The day started out very cold with some snow on the ground, but Eric and I got up early to head out the door while dad stayed in bed a bit longer. We decided to try the UFZ again but there were too many cars present so we decided to go to the trestle area and find some room.
Eric went down the trail to his favorite spot, and I exited a little early to try to swing the top end of a run above 8 other anglers spread out to the tailout. I made a few casts but the water was moving a tad slow, so after 30 minutes or so I decided to head downstream.
I hopped into run that was moving on the fast side for swinging, but I was more than happy to have about 300 yrds to myself and Eric was the next person down. I covered the water methodically and tried to slow the fly down as much as possible, but no luck.
My dad arrived a little later and hopped in above me and he covered the water as well, but no takers. We talked to Eric to see how is action was, but he didn't hook anything and only saw one fish hooked by an angler downstream.
I talked to a guide I know and the consensus was things were slow that morning with only a few fish hooked. The sun wasn't shining and there was still ice on the water in a nearby cove so the temperature must not have risen much since the morning. We were all a tad chilled so we decided to head for lunch a little early. Eric ate lunch and then it was time for him to head home to get ready for the PA deer season opener.
Once we had some fuel in the tank and warmed up our extemities Dad and I decided on heading to the mid-river where we were yesterday afternoon. We had a little more room than the evening before so I started in the very head and my dad started below me.
I switched flies every now and then. I played with big flies, small flies, dull ones, and bright ones, but no luck on any of them. Dad didn't have any luck and neither did any of the other guys in the area. I reeled in my line and headed downstream to the spot where dad had hooked his steelhead the day before. Dad came along too since his little piggies were on the numb side.
I tied the black Irish Crayfish on for confidence and proceeded to work my way downstream. On about the 10 cast or so, the fly was hanging in the slow current directly below me and I felt a familiar tap. I dropped the loop and watched the line dart out of the rod tip, felt a small energetic fish on the end so I lifted the rod. A small 12"-13" silver bullet came up jumping all over the place and had my heart racing for a second.
After a quick fight I got her in and popped out the barbless hook. Dad hopped in after that, but that was it for the evening. Leftovers from Turkey day were on the menu!!
We weren't sure what was going to happen with the river flow the next day since there was some decent snow on Tug Hill and warm weather and rain were in the forecast. As it turned out, the river was raised to 1800 CFS for Monday.
Showing posts with label Black Irish Crayfish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black Irish Crayfish. Show all posts
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
11/27/10 Tough Weather & Good Fishing
Saturday morning Eric and I got up early while my dad slept in and stayed warm. We bundled up, loaded the truck and headed to the UFZ since Eric was only up until Sunday afternoon. Upon arriving at the Paradise pool, I hear someone calling me and recognize a three friends from home. We bs for a bit and I ask them if I can hop in below them, as Eric went down to the next pool downstream.
Boy was it raw out with some nice wind gusts and an occasional snow squall for the first hour or two. Since I had permission, I started to swing the tailout of Paradise with the same setup and fly from yesterday, except a fresh knot at the hook. For some reason I wasn't feeling the purple Mahogan and decided to switch to an Irish Crayfish in black.
One of the guys above me hooked one on a small nymph and I helped him land it and we took a nice group photo. About a half hour after I resumked fishing I looked downstream to see how Eric was doing and I see him backing up with a nice bend in his rod. I keep watching intently from afar as he plays the steelhead out and begins to land it when the hook comes undone and off she goes.
That got me warmed up a tad so I battened down the hatches a little more and focused on my casting due to the wind. I felt a few small tugs and dropped the loop but nothing was on the end. No matter, my confidence was high and after a few more casts I got a heavier tug. The line was almost straight below me when I felt some weight so I dropped the loop, the line came tight, and I set the hook. A nice, fairly colored up fish comes rolling up on top and heads out to deeper water.
It felt so nice to have a fish on for a little while, since I was practically skunked during the last tip in October. "Keep the line tight and a good bend in the rod and everything will work out," I kept telling myself. A few more small runs, some splashing and headshaking then into shore he came. WOOHOO!! What a great start to the day.
Well that warmed me up a bit, so I changed my tippet like I do after landing any size steelhead, and put the same fly back on for some more action. I fished another 1/2 hour or so then headed down to where Eric was to see how he was doing and see what happened on that first fish. We chatted as Eric kept fishing, then I see his indicator stop, he sets the hook and a nice steelhead comes up headshaking that tears off into the heavy flow and breaks off.
