of course that can change in a blink of an eye. After all we do live in New York. So take advantage of it when you can.

Oh! And here are just a few other important things to think about. Wade with care as their are many spawning beds around. And watch carefully as the brown trout are very difficult to see with the tea stained water. It pays to walk slowly and spend time searching the water before moving. You may find that a trout may be holding in water right near your feet.

Here are some photos from some of my recent outings to one of my favorite Western New York Tributaries.