Fall Fishing in NYS

Here it is December 3 and all my efforts for Blog writing have fallen short.
Most likely because I've been fly tying whenever I get free time.
Now that winter is coming to New York I will find more time to tie spring patterns.
November proved to be excellent fishing for a change. During three outings I have seen many fish and even passed up on a few. The month went fast so I'm not going to give a lot of details about my excursions. Except, I have to say the people I fished with are the best company to share a stream.
(or share a pair of sunglasses!)

Hey... it's all about having fun. Here are some pics of what was caught.

NOTICE THE TAIL SPOT MARKINGS

Oct. 18th
Brain, Kim and I hooked up for some late fall Salmon. Brian caught this Lake run Rainbow.















Oct. 25th
Resting for the weekend at a christian retreat.
I managed to tie some flies and fish a Pennsyvania pond.
I used a frog-popper for this nice Large Mouth Bass

Nov. 1st
The first of November was a cold windy day. Marvin and I were reeling to go check out some creeks near his house. With the rain looming, we walked the shores of four or five creeks in Wayne county. We came across a large beaver acting very cautious. The water level was still strangely low even for November. Our last stop furnished a salmon for supper



Nov. 14th
After fishing on a cold and snowy morning, the sun picked out a shadow of a brown in clear water. i cast from upstream and watched my streamer fly float down about 8 inches in front of it. The swing moved the fly back up stream. The brown moved sideways across the stream about a foot and opened his mouth to catch the minnow. Brian and I witnessed the action as if it were in slow motion. Then the hook set and It was fantastic to land a Brown with one cast on the swing.

BRIAN'S GOLDEN BEAUTY

 

AN ATLANTIC SALMON

MY THIRD BROWN OF THE DAY

 

MY SECOND BROWN

KING OF THE STREAM (the fish :)! )
 

Brian caught a lot more that day including a Steelhead.

Nov. 28th
I had a chance to fish with Nate again. We went to the same spot I had fished on the 14th. Only now the water flow was much higher. It was a long walk before we got into fish.

I pointed some trout out to Nate, but he could not see them with the surface glare. Then realized he had not brought his sunglasses.
I lent him mine and before long, Nate caught a Steelhead on an egg sack. It was Nate's day to be blessed.
Phil came along to scout out some new to him water. Lessons were learned about footwear in cold water!
I had my share of hook ups but only landed a Chinook. The day had warmed up and was too short.





LOTS OF WINTER FISHING STILL TO COME!

It's still a thrill, like the first time.

    Man what a fish, I've never had a fish leap like that one did and still stay on the line. It was a great fight when my brother was pitted against his second Chinook Salmon of the morning. From the minute it was hooked, it was a thrill. A thing of beauty exiting and entering the water with a loud slap. It was like a bucking bronco twisting and pulling to get free of the tether that held him. Three times we saw this monster of a fish clear the water and shake the fly rod violently.
    When she could not expel the hook, she began to scream line down the river. Taking more and more line against the tight drag of the reel. She pulled as Marvin followed downstream. Then she turned and swam up stream as Marvin reeled in the slack line. Dashing downstream again it looked like she would never tire. The tension of a twelve pound fish on 6 lb. test in strong current was not what I was thinking when I asked Marvin start reeling in.... and then she was gone. That's the way it is with Salmon fishing, you always remember the first one that got away.

Marvin hooked up one earlier and it also broke the 6 lb. leader. It's a challenge using lighter line than the fish you expect to catch. It was fun landing this one on light tackle.

I hooked up with another Chinook in the afternoon. It also spit the hook. I saw eight fisherman and only four other fish caught. The sun was out most of the day and the water was still lower than I like but clear and free of leaves. A great day to remember.

Thumbs Up for My Fishing Partner.

     October 7th was so nice, I was blessed with a chance to go fishing again. Kim and I took the truck up to the closest tributary near our house. It was about thirty minutes away, and we had to stop and get her a new fishing license. So it was around one o'clock in the afternoon by the time we splashed our split shot and line in the water. I had rigged Kim's fly rod up for salmon. I set mine up for small browns, and was not expecting to land a 10 lb. salmon on 4 lb. test. After searching the water I spied a large brown resting on the bottom of a deep pool. I tried two different wet flies without success. Then tried a small egg sack. Smaller rainbows started attacking it, which must have generated the Browns interest. A few more cast and he took the bait. I handed the rod to Kim and she calmly brought it to shore while I took some photos. Yup, a good picture of a brown trout and thumbs up to my partner.

