Adirondacks Trip

Nora and I took a trip a couple of weekends ago, up to the Adirondacks. We stayed in the cute little town of Elizabethtown overnight and had a fabulous dinner at the Deer Head Inn. Got up there Saturday around noon and did a 4 mile hike up to Bald peak. Only saw a few people, a group of overly chatty women at the top and a young couple that didn't even bother to stop at the peak and take in the views.

The weather was cool, but the day was clear and we had an awesome time! Here are some photos from that hike, and a hike the next day up Blueberry Mtn., which is just outside of Keene Valley...

Also - Nora wanted to see the homestead of John Brown, the famous abolitionist. So we took a little side journey to the town of Elba, which is just outside of Lake Placid. You can actually see the ski jumps from the homestead.
























Cascade lake - on the road from the John Brown homestead, back to Keene Valley



















the top of Blueberry Mtn.

Steelhead Trip 2007 - Recap

Wow - what a steelhead season so far! We took off for the Erie tribs on the weekend of Oct 20th. By we, I mean myself, my older brother John, my youngest brother Andy, and a buddy of mine - Jeff. Andy drove in from Chicagoland and the rest of us live in Connecticut. One of the first items of business was to come up with a nickname for Jeff, which (unfortunately for him) is becoming a tradition. We settled on "Bucky". A note of explanation: Jeff has one of those heads where the hair stands up straight, no matter how long it gets. I think he could probably grow his hair out about 6 inches and it would still stand straight up. I'm confident he would vouch for this. In the past, he's been called "the Badger", again because of the hair. It's evolved into Bucky because that's the mascot of the U of Wisconsin. So... Bucky the Badger it became. Oh, we added on a few more adjectives to that, but I will be kind...

Back to the fishing... I made great time to get to Cattaraugus Creek - only 6.25 hrs. and met Andy there Friday, around lunchtime. The day started off slowly, but we both managed to hook a few fish and landed several. We primarily fished in the town of Gowanda, but the fishing really didn't start to pick up until later in the day. Luckily we were able to slide into a deep hole that had been getting some heavy pressure by the locals all day, so at first, we weren't entirely optimistic. Andy hooked up almost immediately at the head of the run and our attitudes took a definite positive upswing. I started hooking up as well about 15 yards below Andy, and I think all in all, we each ended up with 4 or so steelies for the day. Not too bad for a first day.

Day 2 - Saturday - we continued to hit the Gowanda stretch. Results were about the same - spotty fishing during the day. Andy and I decided to get reservation licenses and we went down to the town of Versailles to try our luck. We found a nice pockety run and picked up a few nice fish. We were then joined by John and Jeff and decided to try our luck downstream. The place was unfortunately packed and the fishing really suffered. Even the good looking holes seemed devoid of fish. I have no doubt they were in there, but the bite wasn't on at all. To make matters worse, the wind REALLY picked up and made casting and drifts difficult at best. After a frustrating afternoon, we decided to go back into Gowanda, where we had better luck before. Again, the bite improved as darkness approached. I did try out the new trout beads and was pretty impressed with the results. Anything orangy or pinkish seemed to work. Of course you always remember the one that got away... In this case, I had hooked a gorgeous brown that went probably 26-28 inches. He actually came out of the water twice to reveal his colors. A nice strong fish, but after a short battle, he was gone. I would've loved to have landed that fish, but that's the way it goes sometimes. It seems that I'm a little snakebit when it comes to browns. For some reason, I have a hard time keeping them on.

Day 3 - Sunday - one more day in Gowanda. Again, slow fishing during the day, so we took a nice lunch break at one of the local fine dining establishments. Three orders of the open meatloaf sandwich on white bread - sounded appetizing anyway. One more crack at Gowanda in the evening. The honey hole was packed tonight, but I did manage to land 2 more a little further downstream, after really working it. Sometimes you just have to put your time in with these fish and make your drifts.

