It has been very dry over the last couple weeks. As results water flows in our rivers and creeks have become lower than normal for this time of year. Fortunately this recent round of rain and cold water has come Just in time. Water flows are rising nicely and the cool weather has dropped water temperatures and slowed down the bug hatches. We do not want our bug hatch cycles end too soon.

All of our trout water is in pick bug hatch, there is caddis, sulfurous, March browns and the gray fox is starting to go. The warmer than normal whether has accelerated the bug hatch. The cool rainy weather we are having will definitely help slow the cycle down for at least a few days. All the hatches that we are having are mid to late afternoon evening hatches.  This is when you will find the most productive fishing, granted the weather it is not too hot. And of course do not forget the evening spinner falls, the last 2 to 3 hours of the day can be the best fishing of the whole day.

Oatka has been fishing very good for me this week. Keep in mind that because of bird damage from last winter, the fishing on Oatka is spotty. You will want to concentrate your efforts along the sections of Oatka where there’s been recent stocking taking place. A word of warning here, just because these fish got a head start at the fish hatchery, does not mean they are going to be easy. These fish have been in the creek for a few weeks and the hatches have been going on all this time. The trout have learned their lessons well. You will need to match the hatch and still need to make a very good presentation. Also in these sections of Oatka we have decent number of hold over fish from last season. These fish definitely have some size to them and are going to be very challenging to catch.

What else is going on with the fishing, Our off the grid Brook Trout fishing, there has been good caddis hatches and  a few different mayflies that I’ve never seen before coming off too. We have been having some good dry fly fishing on this water also. On the Salmon River, The Douglaston salmon run, stocked 450 brown trout this past week, over half the fish are 2 to 3-year-olds, fish up to 20 inches in length. The best part is the DSR does not receive much if any fishing pressure this time of year in you can access to property with a sharply reduced daily rate. Also on the Salmon River this rain has given the river a bump in water flow. We will need to get in the river a see if any Atlantic salmon have come in.

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If you are interested or have questions about fishing the upper Genesee River, or the more adventurous outing. Exploring off the grid Brook Trout fishing. A long with this, I am now offering my evening hatch special for the local trout water, this is offered at a reduced rate. This is an excellent opportunity to get a fishing tune up. If you have any questions please feel free to give me a call, cell 585-233-0436

A brook trout from our off the grid exploratory Creek

This past week has been more of a week of transition from me. Finally starting to put more time on the trout streams. However still cannot let go of the Steelhead water. That being said, the first Atlantic Salmon of the summer has been landed. The steelheads are still slowly trickling out of the river and providing some good times for the swinging fly. We have been spending some time exploring some off the grid Brook trout water. There is a lot of fishing miles and a whole new River and ecosystem to learn. Getting out of your comfort zones and learning new rivers is definitely an enjoyable experience. This river definitely does not want to give up its secrets easily, however every day we learn something new and the pieces are quickly coming together. The fishing on this river is not technically difficult but it most definitely has its quirks.

The trout fishing around home is progressing at it’s normal pace. Oatka Creek this summer, the main focus is going to have to be along the trail section. There is a mixes of hold over trout from last summer and newly stacked trout. We should fine some nice size trout this summer in this section of the creek. The hatches along the trail are not as intense as other sections of Oatka creek.  This will actually help with the quality of fishing. We should not experience being bugged out, too many bugs on the water. At this point the Hendrickson and olive hatch is about Long over. We are now in to the light caddis hatch, this is a size 14-lit olive body with a light brown– Ginger wing. Expect to see this hatch coming off somewhere between mid to late afternoon well into evening. This particular caddis hatch is a perfect opportunity to fish both wet flies and skeeter adult caddis dry flies. We are also having March Brown’s and soon to come gray fox hatch, this is also a mid day to late afternoon hatch. We are seeing the first of the sulfurs starting to hatch in various locations along Oatka creek. The Genesee River, What I referred to as the upper Genesee in Allegheny County. Has received considerable amount of rainfall over the last few days. The Genesee should be back to fishing by mid week. All is well with the fishing world on the Genesee, We got lots of bugs and the Genesee is fishing good.