                                             

Kim kept fishing in that area and caught two more small rainbow trout. We then walked down stream and came upon a female Chinook salmon. I used Kim's fly rod and hooked it. I then handed the rod back to Kim and she landed and released this one also. We fished a little while longer. Kim worked on her drifting technique and I caught two more eight inch rainbows in fast moving current.

                                         

We talked with other fishermen who were not so lucky. It was a good day to be out with my wife on a fall afternoon in the park.

2014 Salmon run

The 2014 Salmon season has officially arrived here in Rochester, NY.  September was one of the warmest and rainless months all year. The water had been very low the last few weeks, but that did not stop the annual fish migration. I've been hearing stories of many salmon in the Genesee River.  Although I do not fish this river, it means the smaller tribs will begin their salmon run. 

With the beginning of October upon us, I found time to show Nate where he could hook up with a fish or two. It was early Friday morning when we got into the stream. No waders were required as the water was still a bit warm. We walked down stream fishing each small hole as we went. Nate pulled out a few small rainbows as I watched for rising trout. I was geared up for salmon in case we came upon any. I was not having much success. We reached the last good spot and Nate picked out a 6 inch fingerling. I figured it was time to find another location. We back tracked and I stopped to fish a hole I had passed up earlier. Nothing came of it until Nate spotted movement up stream. I could not believe it. We had already covered this area and saw nothing earlier. But there they were... three Kings were driving through the low water. When they settled in along the far shore we had our opportunity. We both felt the adrenaline pumping just waiting for the inevitable. Nate hooked up for the first time and landed a male King Salmon. I took some phone pics as we admired his catch. It was a good day of fishing.

Now with the weekend rain and night temperatures down into the 30's, cold water will rise in the creeks. These inland creeks feed the Lake Ontario tributaries we all love to fish. 

Mid August Mid Night Fishing

    Mid-August midnight fishing was the call I got from my friend Brian.   http://www.brianonthefly.blogspot.com/  So Kim and I went after 8:00 pm to meet up with him and try some new mouse patterns I had tied. It was a warm evening and the moon would not rise for another 4 hours. Brian had gone ahead of us to guide some other fishermen. It was Kim's first time going at night, so I was careful not to run ahead of her too much. It was the large spiders that came out at night that made her wonder what she had agreed to. But it's all part of the experience. She had a mosquito net over her hair. But we had very few mosquitos to contend with. When we got into the stream the air was filled with trico's dancing in front of my head lamp. I set out a good distance from Kim and we both fished until 11:30 with no success. We both had fish splash at our fly.

    We then left the area and went down stream and fished for another two hours. The moon rose up over the water and reflected between the over hanging branches. When our feet got cold we left. Kim and I had a good time together and she would go again if I guaranteed her a fish. More on the night of fishing and the catch at http://www.brianonthefly.blogspot.com/ 

We went the next day to a river closer to our home. It was another warm summer afternoon. I hooked up several times with small mouth bass. Kim learned how to double haul her long cast.

Catskill Fly Fishing Museum

Last weekend Kim and I were traveling through the Catskills and stopped at a Fly Fishing Fair. 

This is the information Kim read in the Catskill Shopper, Lazy Days of Summer magazine.

FISHING PROGRAM Catskill Fly Fishing Museum and Center 1031 Old Route 17, Livingston Manor, NY 12758845-439-4810 August 2 and 3. 8:00am – 4:00pm. Summer fest & Anglers Market - the pavilion and field is loaded with everything a fisherman could ever want. Hardy Cup competition is on the bunk house field. Saturday evening all are welcome to the pig roast provided by Hardy. In case you come up with a non-fisherman for the weekend, they will enjoy the local crafts and art provided by the Canvas Art Show. Truly a weekend with something for everyone.

As we browsed the new and used fly fishing equipment. I realized how much interest we both have in antique fishing equipment. I do collect a small amount of fishing lures and fly reels. But what was unique were the beautiful artistic flies these collectors had from past years. Flies and Fly tying materials and clothing were also on sale. Next year we will be more prepared to spend mega bucks at this event. It was a good day to be in the mountains drenched in thoughts of fly fishing history.

