Against The Wind

Day One: Sometimes you can plan all you want and then nature reminds you who is really in charge. Despite a significant amount of rain on Friday, I had plans to fish this weekend and that was that. Since the Amawalk was a little on the low side last time I figured a little rain might actually improve the situation. So that's where I went on Saturday morning. The second I stepped out of the truck a sound not unlike a waterfall greeted me. Oops. Guess I should have checked the flow online. I decided then that this would be more of a research day (aka getting skunked) and figured I'd hike around and see more of the stream than I have in the past. As I walked along the steep hill that hems in the stream I had a great bird's eye view of the rushing water. I've read many tips that recommend doing this before fishing, but I've never had the patience to not just get in there and start flailing away. Now I see the merit of this approach. This view from above provided such a clear sense of the water and where there might be trout on a normal day. And then, tucked into a tight bend where the water slowed, I saw the broad side of a nice brown as it flashed out from under a branch. It was steadily rising. Whoa. Of course, I scrambled down the hill , rigged up a dry fly and started plotting my approach. I'm not building anything up here- I did not catch this fish. He was deep within some low hanging branches and the various currents made it pretty hard to get anything to drift in there in a natural way. But I gave it a shot. And it might have even worked if I'd thought about it more before I rushed in,  but my efforts soon put this fish to rest from feeding. Still, I liked this spot and decided to nymph for a little while before moving on. I won't go into great detail about the two stockies that I managed to catch, but it was great to bring a couple fish to net when I really didn't expect any at all. And I walked a little more and found some future spots I'll return to for sure. I think this is becoming my favorite stream.

 

Day Two: I've written about my intentions to catch a trout on the fly on Kensico this year and Sunday was my first chance to give it a shot. The weather forecast looked good- cold, but low wind in the morning. I packed up a few rods and my boat gear and got on the water by 7am, which was probably on the late side for Kensico. One thing I've learned about reservoir fishing is that you really want to be there at dawn. There was already a slight breeze in the air, which was a really bad sign. By 8:00 it was officially windy. This was not supposed to happen, what about that forecast? I rowed around a bit, trolling a streamer on sink tip line, but it was just plain unpleasant. The wind was biting cold and I was pretty sure my streamer wasn't even close to being deep enough. I decided to admit defeat and come back another day. I saw a lot of other boats out there,  looking determined and surely cursing the weather channel as they rowed into the wind. Oh well. It's only April.

Stillwater Tips from Orvis

I've been doing some o̶b̶s̶e̶s̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ research about still water fly fishing and I've picked up a few pointers I thought I'd pass along. I found a great Orvis podcast with guest Phil Rowley from 2011 on still water fishing that I highly recommend to anyone doing some reservoir fishing, even if you don't fly fish.

First thing- using a strike indicator. I had really just been thinking about casting and stripping streamers, but it seems that nymphs or leech patterns under indicators are really effective early in the season. A midge pupa, scud, or hare's ear could work here, especially as a dropper from a small wooly bugger. A quick release indicator (it will snap off and slip down the line when you set the hook) is useful here, as we're looking at suspending your presentation at 10 feet or deeper in a reservoir scenario. Browns could be anywhere in the water column during the spring. A fish finder is going to give you a pretty good idea of where they are holding if there's any kind of thermocline.

Second, slow presentation and stealth. Just like winter stream fishing, these cold water fish aren't going to chase down a streamer. This makes the indicator technique really useful- even with a streamer. With a little breeze, and some luck, a nice slow drift should produce enough movement to get it in front of a fish. And with regular streamer presentation, a super slow retrieve is key. A fluorocarbon leader is a must in clear water, a nylon leader is fine- but use at least 3 feet of tippet.

Third, those rises I've been wondering about are most likely related to midges. Reservoir brown might hit any number of dry patterns, but midges are everywhere on lakes and might just be worth a shot for those early morning risers.



Orvis Stillwater Podcast with Tom Rosenbauer and guest Phil Rowley

Streamers

I just got some of Steve Farrar's SF Flash and have started to work it into my streamers. It's a really wispy, flashy material- I can see how it would add some nice action to a fly. I haven't seen any fresh water flies tied with it anywhere, but I think this pattern could work for large reservoir trout and also for stripers. My other goal this year is to catch a striper on the fly, but that's another post entirely.

Reservoir Fly Fishing

I've been fishing Kensico reservoir for years, but I've never caught a trout on the fly there. That's all about to change. It's been a long winter and I'm on a mission. I spent the winter gathering gear and tying streamers that I hope will imitate a sawbelly- the baitfish that inhabit NY reservoirs by the millions. I bought an 8 weight rod,  some type II sinking line and I'm dying to get out there and start throwing these streamers around. I'm really not a fan of trolling, I want to catch one casting- but I'll do what it takes. I just want to catch one of the monster browns that are in there this spring, before the thermocline sets in and they move beyond the reach of a fly rod.

Large bodies of still water like this are really intimidating. I'm lucky enough to have a boat, so I can cover a lot of ground. Kensico is well over 100 feet deep in spots, where giant lakers lurk. Over the years I've found out where the structure is (a fish finder is key to reservoir fishing) so I plan to start there and see what happens. I've also learned that dawn is when the action is- so getting out there early is important. I've seen some massive fish rising out there in the mornings, I wish I knew what they are and what they're eating. If they are browns, they would surely take a dry, and I'll have a 5 wt on hand for risers- but what are they eating? Would they take a stimulator? A streamer just under the surface? I really hope I know the answer to these questions before the end of the summer.