Fly fishing WNY - October 14th edition

Jonathan hoists his big 27" male brown trout before release.

Once again we were able to get out on the stream for an afternoon shift.

This time we would be fishing a good 4-5 days after some major precipitation, which prompted us to dream of large trout.

We fished down on the lower part of the stream and found plenty of salmon holding here and there in each deep pool, pocket and run. We witnessed several nice fish fishing blasting on through, even when the stain of the high water period had almost completely worn off….No trout were spotted.

The boys and I stuck to fishing buggers, even when we could see a few reds that had been made by salmon in a few of the gravel sections nearby. Of course, by the time this blog is posted, the increased number of salmon and spawning activity will no doubt change that. Eggs will be in high demand!

Ethan worked the head of a pool, swinging a large lead eyed rabbit strip streamer, where he could just make out the dark shapes of several nice fish. Jonathan decided to work a few pockets and seems in the lower end of the pool area, prospecting with an olive woolly bugger for what might lurk in each little nook and cranny.

Ethan hooked up several times, but couldn’t seem to keep a fish on. Some he thought were foul hooked and they popped the fly quickly. A few others he said took the fly but he didn’t get a good enough hookset. That’s fishing.

Ethan rests a female king salmon before its release.

Jonathan, who had been quiet for the past half an hour or so, finally yelled “fish on!” and after just a few minutes I could make out the telltale signs of a large brown trout pulling hard near the surface.  Not soon after, I slid the net under a gorgeous 27” inch kyped out male brown trout – the first trout of the fall for the Bradfields.

The rest of the afternoon we kept at it, trying to find the right location and drift to put our flies in front of a few willing fish. Only Ethan came away with a nice female King salmon in the last hour. It was a fresh fish, with a little glint of silver here and there.

Not bad for the early part of October. Let’s just hope we can get out a few more times this fall. Fishing should continue to get better and better, especially as the ever increasing numbers of salmon start to spawn.

Thanks in part to Streamwalker Nets for making these fish possible!