Inland brown caught on a #26 brown midge larvae
First of all I would like to say thank you to everyone who attended this years Fly Tying Symposium. What a wonderful event!!! It was great to meet some new people and catch up with some guys I met at last years event. My 8 year old son also had a blast and can't wait for next years event. In fact all he wants to do is fish with the new flies he tied. And on the way back to the thruway, I couldn't resist stopping at the stream I used to fish as a kid. We even threw some flies at it for a little while, but no fish! Check out some photos here!
So if you enjoyed this years event, please consider sending Jordan an e-mail to let him know.
Now on to the fishing part of this blog - This week has been very busy for me, but I have managed to get out for an hour or two several times. It started Monday morning with a visit to a local inland stream that is spring fed. This is the same stream I have been hitting hard all winter long with great success. But on that morning the water was very low and clear, and with a little wind, it made it tough to do any dry fly fishing. The fish were rising, but only when the bugs weren't being blown off the water. So after 45 minutes of failing to get a fish on a dry or an emerger, I switched to fishing small midge larvae. It took many adjustments and fly changes, but I finally managed to get one fish in the net before I had to leave for the morning. A 10" brown fell for a small #26 brown midge larvae. This whole ordeal of changing flies and dropping down in fly size is nothing new for this stream. In fact when conditions get tough, like they were on Monday, it is what you have to do to get fish on a consistent basis. And dropping down in fly size is perhaps the biggest key to that success.
On Tuesday I hit up a different inland trout stream that is fed by the small spring fed stream I fished on Monday. The water was on the rise, but still fishable. Stoneflies were all over the place and under just about every rock we found Hendrickson nymphs. It is only a matter of time before we see our first mayflies of the year come off the water. And that is very exciting!! On this morning I fished a #14 black BH nymph and quickly got into a fish within the first 5 minutes I was there. But I didn't manage any more hookups until I made it downstream to a slower section. And after another 20 minutes I had manged two more fish before I had to leave for the morning. Sorry for the lack of photos - I will take more next time, I promise!
Today the water levels are too high to fish any stream with much success. All the inland trout streams and tributaries are close to being blown out. But this is exactly what we need. In a few days to a week, the tributaries will be open and free of ice, and will be soon filled with fresh steelhead. The inland trout streams will experience much of the same (with the exception of the whole steelhead part) And when the water comes back down and starts to warm up a bit, we will see our first major hatch of the season.
Hopefully I will be back out next week fishing our Western New York streams. And I will keep you up to date with all the changes. Thanks for reading and supporting the JP Ross Flyrod Company!
Posted 14 hours ago by Brian Bradfield |
Lucas and Maddie
One of many nice fish caught - photo by Lucas Carroll
My biggest fish fought and landed on the 2 weight beaver meadow - photo by Lucas Carroll
Ethan getting ready to net a trout - photo by Lucas Carroll
Blue sky and sun on a warm winter day - photo by Lucas Carroll
I received a call from Lucas earlier this week, and he was trying to figure out when we could get together with the kids and do a little fishing. Actually we both have been waiting for the right time to get the kids out and have some fun fishing, but up until this week, it has been a little too cold.
Yesterday morning we talked again and it seemed like we would have to wait a little longer. So I got ready to go out and get some work done and take Ethan fishing all by myself. And just before I was ready to go, I got another phone call from Lucas saying he was in the car, and would meet me at the pull off to one of our favorite inland trout streams. A stream that neither one of us has fished all winter long. The plan was to meet in a little over an hour and fish a spot that we have come to call the "Honey hole." We call it that because, not only do we catch fish there, we catch a lot of them and some of them are big for this stream.
We all met a little before 11:00am and made our way down to the stream. We then hiked up to the honey hole and set up in different spots. It didn't take long to get into fish, as Lucas was the first to break the ice. In fact he hooked at least 4 or 5 fish and landed 3 of them, including a beautiful bright brown trout of about 12" or 13" inches, before I changed flies and hooked up with my first. And boy was it a great way for me to start off. It took me a little while to land my first of the morning on the 7' Beaver Meadow 2 weight. And when Lucas slid the net under my first fish of the morning, I let out a big sigh of relief. At 16" inches, it is the largest fish I have landed on the 2 weight to date.
The rest of the morning was filled with many other fish, some that even took to the air. In fact we didn't even have to change flies for the rest of the morning. But the best part was getting the kids into the action. Both Ethan and Maddie landed fish of their own and even helped in netting a few. They wanted to look at each fish and touch them and help in their release. What a great way to spend a warm winter day with the kids. In fact both Lucas and I felt extremely blessed to have spent this day fishing with our kids, and hopefully it will be something that the kids will be able to remember as well.
Check out Lucas Carrolls blog page and flickr account for more wonderful photos from our amazing morning!
I'll see you all tomorrow at the symposium!
Posted 7 days ago by Brian Bradfield |
Trout with a #20 black FW Emerger
#20 Black and Brown FW Emergers
There are some major changes comming up this month. One of those being the opening of the smaller tributaries for pursuit of steelhead. And depending on the weather....our first sign of mayflies at the end of the month.
Having said that....there has been a more recent development that needs attention. And that is the major midge hatch that occurs this time of year on some of our Western New York inland trout streams. This gives the fly fisherman the best opportunity to catch trout on top before the mayfly mahem!