Eric had been doing good on a chartreuse glo-bug and said that first steelhead made his indicator jump uspstream at least a foot. He said the hook popped on the first one and lost another one that was touch and go.
As Eric was re-tying his tippet he asked if I wanted to swing a fly through the area so I said "Heck yeah!!" I decide to start slightly higher in the run to get a better swing. Nothing at first so I start moving downstream to get out of Eric's way since he was about ready to begin fishing again. I get below his spot and the river widens a tad and makes a nice little tailout with some structure.
I make a cast to swing the crayfish in front of a seam created by a large rock, and the line goes flying out of my hand and this steelhead heads downstream cartwheeling, jumping, and thrashing all over the place. I don't know how the barbless hook stayed in but it did thankfully. The steelhead calmed down a bit and I was able to recover the lost line and get him out of the current so I would hopefully have some advantage. Things worked out and I was able to get my hands on him for a quick picture. YEAH BABY!! Two nice steelhead on the swing and it isn't even lunch time yet!!
I put a new piece of tippet on and tied the same crayfish back on the business end as Eric got back to his spot and began fishing again. About 10 casts later I hook up on a small but very fat steelhead that had a lot of gusto. He came in flopping all over the place so we took a quick picture and I let him go to get back to egg munching.
That was it for the morning session. The snow was coming down heavy and the wind was blowing hard, so Eric and I decided to head back to the truck. It was a little sketchy at first with the white out conditions, but it lightened as we neared Pulaski.
We grabbed some lunch, went back to the room and warmed up for the afternoon. It was also time for my dad to get out on the water since the snow headed north to Tug Hill.
After lunch we headed back to the UFZ, but there were too many cars to make the walk to the river worthwhile. We turned around and headed to the mid-river area to find some room for everyone to fish pleasantly.
We hiked downstream to a favorite run and found out it was a little crowded, but there was room for Eric and a spot further downstream that my dad and I could share. I hopped in first, fished in close, then kept working line out until it was time to take a step downstream and cover more water. I had the same black Irish Crayfish tied on since it worked earlier. Who knows...maybe a forth tug?
The wind was still a challenge to cast against, but every so often the sun would poke through the clouds and the wind would calm down. Then it would gust so hard it was easier to wait to cast then try to cast. I repeated the cast and step process and managed to keep the hook from hitting from me in some un-reachable location.
During one of the swings, not long after the fly hit the water, I felt a weight on the end of the line so I dropped the loop. As the line was going out I set the hook to soon instead of waiting for it to come tight. I felt to heavy head shakes when the rod bucked, then there was nothing there. Darn!! Oh well at least I had a 4th tug in one day!! Same fly too.....guess I should tie a few more!!
I kept working downstream and my father hopped in above me and started working some line out. He settled into a nice rhythm, which was then abruptly interrupted when he got near the same area I had just had a tug. I hear him say "YEAH!" and when I look upstream I see his rod bent over, hear his reel sing, then I see a nice steelhead jumping down the river causing a ruckus.
This steelhead did not want to come in, even when my dad got him out the current. He kept on thrashing and rolling, making short little runs. He finally got tuckered out and dad led him over to me. I landed him in the shallows and noticed a an Orange Heron right in the corner of the jaw. Sweet!! I gave dad a fist bump and then took a few quick pictures before the steelhead bolted off.
We all fished until evening, but that was the only fish in the afternoon. It was getting quite cold so we all decided to head back to Whitakers and I made some Jambalaya for dinner. MMMMMMM!!
Boy was it raw out with some nice wind gusts and an occasional snow squall for the first hour or two. Since I had permission, I started to swing the tailout of Paradise with the same setup and fly from yesterday, except a fresh knot at the hook. For some reason I wasn't feeling the purple Mahogan and decided to switch to an Irish Crayfish in black.
One of the guys above me hooked one on a small nymph and I helped him land it and we took a nice group photo. About a half hour after I resumked fishing I looked downstream to see how Eric was doing and I see him backing up with a nice bend in his rod. I keep watching intently from afar as he plays the steelhead out and begins to land it when the hook comes undone and off she goes.