Take some time to visit the Museum Online.      http://www.catskillflyfishing.org

Boating on Canandaigua Lake

Well it's July now and fly fishing has been little to nothing this month. My usual summer trip to the southern tier has not happened yet. A trip to the Genesee River source would make this summer memorable. 

There are good size trout residing in the backwoods. Where a campfire and buttered fish bring satisfaction to the end of an all day walk in the stream. 

But until then I have any number of Finger lakes to put my sixteen foot aluminum motor boat into. Last week I did manage to get out for my first trial boating of the year.

The task of getting the boat registered was easy. Then the trailer inspection failed, Ordering and replacing the tail light, inspecting the trailer again made it more complicated. The task of gathering all the paraphernalia for the outing such as the life jackets, two oars, an anchor. bow and stern ropes and lights needed to be removed from the garage attic. Finding my trolling motor and charging the marine battery overnight in the rain was not too stressful. My biggest worry was getting ready the outboard motor, which I had not started in over two years. I needed to go and purchase gas, two cycle engine oil, and gear lube which was about the cost of a box of fly line. Not to forget the tackle box and fishing rod were put neatly in the truck box. Now I was ready to go to the lake. 

Arriving at the boat launch, I had to pay the state another seven dollars to get into the water. Although it was nice to have use of the clean toilet before getting into the boat. I placed all the gear from the truck into the boat and unstrapped the tie downs just as it began to rain. Kim and I sat in the truck until the thunderstorm cleared and then launched the boat. We rowed away from the docks and up the channel until I could get the motor ready. It began to pour once more and we rowed under a willow tree where soaking wet I managed to start the 9.5 horses. After it sputtered a few times It started right up and we were on our way to meet up with some kayaker friends. The skies stopped raining and we had taken on some water from the rain, but we continued out to sea. Traveled across the lake and met up with our friends who were not really trilled with the weather. In the short time we visited, I realized that the water in the boat was coming not from the sky but a pinhole in the aluminum bottom. My test run was just about complete now. I had managed to get my wife out in the boat soaking wet. I completed all the required emergency preparations including pumping out the water. I managed to get the boat launched and the motor started. So as the thunder clouds moved in again we concluded our boating experience without any fishing at any point in the trip. 

So to all you charter fishermen, I want to thank you for the effort you take to give us stream fishermen the lake boating experience with out the headache. My thoughts on the way home were mostly of how fly fishing is so easily managed. You grab your waders to keep your legs and feet dry in any weather. You don your vest, a rod and box of flies. And you are ready to catch free fish in any number of unrestricted New York state streams or lakes.   Fly fishing! What else is there.

Port Bay Outlet

 

Last week Kim and I met up with Marvin and my Mom to fish the channel at West Port Bay in Huron, NY. With all the boats passing by it was a poor location for any substantial fishing.
We resorted to panfishing. We hooked up with some pumpkin seeds for picture taking purposes.

Three Brothers on the fly

Mid June was when my brother Paul, Marvin, Kim and I went fishing for trout in a NYS stream. The rain had caused much muddy water. But it was a good time to get out and practice casting. I tried to be optimistic about the spot where I had caught many fish in before. With my confidence and instruction, my brothers proceeded to interpret how to fish with a nymph with an indicator. And they did quite well without results. However when they proceeded to go at it on their own, Kim took over the spot and was the only person to land a fish that afternoon. We took photos and got our feet wet while fishing for the illusive brown trout.


The day did not pan out... that is fish in the frying pan.

Paul had been asking me to take him out fishing for three years now. It's not that I've been putting him off, It's just he lives on the west coast and only gets out to see us once in a great while. So this past week I rallied up the group to go fly fishing. Marvin, Kim and Paul each had great expectations of catching fish. It had rained hard the previous day. When we got to the trout stream, I was disappointed that the water was not clear. We trekked in and it was a beautiful day without mosquitoes. The fishing to me was less important than the fly casting. I helped with tactical methods of casting for trout. I had a great time fishing with everyone. Yes, That's what this sport is all about.

Kim's video of the only catch of the day.

Opening Day Sunrise

Opening Day of Bass Season

Kim and I had gone to the lake two days before the third Saturday in June. We approached the outlet of Canandaigua Lake that Thursday evening without any fishing gear. As we stared into the water, we saw several twelve to fourteen inch large mouth bass. After counting about eight keepers we agreed that Saturday morning we would come back to the outlet at sunrise, before anyone else and rid the lake of these vermin.

