Summer Nights

The best thing about the Summer of 2012 is that there is still water in our drought stricken streams.

I'm going to try again to blog some new stories this fall about our favorite sport.
And that's another thing I want to blog about. Why is fly fishing not an olympic sport?

But first I've got to tell you about Summer Night Fishing. If you have not tried fishing after dark than you must put it on your bucket list. This was something I had always wanted to try but never took the time. Sure I had fished evenings and into the twilight hours after sunset. I've been there catching that last glimpse of light hitting the water above of a rising trout. I've waded back across a stream as a thin fog lifts towards the night sky. But this was my first time fly fishing, as it were, starting after dark and catching fish until midnight.

And I mean first time fly fishing...
I went last week and found night time fishing for trout heightens your awareness of fly fishing.  All the things you do while fishing become new to you again. When I got on the stream it was about 9:20 PM. The night sky was already showing stars. The half moon of August had not risen yet. My first mistake was thinking that I could easily tie on a tippet and fly when I reached the stream. So I had an old leader with a wool yarn strike indicator and fly on my line from the last time I had been out. I was not quite ready to go, but was so anxious that I cast it anyway. My first cast was ten feet off my rod tip and something slammed my indicator. My second cast bore the same result. So I stepped back out of the stream and retied a new leader without the strike indicator. I tied on a floating muddler minnow that I had created earlier in the day.

The next few casts were difficult to get use too because it was like casting into the wind. Only instead of wind it was an endless wall of darkness. Not knowing where the fly was landing did make setting the hook more difficult. Finally I caught this nice brown trout.

Get the whole story at JP Ross Site.

http://www.jprossflyrods.com/staff/fishing_log/entry.php?id=1195?blog=17&id=1195

Naples Trout Derby

This mornings article in my local paper gives an account of a trout derby close to where I live. Typically I am not a derby fisherman. I have participated in weighing fish at check in stations.

I like to hear the stories of the day's catch. But the thought of 8-9 inch trout being released two days prior and recaptured by treble hooks just gets under my skin. I know there are reasons to keep sportsman active, but I tend toward a more natural approach to fishing.

Here is the link to a summary of the Naples Trout Derby

http://www.mpnnow.com/sports/x1700898694/Trout-and-anglers-aplenty-at-annual-Naples-tournament

Fishing April Waters

Opening day of trout was Friday for most inland streams. The water was very fishable. I prefer not to venture out when hoards of spinners were lining the stream.

My season started Saturday,

I did not leave until noon and went to Avoca, 25 minutes south of Naples to the Cohocton river.

This river is open year round for trout. I caught a 14 inch Brown which most likely was stocked this past Thursday. It took a egg pattern.

(notice the clipped fin). (I had problems with camera)

I fished a lot of water until 4:30 and this was the only bite. I should tie some flies sometime. My eye caught one miller (moth) flying above the water. The water was clear and I saw nothing else. It was a little windy, but what a nice day for seeing into the water.

Walked the river for about a mile.

When can I go Fishing?

So many days have gone by since I have been fishing. The business of life just too time consuming.

I would be in the stream, but my waders leak and I have no any extra cash to buy new ones.

I've been following the fishing news on television and internet. Maybe I'll have time this weekend after work. It's just not the right time according to the moon phases.

Sound like excuses? Well maybe so.

Somebody get me in a stream!!!

Preserving the Spawn

Saturday I had to work in the morning but around 11:30. I decided to head for Penfield for a little hard luck fishing. I wanted to stop at Home depot on the way. As I made my way to the mall, I pasted through Fishers south of Victor. I pulled into the park there and found several redds in the stream bed. I walked the trail and found 3 dead salmon about 35 inches in length. then spotted one lone salmon in shallow water. So I went back to my truck and put on my waders. Hip boots would have worked, for the water was high but still only 2 feet deep. The main pools were 3-4 feet.

I went back down the trail and came upon a spooked salmon. I had several drifts to it but never hooked it. The technique is different at Fishers, cause from the trail you have to navigate the trees, overhanging brush and nasty rose bush thorns which really have grown up around the stream edge. I left that one and went further downstream, only to find a small king about 20 inches long. It was holding in a 3 ft deep pool in clear ice cold water. So I fished to it as if it were a small trout with an egg pattern. I hooked it's tail for a moment, then a few more drifts and hooked its mouth. It was a fun little fight. The fish gave up too quickly.

Next I went to where the water runs deeper and faster. I spotted a nice size salmon under a bush on the opposite side of the stream. I cast into and under the bush from shore and he moved out into the center of the stream and held in the riffle current. This gave me a better swing drift and hooked up after a few casts. this fish fought much harder and I stepped into the stream to land it. The stream is so fragile I never walk it. I checked out a few other spots and did see a pair of salmon but left them alone. I never did go to Penfield or home depot. No photos.

I am so lucky to have a trib only fifteen minutes from my house. It is hard to imagine the trip salmon must take to get so far south of the thruway. All the fish seamed to have strong tails and not really scared up to badly. One had bone showing on its jaw and gills. I could not think that even the small jacks would be returning to the lake. Seeing salmon in such a remote area made me think of Indians, who once used that same stream as their main hunting ground.

We must always remember to preserve some portion of the spawn for future generations. Be mindful of redds and spawning pairs. Make the most of your fishing by improving techniques for drifting and casting. Take notice of your surroundings and watch for creatures underfoot not involved with your fishing. Don't tread on stream bank securing plants.