We have been fortunate enough this year to have an early ice fishing season. A few of us have been getting out onto a local lake and having great luck. The location is Rickett’s Glen State Park in Red Rock, Pa. The water is Lake Jean, nestled on top of Red Rock Mountain. It is generally the first place in our area to freeze over and the last to thaw out because of the high elevation.
The main species are pickeral and perch. They greatly outnumber the other fish species in the lake such as largemouth bass, blueguill, and very few crappie. The fishing is generally good as long as you know where to go.
The weather is 10-20 degrees colder than at the bottom of the mountain, and ALWAYS windy. Not a slight breeze, but 10-20mph with 30-40mph gusts. It can be trying at times to fish, but is worth it. There are a few coves you can tuck into, and one or two other spots that are blocked by the woods, but mostly you hunker down and put your back to the wind. Here are a few pictures from the year so far.
I recently returned from a 4 day trip to the Salmon River in NY. It is one of my favorite and most disliked rivers to fish. The river is beautiful, the fishing is great, but you can have some of the most ignorant people in the world fishing around you.
Example: I was fishing a great run when a guy walks behind me and sits on the bank. After about 10 minutes he finally decides that he is going to fish. He promptly stands up, walks in the river to my right, and stands exactly where my anchor point was for my double spey cast. If you fish the Salmon River, you must deal with this often, and I deal with it by continuing to fish like he is not there. A few casts later I hear "Buddy, watch where you are casting. Your fly almost hit me in the face." Politely, I replied "I have not moved all morning or changed the way I have been casting. You saw this and decided to stand there anyways.", and kept fishing. Joe, who was slightly upstream, eventually offered to have me move closer to him so I did not hook this guy. I obliged and moved about 10 steps upstream. Immediately following me was my downstream sidekick. Needless to say, this guy was asking for trouble, but we did not give it to him. Instead, we spoke about the average IQ level of the "fishermen" on the Salmon River, and how it must not be any higher than a 23. This guy did not catch onto our rants, most likely too drunk at 9 A.M.
We had a few similar incidents, but nothing too serious. So here is the report.
Thursday Afternoon – After setting up camp at Selkirk Shores State Park, my father, Mike, and myself started off in town (Pulaski) for some fresh salmon. Mike hooked up almost immediately on an indicator fished glo bug, but this king had no intentions of being landed. After a blistering run downstream, he eventually frayed Mike’s leader with his teeth and escaped.
As Mike re-rigged, I chose to fish my way up through the rapids, which were void of people. After indy fishing about 10 pockets, I finally hooked up with a male king who immediately bit through my 10lb tippet. Off came the 10lb material, and I replaced it with 13lb tippet material and the same sucker spawn pattern. Two casts later the indicator dove again and FISH ON! A semi-dark hen king salmon thrashed at the surface. She was not a great fighter by my standards, not even giving up one good run, but none the less a great way to start a trip.
Thursday afternoon and evening proved to be a good success. We hooked many kings, a few ho’s, and a couple steelhead and browns. Steady action for fishing legally and ethically.
Friday morning found us standing at an up river hot spot, fly rods in hand. Mike was rigged up with an indicator and egg patterns, my dad chose to dead drift egg patterns along the bottom, and I started by swinging an arctic fox hair pattern in black. My dad was the first to hook up….several times…. with chrome steelhead. Every time I would glance upstream towards him, there would be a steelhead headshaking on the surface. He did not bank any, but being new to the Salmon River fly fishing game, made it look easy for everyone else standing around.
I came back strong after switching to small wet flies and soft hackles. The steelhead and browns were annihilating size #8 - #10 Sparrows and Soft Hackles on a down and across swing. Nailing them in the middle of the water column. Unfortunately, a few salmon liked them too and I stood no chance with a 6wt and 10lb tippet. My supply of these "trout flies" was short lived.
Mike was off to a slow start, but with a few hints here and there, managed to tangle with some browns, steel, and kings throughout the morning. Also being fairly new to the fly fishing game, he "successfully failed" to bring any to the bank.
