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!

Big appreciation for Smallies

Any experienced angler will attest to the fact that, pound for pound, small mouth bass are one of the most tenacious-hard fighting fish in fresh water. I have always been one of those trout rule bass drool guys but the drought conditions this summer have forced me to reexamine my angling values and give smallies another shot.

Fishing the past two weeks has changed my paradigm. I have targeted smallies in rivers, something I would never do as a rule but, things are shaking out to my advantage. I have found they readily take a black bugger so "match the hatch" is not a requirement and a one pound smallie in moderate riffles will put a good bend in a 5wt. rod.



Yesterday I got into a bunch of 3 and 4 pounders (sorry no pix) and put the 8wt. away in favor of the 5wt. Gearing down will test your limits and keep you sharp. 



When clients call I am going to encourage them to take a trip for smallies. I’m sure they won’t be disappointed.

Client Trip - Friday, July 6 -

I fished with Jim this morning.  He did really well for probably one of the toughest days of the year.  Jim picked up a rainbow from the river first thing this morning then I took him into the woods for some brook trout and he caught his first ever brookie from a very technical situation.  Well done Jim!  We worked like hell for a brown as the morning wore on but were denied the triple.  Water conditions were our limiting factor.

Conditions are SUPER BONEY DRY.  WE NEED RAIN. 

I have resolved not to trout fish until we get some serious precipitation. 

The browns are schooling up and they are very spooky.  Not a great time to be harrasing them with the hook, not they will take one anyway.

Some pictures from the morning:

Sunday Afternoon

Had a great time with Christian, a first time fly angler from Texas!  He was roll casting and doing a water loaded cast like a champ in no time.  I moved us upriver and he was getting rises all night.  As with all dry fly fishing, it took him a while to learn how to pull the trigger but once he did, he was sticking them in good shape!  One of the best parts of this "job" is meeting new people and discovering how much we have in common.

Big Fat Brownies

I fished the river this morning and got into some nice browns.  Big Dries saw ALL the action this morning.  Best producing flies were an Ausable Bomber and Yellow Stimulator.  My client tomorrow night is in for a real treat if these guys make another apperance.

One of 5 Rainbows this morning.

Check out the rose color on the gill plate!

Creel total this morning:

7 Brown Trout

5 Rainbow Trout

1 Smallie

&

A Pumpkinseed  :)

all released.

Superior Dry Fly Conditions

The river is at optimum summer condition.  Running at 2.50 on the USGS gage, temp about 75.  There are still penty of stockies to catch and they have had a chance to spread out.  So walk the banks and look for rise forms upstream to cast to.  The substraight you will encounter in most of the river will be boulder size and smaller.  For that reason I usually walk the banks up river and look for fish rising then carefully wade down stream casting at a 45 degree angle down & across, swing wets and streamers.

Now is the time for Stimulators with a dropper, big Zebra Caddis  & flying ants.  Popping a stimulator on the surface will bring good results.

Chris