Good Start to a New Season

2015 has seen a good start to the fishing season.  The snow pack melted with out the blow out conditions many of the anglers (including myself) feared.  Water is now perfect.  Wade-able flows and temperatures are making fishing great.  My son & I managed a quick outing to one of several creeks that the Warren county fish hatchery stocks annually. 

I fished with father & son clients during the week.  They managed a couple of stocked brookies and the March Browns were coming off in droves.

Next stop, Native brook trout next weekend.  My fly of choice...

Tying for Spring

With the brutality of winter this year came plenty of time at the vice to decorate some hooks.  Here are two of several patterns I use to target Brook Trout.

First is the WHIZ KID

  

Introduced to me by my good friend Al Hammel.  He brought it back with him after his residence in Montana where he befriended Mark Bauman who developed the pattern.  You can read more about the fly here: http://www.fishingwithflies.com/WhizKid.html  It can be tied and fished in several colors, however, I find natural deer hair produces well.

Next is Hugh's MICKEY HORNBERG

This pattern was taught to me by its' originator, Hugh Ruane.  It is a streamer known to experience local fly anglers of the Eastern Adirondack Region.  This streamer is plain poison on brook trout, both in flowing water and the ponds, of the Adirondacks.  I have literally caught 100's of brook trout on this streamer.  Hugh was a no bones kind of guy and if you knew him you will agree.  If you were full of shit he was not afraid to tell you so.  

I can still see him looking over his glasses while we were sitting at our vices saying to me: 

"Now, pay attention, I'm only going to show you this one time."

 I did and it pays!  He tied it for several shops and some of them claim it as their own but make no mistake.  This pattern was born in the jaws of his vice. As a tribute to Hugh, every one of these streamers I tie and card for sale will carry his name.

A Visual Testimonial

Plan "B"

My buddy Al & I planned to fish Cold River (14 mile round trip hike).  That was Plan "A".  We met at the Upper Works Trailhead and discussed the weather forecast that changed to 80% thunderstorms during the overnight.  I have been through Indian Pass during heavy storms, an experience I cared NOT to repeat.

We quickly developed plan "B".

-Six different fisheries with five different target species in 32 hours. 
Al & I managed to avoid the storms and had a bluebird day today. 

Smart fishing pays off.

 

 

  Our last location was a real workout. 

 Big boulders with deep narrow slots & tons of timber courtesy of Hurricane Irene made wading to the perfect spot for the correct presentation a chore.

In HOTWATER

I was in Hot Water this morning at 5:30.  83 degrees at that time in the morning means one thing to the trout angler.  Game Over.

Time to change species, change venues or both. 

Are there still trout in the Schroon?  Yes, a few. 

The thing is... to fish to the "Players". 

Damn few of those at this water temperature.

My fishing is a balance of  time efficiencies. 

Water Time vs. Drive Time vs. Hiking Time

 

Here's a trail marker you don't see too often. 

I like it.

Conditions

The river is super good now.  3.8ft. on the USGS gage.  I am seeing Zebra Caddis everywhere; on my truck windshield, in the bathroom, one even took the "death dive" into my open bottle of head cement last night.

I'm going to the Schroon tomorrow morning.  Full report will be on its' way.

Jim's Grand Slam

Fish with my buddy Jim on Sunday.  We covered a lot of road and a lot of water.  He scored a couple of browns and several salmon at our first stop.  I managed a few myself.  We worked our way up to the West Branch of the Ausable and he popped a nice rainbow.  I saw the take and the hook set.  It made my blood pump. 

He mentioned to me that all he needed for his FIRST Adirondack Grand Slam was a brookie!  OK, so now I'm on a mission to get him tight with a brookie- even if it kills me.  We got back to town and I beat feet for a little creek that I know has brookies.  The mosquitos nearly ate us alive but in 15 minutes, he landed a little guy about 4 inches with bright blue spots.  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!  Way to go Jim.

2013 Adirondack Waterfest

I got a call from my friends at Crossroads Outdoors yesterday.  They had an unforeseen family event and needed someone to cover their display at the Adirondack Waterfest today.  Sure, why not?  The next best thing to fishing is talking about it.  I got a report the 500 people passed through today.  I tied a few flies, share fish stories and got to see some folks I hadn't seen in a while.  The weather was perfect and the event organizers did a super job making everyone feel at home & making sure the participants had all their needs taken care of.  A good time was had by all.

River danger

River danger

A healthy warning from Don Lehman outdoor writer at the Post Star

"Fan" Mail

I love getting email from fellow anglers about anything fly fishing.

Joel sent me a request for some places to fish for pike.  I sent him 5 or 6 possible places to fish from his canoe.  At some point, I hope he sends me some pictures to post.

Brian sent me a report on one of his trips to the Schroon (pre-flood).  He was netting rainbows during the caddis hatch.

 

Keep those emails coming! 

Fish Love Water

But this kind of flow is dangerous.  Best to avoid the river for now and fish a pond. 


LOOKS LIKE WE ARE GOING TO FLOOD STAGE IN JULY!

River Conditions

Heavy Rain Run-off
67 degrees
Heavy stain & some debris
USGS Gage- 5.1 feet & Rising
I waded 10' from shore and swung a white bugger on an intermediate line this morning- NUTTIN!
Give it until Wednesday and chech back here
Fishing suggestions- Ponds or little brook trout streams

Big Fat Schroon

After 4+" of rain last night, the river is really big.  As in, Not too safe, Big.  I went and checked some feeder streams from the Hoffman area: Big & Brown would be a good descriptor.  My advice?  Find a pond and fish the creeks that feed it.  I'm going to give the river some time to calm down.