So at 4:30 we got up, loaded our gear and bass minnows,
and drove to lake for a morning of great fun.
We arrived right at sunrise and took these pictures.
But the bass we no where to be found. We fished for a while and decided to move to another outlet where I had caught bass in past years. We had a little more success. and Kim was catching most of the fish. including small mouth bass, rock bass and sunfish.

We never did spot a largemouth, but getting out early in the morning was enjoyable.

We saw some turtles and three families of geese. Our day together fishing for bass was very relaxing.

Maxwell with Marvin

My brother Marvin and I decided to go fishing on Saturday. He had never fly fished and I was interested in taking him to a productive stream. The closest one to his home is Maxwell Creek. Although it is a very short stretch of water, it is quite close to Lake Ontario.

Maxwell was stocked last year with 5 inch fingerling rainbows. http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/23219.html . Normally I'll fish Maxwell in the winter when steelhead and browns come in to spawn. I was not sure how the summer months would fare with this well used creek.

We arrived soon after sun up and the water at the lower section was very still. A few slow breezes brought up the chill of the morning.

Not a good hatch of anything was happening.

So Marv and I practiced a few basic casting techniques. 

We moved upstream to try some faster water.  Marvin was using a hare's ear nymph with a little twist of gold on it. We were trying some pool action when I suggested reeling up the line and heading up stream once more. As his leader passed by my feet and into 3 inches of water it started splashing.

I yelled, "you got one!"

"There it is your first fish on a fly rod and it's a rainbow trout." My excitement was more than enough for the both of us. 

I don't think Marvin was impressed. It was a tad under 5 inches. None the less Marvin had not missed out on trout fishing of New York State. We took pictures and I explained the markings to him. We carefully released the salmonoid to fight another day.

More about markings on the National Wildlife Federation website…

http://www.nwf.org/wildlife/wildlife-library/amphibians-reptiles-and-fish/rainbow-trout-or-steelhead.aspx

Marvin was having great success hooking sunfish...

After de-barbing the hook, Marv caught a second one about the same size. We then moved upstream to a larger hole where Marvin learned to roll cast. This produced for him two small perch. We continued upstream to the major water fall, where we spent the remainder of the morning catching fingerlings, sunfish, small mouth bass and rock bass. 

Released until the season opens this coming Saturday.

Meanwhile I hooked this nice 12 inch small mouth on a black stone fly nymph.

We were ready to go home when

we found another nice spot to fish.

I said to Marvin, "Just one more cast and then we'll go", which of course led to another hour of fine panfish retrieval. We both worked the water as I tried to help Marvin with the "mending line" technique. He finally got it. 

I showed him how the float stays in the swirling pool as the fly line flips back into the current.

While we watched, the float pulled hard under the water.

"You got one!"  I shouted. "Pick Up… Pick up!" 

To my surprise Marvin reeled in a really large Rock Bass.

This was the completion of our day, knowing we were leaving more large fish in the fast moving water of Maxwell Creek.

June 8th was the day my luck turned for the better. A well planned trip found me headed early Sunday morning to East Koy creek.

This inland stream promises both wild and stocked brown trout and an occasional brook trout.

It empties into the Wiscoy which in turn empties into the Genesee River somewhere near Filmore, NY.

This was my second time fishing this stream. The first time, with no success, was more of a drive-by test run.

That Sunday morning was sunny and warm when I arrived around 6:00. My garb fashioned sunglasses, vest, a wide brim hat, an olive Columbia short sleeve, slacks with rubber bands at the ankles to keep the spiders out. I put on some wading shoes and headed down stream. My heart raced with excitement as I followed along a barbed wire fence line on the bank above the clear early lit water. The blue of the sky sparkled in the glare that hid the possible fish catch I was passing by. Once the fence path ended, I entered the stream. It was frigid, as a trout stream should be mid June. The water was moving fast down hill for a good long ways. I tired many casts to the pockets behind boulders, but the depth was shallow and I could see nothing moving. Each cast took me further into the woods surrounding the creek. At one point I felt lost, as if I had been transported to the Adirondacks. There is a pine grove that lines the East Koy. Fly fishing all the while I looked, expecting to see black bear markings.

