Wait....summer is over?

Evening on Fourth Lake, Inlet, NY

A busy day can turn into a busy week without much thought. And before you know it, that week spawns several others just like it, and a whole month is gone!

That kind of thinking is usually reserved for the school year, when we find ourselves running around doing our best to just keep up. But it’s the end of summer and I feel like I’m breathing way too hard for a race that hasn’t even started yet.

At least I got a few water breaks in between all that running.

We found a small bit of time to visit my family up in Inlet, NY. A few day excursions to the stream proved fruitful as my oldest son and I found everything from Landlocked Atlantic salmon to fallfish to brook trout and even a heavily spotted rainbow trout.

Landlocked Atlantic salmon

The boys and I also ventured to the top of the state to visit my father in-law’s hunting and fishing camp and to wade some new water with family in search of big smallmouth bass, pike, walleye and musky. And even in the midst of some very low water, where conditions were not great, we managed some very nice bass and had a rather frightening introduction to a rather large musky while wading. An encounter that Jonathan will never forget. On the way home we made a stop at the Salmon river in Pulaski, NY where I got the opportunity to show my boys where I fished at their age.

Jonathan's rainbow trout

Wild ADK brook trout

Jonathan fishing on the St. Regis river

Musky Country, Deer river flow

I even found some time to hit up the inaugural “Knots at the Net Shop” fly tying event at Streamwalker Nets headquarters. Thanks to Leif Mermagen and Bill Banser for being such wonderful hosts. Our fly fishing community here in WNY is awesome!!! 

Lastly, I found myself hanging out with a friend who just so happens to own some land that the Oatka creek flows through. So with a little arm twisting, I grabbed the fly rod and made an effort to find a fish or two that wouldn’t mind eating a fly. And as luck would have it, I did manage to find such a fish. A wild nineteen inch brown trout. My biggest to the net on this stream. Thanks again Nathan!

Ethan with a nice Deer river smallmouth bass

St. Regis river Fallfish

Being busy really isn’t all that bad, it’s a part of life after all. Watching my kids work out their God given gifts through extracurricular activities like gymnastics, playing in jazz bands, robotics, and music lessons, Flower city work camp, church, etc. helps with the long hours of driving, the late nights, and the occasional teenage meltdown. In the end it’s worth it!

You just have to mix in a few water breaks.

Knots at the Net Shop

Ethan and Jonathan at the lower fly zone

Deer river smallmouth

Leif gives fly tying a thumbs up

Nineteen inches of Oatka gold

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Time for a second wind!