Epic Brookie water turns Epic Landlocked Salmon Windfall

Alec & I returned to his secret water to visit the brookies again today.  What we found was beyond belief.  Landlocks, big ones.  All taking a dry in a river pool- who'd a thunk it.  I also managed 2 brookieswith some spectacular coloration.  Alec caught the pig LLS of the day-20" and est. 3lbs.  I was right behind with a 17" LLS that made a spectacular jump over our head level before coming to hand.  Neither of us expected to see salmon, let alone the size in that location.

Dry

I fished with Alec last night to do some scouting for today's client.  We need rain.  Many of the brook trout streams we visited last night were still cool but not as cold as they should be to keep fish healthy.  We also went to *###***###* River and found good fishing during the evening hatch.  Browns and rainbows rising to emerging caddis and stimulators skated along the surface film.

Pray for Rain

BROOKIES!

Hey, the brown trout bite is off and has been for a week or better.  You will do best to fish the magic half hour before dark.  I took my brother on his first ever fly fishing trip today and the brook trout fishing was good.  The water conditions are "boney". we went to some Adirondack wilderness streams and managed a few on caddis and a Mickey Finn. 
Photos by Alec

Shot

Well the trout season has come and just about gone for the Lower Schroon 2011 season. The water temps are in the upper 70's and the trout population mortality is in the "negative exponents". I fished early yesterday morning and saw one fish rise at day-break.



Can you still catch a trout on the Schroon? Sure, but they are going to severely underweight and few and far between.



HOWEVER- many of the cooler running Adirondack rivers and streams are in good shape with a wicked size 12 gray caddis hatch this week. If you don't mind the bugs and like hiking in the woods, Small brook trout streams are going to be the best bet for fly fishing for a while. Don't forget that smallies on the FlyRod are a kick too. Trolling with downriggers or leadcore is always an option. Ever pulled up a Lake Trout  from 100' down on a 9" 5wt? Big fight, big fun. Be flexible. Get away from the roads and you might be surprised with what you find.

Morning at Tumblehead (Schroon River)

I fished the public access at Tumblehead this morning from 7:30 to 10:00. 

12 trout (11 rainbows and 1 brown). 

The rainbows averaged 11-12 inches & were in good shape for Schroon River Stockies this time of the season   ie. they ain't dead yet!.    They all took a black bugger or a white wet fly fished 2 feet below the surface.  As typical for rainbows, the take was tenacious.  The fish are holding in the faster water.  Reaching the seams was critical for a good swinging presentation.  

This Little brown was the only fish to take a Stimulator fished dry.

Not much hatching in this morning.