Colored Up Chrome

It's a classic spring here in WNY where you can expect the weather to do anything it wants to do.  When you think about it, almost all of fishing can be dictated by the weather.  The past week or two has been fairly warm and not any precipitation to speak of.   The water in some tributaries has been as warm as 62 degrees!  On average the temperature has been around 54 degrees and bottoming out around 48 degrees at night.  This warm weather has effectively ended the steelhead run.  It has been waning for weeks now, but this warm weather has really nipped it in the butt.  Steelhead are still around but are colored up and can be pretty beat up too.  The water has been low and clear in most all the tribs so the dropback action will most likely pick up with this nice rain we had last night and today.  Swung flies like woolly buggers (earth toned colors) and egg sucking leeches have been the most productive flies.  With the water clear downsizing tippet and swinging your fly slowly has been the trick.  The warm water is not a steelheads favorite but it does make them more apt to take a swung fly over a dead drifted stonefly or prince nymph. 

While we are still on the subject of the tributary fishing, the estuary and mouth fishing has been good if the wind is down.  Clousers, EP Baitfish, and Deceiver flies can be productive and really fun!  Fishing in 5-9 ft of water is about where a lot of the bass and browns are this time of year but it is also getting a little late for that too.  Once the lake starts to warm up further out the baitfish move and so do the trout and salmon making them out of reach for us fly fisherman. 

Going inland the cooler weather has still stiffed much of the hatching going on but there are still dry fly fishing to be had.  Afternoon hatches are the strongest of the day and decent numbers in the evening.  Its feast or famine so you gotta hit it just right.  Hendricksons, midges, and caddis dries have all been effective in a size 16.

This is the time of year where it starts to warm up a bit and giving casting lessons becomes more enjoyable.  No time like the present to learn how to take advantage of this wonderful sport.  After a summer of casting practice you'll be a pro to cast to those finicky browns and salmon come the fall.  If you are interested you can leave a comment or contact me at wnyflyguy@gmail.com

Thanks again for reading and tight lines guys!

Current Stream Information: 

Oak Orchard (Albion):  April 27th, 2016

Light fishing pressure.
Med/Stained flows (CFS unknown)

18-Mile Creek (Burt):  April 27th, 2016

Light fishing pressure.
Med/Off-Color flows.
174 CFS

Oatka Creek:   April 27th, 2016

Light Fishing Pressure
Med/Stained flows
247 CFS

Springtime is Here

We are finally now easing into the weather that is "normal" for this time of year and the most wonderful things about springtime here in WNY is that there are so many opportunities for success on a fly rod.  For the tributaries you've got a mixed bag of brown trout, steelhead, suckers, and smallmouths while inland you've got the finicky wild trout starting to come out of their winter eating habits. 

Starting with the tributaries; the weather has been warming up from the past week of cold weather and things are shaping up nicely.  The water levels in the small area tribs are low and clear leaving whatever steelhead left exposed but also very spooky.  The larger tributaries have medium/lower and stained/Off-color flows giving great fishing for everything in the stream right now.  Suckers are very much still in the mix and can be a fun way to spend and afternoon.  The smallmouths are well set up in the lower reaches of the tribs and some are established upstream for the spawn. 

Productive flies recently have been fairly small stuff no bigger than a #8.  Stoneflies and earth toned woolly buggers have been productive for the remaining steelhead where egg patterns have been dynamic on the suckers.  The smallmouths are quite aggressive this time of year to protect their nests so many different patterns will be effective.  Streamers actively stripped as well as dead drifted are good ways to trigger their instincts.  Remember that all the bass are artificial lures only and catch and release only until the 3rd Saturday in June. 

As for the inland trout streams the afternoon hatches are producing March Browns, Hendricksons and midges are always around.  Nymphs are still your best bet with size 12 and 14 hare's ears and hendricksons nymphs in the same sizes.  Not a whole ton of bug activity yet but the warmer days will definitely bring on the hatches.

Remember this time of year the water flows can change on a dime so be sure to know what the weather has been too predict what streams will have what flows.  As always stream conditions are posted below.  Thanks for reading and tight lines!


Current Stream Information: 

Sandy Creek (Hamlin):  April 15th, 2016

Light to no fishing pressure.
Lower/Off-Color. (CFS unknown)

Oak Orchard (Albion):  April 15th, 2016

Light fishing pressure.
Med/Stained flows (CFS unknown)

18-Mile Creek (Burt):  April 15th, 2016

Light fishing pressure.
Low/Off-Color flows.
81 CFS

A Different Kind of April Showers...

So I don't think many of the fisherman out there expected the spring we are having.  We have had all four seasons condensed into one week and the upcoming forecast is not looking too encouraging with all this cold weather.  That being said it is safe to say that going back to winter/cold water fishing tactics would be advantageous. 

The Cattaraugus Creek was just upwards of 58 degrees on March 31st and is now down into the mid 30's.  I was expecting the whole spring cycle to continue ahead of schedule as opposed to the past two springs where winter seemed to last forever.  I was wrong.  The snap in temperature has halted whatever smallmouth bass activity that may have been occurring and has likely stalled the spring pike spawn throughout the Great Lakes Waterways.  Those of you looking forward to the tributary bass fishing will have to wait another few weeks for the bite to kick in and the migration to continue.  That being said we could see a strong return of smallmouths and possibly the salmonids hanging around more than usual with all the new melt off from the dumping of snow we got here the past few days.  Right about now would be the perfect time to get out on the water and cast clousers and minnow patterns for the trout and salmon hanging around the mouths of the tribs.  This is always a fun time of year to cast to hungry post spawn steelies and browns (of course if the wind isn't honking).

Of course how could I forget about trout season opening up?  April 1st has come and gone but with the cold weather looming and the cold snap the past few days it's fruitless trying to look for any bugs hatching out.  However nymphing will still be effective for those "ice out" trout.  Time will tell to see how badly the mergansers have affected the trout populations this past winter.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the mergansers, they are a waterfowl species that feeds heavily on fish.  That being said they need open water to find their food of choice and the only open water in the wintertime are the spring fed trout streams.  The past two winters have been brutal for the inland trout since the winters were long and very cold.  This left very little water for the birds to forage.  That being said I feel as though the populations this coming year will be decent with the rather mild winter we had.



Remember even though the spring has brought some interesting weather and has thrown a first pitch curveball, you still can't catch fish from your couch.  Thanks again for reading and please leave feedback and comments below.  Tight lines everyone!


Current Stream Information: 
Streams are going to be wildly different from stream to stream depending on how much snow melt has occurred in that area.   Look for streams to be on the rise possibly starting as early as the following few days.
 
Sandy Creek (Hamlin):  April 4th, 2016

Light to no fishing pressure.
High/Stained flows. (CFS unknown)

Oak Orchard (Albion):  April 4th, 2016

Light fishing pressure.
Med/Stained flows (CFS unknown)

18-Mile Creek (Burt):  April 4th, 2016

Light fishing pressure.
Med/Stained flows.
187 CFS