Eventually, Joe Goodspeed showed up and, well, Joe was not his usual self today. He actually disappointed me because I talk him up as being the best fly fisherman that I fish with, but he could not connect with any fish. Something was missing, and we believe it was his mojo. He couldn’t even accidentally foul hook a salmon! But, as always, he didn’t let me down and managed to land a BEAUTIFUL coho buck on a soft hackle. It was a gorgeous fish. See the video! Joe fought a few others following the coho, so his magic was slowly returning.
Around lunch time Joe headed for Oswego River and the rest of us headed to Burger King. Upon arriving, we managed to land a few whoppers right away. They gave us weak fights, but were released quickly into our stomachs. Sorry, a very bad attempt at humor. Over lunch, we decided to float the mid-river later that afternoon. A first for everyone.
We started at Pineville and headed downriver. There were fish everywhere we went! And they were moving up! Unfortunately, not many wanted to stop and play. Somehow, Mike would hook up everytime we would start to re-locate my Clacka. Not when we would be anchored for 20 minutes over a pod of fish, only when the anchor was lifted and we moved. It never failed, not once. He even hooked a few while text messaging on his cell phone. (Wish I had that kind of luck.)
The drift was a blast.
Mike landed one male king, we all hooked up numerous times, and had 3 fish take plugs but did not stay on. Needless to say, there was no shortage of fish in mid river. Every hole, run, pocket, and tailout had fish in.
Saturday morning was a repeat of Friday. Lots of browns, steelhead, and salmon hooked. A few banked, but not many. I even landed an Atlantic salmon about 30".
That afternoon we took the Clacka out again from Altmar to Pineville. What a mistake. We saw 0, ZERO!, fish moving between the big holes. And of course, the big holes were packed with guys because that is where the fish were. The Trestle Hole was a mess. Fortunately, the 150+ drunks did not pound us with their weights and we made it through unscathed. It was quite fun hearing their charades and comments as we slowly drifted through the snagfest. Ducking under 50lb test mono attached to screaming kings the whole way through!
We did find a spot below the Trestle that was void of any guys within 50 yards, so we parked the boat and began to fish. In the next 45 minutes, my father, Mike, and myself hooked about 15 salmon. All of them bit us off or made long runs downstream too quickly for us to chase. The run we fished was about 2-3ft deep, and ignored by the snaggers. A perfect little spot for us. Soon, the salmon became spooked because of the ruckus that was being created, and we moved on.
From the Trestle to Pineville we did not hook another fish. Depressing to say the least. All of the salmon were holed up and not moving.
Sunday was our last day and Mike wanted a few salmon to take home for an exchange of pot ;-) J/K
My dad wanted to fish upriver for steelhead and browns, so Mike and I went low while my dad fished up high. My father reported a fair number of hookups and a few fish landed upriver, including a 32" skamania.
Mike and I had it rough for the first two hours. We only hit 3 fish each, bringing one hen king to shore. At 9:30 we headed up river with the drift boat, and met up with my cousin for a float from Pineville to 2A. It was a good choice.
Right away we were all into fish, and we nailed one on a plug below the bridge at Pineville. To cut a long story short, every hole, run, pocket and flat had fish, and almost every spot had some players. Most fish that bit were too strong for us to land, and either frayed our leaders or made astonishingly long runs that we could not tame. Fishermen were few and far between as well! I believe the economy and gas prices have more people staying at home. Which is not a complaint from my end! Having miles of river to yourself is very enjoyable. It also helped keep the fish in a calm mood instead of being freaked out about the next time they will be snagged. A key to our success.
Overall, the trip was a big hit for everyone. We all fought plenty of fish on both our fly rods and spinning tackle. The snaggers were once again outfished by us. Maybe, just maybe, someday they will learn the right way and see how much easier it is to CATCH them.
There are plenty of fish in the river right now, from top to bottom, with a great mixture of kings, cohos, steelhead, browns, and an occasional atlantic. Not a bad mixture of fish for mid September.
The hot flies, if you are still reading, were #10-#12 glo bugs in natural colors, glo spawn in natural colors, black stoneflies, wooly buggers in white and black, and soft hackled wet flies such as Sparrows. No bait was fished at any time (even on the spinning gear). We’ll be back in 2 weeks, and I’m already filling up my boxes with more soft hackles and wet flies.
