Some of our neighboring states contain great fly fishing trout waters also. With such close access to Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Georgia the fishing possibilities seem endless. In most of these trout streams and rivers you can catch all three types of trout; like brook trout, rainbow trout, and brown trout.
The Tioughnioga River (tee-off-knee-oga) that runs through Cortland is one of the most unique rivers I have fished. It is split into 2 braches, the West and East. Both hold Trout, Pike, Tiger Musky, Carp, and Smallmouth. The fish get big - 30'' Browns are reported at least 5 times every year and the State Record Tiger Muskellunge was caught in this river. The bug population is spectacualr, which provides for some amazing dry fly action. Plus, every good hole has a shopping cart, bike, or some other black-hole fly contraption in it.
The far upstream sections are home to 20'' Brookies that eluded me last week. How about this oxymoron...."Stalking Brook Trout". Generally, people consider Brook Trout to be easy to catch, but it is not that way up there. Crawling on my hands and knees, casting with only the leader hitting the water, 7X tippet, and I still managed to spook these fish.
Anyways, the Tioughnioga recieves a generous stocking from the New York State DEC and as Tom Deane puts it, these fish are finally "on the bugs". There were a ton of Cinnamon Caddis on the water today, along with Hendricksons and some BWO's. The fish had keyed in on the caddis pupa, or I was just lucky and they decided to eat what I offered! It was an amazing day, with a ton of fish brought to hand. Most of them were around 9 or 10 inches, but there were the occasional 14-15 incher, my biggest today being 17 inches (pictured). Good workout for the Beaver Meadow!
This is something that Tom and I talk about all the time - waiting for the fish to get "on the bugs", and then the spin and bait casters dissapear. Once the fish get keyed in, it is just finding out what they are eating - matching the hatch at its finest. Enjoy matching the hatch!
Tight lines.
Artie
After a long winter of using 6 through 9 weights, it is now time where my 7FT 2WT JP Ross Beaver Meadow Fly Rod becomes my workhorse. It is my weapon of choice on almost every water except the West Canada Creek and the Delaware River. I have two main reasons why this is my main rod....
Versatility
This rod is perfect for roll casting. When fishing with it, I usually roll cast about 50% of the time, just because it is so easy. Plus, a lot of the locations I fish have heavily brushed shorelines, eliminating any chance of a backcast.
Once I walk up to a nice pool in a big open space on a small stream, I can also throw 50 feet of line easily and accurately, so I don't have to worry about spooking fish. There are some situations where neither of these casts will work. What to do then? The Bow and Arrow cast! This is something that Beck showed me a while ago, and works great for the small Adirondack Brook Trout Streams I fish. The rod tip is so sensitive, it will fling my Wooly Bugger anyhwere I wish!
Sensitivity
Like I just mentioned, my Beaver Meadow is extremely sensitive. I can feel every single headshake of a fish. This sensitive rod tip also allows easy detection of subtle takes when drifting nymphs and easy hook-sets, with a butt section stiff enough to put the breaks on a 20''fish.
I have even taken my Beaver Meadow fishing for Smallmouth throwing size 4 and 2 clousers! There is really nothing to compare this custom rod series to, they are absolutely perfect!
If you looking for more reviews about the Beaver Meadow rod series, check out Tom Deane's thoughts on it here.
Tight lines.
Artie
Factory Brook - a small, tough to fly fish creek that holds wild brookies and browns, as well as some of the largest Brown Trout I have ever seen. This was exactly what I was looking forward to doing today!
Today was a "search and destroy" type of excursion - I was going to search for rising fish and try to pick them off, and fish some pool/riffle sections that have produced in the past.
At the halfway point of the mile walk in the creek, I still didn't have a fish! I missed one on my Blue Quill Emerger, but other than that the stream was quiet. I decided to do a dry-dropper rig with a Hendrickson Emerger as my lead fly, and a Bead Head Caddis Pupa as my dropper.
