First Lake Trout On The Fly
Western NY Lake Trout 12/16/2020
When fishing the western NY tributaries it is always good to go with friends. Most of the rivers big and small originate from hydro electric dams. At any time the electric companies can decide to fluctuate the flows.
When our Delaware fishermen and fisherwoman ask about what its like fishing the Great Lake tributaries we simply tell them “different.”Some days it will seem like every cast has the prospect of fish, however many days are cold and dismal.
On our December trip we had 8 guys and lots of fun. The first day ended with one hook up and one lake trout to the net. The second day was totally different. The fish moved into the area we took over and called our own. In tributary fishing the spot is more important than your skill and your equipment.
Many anglers arrive as early as 3am in the morning to stake claim to their section of river. Some areas are on a yearly basis “better” than others. It could be a swirling back eddy or even a large rock that creates a holding zone for these migratory travelers. Knowing the spots will increase your catch rate. Also having enough friends to “hold down” the spot from other anglers is essential when the rivers are busy.
Most of our hookups were on simple estez egg patterns. The second day you really couldn’t go wrong. If you got it down to them, they ate it. We finished the second day landing over 30 lake trout and breaking off one steelhead.
Beaverkill Fishing Report
I went out yesterday and nymphed a handful of fish up. All were caught long line suspension nymphing small pheasant tails. The water was just under 500 cubic feet per second and gin clear. The river is only open in some sections so please make sure you fish legally and have a valid NYS fishing license.
Roscoe has been busy lately with many new businesses opening up. I spent the later afternoon eating greek on main street and warming up.
Tips: Indicator fish slow pools deep. Minor twitched can mean a fish. They are in full winter mode and slow this time of year
Upper Delaware Fall Trout Fishing
Jeff might have the coolest mom in the world. It was almost Jeff’s eighteenth birthday and his mom gifted him a guided Delaware trip. FYI Jeffs mom my birthday is August 13th lol.
We fished the upper West Branch which recently had been rained on and the reservoir was spitting dirty water. In the first 50 yards we had 3 streamer eats and one nice one to net.
A few hundred yards later we ran into an epic BWO hatch and netted a few more.
After that fizzled out we saw a big brown eating ever ISO that floated down the bank. We put one over his head and the fish turned and stracked in 10 feet before aggressively smashing it. (first picture below)