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If you are interested or have questions about fishing the upper Genesee River, or the more adventurous outing and exploring off the grid brook trout fishing. Feel free to give me a call, cell 585-233-0436

At this time we are officially calling steelhead season over. It is time to go trout fishing. That being said. There are still plenty of steelheads still in the Salmon River. As of writing this report the Salmon River Fish hatchery still has several tanks full of steelheads that have yet to leave and drop down through the river. I suspect we will have about two more weeks of productive steelhead fishing.  As all of you know I cannot live a river with Steelhead in it and no one fishing it. How often do we get a chance to fish for steelhead with green leaves on the trees? I will still make the occasional run through my favorite pools for a few more weeks, when the opportunity provides itself.  If you are interested in one last chance, too fish for steelhead feel free to contact me.

The water flows in the Salmon River is at 185 CFS Summer minimum flows. Ironically this low flow has provided the most consistent fishing we have had on the Salmon River all spring. Water temperatures have also remained fairly consistent even in the hot weather holding around the mid 50s to below 60° mark. Obviously we are fishing for drop back steelhead, which means we must cover a lot of water. As I said earlier the month of May is swing season. We have found the best fishing from mid river on down. It seems that when the steelhead get to mid river they have recovered enough from spawning and have started to feed. With the lower water flows the fish are more concentrated in the bigger pool, we also are using lighter tips, which makes the casting far more enjoyable. For flies the brown and copper woolly bugger are also known as steelhead crack been catching the majority of the fish. Also the standard smaller intruders and leech patterns taking their share fish. 

I will be starting to concentrate my efforts on the trout streams and river now. The water flows have improved over the last week, do to the rain we get. We were dry enough that the heavy rains ware not enough to bring the water up to much. The hatches on the trout streams and river are moving along fast, do to the hot weather. There is still Hendrickson and olives hatching. By now the caddis is starting to show up in the bug mixes.  Most of the bug activity will start around mid afternoon and go until dark. Look for Hendrickson spinner s at the end of the day. Keep in mind for a spinner fall to happen we need air temperatures to be above 60°. If this does not happen on a particular evening expect the spinner fall to be more intense the following evening. I am in the process of working on a few unique trout fishing adventures. These streams and rivers are best described, as rivers off the grid. For now all I can say, stay tuned.

I know it’s been over a week since my last update. As the saying goes, been on the water a lot lately. As of this writing I am still on the Salmon River finishing up the steelhead season. It has been very dry over the last few weeks. Obviously we all know that. As result water flows have come down to the summer minimum flow of 185 cfs.  As many of you know I’m good at adjusting to the given conditions.  The low water flows at this stage of spring is nothing new. As always we adjust to the giving conditions.  The steelheads have long since completed there spawning and are now dropping out of the river. As the fish work there out of the river they go on the feed. This provides us a unique opportunity, especially for the spey fisherman.  Steelhead fishing in the month of May is what I call swing season. This is when the swinging fly is the most effective technique to fish for steelhead. There is no one spot that has a big concentration of fish, so we must cover a lot more river. A swing fly is the most efficient technique to cover water. The steelheads are on the hunt now, looking for food. If they are on the bite they will go and get the fly. We need to find those fish. The more water we cover, the more fish we will catch.

The trout streams, I will be there in a bout a week are two. As of now the spring hatches are well under way.  All of our creeks and rivers are now having a Hendrickson hatch plus a few olives and some caddis hatching. Expect to see these hatches around midday to mid afternoon. At this point, it is also warm enough to see a Hendrickson spinner fall in the evening. Keep in mind for a spinner fall to happen we need air temperatures to be above 60°. If this does not happen on a particular evening expect the spinner fall to be more intense the following evening. Many of you know that our local trout streams where myself and many of us fish, has been decimated by a fish eating duck known as the American Morganza. To what extent the damage really is only time will tell. Most of the trout water that we enjoy fishing is made up with wild natural reproducing Brown trout. At best it’s going to take a few years to recover. There are some sections of our creek where it has been stocked with brown trout, this will fish as it always has. I am in the process of working on a few unique trout fishing adventures. For now all I can say is stay tuned.