Not too long after I changed flies, I was into my first Brookie of the year! There aren't any "bad" Brook Trout out there in my opinion - they are all gorgeous - and this 8'' beauty was no acception. The dry-dropper rig worked excellent and I was getting fish on consecutive casts at some times! I landed a good mix of Browns and Brookies, but the best part of the day was playing tug of war with a 20'' Brown! I got one good look at the fish, but shortly after, it got wrapped around a log and the fish was off, taking my dropper with him. My Beaver Meadow has never tangled with a fish like that and I was pleased with the amount of control I had over a fish of that size.
After I finished my "mission", I went to a local bass pond for a while and caught 2 bass on poppers, both around 2-3 pounds, along with a couple of Bluegill.
School is starting to get pretty busy now since its the end of the semester. I am going to have to talk to the Dean - tell him that this whole "school" thing is getting in the way of my fishing time! Its alright though, I know that in a couple of weeks it will all be over and I'll be fishing almost everyday! SO be sure to keep checking back - things are just getting started!
Tight lines.
Artie
The 16th Annual Finger Lakes Fishing Festival!
8 am - 12 noon, Lime Hollow Education Center, 3091 Gracie Road, Cortland NY. This fun-filled program is focused on all things fishy! Come learn about water, aquatic life, and fishing at this all-ages event! Children ages 3-14 may try to catch and take home one fish.
* “Pathways to Fishing” - tour interactive stations on your way to the fishing pond.
* Multiple Fishing Ponds!
* Crafts and Games - face painting, make a “fishy” t-shirt, bean-bag toss and more.
* New this year!! Secret fishing hole for ages 11-14
Please bring your fishing gear. Pre-Registration is highly recommended! Please pre-register for this event by calling 607-662-4632. First callers get their start time of choice. Pre-registered $4 per person, walk-ins $5 per person. Program sponsored by the: Lime Hollow Center for Environment and Culture, USGS Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science, BOCES New Visions Environmental Science Class and Wal-Mart.
I will be volunteering at this event, and I will also have my Bever Meadow and Adirondack JP Ross Fly Rods ready to offer the kids a fly fishing alternative to catch some fish! This should be a great time, and I look forward to seeing the kids hook-up with a trout or two.
Tight lines.
Artie
Here is a shot of a very nice Steelhead Tom Deane caught while we were fishing together last week in Western New York. Tom has the right fly and knowledge to catch fish in any situation. Just like his bio says under the staff page...he will tell you what fly to put on, and right after that - you're into fish!
This was an awesome day on the water. Laughs were had by all, and everyone got into at least a couple fish. Reels were screaming and when things went silent, the yells of "Fish On!", or the sound of a steelhead jumping broke it.
A lot of mayflies are starting to show up on rivers and streams so make sure to bring your dry fly box with you! Just the other day I had to run back to my car to grab it because the fish were sipping duns and all I had were nymphs and streamers! Check back for some more reports on the local area fishing. School is getting busy now, (so the number of posts have gone down a little) but once its over, this will be the place to check out.
Tight lines everyone.
Artie
This past Fall and Winter, I managed to collect enough video and pictures to put together a nice video to remember the season. If you have been checking the site regularly, you might recognize some of the photos. Its shorter than my other videos, but that doesn't mean it is lacking in quality. Check it out!
Thanks!
Artie
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were gorgeous days here in CNY, and I couldn't think of a better way to spend them than on a stream.
Friday was a steelhead day with Tom Deane. What a day that was! Screaming drags and jumping fish seemed to be the story of the day, along with some great shots of the fish. We also released what would have been a State Record White Sucker! The State Record is only 5 lb 3 oz, and the fish that was landed was 26-28 inches and would have shattered that mark.
Saturday was a fun day - a lot of exploring around the Dryden, NY area. After a really small Bass on a nymph, and an endless amount of Fallfish in a small creek, I couldn't resist throwing poppers to bluegill in a local pond with my 2wt - what fun!! It was such a pressure free day of fishing, and it was so much fun to see those Bluegill hammer that popper! My Beaver Meadow finally got some fish on it after a long winter seeing no action.