This morning I ventured back to my local trout stream to try and get a few trout on something other than a nymph, scud or midge larvae fished along the bottom. I wanted to catch a trout on top! Or at least in the film. And with warmer temps and light wind, this was my first really good opportunity. Even upon my arrival, I could see midges clinging to the rocks all around the stream. All I needed now was a few actively feeding trout. But before I saw any good surface activity, I managed to pull a few trout up from the bottom on a #16 blood worm pattern. But it didn't take long before I saw trout taking emergers, and on occasion, a few adults.So after I tangled my line, I made the change to a #20 foam wing midge emerger in black.
The "game" was on! I found several nice fish holding along the opposite side of a submerged log on the opposite side of a good run. You could see the fish drift upward in the water column and open their mouths to take in the emergers. This was it! My opportunity to get a trout on an emerger. I worked the water just beyound the log, trying desparately to follow the drift of a #20 emerger that I couldn't see. This is when your visualization skills come in handy. What you need to do is know your leader length and follow your fly line as it drifts downstream. When you see a trout come up of the bottom and take an emerger near where you think your fly is.....lift the rod to set the hook!! This is the technique I used this morning that brought several nice fish to hand, including a 13" incher that put up a great fight on the 2 weight. But I wasn't done just yet. Before my morning was over, I spent a good 20 minutes casting to a fish that was easily 15" or better. I would watch as this fish continually fed on emergers, and would pass mine up. Then I had the perfect cast, the perfect drift and it happened. The fish came up off the bottom, as it had been for the last 20 minutes, and opened it's mouth to take in an emerger. I lifted the rod hoping the brown took my offering. The water exploded as the fish jumped 2 feet out of the air. It then came down between two submerged logs, and with a quick surge of power, it broke me off. All I could do was laugh. I was so happy that all the hard work had paid off, with the take of a good trout. Now I need to work on my landing skills!
There are a few other ways to fish an emerger besides the method I used. You can use a small strike indicator and adjust it so it doesn't spook the fish, but still gives you the ability to track the fly. Or you can use a highly visable small dry fly with the emerger tied 18"-24" off the bend of the hook. This is perhaps the best method to use as it may be less scary to the fish than using a brightly colored indicator, and it may produce a few fish of it's own. Another good idea is to make a few close casts to watch how both flies look as they drift. This will also give you a better idea as to how the small emerger will drift when attatched to the dry fly and give you the best reference when knowing when to set the hook.
Have fun this week...and I'll see you this weekend at the 2010 Fly Tying Symposium!!
Posted March 1st, 2010 by Brian Bradfield |
Trout with a #22 pink wire midge pupae
The Beaver Meadow posing with a trout
Typical brown trout for this stream
A trout that ate the "Hot Fly" of the morning - #16 blood worm pattern
Another nice brownie!
Every now and then you have a morning, or an afternoon, or even a whole day of fishing that is so good, you can't really appreciate it until hours after. Well.....That is exactly what happened to this very thankfull fly fisherman on this morning.
I finally made it back to one of my favorite inland trout streams for a little over an hour of fishing. The water was on the low side, but the air temperatures have been warmer this past week and things looked and felt really good. Not that "feeling good" means that you will have a great day of fishing, I think it was the fact that I hadn't been out fishing in a little while and it was starting to feel like spring. At least to me it did! So after settling into a good run, I began casting a small #22 pink wire midge pupae to a spot that was just above where I knew that the trout would be. But for the next few minutes....nothing! So I took a few steps down below the run I was in and found a nice little tail out section that held some fish. This seemed to be the spot as I caught 3 fish on the small pink midge in just a few minutes. But the action slowed and after another 5 or 6 minutes without a fish, I moved back up into the heart of the run and tried one last time to tempt a trout with the midge. Nothing! I then opened my fly box and peered at all the flies, trying to think of what I should pick next. The #16 blood worm pattern seemed to stand out, so I tied it on, re-adjusted my indicator, and got back at it. This was the "HOT FLY" for the rest of the morning! And my 7 foot 2 weight Beaver Meadow did a great job of handling at least another dozen fish before my time was up. It was an awesome morning. The fish wanted the #16 blood worm, and who was I to deny giving it to them? Many of the fish would come flying out of the water trying to get rid of that fly, but I just held on and enjoyed the ride.
But like I said, a morning like this needs to be appreciated after you get home. At least it did for me! I was on an adrenaline overload all the way back home. And I am sure that the trout in that stream will exact their revenge in the near future. But for now - I am wearing the biggest smile you could imagine!!
On another note - I went to a local fly tying event out here in the Rochester area. It's called Guys, Flies and Pies. It's a fun event where local guys can get together and eat pizza, share stories and tie flies. The reason why I am mentioning this event here, is that many of the people that I met there, visit the JP Ross Fly Rod website. So I send a special thanks to all the great people I met at the event for reading the many great blogs on this site!!! And thanks to Mike and his very pregnant wife for putting on the event.
And maybe I will see some of you Western New York fly fishermen at this years Fly Tying symposium in Utica. I know I'll be there!!!!
Posted February 22nd, 2010 by Brian Bradfield |
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