Jay Peck's Blog

I heard a rumor the other day. Someone said it is now spring. You couldn’t tell by the way the weather has been, this past week was cold and we even got a few inches of snow. However that being said the upcoming weather forecast is definitely more spring like for this coming week. Starting with western New York, water flows have been high in all of the rivers and creeks. Run off from snowmelt is starting to become less of a issue.  Water flows are starting to moderate over the next few days. We were able to get on the water for a few days, earlier this week. Fishing is challenging due to high water, Cold-water temperatures and muddy watercolor. However we ware able to move a few fish despite these conditions. At this point all we need is an increase in water temperature and we will be big in the steelhead fishing game.

Salmon River: the water flows are still 350 CFS plus snowmelt run off. Some days that run off can be higher, as much as 200 CFS. Sooner of later the water flows will come up, We need to continue to monitor water flows for now.  We are still doing very well with stone fly nymphs in the upper river. There is a winter stonefly that is hatching right now. When the bugs are out and about the fish are on the bit.  For the most part this is like fishing midges in a spring creek, you need to be on the drift. The fish have been feeding on the bugs all winter.  I suspect this pattern will continue right up until runoff hits the river. As for lower and mid river there is nothing new going on here. Slow trickle of fish continue to move through these two sections of river. Due to the lower concentrations of fish we need to cover as much water as we can to find cooperative Fish. Keep in mind water temperatures are very cold it is still fishing in winter conditions. Fish a very slow swing and keep your fly as deep as possible. Ideal fly patterns for swinging are bunny leech and small intruders, keep the fly length somewhere between 2 to 3 inches long. Up river stay with stone fly nymphs in size 8 to12. 

NOTE:

I still have dates available. Starting with this week, April 1 this Wednesday and April 3 this Friday on the Salmon River. On the Oak Orchard April 13,14,15,16,17 we will be fishing for steelhead and we will have ideal conditions for sight fishing. With the late spring we are experiencing, the month of May is looking like a great month for fishing for steelhead with a swinging fly.  As of now I have these dates open May 7,8,9, 11,12,13,14,15. If you have any questions please feel free to give me a call. Cell 585-233-0436