Jay Peck's Blog

I know it has been an awhile sent my last update. By the way the weather is looking winter has caught up with us. The fall fishing season has a way of coming to a sudden stop. This doesn't mean the fishing is over, just evolving. We will still have some warmer weather but for the most part I think we are now settling into a winter fishing pattern. Starting with Western New York.

 Our smaller streams and creeks are starting to ice over, making the lower sections of these waters practically on fishable at times. Fishing conditions in the small streams and creeks will have to be taken on a daily basis. There is still good numbers of brown trout in all of the rivers and creeks. There is also a study flow steelhead trickling in on a regular basis. There needs to be two adjustments in our fishing now. First is to slow down our presentation. Water temperatures are well below the 40 degree. The fish are moving slower and will need more time to look over the fly. The second adjustment is to concentrate our efforts in the deeper pools and runs. The spawning activity as pretty much shut down and the fish are now concentrated in the deeper water. As for flies we are still have the best success with egg patterns.

As for what is happening on the Salmon River. We have had several weeks of higher than normal water flows. Looks like the cold weather has helped this situation out considerably. As of now the River is flowing at 500 CFS this flow is going to stay this way for a few days. How long this flow will last is a good question. As of writing this report we are having a warming trend and some wet weather. Water flows could be increased all over the next few days. This time of the year it is a good idea to always check water levels before heading out to fish the Salmon River.          With all the high water, a lot of steelheads are in the upper river, this is also ware most of the fishing pressure is. However there is a steady flow of fish coming there the river as now. This means that we can find fish all

Throw the river. For flies we are having good success with egg flies in size 8 to 12 and nymphs in the upper river. If you like to swing flies, fish the middle and Lower River.      Keep your flies about 3 to 3.5’’ long and Stay with earth tone colored flies. Also water temperatures are now in the mid-30 Degree range.   Fish are now sliding into their water holding spots and the swing speed must be slowed down as much as possible.

Notes:

I will be splitting my time between the Salmon River and the river in western NY. We will be fishing which River is fishing the best or most convenient at the time. Also it is time to start thinking about fly tying. There will be fly tying classes available at the fly shop. These classes will be starting in February if interested please feel free to call the fly shop for more details. Shop number is 585-352-4775