Midnight Mousing Trip – August 2017

Bob sends out a few nice loops before dark.

We have had a great end to our summer and I have much to catch up on. 

I always try and do a late night fly fishing trip to our local stream during the dog days of summer. I make sure to pick a night near or on the new moon, and when the water is low and clear. This gives us the best opportunity for success.

Last year I didn’t even try and get out on the stream, because of how poor the fishing conditions had been over the past few years. The local trout population had suffered greatly since we had to back to back bitterly cold winters. The locations that we usually could find plenty of fish were now vacant, and up until this past winter, seemed to be on a very slow rebound.

The fish and the fishing are now starting to make their way back, but it will still be a few years before the stream begins to fish as well as it did before.

Midnight fly change

This year my good friend Bob and I decided to start at a new location. It was a section of stream up from where we normally fish that receives plenty of stocking during late March and into April, depending on stream conditions. Sure it gets plenty of pressure from all kinds of anglers throughout the spring and summer, but I also know that in those same areas, bigger holdover and wild trout can be a pleasant surprise.

Arriving with plenty of light to rig up our rods, we fished a nice pool below the bridge before the darkness set in. We worked it over pretty well, but no fish came to hand.

We then walked way downstream, tied on high-riding mouse patterns, fished a great looking tailout, and worked our way back up slowly.

We fished our mouse patterns on the swing and with a constant slow and steady strip. In all that time, we only had two or three fish come up and give a good pull, but none of them could stay hooked.

With just a couple of hours or so left, we then headed to a section of stream that we had spent a good amount of time in fishing at night. It is a place, that in the past, we could always count on catching at least a few trout before heading home. Even here, the fishing started off incredibly slow. I was beginning to think that the fishing that I had experienced earlier in the year was just a fluke. And that the fish, were not rebounding like I thought.

Finally on the board!

Over the next half hour or so we flogged the water, until I heard a loud splash followed by a hard pull. It was the first trout of the night. We were on the board!

Over the course of the remainder of our time we had just a few more good pulls, but none of those made it to the net. We left the stream that night feeling fulfilled and tired, and perhaps most importantly, hopeful. Hopeful of the future of this stream and the trout that reside within it’s ever winding course. 

The fishing that we used to experience is still a little ways off. In the meantime, I plan to try and get out when I can enjoy the fish that are there and willing to take a fly.

February Fly Fishing/Tying Events

James Kinglsey works on a fly pattern at last years Guys, Flies & Pies

Anyone who has at least a small interest in learning anything about fly fishing should be looking for any opportunity to get involved during the winter months. It is a time when most guides, fly tiers, and other professionals in the sport work on other endeavors that do not include stalking fish. Meaning, they spend more of their time doing shows, lectures, fly tying classes and providing their expertise at other venues to try and lure others into our glorious sport of fly fishing. It is the time to gain some knowledge from those who fish their favorite water and have learned a thing or two….or three over the years to make them very successful , and we have quite the line-up coming up in February.

First on the docket is the Fly Fisher’s Workshop on February 8^th at the 12 corners middle school in Brighton, NY. It is an event that Craig Dennison of flyfishingchronicles.com puts on every other year to promote the sport of fly fishing to everyone who wants to learn, and there are plenty of great speakers who can provide knowledge to anyone from novice to expert in their pursuit of fish on the fly. And if that doesn’t get you fired up, then maybe a whole bunch of really amazing door prizes will – Check out the link here!

Even though I will be unable to attend this year, I am honored to be able to donate a piece of my original art work for the raffle to benefit this wonderful event.

Then it’s time to prepare for Guys, Flies & Pies - Rochester’s premier fly tying party at Michael Simmons’ house…uh…I mean at the beach house at 180 Beach Avenue, Rochester, NY on February 22^nd. Come and join us for plenty of pizza, fly tying and lots of fish tales. And with another round of fabulous door prizes, this should be another event that requires your full attention. And again I am honored to be able to donate another piece of art for this event as well.

Painting for GFP

Painting for the Workshop

Both events are extremely well put together and also encourage kids to get involved. So please make sure to save these dates and bring the family.

Birthday Fishing

A nice pre-spawn female brown trout. Photo taken by Jessie Hollenbeck

With the recent extreme cold and snowy weather that we have been getting, much of the WNY tributary fishing I like to do will be put on hold until a prolonged thaw. Not that I mind fishing in temperatures well below freezing mind you, rather, the streams I like to fish will be locked up with ice.

These conditions, believe it or not, are a welcome change….at least for me. I can now work on filling fly boxes, making repairs to gear, changing old fly lines and work on producing some art for my portfolio. It will also force me back to my favorite inland trout streams and rediscover those skill sets that are required to pursue the trout that inhabit them.