By the way, I just want to add my 2 cents on what I saw on the upper end of the indian reservation. What's going on here is that apparently, the indians are using heavy equipment on the upper boundary of the reservation and TOTALLY scouring the river banks to harvest the gravel along the banks. It's a complete mess! Major damage has been done here. The river is badly channelized in sections and I have to think that once the water comes up again, it's going to be a very destructive situation. They're taking gravel right along the riverbanks and totally changing the character of the river in that area. I don't know if the state of New York is within it's jurisdiction to do anything about it, but I seriously doubt this blatant raping of the land would ever be tolerated, or even proposed if was on NY state land. It's not pretty folks and it doesn't bode well for the river or for the fishery. You remember that commercial with the indian crying because of all the litter on what used to be his land? Well, all I have to say is that I have a completely changed view on how they actually treat the land they're supposed to be advocates of cherishing. Total HYPOCRISY!





















Andy with some pretty Cattaraugus steel




















John with his first steelhead of 2007 - Versailles




















Day 4 - We made a major trip decision and re-routed back east to the Salmon river. John and Andy decided to pay the full $30 to get into the DSR to fish a half day. Jeff and I opted to fish a little further upstream at the ballpark. One lousy hookup for me on a king, but Bucky managed a nice little chromer. Turns out the gamble by Andy and John paid off and they had a great day at Douglaston. They each had between 15 and 19 hookups on steel and each landed around 4. Good for them - that's a lot of hookups for the Salmon river and they were very happy campers.

Day 5 - more DSR action. It rained like a mother all day; surely this could be a fishy day. We split up again. It was slow in the early morning, but by noon, I had landed a couple beautiful chromers in the fast water in the middle of the DSR. Unfortunately, Andy and John had to leave, but Bucky and I stuck with it. Went back up to upper section and the action was pretty consistent all afternoon. We each had maybe a dozen hookups and landed several. Those fish really scream in the Salmon river - nothing compares (to me, anyway).

Day 6 - Bucky and I decided to meet my friends Aaron and Justin, who had had an INCREDIBLE day yesterday in the lower section of the river. 150 hookups between them. Unbelievable, I thought, but they had the photos to prove it. Aaron said it was his best day on the Salmon river ever - how could you top that? So we met them at the lower end again, hoping to strike gold.... er, chrome. Unfortunately, bad timing was my game again. Those fish were mostly gone - they had raised the water level the previous night, to 350 cfs, which probably made them run and scatter upstream. We were still optimistic we'd find them though. I got 3 on sucker spawn in Spring Hole, but overall, it was kinda slow. We moved back up to the mid-section of the DSR and Jeff and I got a few more. Finally, we moved back to the upper end of the DSR and it was pretty hot and heavy for awhile. Then, around 3pm or so, it just shut off. All in all, a good day with several slabs of steel brought to the net.

Which reminds me - that really great net I had purchased specifially in preparation for this trip, somehow managed to unclip itself from my belt and floated downstream into the depths. Note to self.... next net, tie on a lanyard!




















The cycle of life continues















Your's truly - a very happy man - despite the look


















One happy Bucky



















A nasty war scar - this fish actually provided Jeff with an awesome battle, despite the wound.














This is what it's all about, folks!



Day 7 - we decided to try North Sandy creek. This is a beautiful little creek that is about 20 minutes north of the Salmon river. It's fast, with some nice holes and pocket water, and it flows through a marsh. Pretty and unique, but not as hot as the Salmon. I did manage 2 steelhead to the net and explored a bunch. I must have walked a mile up from the Rte.3 bridge. I landed 1 King, and had a big chromer take me for a good run way upstream from the bridge.

We ended the day back at the Salmon river, ballpark hole. Jeff had 1 more steelie take him for a ride, but I got the skunk.

Day 8 - we had enough! Arms were sore and tired not so much from battling steel, but from the constant repetitive motion of casting flies and shot all day. Home by 12:30 and fishing the Housatonic by 1:30!