That got me warmed up a tad so I battened down the hatches a little more and focused on my casting due to the wind. I felt a few small tugs and dropped the loop but nothing was on the end. No matter, my confidence was high and after a few more casts I got a heavier tug. The line was almost straight below me when I felt some weight so I dropped the loop, the line came tight, and I set the hook. A nice, fairly colored up fish comes rolling up on top and heads out to deeper water.
It felt so nice to have a fish on for a little while, since I was practically skunked during the last tip in October. "Keep the line tight and a good bend in the rod and everything will work out," I kept telling myself. A few more small runs, some splashing and headshaking then into shore he came. WOOHOO!! What a great start to the day.
Well that warmed me up a bit, so I changed my tippet like I do after landing any size steelhead, and put the same fly back on for some more action. I fished another 1/2 hour or so then headed down to where Eric was to see how he was doing and see what happened on that first fish. We chatted as Eric kept fishing, then I see his indicator stop, he sets the hook and a nice steelhead comes up headshaking that tears off into the heavy flow and breaks off.
Eric had been doing good on a chartreuse glo-bug and said that first steelhead made his indicator jump uspstream at least a foot. He said the hook popped on the first one and lost another one that was touch and go.
As Eric was re-tying his tippet he asked if I wanted to swing a fly through the area so I said "Heck yeah!!" I decide to start slightly higher in the run to get a better swing. Nothing at first so I start moving downstream to get out of Eric's way since he was about ready to begin fishing again. I get below his spot and the river widens a tad and makes a nice little tailout with some structure.
I make a cast to swing the crayfish in front of a seam created by a large rock, and the line goes flying out of my hand and this steelhead heads downstream cartwheeling, jumping, and thrashing all over the place. I don't know how the barbless hook stayed in but it did thankfully. The steelhead calmed down a bit and I was able to recover the lost line and get him out of the current so I would hopefully have some advantage. Things worked out and I was able to get my hands on him for a quick picture. YEAH BABY!! Two nice steelhead on the swing and it isn't even lunch time yet!!
I put a new piece of tippet on and tied the same crayfish back on the business end as Eric got back to his spot and began fishing again. About 10 casts later I hook up on a small but very fat steelhead that had a lot of gusto. He came in flopping all over the place so we took a quick picture and I let him go to get back to egg munching.
That was it for the morning session. The snow was coming down heavy and the wind was blowing hard, so Eric and I decided to head back to the truck. It was a little sketchy at first with the white out conditions, but it lightened as we neared Pulaski.
We grabbed some lunch, went back to the room and warmed up for the afternoon. It was also time for my dad to get out on the water since the snow headed north to Tug Hill.
After lunch we headed back to the UFZ, but there were too many cars to make the walk to the river worthwhile. We turned around and headed to the mid-river area to find some room for everyone to fish pleasantly.
We hiked downstream to a favorite run and found out it was a little crowded, but there was room for Eric and a spot further downstream that my dad and I could share. I hopped in first, fished in close, then kept working line out until it was time to take a step downstream and cover more water. I had the same black Irish Crayfish tied on since it worked earlier. Who knows...maybe a forth tug?
The wind was still a challenge to cast against, but every so often the sun would poke through the clouds and the wind would calm down. Then it would gust so hard it was easier to wait to cast then try to cast. I repeated the cast and step process and managed to keep the hook from hitting from me in some un-reachable location.
During one of the swings, not long after the fly hit the water, I felt a weight on the end of the line so I dropped the loop. As the line was going out I set the hook to soon instead of waiting for it to come tight. I felt to heavy head shakes when the rod bucked, then there was nothing there. Darn!! Oh well at least I had a 4th tug in one day!! Same fly too.....guess I should tie a few more!!
I kept working downstream and my father hopped in above me and started working some line out. He settled into a nice rhythm, which was then abruptly interrupted when he got near the same area I had just had a tug. I hear him say "YEAH!" and when I look upstream I see his rod bent over, hear his reel sing, then I see a nice steelhead jumping down the river causing a ruckus.
This steelhead did not want to come in, even when my dad got him out the current. He kept on thrashing and rolling, making short little runs. He finally got tuckered out and dad led him over to me. I landed him in the shallows and noticed a an Orange Heron right in the corner of the jaw. Sweet!! I gave dad a fist bump and then took a few quick pictures before the steelhead bolted off.
We all fished until evening, but that was the only fish in the afternoon. It was getting quite cold so we all decided to head back to Whitakers and I made some Jambalaya for dinner. MMMMMMM!!
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