But before I relent to the inevitable, I had an opportunity to fish for about an hour at a local WNY trib on my birthday. My wife accompanied me and I had fun watching her fish through the head of a run with a streamer. And although she didn’t get a pull from a fish, she stuck it out and did amazingly well. But I do have to say that if I had an extra pair of waders for her I know that she would’ve gotten into a few fish. She is certainly very capable. In fact, during our first year or so of marriage I convinced her to join me on the Salmon River on more than one occasion. And on one of those trips to the “Staircase” in the town of Pulaski, NY we did pretty well for ourselves, and more than that, I watched Colleen out-fish every other angler there. She ended the morning with five fish hooked and almost two landed. Yes almost! I had a part in that “almost” when I went to tail a rather large Chinook salmon and realized that I was not in the right position and retracted my hand to reach around the other side, the fish took a small run and popped the hook. “Fish Off!” She was not happy and I got a well deserved razzing from the other anglers who were watching her manhandle a thirty pound Chinook to shore only to watch her husband botch the landing……ughhh! I am glad that was not the whole story, because she did hook and land a gorgeous ten pound steelhead that we had to chase downstream for at least a hundred yards before landing. She certainly proved herself then, and did again on this day whether she caught fish or not.

I ended the day with three fish landed and a few more hooked and lost, but it was great to have her there with me. And as I was able to land my last fish I was joined by my friend Jessie Hollenbeck of Wide Sky Flyfishing. We shared a few stories, swapped flies, took a few photos and then said our goodbyes.

Not a bad way to spend an hour of your Birthday right? ….Right!

If you are ever in the WNY area and want to experience our fantastic lake run trout and salmon fishery, make sure to contact Jessie Hollenbeck.  Jessie has an amazing knowledge off all our WNY tribs and is patient teacher which, in my opinion, makes him an exceptional guide that will do everything to make your trip a success.

See you on the stream!

Bradfield Boys Fishing Trip 2013

Jonathan poses with Grandpa B and his catch

After a little bit of a hiatus the Bradfield boys are back on the stream!

A little encouragement from Dad at our last family gathering prompted me to get the ball rolling on a 2013 fly fishing trip. The plan was to gather everyone together for a fall fly fishing excursion on one of Western New York’s tributaries to Lake Ontario in search of lake run trout and salmon.

With a few phone calls and an adjustment to work schedules, Saturday November 9^th was the day to make it happen.

Uncle Andy does battle with a Chinook salmon

In the month leading up to the 9^th I worked hard at repairing gear, tying flies and following reports from other fellow anglers who frequent the Western New York tributaries. And yes….even getting a personal up close view of a certain stream before we headed out all together was a necessary part of the preparation. My only concerns were water conditions and angler traffic. Not enough water would mean little to no new fish movement, and intense angler pressure would most likely leave us with little room to fish my favorite sections of stream and plenty of worked over fish.

The morning of our fishing excursion started off a bit chaotic as I had inadvertently left the keys in the van overnight in the on position after filling up an air mattress. This left us scrambling to jumpstart the van instead of getting on the road early. And while Uncle Andy and grandpa left to drive around for a bit, Jonathan and I finished gathering up the rest of the gear.

Andy's first fish landed

The frustration I felt slowly began to dissipate as we got closer to the stream, and I began to secretly hope for a great day of catching large fish from the lake.

Today I was planning on being the ‘guide.’ And with three generations of Bradfield’s now descending upon one of my favorite local tributaries, I couldn’t wait for all three to hook up with their first fish.

The good feeling I was trying to nurture after the morning of chaos took another hit when we approached the pull off area and counted at least ten cars. But after looking downstream from the bridge, and seeing no other anglers, we decided to stay put and give it our best effort.

Andy's second fish landed

The plan seemed to pay off as we found fish not too far downstream. I set everyone up with fly rod and fly, and with a little instruction they got to work on casting to a few fish.

After a little while of making adjustments and working through different parts of the stream, the boys started to hook a few fish. We were even able to put a few fish in the net before we left for lunch. All in all, it was a great start to our day.

The afternoon session had us work through a different upstream section of the same stream, and this time we found no other anglers.

Jonathan does battle with a nice Chinook hen

We took our time and walked downstream looking for fish and enjoying the company of family. We saw some trout and salmon along this stretch and took ample time to present flies to them. Again the boys did a wonderful job and were able to hook up a few times with some salmon. And as we walked back up to the car to get ready to leave for the day, I stopped at a few likely spots to try and find a fish for myself. And on that ‘last cast of the day’ I finally hooked and landed my first fish….a rather large lake run brown.

Fish landed

What a wonderful day we had. Fishing was good, and everyone brought a fish to hand. But the best part for me was spending some quality time with my Dad, brother and my oldest son.

Last fish of the day!

Thanks for all the memories guys….see you soon.

In fact.....Andy suggested the Deleware river next year.....sounds good to me!