Oriskany creek trout and retirement

In the beginning part of the month of May, I found myself back in the town I grew up in – Clinton, NY. I was there to celebrate my Dad’s retirement from Hamilton College with my brother and sister. We had plans to meet my mom and visit some old family friends in the afternoon before we all had dinner at a great restaurant in Waterville, NY. The following morning we would all plan on attending my Dad’s last lecture before eating lunch and then making our way back home.

Well….plans change, and due to a minor biking accident my Dad had earlier in the week up in Inlet, NY, his last lecture was cancelled – Don’t worry he’s fine.  That left me with a little spare time before I had to meet up with one of my old friends Jordan Ross of J.P. Ross Fly Rods. I guess it was a good thing I brought a few fly rods with me just in case something like this happened.

Fishing was good. Not great. The water had receded from the previous day’s high and stained conditions and looked to be near perfect. But even with a nice warm day, there were only a few #14 tan caddis popping off, so my plan was to toss big streamers and strip them back fast. But it wasn’t until I was at least forty five minutes into it that I hooked up with my first fish. It was a good fish for that stream, at least from what I could remember, and it took a bit longer than I had planned to land the fish. But the four weight fly rod and tippet held up just fine and I soon had a chunky eighteen inch brown trout in hand. A few photos later and she swam back just fine. My only other fish of the day came just a few casts later as a small stocked fish of about nine inches did it’s best to swallow the big streamer.

I spent the remainder of my time walking downstream looking for one more. But all I found was a big old goose trying to protect her nest from a six foot two inch moron who just happened to stray a little too close for comfort while scanning the water for fish.

Congratulations Dad - This fish is for you!!!

A great beginning!!!!

I have been a bit derelict in my blogging as of late. So I must start again, trying to catch up, if that is at all possible.

My spring steelhead season was very short. Other commitments and bad timing left me reading other fly anglers good reports and viewing photos, instead of taking part in the action myself. And to be honest I felt a bit left out. But then the first mayflies started to show up, trout began to rise, and I began to feel much better. Which is a huge improvement over last year when fishing conditions were a bit reversed. Last springs wet rainy cold weather prevented me from getting into trout on a dry until mid-summer. But the steelheading was fantastic!

So I sat and waited for my opportunity. It came. I fished with dry flies, and I caught fish! Lots of fish. And even though I have yet to fish a full blown hatch, I have witnessed enough action on top to make last year a distant memory. In short....the dry fly fishing has been great!

The Hendricksons are now on, with BWO's and caddis to come. My best pattern so far has been a snowshoe winged hendrickson pattern in a size #14, with a parachute pattern a close second. These patterns have been absolutely perfect for this early hatch when the trout line up in the slower water below a slight riffled section to take emergers, cripples, and duns. In fact it has been a whole lot of fun to take some of the bigger fish right off the bank!

And so the yearly cycle of hatches moves forward, one after the other, until the cold sets in and we are forced to turn our attention to the big fish from the lake once again. But not until this angler makes up for last year.

So far we are off to an excellent start!!!

Ethan and his first lake run brown

The title of the blog really tells the story. In fact, if I left it as is with a few photos thrown in, we would be good...right?

Well, maybe.

We had a few hours to search out some lake run trout last week. So we made the drive and met up with Michael Simmons of Guys, Flies & Pies fame to see if we could get into a few fish. Ethan and I didn't have very long so we got right to it.

Ethan had a new spin cast rod from a recent birthday to try out with a new floating stick bait to get wet. Mike used a bass popper for the first ten or fifteen minutes - I guess he has been dreaming of warmer weather and bass fishing lately, or maybe it was due to the fact that he has been spending way to much time at the vise tying up bass bugs.

And lastly - I worked a large rabbit strip streamer in hopes of getting a good fish on the swing.

It didn't take too long and Ethan gave out a yell that he had gotten into a fish. We rushed down to see him leaning back into a bent rod reeling like crazy. This is what I was hoping for! With a little coaching and some help from Mike, Ethan worked the fish into the shallows where I could put a net on her. What a great moment!! He was very happy, surprised, tired and ready for a break. But not before a few photos. Then we made sure the twenty five inch hen was ready...and we released her. Ethan was so excited and proud of his catch. Amazing! The day could have ended right then and I would have been just fine. But......

We still had some time left, so we got back to fishing. Ethan, who was now satisfied with the days catch, went to playing between Mike and I as we now tried to catch that first fish.

