Fishing with Dad Part 2

My Dad with his first ever solo fly rod caught brown trout.

Before my parents made their trek back to their home in the Adirondacks, my Dad and I had one last chance to fish together. 

Pink scuds are often a good choice

With cold weather persisting and no sign of spring approaching any time soon, we made our way to a local creek that holds some beautiful wild trout that we were hoping would be hungry enough and foolish enough to eat a few of our finely dressed hooks.

Standing in forty seven degree water seemed warm considering our last trip that required us to wade and fish in near freezing water of a local tributary in search of Lake Run trout – a trip that produced no fish. 

My Dad playing a wild brown

For the next hour or so we took turns fishing a pool that held a good fifty or so trout. The clear water made them easy to see, but agonizingly frustrating at times to try and take a fly. After several fly changes, adjustments to indicator and weight we managed to put some fish on the rod. And I am happy to say that my Dad caught his first ever solo caught trout on the fly. Even the cold wind that started to blow through every layer of clothing couldn’t convince us to leave early – There were fish to be caught, and we were doing it together!

#16-#18 red worm patterns also catch their fare share of fish

We ended the day with a few more fish to hand for each of us. And by then, the cold had really started to set in and the walk back to the van was welcome as it gave us some warmth.

I’m very glad that we stuck it out on this day. For some reason I seem to pick the worst times to get out on the stream when my brother and dad come in for fishing trips. They always hear me say “you should have been here last week” or “yesterday there were fish everywhere” and I can never seem to replicate those experiences when they come out with me. We made it happen though, and I’m glad we could finally put a good trip in the bag.

Another golden brown that fell victim to a well placed fly

Thanks for coming out with me Dad!

The beauty of inland winter trout on the fly.

I have had many opportunities to fish our fantastic WNY lake run tributaries this fall and early winter, and the fishing has again been amazing. But as the fishing slows down during the winter, I find myself going back to our equally amazing and fantastic WNY inland trout streams. It is an attraction that I cannot ignore!

The fish here are wild and rested, and more than that, they are a welcome change to the giants from the lake. And what they may lack in size they make up for in beauty. They also offer a different challenge. Precision drifts with ultra light fly gear while drifting small nymphs, midges, and scuds are a welcome change from fishing heavily weighted egg patterns and swinging big flies with big rods. And if the water is just right, I can have a blast trying to find some big inland fish on streamers. It isn’t a numbers game, it’s purely about getting bit!

So with all that said I hope to lure you in with some photos of the beauty that can be had from some of our finest WNY inland trout streams.

#18 pink scud and brown

Streamer caught brown

A big 18" inland brown that couldn't refuse a big streamer

A beautiful wild brown

A #16 red worm pattern does the trick

Making lemonade!

Our record breaking rainfall continues, and we struggle to find good water to fish. If we are lucky, we find a window in between all the rain to fish your local WNY stream or travel to find better conditions. But it doesn't last long!!

The bugs have made their appearance, but the trout can't take advantage of all the emerging insects and returning spinners because of the raging muddy water. So when you do get out to your favorite inland WNY trout stream, you throw streamers or drift nymphs along the bottom. And we have caught plenty of fish over the past month and a half, but we are still waiting for good dry fly conditions....well to be honest, at this point I think we will take any dry fly conditions!

So again we make due with another local inland small stream that always runs cool and clear even with all the rain. And the trout remain in much the same condition all year round. The only trick here is to make constant adjustments until you find the right fly. It is a constant challenge, but it is a challenge we take great joy in every time we fish this stream.

So with that said....we fished our little small stream last week amidst all the rain and found many willing trout. Most were taken on small scuds. But the occasional trout would take a small woolly bugger or small midge larvae. And if we are really lucky, a strong north breeze will blow enough spinners onto the stream from the nearby creek that it empties into, making for a little dry fly action.

In the next week or so, we should start to see some sulphers popping on this particular stream. An event that should ease the pain of a horrible dry fly spring season. The only problem with all of this, is every other fly fishermen will also be here if the other surrounding streams can't get back into shape. So we must take the fishing as it comes and make the best out of it...right? I mean we really don't really have a choice. All we can do is make some lemonade!

I have also been out fishing with the kids recently, and when I get the photos ready I will post that story in the next few days...along with a look at Jonathan's new JP Ross fly rod!