Marabou Mania

It's been a dry week here in WNY and flows everywhere are down.  It's time to downsize leaders and flies.  Tributary fishing is isolated to warm water fishing for the most part.  The smallmouths are in thick and are taking anything that passes through their nesting bed.  Clouser minnows, marabou jigs, and gurglers are the most productive flies right now.  For the jigs I've been using either black or white in sizes #8 and #10 with good success.  This is the time of year where the tributaries are getting stocked with steelhead.  Oak Orchard has good numbers of fish in the 4-7 inch range and 18 Mile creek has good numbers of fish in the 7-14 inch range.  Swinging streamers and matching the hatch have been really effective for the trout.

Moving to the inland streams its more of the same.  Warm water fisheries have active smallmouths as well as chubby rock bass protecting the nest.  The same flies are working here for the bass (Marabou Jigs, Clouser Minnows, and Gurglers) here as in the tributaries.  Even though the bass don't take the topwaters as often as the streamers, there is nothing like a bass hammering a topwater fly.  As for the trout streams this cooler weather has kept the fly hatches to the afternoon and evening.  Not only have the hatches been late in the day but the hatching schedule is behind from years past.  We are still looking at only BWO and Caddis flies hatching in any kind of serious numbers.  BWO have been in sizes 16 and 18 where the Caddis flies have been coming out almost exclusively in size 14 and thick numbers of them.  Hendrickson hatches are all but over but keep an eye out for the spinners to return when the conditions are right. 

My schedule for the Fall remains open for salmon and trout dates and remember the summer is a good time to brush up on casting.  If you're interested in getting some pointers or a private lesson you can email me at wnyflyguy@gmail.com.  Check out my latest YouTube video of swinging streamers for the stocked trout!  Tight lines everyone!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJqQvXZkRFU


Current Stream Information: 

18-Mile Creek (Burt):  May 19th, 2016

Light fishing pressure.
Low/Clear flows.
67 CFS

Oatka Creek:   May 19th, 2016

Light Fishing Pressure
Med/Clear flows
120 CFS

Bug Eyes

Well the big news is pike season is now open!  Get out there with your big flies and heavy rods for some nice pike action.  Lakes like Conesus and Silver are hot right now with active fish over the weeds and weed edges.  Look for them to be sunning themselves in the morning and moving to the edges and weed pockets throughout the day.  This is the time to get out and fish the weeds since they have not cut much of the weeds yet.  But come early June the weeds are gonna get a hair cut.  Don't overlook the tributaries for pike either.  The warm waters in the estuaries will hold pike into the middle of June before the high tail it into the lake.

The tributaries are going to still have a mixed bag of things.  The persistent angler still might hook into a steelhead on the larger streams like the Genny, Oak or Salmon river but the steelhead action is definitely on the last few days.  The waters are getting too warm for the chromers and they won't tolerate it for very much longer.  The smallmouth fishing can be good if you can find the spawning beds and get a good drift or a slow retrieve through the bed.  Smallmouths are very territorial and will be aggressive to anything that moves through the nest.  Clousers, jigs, and streamers can be very effective at times.  Just like swinging a big fly in the winter for steelhead to trigger their aggressive instincts, the same can be done with the smallies.

For inland trout the weather has still had its cold days but day by day the hatches have been better and better.  Fishing nymphs in the morning works well and switching to dries in the afternoon once it warms up usually is the ticket to a successful day.  Keep in mind that if a fish continues to surface and take flies but refuses yours that its time to switch up.  You might have the right pattern but wrong size or vice versa.  BWO, Hendricksons, and Caddis have been good choices for this early season but also keep an eye out for March Brown and even maybe some Sulfer hatches starting.

Remember the summertime is the best time to brush up on some casting techniques and presentation practice for the fall salmon and brown runs.  If you're interested in lessons you can email me at wnyflyguy@gmail.com or leave a comment below and I can get in contact with you.  Also If you haven't checked out my YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHV4wVbpaexeCK7aug549YQ) that might be something you find entertaining.  Thanks again for reading and tight lines!

Current Stream Information: 

Oak Orchard (Albion):  May 9th, 2016

No fishing pressure.
Low/Clear flows (CFS unknown)

18-Mile Creek (Burt):  May 9th, 2016

Light fishing pressure.
Low/Clear flows.
85 CFS

Oatka Creek:   May 9th, 2016

Light Fishing Pressure
Med/Clear flows
163
CFS