Ethan and I made our way down to a good run, and as I worked through course of the riffles swinging and stepping, I began to think of that "one more cast," when my line pulled tight and I felt the pull of my first lake run trout. It soon became apparent that this was a better than average fish. And when it began to run downstream, heading for a fall down, I pulled back with as much pressure as I thought I could get away with. With the ten foot eight inch seven weight switch rod bent to the cork, my last ditch effort paid off and the fish began to work into the shallows and eventually onto a gravel bar. She was big! In fact thirty inches big. My biggest fish of this new year. After another round of photos she went on her way, giving me a good shower as she left.

Ethan and I were now done. He was cold and I was satisfied I could keep up with him in the fish catching department. What an amazing afternoon. We left shortly after that, but not before handing Mike a whole bunch of streamers to try out...it was the least I could do for his help in making that hour and a half so special. Thanks Mike for helping Ethan land that first lake run brown trout, and for taking some photos. Let's do it again soon!

Until next time....

On a WNY swing!

I am happy to report that the fishing remains good!

Usually we have had to deal with frigged winter conditions...but not this year. The streams have been open and all the reports I have gotten so far have led me to believe that there are plenty of big lake run brown trout left along with the occasional fresh chrome steelhead. Or vice verse, depending on where you go.

And for those of you enjoy getting fish on the swing....well let me just tell you....it's on!!! The big lake run brown trout can't refuse a big streamer. And those who are willing to walk are rewarded with plenty of great opportunities. The steelhead are there as well, but as spring approaches they will be more inclined to take flies that are dead drifted instead of on the swing, due to the up coming spring spawn. So for now it may be a good idea to pack both the big stuff, up to four inches or better, and a few smaller wet fly patterns for the steelhead. And when the spawn begins we will have to do the dance between egg patterns and streamers depending on where we fish and when.

And remember...high water is our friend not our enemy. So fish accordingly and enjoy every minute you get to be on the stream!!!!

Raw Water Productions

I am pleased to introduce to you Raw Water Productions.

Adam Kryder, Lucas Carroll and Matt Smythe have turned a passion and a dream into a reality. They’ve taken their love for film, photography, writing, and fly fishing and rolled all into one - Raw Water Productions!

And the best part about this new venture is that it’s local. So please stop by their web site, take a look around and make sure to leave a comment and help support this new business.

Here is a video for you to chew on while you add this site to your list of favorites!

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

Winter fishing with my boys!

My two boys have been wanting to get out fishing for a while, and up until this past weekend, everyone has been way to busy to even think about it.

Sunday afternoon my wife wanted to take our daughter out to do a little shopping and spend some of her Christmas money, no doubt on shoes! So when my wife suggested that I ask to see if the boys would want to go fishing, she didn't have to twist my arm, not even the slightest little bit. The boys didn't even let me finish my sentence, once they heard "fishing" it was all over.

So off we went in search of lake run giants at a local WNY Lake Ontario tributary, even when the thermometer read 29 degrees. At least it was sunny and when we would get a little chilly, we would just stand in the sun for a few minutes.

I made sure to set the boys up first. Big streamers were tied on, instructions given, and off they went to make their first casts of the day. And boy did they do a good job. They are fast becoming great little fishermen. They are casting well, letting the fly do it's thing, and even listening to dear old Dad on occasion. But even with all their hard work, and fabulous stream conditions, the fishing was very tough. We all fished for an hour with nothing to show for it. Then the boys attention turned to other interests such as how to climb the many trees that made up the little section of woods right near the bank. They also made boats, swords, and worked on their "Man vs. Wild" skills. And we all know how important those are!!!

Another half hour passed by as I worked hard to try and find at least one willing fish to take a fly. I then put my switch rod down and grabbed the single handed eight weight. It still had a rather large white woolly bugger on it, one that my oldest son had picked out. I walked a few yards down from the pool where we were all fishing and began to swing some broken water below. Half way down the run a strong pull jolted me out of my rhythm and I was finally into a good fish. I yelled to the boys to grab the net and in seconds they were both there ready to help. I handed the rod to my oldest son and he began to work the fish into shore, as my youngest son got the net ready. A few minutes later a healthy, somewhat large, lake run female brown trout was in the net. Finally!!!!!!

As I got the camera ready for some photos and coached my oldest on how to handle the fish as we got ready for some photos, I noticed something coming out of the fishes mouth. And then as my son hoisted the fish for few quick shots, that something fell out. It was a half digested five inch long baitfish. I guess I now have a better reference for what to tie in the future!

Sundays fishing was tough. But spending time with my boys doing something we all love, and having fun in spite of the conditions was worth more than a thousand good days of fishing by myself. In the not so distant future they will be ready to leave the house, all grown up and ready to take on the world.....so I cherish every minute!

My daughter is up next. Last year we rocked it and the fishing wasn't too bad either!