My Favorite Pinot Grigio

The Name "hooked" me the taste keeps me coming back.  Try it!

Great Client Trip 6-25

 I guided father/daughter team, Sean & Hannah on Wednesday. We started the day on Trout Creek. This was Hannah's first fly fishing experience and even though Sean undersold his fly angling abilities, I made it a mission to get the first fish on for Hannah. She was a great student and managed two nice rainbows within the first hour. Sean had a couple as well.

I decided to move the Schroon for the second beat and both clients delivered again! (I really like clients who make their guide look good.) The fishing shut off around 10 am.  I knew the barometer was falling fast as the trout were acting spooky. I saw several of them darting around as we worked our way down river swinging streamers, nymphs and wet flies.

Around 11:45 I asked If we all had enough with rain on the horizon and all agreed to call it. As soon as we pulled out of the parking area the skies opened and the torrential downpour began. Shwew!- just in time.

Sean gained a lot of confidence in his ability to work the seams & getting the fly down where the trout live. He had several nice hook-ups bringing the sparkle pupa off the bottom & up through the water column.  I had Hannah banging out 40' over hand casts in the first 2 hours & her understand of line management aided her angling success today.

Great client trips start with everyone understanding the goal for the day and everyone working hard to achieve the goal and having fun doing it!

A Wall Hanger

This is the Landlocked salmon I caught in an Adirondack tributary last fall.  I release all my fish as a rule however, this fish broke all the rules so I figured, Why shouldn't I?  He is a 5 lb post spawner in a little bitty stream 20+ miles from the lake.  An anomaly for sure and nearly twice the size of a legal limit for the lake.  7 jumps on an old school bucktail streamer tied to a 5x leader.  Not your everyday fish.

Hatching & Catching

Sorry for my long departure but back to what matters most- FISHING!

Here's what is going on: a very wet late spring / early summer.  The Schroon is fully stocked, however the fish this year have had trouble making a sound commitment to what food looks like.  Today was good though, I fished my favorite LLS stream and landed 8 juveniles- (6) 1 1/2 year-olds and (2)- 2 1/2 year-olds, I even landed 2 brookies just because!  Caddis is on!  Puppa took a beating this morning.

I will bring the camera tomorrow and post some pix.  I saw a huge stocked brownie this afternoon that I left alone b/c a kid showed up,  I gave him the hole and showed him where the fish was.  The rest was up to him.  I left b/c was hungry and need sustenance.

Wayne Lapierre CPAC 2013. FULL SPEECH Nra CEO Delivers Fiery Speech

Protecting Freedom

A letter to 21st district Rep. Bill Owens:

Bill,


I understand that you are supporting s150. As my representative, I wish that you would reconsider your position to more closely represent the target shooters, law enforcement, county legislators and sportsmen in you district. I'm sure that the NRA has been in contact with you on this matter and please know that their position represents my position on this matter. This is a serious violation of the Constitution of the United States of America. I voted for you last November. Please do not force me to change my vote the next time MY representative comes up for election.



Sincerely,

Christopher J. Stiles

"A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."



Seems pretty straight-forward to me.

Once in a Lifetime

Once in a while, you put yourself in the right place, at the right time doing the right thing.  Yesterday was one of those days.  I spent the day fishing tributaries of lakes that hold landlocked salmon.  To make a long story short- this fish took a Shushan Postmaster streamer on the swing.  When things came tight, I knew I was into something really good.  Seven heart pounding jumps and twenty minutes later, I landed this anomaly.

Notice the hook? Someone hooked and lost this fish

Specs.
Rod- Orvis Access 5 wt. Mid Flex
Reel- Orvis Battenkill Mid Arbor
Streamer- Shushan Postmaster
On the Scale- 4.89 lbs
Lenght 24 1/4"

As a rule, I'm a Catch & Release guy but this one is headed to the taxidermist

 

A Good Weekend in Pulaski

I had been reading posts all week from Pulaski about the "Big Run".  I have seen this before only to get there and find a stray fish or two but when I read "biggest one day push of Kings" on the DSR website, that is some pretty "Tough Talk" so there must be some fish to back it up.  When we stopped at the gatehouse of the DSR Saturday morning the employees were buzzing with excitement.  Yup, it must be good.  Trevor & I got our passes and marched down the stairs to the Meadow.  We waded to mid river and my first cast produced a nice hen.  Nirvana has found its' way to the Douglaston.  I landed 7 of 16 and kept 3.  Trevor battled several and managed to fill his stringer too.  We made the death march out at 11:00.    

Sunday was a bit slower but we had a goal to get Trev to hook, fight and land his own fish.  Once he got the hang of the drift, he was hooking fish consistantly but had a lot of break-offs.  Persistant; he poked one right in the jaw around 10:00.  He battled the big buck on an upstream run that took him to the backing.  After a brief chase, Trev managed to get his head to turn downstream and beached the brute near the place where he hooked him.  Nice Job boy!!!  I ended the weekend in the front yard with 18 king fillets in the cooler all iced up and ready for the smoker, canning and a few fresh steaks to friends and family.  What a Weekend!