Then the sun broke through the tall pines and shined on the creek that had leveled out into a flat. I waited before I moved up on it.

I stood still, scanning the water, looking for a hatch or for a fish rising. No large hatches, one or two mayflies, then…. there it was, one fish nipped the top water just below the film. 

To this fish, I must admit, there was nothing interesting about a rusty old beat up fly. Wasted much time fishing the top water... would take off my dry fly and position a bead head and then another nymph until my thinking was the fish had moved out or was never there to begin with. So I made my way further downstream to come upon a nice, cloudy water hole. 

I tied on a yellow stone fly and drifted it in the 3 foot pocket. And withdrew my first fish of the day. 

12  inch stocked brown released

The next few photos are a bit foggy because while taking pictures of this fish,

I dropped my phone into the East Koy.

There might have been another trout in that hole, and I tried for a while, but my concentration was lost, concerned about my cell. It was stuck on camera and the touch screen was not working. It would not return to the main screen but I could still shoot photos with the manual button. The lens fogged over.

I then moved on down steam where I came across an uprooted tree. I removed the yellow stone fly, not wanting to lose it in the strange hole. I tied on a black bead head to skirt the hanging roots.

A couple of casts drew this 12 inch brown out from under the stump.

Tough to photograph when you can't see the display

Then another smaller trout about 8 inches bit hard on the tippet, jumped about 2 feet out of the water, twisted like a world cup soccer player and broke the fly clean off. 

I must have walked a mile or so and it was getting toward noon when I decided to return to my truck. On the way back upstream, I spotted a hole I had passed up thinking it was too shallow. I looked closer and noticed the creek cut under the bank quite a ways. Using a larger yellow stone fly, I cast into the riffle which pulled my float toward the bank. On the retrieve I saw a flash. My heart skipped a beat and quickly tossed another cast into the same run. Bam! this one was no 12 inch. He fought long and hard with a short run of my reel. I knew from previous experience this was no usual brown. He turned out to be a wild fish,

no damage, clean and no clipped fins. His adipose fin was about 1.25 inches long.

It had a shiny blue spot on the gill plate on both sides. Measured to 18.5 inches.

bright blue gill markings

clean undamaged fins

My day had a great finish and I value the time spent in God's creation. Each day is a blessing when you can relax behind a fly rod. Unless you work in a sporting goods store. Have fun and go fishing.... again!

Oh yes, I put my cell in a bag of rice for two days. My sim card was filled with about 30 blank photos. It's working now, just fine.

2014 in review

   Wow, It's been a whole year since I documented anything of importance.  Looking back to 2013, I realized it was my worst fishing and blogging year thus far. Keeping an account of what fish I caught is important because it helps develop schedule for where and when I fish. So In the months of January and February I try to fish the tributaries of Lake Ontario that are not frozen solid. This past January 2014, I only fished once and landed an 20 inch steelhead. February through March I may have managed to fish a couple of times. It wasn't until April that I really got back into fly fishing the inland trout streams. I thought I'd concentrate on Naples creek but the steelhead were slow to arrive this year and only saw a few taken that first week. Fishing three days straight gave me a sense of how much I lost the knack of drifting eggs. I heard rumors of more fish being caught when I was not able to go, but that's typical of fishing reports.

   The first week of May finds me in the spillways of the barge canal. I change my fishing tactics for the influx of spawning Walleye and Pike which come in with the filling of the canal.

I leave my fly rod in the truck (which by the way was purchased in January) and sport the spinning rod and plugs. No luck again for me. Kim went with me (bless her heart) and she caught a small mouth bass and a few white perch and rock bass. A good day of fun.

   June is here and started with a the idea of boating for walleye. As it turned out my boat is still not registered and I went wading in Scottsville to fish for walleye. Much too late in the season. Ended up getting a few mosquito bites. My friend Denny went with me and caught a brown trout. Later that day I returned to the water. Only this time in Canandaigua Lake to try out some new Linsey rigging with minnows. I waded from shore and hooked up with yellow perch, large sunfish and rock bass.

So now you're thinking, is this really the type of fishing I want to read about? No.... It's only a recap of what my past year has been like. In the next two blogs about June 2014, I will tell the story of how I caught an 18.5 inch wild brown trout in the East Koy creek. And another tale of guiding my older brother Marvin to his first hit of rainbow trout on the fly.

More to follow....