Today, I fished Virgil Creek in Dryden, NY and Factory Brook in Homer, NY. Virgil Creek produced a half-dozen fish on varioius nymphs - the most effective was a size 20 Pheasant Tail. I also hooked (landed 1) a lot of fish on the size 22 WD40 dropper. Over to Factory Brook I went, and to my suprise I saw some fish rising! First dry fly action of the year!! I was limited on time, and after missing a couple strikes I landed a gorgeous little Brown Trout thats pictured.
The weather forecast for this up and coming week doesn't look good. Wind and rain are in the forecast almost everyday. The rain is needed though, as a lot of the creeks and tributaries are quite low already. I will most likely be going back to Factory Brook tomorrow in search of a Brookie or two if the weather allows! Stay tuned and good luck if you get out fishing.
Tight lines.
Artie
Much of my view on Fly Fishing was developed because of Beck. He is the one who first introduced me to Fly Fishing and usually when I am fishing, I try and think of what he would do or what flies he would fish. His methodical way of fishing pays off for him regularly, and I can't help but to take a page out of his book from time to time.
Dead drifting Wooly Buggers is a great example of that! This is something that Beck showed me when I was starting out, and it is something that I still do. Just like today - I walked up to the first hole of a Finger Lakes Tributary and a black wooly bugger was my lead fly with a pheasant tail dropper. I was working some slower water at the tail of a big pool with no results, so I decided to make a cast in some faster water at the head of the pool. Indicator down, and fish on!
After some fantastic runs and couple amazing jumps, I finally scooped up this 20'' Female Rainbow Trout in my net. She inhaled my Black Wooly Bugger! The fish was absolutely gorgeous and she swam off strong.
I have had such a great time fishing the Finger Lakes Tributaries this Spring. There are still decent numbers of post-spawn Trout and Salmon around, so getting into a good fish isn't out of the question. Most of the fish will stick around for a couple more weeks, then head back to the lake.
Instead of fishing the Tributaries this week, I will be concentrating more on the local streams here in the Cortland. Factory Brook is top on my list for the first Brookie of the year and possibly a lunker Brown. Be sure to check back!
Tight lines.
Artie
Beck and I got in touch about fishing the Salmon River this Easter Weekend and from there, plans started forming. We were checking the flows, the weather, daily reports - everything.
The Salmon River was flowing at 1,800 cfs when we arrived and our plan was looking pretty solid. We knew that the main river would be hard to fish, so we were set on sight fishing the smaller diversions of the Salmon River. Walking up to the first hole the water was pretty murky - not the best for sight fishing, but we fished anyway.
Around noon we had some lunch, with only one fish landed between the two of us. While we were eating, we saw a bunch of stoneflies in the air and realized the water was clearing up. We were switching gears - size 18 and 16 Beadhead Pheasant Tail Nymphs were now our flies of choice and we were back to sight fishing. Once we found the best hole, we noticed about 7 or 8 fish would cycle up and down a certain run in about 20-30 min intervals.
Not too long into figuring this out, this beautiful Buck Steelhead took my size 16 Beadhead Pheasant Tail. After a lengthy battle that involved passing the rod in front of a couple trees, pulling my fly line to leader knot into my first guide (thanks Beck for fixing that again!), and some strong runs upstream, the fish finally came to the net. We guessed the fish weighed anywhere from 10-15 pounds, but what was really impressive about the fish was the hump displayed in front of the dorsal fin.
After figuring out these fish, it was "fish on" and "fish off" for the remainder of the day. At one point, Beck was hooking fish after fish - all of them would either bolt upstream, or mangle his flies against the stream bottom and come off.
I couldn’t ask for a better way to start my weekend home from school - friends and fishing. I might check out the West Canada while I am home and maybe some carp. The Cayuga Lake Tributaries are at fishable levels again so once I get back in Cortland and fish, I’ll report back.
Tight Lines.
Artie