Well, my camera's battery recharger has died, so I am now waiting for a replacement before I can upload my recent pictures from fishing trips.
I have mainly been catfishing in the West Branch and Main Branch of the Susquehanna River lately. It is a phenominal fishery, depending where you go. On an average evening/night, two people will land 40 channel catfish combined in about 4 or 5 hours of fishing (at one or two locations). Those fish average 20"-23", and give up good fights.
If we are after bigger fish, the numbers will go down, but the average cat is 27" and about 4lbs bigger. One afternoon this past week I tangled with 4 catfish, landing two. The two I landed were both 29" about 10-12lbs, and the one I lost was bigger yet. I was using my centerpin reel and float rod, float fishing cut bait through a deep channel. Steelhead fishing for catfish....
Because I can't get new pictures up, I will post pictures from throughout last year.... Enjoy.
Lines Used: Cortland Precision Platinum Dyna Tip 5wt (Joe,Chris) Line Info Cortland Western Drifter Dyna Tip 5wt (myself) Line Info (These lines are PERFECT for fishing nymph rigs and streamers. We turned over indicator rigs all day, up to 55’ away, with minimal effort and no tip sink. I’ll try to get some videos up of this line….)
After calling a few buddies last night and contemplated whether or not we wanted to fish the West Branch of the Delaware or the Salmon River, we opted to terrorize the browns and rainbows on the Delaware. The water had been raised a few days ago, so we weren’t sure how this would affect the fishing. If anything, after 3 days of higher water, the fish should be settled down and feeding heavily….so we thought.
Chad, Chris, and I met Joe in Deposit at about 8:45 a.m. They suited up in their waders while I visited the boy’s room and filled up with some gas. Unfortunately, all of my wading gear is in Pennsylvania with my other belongings (except my 6pc travel rod and flies, both necessities), so wet wading was my only option.
If you don’t know anything about the West Branch Delaware, let me fill you in on some very valuable information. The river is a tailwater coming out of a bottom release dam; therefore the water flowing through the dam is ALWAYS cold. Cold, as in 40-45 degrees during the middle of summer. Now you can see how I was unfortunate.
We headed South from Deposit hoping to find some warmer water. Upon arriving at Hale Eddy, the river looked perfect. Joe and Chris swapped a few flies, cracked a Red Bull, and then we headed for the river. When I took that first dreadful step into the water, I quickly realized that the higher water had kept the river MUCH colder than what it usually is. After 5 minutes of pain from my muscles tightening in my legs, the water warmed, as my legs became numb. Joe took a quick temperature check and informed me that the water was a toasty 48 degrees.
After a few hours of fishing with very slow results, moving only a couple fish, Chris and I headed upstream to a hole that is usually very low but with the higher water should fish well. This hole is a failsafe, but after 30 minutes and no fish, it wasn’t looking very promising. Apparently the go-to nymphs for the Delaware weren’t working, so I switched to an articulated streamer. Not the best move for 48 degree water, but I was hoping to entice a big brown into striking by slowly moving the streamer through the water column. On the second cast I placed the fly at a 45-degree angle upstream from me. I slowly swam the fly over the shallow ledge until it swung below me and I left it hang there, which is uncommon for me to do. After a few seconds my line jolted and a 30" brown broke the surface with massive headshakes. The fish was all of 10lbs. OK, he was more like 18" and 2lbs, but he jumped several times and made a blistering run which felt much bigger. Props to the fish. The coolest thing about this fish was his cheek. If you look at the picture, you can see the baby blue coloring it has.
The skunk was off and we headed down river even more. After arriving at the next spot, we immediately noticed a warmer water temperature, and were all into fish right away. They were mostly rainbows in the 9"-13" range. Not big, but they brought a huge appetite to the table and lots of energy. Chris tangled with all dumb fish that swam right at him once hooked. Then again, they may have just liked the way he looked in his waders as they all ended up at his crotch in about 2 seconds after feeling the steel. He did end up nailing a brown about 16"-17" that ran him downstream about 40 yards. We all thought it was much bigger, especially Chris ;)
Joe creamed the fish at the head of the hole in very shallow, but fast water, also tightening up with a brown about 17". I’m actually surprised he was able to fish between signing autographs and answering questions with his groupies. Lol. I’m pretty sure the one guy even had Joe sign his rod. Haha. Maybe it’s the long hair…. Either way, I saw his rod bent more often than not and rainbows dancing on the water.