Great trip - can't wait to go back, maybe to Oak Orchard to battle some browns, or maybe the Catt again, if and when it gets more water... and steel.
















North Sandy Creek

da Catt - day 2

We hit 'em good today on the Catt. Morning was really pretty good - I landed 2 and my brother Andy got 2 as well. During the middle of the day, the wind was howling like crazy and the fishing suffered. It got hot and heavy as evening approached.

The trout beads totally kicked ass! I'm a convert!

Had a huge brown on at the end of the day that came out of the water twice, but unfortunately, he broke off. He had to go at least 27". Ah well.

I'd some pics, but Blogger is having some issues right now, so it'll have to wait.

Steelhead trip - Day 1

Made it up to the Catt by 10:45AM and met my brother Andy in the town of Gowanda. fishing started off a little slow, but we managed to hook up eventually. By the end of the day, the action really picked up.

Here are some photos from the day:


































My brother Andy
















All fish were caught using sucker spawn. Tomorrow, I try the trout beads.

Off to Steel Country - or is it the Desert?

Well, the time has finally arrived. I'm about to embark upon my first steelhead excursion of the season. Nature is kind of a bitch sometimes though. Let me explain...

I (along with my trip companions) have been looking forward to the annual Erie steelhead trip now since about mid July sometime. Flies were tied with reckless abandon. Gear was purchased - a really nice landing net, a very sweet Lamson Litespeed 3, and a new cavernous Fishpond chest pack. Everything is ready to go. But here comes the cruel part: all this preparation and now relatively no water to fish in. The bigguns (Elk and Walnut) are a trickle. It hasn't rained substantially in Steelhead Alley in many weeks.

So what do we do? We go anyway. We make the best of it. We alter fishing plans and lodging plans.

Looks like we'll hit the Catt. Didn't get to fish it last year because of too much water and now it's damn near the only game in town. Maybe next year Chautauqua. Same to you 20 Mile! It could have been real!

Enough with the lamentations. I'll post back with photos (hopefully of us holding dime bright steel) when I get back. In the meantime, pray for rain.

Strange Times We Live In

Nothing fishing related, but amusing. A naked man in his 50's was spotted running with his 2 dogs through the woods in an area ajacent to my abode.

Here's the story:

http://www.registercitizen.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18812302&BRD=1652&PAG=461&dept_id=572363&rfi=6

Road Trip! Northern Vermont

After only using my Vermont fishing license once last year, I vowed to myself that I would make it up there at least more than that this year, so north Dave did venture. I knew conditions would be tough, given the drought the northeast has been experiencing for the past 6 weeks or so; the rivers would be low. I decided that my best chance for luck would be to head for a big watershed. The mountain and feeder tribs would be a trickle this time of year. So, Saturday morning I decided the Winooski river would be my destination. I also wanted to check out the Dog and Mad rivers, feeders to the Winooski, since they are pretty highly regarded as trout fisheries and supposedly ran through some beautiful country.

The Winooski is a large watershed, by Vermont standards. Fed by many feeder streams, it flows east and eventually spills into Lake Champlain in northern Vermont. It runs through Montpelier(the state capitol), Waterbury and finally Burlington/Winooski. I checked my guide books and my topo maps and finally settled upon fishing the river in the area adjacent to the small town of Duxbury.


It took me awhile to find a likely looking spot. Lots of dead looking water to my eye. I pulled over to an area that had a good amount of current, spilling into a deep ledgy hole. Suited up, ready to fish. I get down to my hole and cross at the tail. I take the water temp.... 72 degrees. Not looking good, but what the heck, I drove all this way, might as well wet a line.

I tie on a double rig: Red Fox Squirrel nymph and a small Pheasant Tail. First cast in a fast run.. drift drift drift.... boom! What a hit! After a short battle, I land a beauty of a rainbow. Not really big, but I'll take it. It beats the skunk in a hurry. Usually, catching a fish in the first few casts is a major jinx for me, so I was not overly enthused just yet. Second cast... drift drift drift.... nothing.... yet.... swing... boom! Another rainbow! Hey, maybe this Winooski is not bad afterall!


