Rocks exposed in 2007 on the West Canada Creek that would normally have flowing water over them.
Hinckley Reservoir in the Fall of 2007, with water barely visable here.
THIS is what I want to see!
Yes, enjoy this nice weather while its here, but it might be a bad sign of things to come....
By clicking on this link, you will be brought to an article on UticaOD.com, explaining the current water issue with Hinckley Reservoir.
We all remember what the last major issue was, right? If not, some of the pictures to your right might remind you of how low the water actually got on the West Canada Creek in the late Summer and Fall of 2007 because of low water levels in Hinckley Reservoir. Flows on the WCC were reduced to a mere 120cfs, which was scary when looking at the "Creek" at this level. The West Canada actually closed to fishing for a few months in order to save the fish population from any unnecessary stress.
Now just to make this clear, I am not predicting that the West Canada will suffer from low water releases this summer like it did in 2007. However, this is not a good way to start off the Spring. Hinckley Reservoir is treated for what it is - a reservoir, not a fishery. We could have a very wet Spring that makes up for the lack of snow melt and keeps the Reservoir and WCC at desireable leves.
I know come May, I would like to see water flowing over the dam in spring, high water releases, and cool water until mid to late July.
Tight lines.
Artie
Posted yesterday by Artie Loomis |
I think that Steelheading does things to your mind that wouldn't normally happen with other types of fishing. For example....for those of you who are reading from another part of the state, another state, or another part of the country, Central New York got hammered with snow last night. School was canceled so I didn't have to student teach, and after I got done shoveling the 18+ inches of snow that fell off my driveway and my aunts walkway....I though about fishing. Any other person might have thought...."Jeez, looks bad out there...I'm going to find a movie to watch", or something similar. I looked at the snow and thought, "Nice. All of this snow is going to keep people off the water today and leave me some more fish."
It turns out I made one hell of a good choice to go fishing! Overall today I hooked 15 fish, and landed 5 of them. I could have easily landed two more if I had a net, but the fish made some last ditch efforts to get into the current and broke my 4X. The others were mixtures of knots breaking and hooks popping. I again dropped some tanks today, but my first fish was around 9 pounds or so and my last fish of the day measured out at 30'' and fat.
I hooked fish today on all sorts of things - glo bugs, estaz eggs, stoneflies, pheasant tails, and soft hackle's. I kept switching things up, but the most productive flies were the nymphs. Also, a lot of fish took flies on the swing which was pretty suprising. My last fish of the day even took an estaz egg pattern on the swing!
The symposium is about a week away. I am looking forward to seeing everyone there!
Tight lines.
Artie
Posted February 26th, 2010 by Artie Loomis |
28'' Steelhead
Cool underwater release shot...
This Steelie messed with the wrong caddis pupa!
26'' Steelhead
When I woke up this morning, I kept thinking about the pull from the lone steelhead I landed yesterday. I couldn't get that thought out of my head, so I decided to head out fishing again!
I arrived to the Salmon River around noon and was pleased to see the section I was fishing wasn't very crowded. I stepped into the water the same place I caught my fish ysterday, and started to drift a size 14 pheasant tail nymph through a nice run. I was hooked up on my 3rd cast! The fish was off after a run way downstream in some fast water. I think it must have been 4 casts later and I was hooked up again! This time, I landed the fish and it was a gorgeous 28'' Male Steelhead. The color changes these fish go through are remarkable. They are really really pretty during the winter in my opinion. After getting some shots of that fish, my third cast into fishing again I had another fish on, but popped off like the first fish of the day.
I landed another Steelhead, a 26 incher thats pictured to your right, around 2PM. The story of the day wasn't the fish landed, it was the fish hooked. I hooked 11 fish today in about 4 hours of fishing and only landed these two. Anything from a bad day on the water, but I wish I could have landed a few more. I had a very, very long battle with a Brown Trout that looked to be at least 30'' long and was as thick as they come. I had this fish within reach, until it peeled more line off of my reel and threw the hook when it came to the surface thrashing. Knowing that fish was so close to being landed was killing me, but things happen when you're fishing that you just cannot change.
Slim chance that I will be fishing again tomorrow. Check back though because you never know!
Tight lines.
Artie
Posted February 18th, 2010 by Artie Loomis |
Salmon River.
My Steelhead from today.
Steves steelhead from today.
Ice build up was everywhere...
To say that 2010 has been a slow year for me fishing wise would be an understatement. Until today, I still had the skunk on me for the year 2010 from the handful of times I have been able to get out. A lot of things have contributed to that.....my time is usually reserved for weekends because of my student teaching schedule and the weather we have been getting hasn't been the best for fishing on those days.
Today was my first day fishing in about 4 weeks. I had cabin fever bad and when I made a call to Steve to catch up with him last night, he mentioned fishing the Salmon River today. I knew I had the day open, so we decided to meet up around noon for some solid fishing time. The flows were around 600cfs and the air temps right around 32. I broke the ice early in the day, before Steve had arrived, by landing a 14 inch fall fish. I wont count that fish towards my log, but it was technically the first fish of 2010 for me.
After a few hours of nothing going on, we decided to move. We saw other anglers hooking up once we walked into the new spot, but everything seemed to slow down when we got there. After losing 10 flies or so, getting soaked by slush from the plow above me on the bridge, and having ice cold feet, I had finally hooked a fish! Every headshake seemed to make me smile wider, and once I landed this 25-26'' Steelhead I was relieved, excited, and thankful. The fish had excellent colors and put up a great fight too.
My time had just about run out when Steve hooked-up and landed another 25-26'' Steelhead. His fish didn't have the color mine did, but had a bigger girth. We were both using 4X tippet with varioius nymph patterns and no indicators.
It was great to get out on the water after such a long time off of it, and to get the skunk off the water for the year! I am not sure if I will be out again for a while, but you never know! Keep checking back, and please take a look at what Brian, Tom, and Joe are blogging about because there is some great information there!
Also, if you're looking for a good read about fly fishing, The River Why by David James Duncan is an excellent book that I am having a hard time putting down.
The Symposium is only 17 days away!
Tight lines.
Artie
Posted February 17th, 2010 by Artie Loomis |
Hello to all!
I AM still alive. I haven't posted anything on here in a frightening amount of time and I am afraid the posts won't get as frequent as they were in the fall. I had a great break fishing, but the problem was, I didn't catch a fish! In fact, I am still dragging the Skunk along with me for the New Year. It is the "law of averages" I am told, and I am confident the Skunk won't stick around too much longer.
I am in the middle of Student Teaching right now, so that "storm" of work is keeping me pretty busy during the day and filling up my week. I still have weekends where I might be able to pull some strings and hit the water, but it will all depend on the amount of work I have. I definitely want to post some fishing reports on here soon. The Symposium is coming up and I am really excited about that! We are looking to have a better Symposium from last year and so far we are on track. You definitely don't want to miss this years!
Pike, Lake trout, stream trout, and lake-run fish should all be cooperating right now. I have been getting reports of great Pike action on some of the Finger Lakes. All of the rain in the past few days should definitely push more steelhead into the Salmon River and make fishing easier. Tom and Brian are posting some great blogs if you're looking for fish porn, techniues, or new patterns for the new year. Check them out under Fishing Log and The Deane's List. I'll post soon....
Tight lines.
Artie
Posted January 26th, 2010 by Artie Loomis |
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