Fly Fishing Oatka at night - Early fall edition

Bob takes a few last casts before calling it a night

This past Friday I finally got out to do a little fly fishing.

I met up with my good friend Bob Burrows on Oatka creek for a little night fishing. The goal was to find some big trout, and maybe a few bass and pike, while tossing mouse patterns and big streamers.

The stream gauge was reading right at 2.45 CFS which meant we would be fishing in low clear water – near perfect conditions for tossing flies at night.

17-18" inch brown taken on a deer hair and rabbit strip streamer

The fishing wasn’t easy, especially when you are limited by what you can see, or for that matter, what you can’t see. You become more reliant on your other senses. A practice that takes some getting used to. At least we had a little help from the bridge lights from time to time.

We did manage some nice fish for our efforts. On the night, we landed two rock bass, one pike and one brown trout.

Fishing with a little help from the bridge lights

All fish where taken while fishing large streamer patterns that where fished just under the surface with a slow but steady retrieve.

Hopefully I’ll get a few more cracks at these inland trout before we start to gear up for the fall migration of lake run salmon and trout into our local tributaries.

1 of 2 rock bass on the night

26-27" inch Northern Pike

Until then….tight lines!

Late May family fishing

Katie with a rather chunky brook trout

Fishing for me has been an elusive activity as of late. A busy schedule always seems to be the excuse.

I am hoping that this fall will provide more opportunities. Besides I have a new camera to experiment with and I can’t think of a better way to learn its operation than taking lots of photos of fish and fall colors.

But until then, I’m regulated to look back on some early summer fishing trips that have provided me with enough good memories to keep the fire burning.

So here are a few photos from a late May family fishing adventure we had at Oatka creek.

We caught trout on streamers, nymphs and dry flies. All fish were released.

Ready for release

Jonathan did very well while fishing an #14 tan Elk hair caddis

My wife's 1st ever fly caught trout

Even Dad got into the action while nymphing with the 2 weight

End of April steelhead

Curtis admires a gorgeous hen steelhead before it's release

I know we are quickly getting into the last bit of May, but before I post some warm water adventures, I wanted to put up a post about a trip I did about a month ago at a local WNY tributary with a good friend of mine.

The end of April usually means that our spring WNY steelhead season is winding down. The days are filled with long walks in search of the few remaining fish left in the system and stream temperatures in our small freestone tributaries start to warm quickly, bringing in lots of warm water fish from the lake.

However, like last year, our spring has been exceptionally cold and has prolonged our tributary season well into May, leaving us with many great opportunities to catch plenty of drop back chrome.

Curtis with a small male drop back

Fishing at the end of April and early May can be a bit of a challenge. Some days are filled with sun and warmth while others can remind you that winter may yet still have the last laugh.

Warming water temps and dropping water levels can really turn fish on to a swung fly. And they can be extremely aggressive to the point of ripping the rod right out of your hand if you’re not ready.

 On the other hand, a cold snap can shut down fish for a day or two and the bite becomes light. Dead drifting nymphs and egg patterns will out produce fishing a swung streamer. 

My one and only steelhead of the spring

And then there is the in between stage where fish will take both offerings. And with that kind of a day, you may spend a good amount of time switching back and forth between the two.

On this trip Curtis and I found the fish to be right in the middle and caught them while dead drifting flies and on a swung streamer.

All the steelhead we caught were drop backs that had already spawned and were actively feeding as they made their way back to Lake Ontario to spend the summer fattening up for next year’s spawn.

All in all I had a great spring tributary season and am already looking forward to the fall.

See you on the stream!