Well, the action DID slowdown after a short while. Newbie's luck, perhaps. But I did end up with 1 other out of that hole and lost a bigger one (of course). Not bad for 3pm on a hot summer day.

When the day was done, I ended up with 5 rainbows, a brown, 1 salmon parr, 2 micro-bass, and about 30 chubs.

I will take that anyday.

Stayed overnight in Montpelier at a skanky Economy Hotel. Wandered downtown and pulled up a bar stool at McGillicuddy's. Watched the Sox get blown out. Thank God for Bass ale and cheeseburgers.

Day 2 started off promising. Heavy skies, overcast, rain imminent. Took off for the Dog river which was just a few miles up the road from the EconoHell. Not a lot of access, or water. Next destination, the New Haven river, a tributary to Otter Creek, which again eventually flows into Lake Champlain.


After going over 2 mountain passes, I found myself at the upper end of the New Haven river. This is a small stream stretch that flows down from the mountains. I pull over just upstream of Bristol, VT and find some nice looking pocket water. In my 2 recent trips to Vt, I didn't land a single brookie, which this state is famous for. That personal drought would end here. The fishing wasn't great, but I did manage 2 beautiful mountain brookies, and also a wild brown that ended up being the fish of the day at 10 inches. Not quantity, but quality. Not just the fish, but being in solitude on a beautiful mountain stream, all to myself, in the pouring rain. It was a perfect brook trout kinda day.

Sometimes I get disappointed if I don't land a big fish. Not today. Today, I took what the river chose to give me and it gave me jewels speckled in blue and red, painted on a canvas of olive, black and fiery orange.

A New Toy

...or is it another weapon in the old steelhead arsenal? Today, my new steelhead landing net finally arrived via John Nagy. It's the McLean M130 Weigh Net.


Some of the features include: an integrated 14 lb. scale, mesh bag that's fish friendly, it's telescoping, it folds, and the one cool feature I like about it is that it has a clip on it so you can attach it to your wading belt. This is a really lightweight, but very sturdy net. We'll see how it holds up to the pressure this fall.

The hoop measures roughly 17" X 19" with a bag that has a depth of about 17". Should be plenty big enough.

Can't wait to try it out!

Mysis Shrimp

I was doing a little research today, both online and in books, and was reading about how effective mysis shrimp are supposed to be for steelhead. While not in the rivers we fish, they are prevalent in the Great Lakes and steelhead supposedly imprint upon them as a food source. One web site said that they prefer them to eggs 7 to 1! I'm not sure how accurate that is, but decided it was time I had a few in my flybox.

So... off to the vise I went and after a few attempts, came upon my own version. It's pretty easy to tie and offers a little more detail then some of the other patterns I've come across. I experimented a bunch with different ways to fashion the black eyes that are a pretty dominant feature found in all mysis shrimp imitations. After fooling around with glass bead eyes and mono eyes, I finally came across the idea of melting the ends of a cut piece of black larva lace. It's fast, and delivered the effect I was looking for.

Here are the tying steps; I just hope they live up to the hype!

Materials:
Hook: Tiemco 2457 #12
Thread: White 6/0
Eyes: Black larva lace
Thorax and abdomen: pearl white ice dub
Shellback: Mylar
Rib: Stretch lace .5mm
Tail: creamy white antron



Attach the tying thread to the hook


Attach the eyes to the rear or the hook, above the bend


Tie in some antron for pearl krystal flash for the antennae




Tie in some mylar (or similar) for a shellback, and some stretch lace. I found this stuff called Stretch Magic, that I bought at the local Michael's Arts and Crafts store. This happens to be .5 mm, clear


Add an antron tail, then dub the thorax and abdomen


Tie down the shellback, then rib





The finished fly