After doing some minor damage on the little guys myself, I tied on a size 4 tungsten bead head, lead body, brown stonefly nymph. A few casts later while probing the depths of the hole, I stuck a good fish that screamed downstream. Thankfully I had Precision 3x leader material on and clamped down on the brakes. This made him upset and he started to thrash on the surface trying to throw the hook. A solid 20" bow.
We all played with a couple more smaller rainbows and called it a day at 5:30. The lesson learned is this. Much like steelhead when there is a spring melt/runoff, the fish shut down when the water becomes cold very fast. They behave more sluggishly until they can become used to the new water temperature. This is why weren’t as successful at Hale Eddy (which is generally around 55 degrees at this time of year), and more successful down further where the water had a chance to warm up slightly. Thankfully, because I was starting to question our fishing abilities.
Traveling is definitely not for me. At least flying.
I have just arrived at the dirty, disorganized JFK International Airport from the Red Eye out of Salt Lake City. I feel like I have walked off the plane from one of my 10 hour flights to Europe. My body craved sleep, but it was not physically possible. With a guy shoving his elbow in my side every 10 minutes, a baby to my right crying, and no room to lay back....I'm not a happy "jetter."
As for Utah....
The fly fishing shops in Utah that we visited are in a league of their own. Most of these guys have been in the business for awhile, and know what they are doing. Everyone knows everyone. They have anything and everything. If they have one color of rubber legs, they have them all. If they carry one brand of dubbing, they carry all 60 colors. What size hook do you need? It doesn't matter, they have 'em all. With such a short season, it's amazing how much inventory these guys can go through. I'm surprised I was able to get out of the shops without maxing out my credit card.
Alot of them carry conventional gear as well, which greatly increases their sales. Let's face it, fly fishing is such a small minority that it's amazing that people can make a living off of it.
We didn't do any fishing, but this was a major learning experience for me. I didn't have to fish to come away confident enough to go out and successfully take one or two fish. The people were nice, the country was beautiful, and the air in the mountains was fresh. What more could you ask for when visiting a new part of the country?
On a closing note, if anyone ever gets a chance to speak with someone named Steve Densley at a fly fishing show, I would highly recommend it. This guy has been in the industry for a very long time, and is a reservoir of priceless information. Over the last two days, he has pounded me non-stop with information I only wish I could remember. He is one of those guys that you want to write notes down as he talks, but everything is so interesting that you cannot take away your focus for one second. Partly because he never shuts up....kind of like my girlfriend. ;)
Welcome to my Blog. This is a new adventure for myself, so please bear with me.
The main reason I have decided to start a blog is to give you an inside look at the general fishing industry, and anything interesting that has recently happened in my life (pertaining to fishing.) Including my travels, fishing trips, new fly fishing patterns, tips and tactics, etc. With this, I will share with you all that I know, which isn’t much, and hope you come back for many more visits. Feedback is appreciated as I hope to keep this fun, entertaining, and informative. Enjoy!
For the past few days I have been traveling in Florida with one of Cortland Line Company’s sales representatives, Capt. Frank Catino. This trip has been an eye opening experience for me, a Northern Country Boy, into the world of saltwater fishing in Florida. The tactics, techniques, rigging, rods, reels, line, and fish were all new to me as I cut my teeth on typical Central Pennsylvania trout and bass fishing.
For 2 ½ days, we visited Big Game Tackle shops and Fly Fishing shops, speaking with owners and Captains about new products, fishing info, what’s hot, and of course, how the fishing has been. After hundreds of amateur questions, I figured that I was making some headway and could confidently carry on a conversation with a knowlegable angler for about 5 seconds before embarrassing myself. The information I received from people in "the know" was perfect, but was still only a scratch in the surface. I would need to dig for a long time before I could even THINK about hanging with these guys.
