Winter Fly FIshing - Inland trout 2015

Leif tying up a new offering while fly fishing the Oatka

Winter has certainly made a home here in WNY.

With prolonged spells of arctic air that never seem to moderate, we are now beginning to suffer from the effects of cabin fever. An ailment that seems to run long and hard this time of year.

Colored up Spring Creek brown

Weather windows seem to be few and far between, but when they do happen, its cause for great celebration. A little over a week ago I found some time to take full advantage of one of those windows and am so glad that I did. Maybe. Just maybe, that little bit of opportunity to get out and do a little fly fishing will hold me over until things start to thaw out a little…..maybe?

With daytime temperatures that worked their way to just above the freezing point, we made every bit of the time we had on the stream count. 

Fishing was not easy, and fish didn’t find the net with any measurable regularity, just enough to make the day a success.

All fish came by way of small midges dead drifted under an indicator. And even though I tried a streamer for a while, it only produced a few pulls and nothing else.

I was joined by a new friend – Leif Mermagen of StreamwalkerNets. 

A fine example of Leif's craftsmanship - Streamwalker inland series net.

Before we headed down to the stream I had the chance to check out some of his beautiful hand crafted landing nets. And as he showed off his work, he told me about the different models that were available, the custom work that he was doing for a client and his passion for fly fishing. I find it truly amazing that we seem to have so many wonderfully talented people in our WNY fly fishing community. What a blessing!

Someday soon I plan to add one of his nets to my ever growing collection of fly fishing gear. A net that will truly be as unique and beautiful as the fish it will hold. But I fear that may have to wait a little bit…..at least until winter decides to find a new home.

Make sure to check out his work with the link above.

See you on the stream.

Brithday Fly Fishing 2014

Jessie and I with one of a few doubles on the day.

This past Friday – that would be December 5^th to be exact – A few of us brave souls made an attempt at putting our angling mark on some WNY tributary trout. 

Jessie with one of many

My good friend and Wide Sky Fly Fishing guide Jessie Hollenbeck had been giving me updates from his recent outings with his clients, and boy did the fishing look amazing. I was just hoping for it to half as good.

And good it would be, even if it started off a little slow.

Conditions proved to be a bit icy at the get go. Punching weighted nymph rigs through the numerous slushburgs floating downstream needs to be mentioned here only because I want you all to know that fishing was at first rather difficult. Oh, and the ice shelves that we needed to break through just to get into position. Can’t forget those.

Below me Matt Smythe, AKA the Fishing Poet, worked a slow pool while Jessie Hollenbeck geared up on the bank. I think he was listening to Denver Miller recount a story of his first fish of the day, but I have trouble multitasking, and when I made that first cast to a group of fish I could see holding on the other side of an eddy, his voice began to fade. A few drifts later and I was into my first lake run trout of the morning. 

Over the next hour, before Matt would make his way back home, we all got bent by numerous Lake Run giants. Most of the battles were won, save only a few. And if you have spent any time on the water chasing large fish, you know all too well that some of those battles will eventually have casualties. Matt can attest to that first hand after a large brown snapped his rod a foot or so above the cork, making a four piece rod into a five.

Jessie's hen steelhead

In the next couple of hours after Matt’s departure, we all took turns at various positions in the run and the pool. 

The ice and slush that plagued us earlier was now gone. It gave way to a pulse of water that seemed to invigorate the fish. From then, until I had to leave, many many fish found the bottom of the net. At first it seemed as though it would be the day of the brown trout. But through the wave of big lake run browns Jessie and Denver managed to convince a couple of feisty steelhead to join the party.

The fish ate everything we threw at them - Egg patterns, nymphs and streamers - with egg patterns being the overwhelming preferred fly of choice by the discerning lake run trout.

In the end I headed home happy and a little sore, ready to join my family for an amazing birthday dinner.

Matt does battle with a large trout just before the snap!

A gorgeous hen brown for Matt

Denver's chews on some graphite while holding this beauty

A golden male brown trout

Denver with a nice big hen

A colored up hen ready for release

One of the larger fish for me

Another double - Denver with the fish of the day.

Thank you Jessie Hollenbeck, Denver Miller, Matt Smythe and Jim Metcalf for a memorable day of fishing and fellowship. Until next year……

Fishing with and Old Friend

Bob and I watched this fish chase down his swung streamer a good 3 feet before eating.

Bob and I first met back in 2000 at our place of employment down in Canandaigua, NY. He had this fishing decoration hanging from his work desk that prompted the first conversation we ever had. A conversation that started with fishing, and more importantly – Fly Fishing! 

A 10lb+ brown trout to start the day

From that point on we would share our fly fishing experiences together….at least until I moved on to another job, a family, and a full schedule. But even then, we strived to find at least a little bit of time each year to get together and fish.

And each year we make sure to find at least a day or two to reconnect with each other and toss a fly or two to the local fish population.

A gorgeous steelhead ready for release

Back in those early days of our friendship we would find ourselves fishing for hours at the local trout stream, or in the fall at our local tributaries. We caught plenty of fish and made plenty of mental notes of conditions, the fish we caught, and what pattern was most successful. We had some pretty good days fishing together. And I am certain we learned a whole lot from each other as well!

This past Friday we had that opportunity to reconnect again. And as in so many years past at this time of year, we ventured out to see what we could do together at a local tributary.

Fishing started off somewhat slow due to the below freezing temperatures. But there were fish, and some of them were more than willing to be caught.

Another swung up brown

As the afternoon wore on we ventured to other places and found more fish. Even some salmon and brown trout that were willing to move for a swung streamer. This is usually the case with a constant water flow over a long period of time after the salmon spawn is done. Many of the trout in the system turn towards other food items other than eggs, as there are very few loose eggs to be had. This will change as we get more precipitation or a release of water from the Erie Canal, which will once again disturb the salmon spawning reds, releasing salmon eggs back into the stream and turn the trout onto eating eggs.

Bob with a nice male brown

Bob's Atlantic salmon

Golden hen

My indicator dipped down while fishing the head of a deep pool for lake run trout. I never expected this!

On this afternoon we had to walk to find some willing fish, but our efforts were rewarded with plenty of fish brought to hand – Just like the old days!