The amount of products these guys carry in their shops is simply unbelievable. $2600 reels, $100 lures, more types of mono and braid that I could remember. Charter Captains do not think twice about spending 5k on a couple days of fishing. For one $60 lure, I could supply myself with months worth of groceries! Notable shops we visited (and are worth checking out) are Grand Slam Sportfishing in West Palm Beach, Harry Goode’s, and Orlando Outfitters in (of course) Orlando. There were others, but unfortunately, my memory is not working so well today.
Did I fish? Of course, but not much, and not nearly as long as I would have preferred.
4:45a.m. Monday morning greeted me like a hangover. I was too tired for fishing, and so excited that I felt sick. By the time I stumble out of bed, Frank had the flats boat hooked up, rods ready, cooler filled, and the truck running. After a quick stop to pick up Bi-Bo, Frank’s buddy who runs a bonefish lodge in South Caicos Islands, we were on our way South of Satellite Beach. Upon arriving at the launch, I noticed Bi-Bo hang his legs over the dock and swish them around in the water. I shrugged this off as nothing, more than him wanting to feel the warm water on his legs (or attract the first shark of the morning.) 15 minutes later, I was standing on the front deck blind casting into an area for cruising tarpon. About 5 minutes went by before my line became tangled on my left foot’s toes. When I bent over to free the lne, I quickly realized why Bi-Bo had washed his feet. On the boat ride out, ocean spray had covered the front deck of the boat, leaving it moist. When I stood on the deck, all of the dust that my feet had collected from the dock had been turned into brown water stains on Frank’s pure white boat. Note to self: Don’t be an idiot again. Wash your feet off before stepping into another flats boat.
"Tarpon 20ft behind the boat" were the next words I hear. I scramble to the back and managed to forget how to make a 20’ cast in the process. With knees weak and hands shaking, I had tarpon fever before I even made a cast. Can you say "greenhorn"?
The morning wore on without many tarpon showing themselves. This was not typical sight fishing either. When the fish would roll, you cast ahead of them and work the fly blind. Pure luck in my opinion. Cast after cast, strip after strip, with a constant lookout for fish. At some point in the morning, I made a cast and looked away to search for fish. A few seconds later Frank yells, "He’s on it! He’s on it!" I turn to my fly, which was actually Bi-Bo’s creation of a giant hook with 4 black chicken feathers out the back, to see fins and a big wake screaming towards it. With the tarpon disappearing in a giant swirl, I strip set the hook perfectly, only to find that the fish did not take the fly, but simply turned away. Disappointing, but exhilarating at the same time.
Time wore on and the tarpon shunned us. It was not meant to be. However, the ladyfish were all over Bi-Bo’s creation of black chicken feathers and proved to be good entertainment for a noob such as myself. Hard hitters, high jumps, and fast runs were enough to make them a worthy target for this trout guy. A few skipjack and ladies later, we called it a morning, as even the big reds were not cooperating.
Later that evening, Frank worked me through some canals in search of small tarpon and snook. This fishing was my style. Land the fly within inches of the mangroves, tuck a tight loop under a dock, and hold on. Well, not so much of holding on to the fish, but more of the rod. After 2 hours of perfect casts, I received 2 small hits and a big swirl, but it seemed as though the fish weren’t there. Baitfish were even stacked up at the docks during the night with NO fish crashing them. It seemed strange for even a beginner such as myself.
I will be back, but as a true fishing trip, not work. And then, maybe….just maybe, the fish will greet me with open mouths and tail slaps.
But for now, I am on a plane to Phoenix, then Salt Lake City for a taste of the Western Fly Fishing business. I hope you enjoyed reading, and will check back in for the Utah update.
I'm 22 years old and enjoy life every minute that I can. I have been fortunate enough to make a living and travel the world doing what I love the most...fishing. Not many people are able to do this, and I am VERY grateful that my hard work has paid off thus far.
I have been living in Cortland, NY the past 1 1/2 years, but will be moving back to PA at the end of August. I was in International Sales for the company I work for, but after a recent change, I have decided to become a salesman for the territory I grew up in. This will allow me to move back home, where I had always taken everything for granted until I left and realized how great we have it in Central PA. Nice People, fresh air, slow paced environment, endless fishing opportunities, and a redneck here and there.
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