Fly Fishing

flyguyma

can anybody point me in the right direction to flyfish there?i have to go out there for a wedding on march 21st.i am going to spend an extra day there to get in some flyfishing.i would like to go for steelhead,trout and salmon in some rivers there.can anybody help me on what patterns to tye and where to go please.your help is greatly appreciated.i have never caught a steelhead and would love to catch one while i am there.i do alot of flyfishing in ri,ma,nh and me.i usually go for trout and salmon.the stocking program is great in ma and we get some pretty big fish out here but nothing like a steelhead lol!well thanks for reading my posting and i hope you all have a great year!

jeremy · Location: Portland, Maine

Flyguyma,

For simplicity sake, I noticed that you made this post and an almost identical post on this thread http://www.fliesandfins.com/postt1163.html .. Just so things don't get confusing .. I condensed it for you to this thread. There are lots of guys from that region on this site .. and definately lots of steelhead guys from the great lakes region on this site who i am sure will be more than willing to help you, in a manner that does not specifically give away "honey holes" ... or at least keep specifics of locations to private messaging ...

Anyway - I have spent lots of time fly fishing for the browns and steelhead and can give you some insight into what I know (though its definately not as much as what others may know or whatever) .. here goes .. I will try to help in a bullet point type format.

1. In march = no salmon .. only brown trout and steelhead - the salmon run in the great lakes takes places in the fall.

2. In march = some great steelhead and brown trout options as the water is warming up and the fish that have been in the rivers are "drop backs" .. dropping back to the lake

3. "Drop Backs" .. tend to be very hungry and aggressive after having spawned and spent the entire cold winter in the river ..

4. The SUCKER spawn is also going on at this time as well as some caddis hatches

5. Late march can sometimes be a GREAT time for swinging flies and even stripping streamers .. as the water temps are often on the rise the fish are aggressive.

6. If you have never caught a big brown from the great lakes or a steelhead and you only have 1 day to fish .. and you want to CATCH a fish or two .. I might suggest nymphing as opposed to swinging .. as swinging flies tends to have less hook ups etc. and is virtually an entirely different method.

7. So, let's say you decide to nymph -- the flies you will want to have are EGG patterns (sucker spawn style .. yellow), smaller glo bug style (yellow/gold/white), caddis patterns (green body with black head), olive wooly buggers, stoneflies (black with copperish head).. ( i am sure others can suggest other types) ..

8. If you are Rochester .. you have many smaller creeks available to you that "everyone" knows about .. I would rather not be the one to give the names of those away .. and with a tiny bit of investigation on your part and finding some fly shops in the area where you buy a fly or two .. i am sure they will be more than willing to point you in the exact locations ...

9. Also, consider that you are not far (and perhaps will travel by it anyway on your way home, if you are from ma.) from the Salmon River. This is a River that is so well known that i don't feel I am giving away a sensitive location .. Now, i love the salmon river because it is a classic steelhead type river .. big and beautiful with incredible holding spots, pool, riffles, structure etc.. it also gets a very impressive run of steelhead (i think the biggest run in the great lakes) and a lot of big brown trout .. it is legendary and well known for a reason .. much like the miramichi river is well known and legendary for atlantic salmon ... now, keep in mind .. just becasue it is known by everyone .. doesn not mean that there are not "SECRETS" .. the "SECRETS" reside within the 15 miles of fishable river ..... yes, there are spots where it looks like combat fishing .. but that is also true of the many creeks you will find in and around rochester area .. but there are MANY spots on the salmon river that require long hikes in or knowledge of where fish hold at various water levels etc.. and when i go with my crew we often find ourselves fishing and doing very well with steelhead and browns with nobody in sight ..... But, those spots and that knowledge has come from years of fishing the river and fishing with guys like (waterwhippa) who live there and have fished it all of their lives ....

10. If you only have 1 day and the entire steelhead/brown trout great lakes game is new to you - you may have FUN (as often i do) .. fishing around people .. it will help you to know that there are fish around, if you are lucky the guys you are fishing next too will be good guys and you will have fun! .. honestly, sometimes at the salmon river .. i get sick of fishing secluded water and pounding tons of water looking for fish .. and its kinda fun to pull up to a spot in my car, have a coffee and watch for a bit .. and then take someones spot who is leaving .. and fish amongst the people (especially in the lower fly zone .. (hint, hint)) .. its great fun if you are in the right mindset and i have met some great people and often bump into members from this site ....

So - hope this helps --

PS. As a final note consider getting in touch with Dave Severson (waterwhippa on this site) .. one of my best friends, part of the fliesandfins.com crew, and a great wading guide on the salmon river and countless other tribs/streams on ontario and erie .. 1 day with him would eliminate tons of guesswork .. he knows where the fish are .. can easily teach you how to setup and fish for steelhead/browns and what you learn, you will be able to apply for the rest of your life ... you can reach him through this site or check out his own site (Salmon River Specialists) http://www.salmonriverspecialists.com

No matter what you do or where you fish --- good luck! hope you find some fish .. the great lakes are so much fun to fish .. and once you tie into a MONSTER brown or HOT steelhead you will be hooked for the rest of your life .. like many others on this site .. good luck.

moucheur2003 · Posted: Mon 01/19/09 9:52 pm Post subject:

When you get there, stop in a local fly shop to ask where the action is. Three good ones are Panorama Outfitters in Penfield, Up the Creek in Pittsford, and Carl Coleman's in Spencerport. They can set you up with a guide too, if you want to spend the dough. You can find their websites with Google.

bfly · Location: Spencerport, NY

Hey flyguyma,

I live in Spencerport, NY which is about 10 or 15 min. west from the City of Rochester. And let me tell you there is plenty of great fly fishing in March for steelhead and lake run brown trout! And the great thing about this area is....there are at least a half dozen tributaries within 30 min. of the city and even more if you can travel an hour.

The fly shops you should check out are Coleman's fly shop (www.colemansflyshop.com) and Panorama trail outfitters. Up the creek has since gone out of business. If you go to the coleman's fly shop website he'll post up to date stream reports and has a link to http://www.jaypeckguides.com/ who is a guide who works out of the shop. He will also have a lot of info on his site and will tell you if there are any streams that might be still frozen. But there are so many options here so you should be able to find fish. I guess I am a bit bias about coleman's shop, but that is only because it's about 8 min. from my house. So I know him and the shop pretty well.

As for flies.....bring egg patterns, nymphs and woolly buggers! You should have egg patterns in Oregon cheese(peach color), chartreuse and appricot. Size #10 is best and tie them a little smaller than a natural salmon egg. Simple nymphs or wet flies in black, hare's ear and green(caddis) in sizes #12 through #10 with or without a beadhead will work. Bead head or bead chain eyed Woolly buggers in black, brown or olive and white!!! in sizes #12-#8 work really well.

Dead drifting these flies under an indicator with a enough split shot added 8" to 12" above the fly to keep it rolling along the bottom is probably the best method. Even for the woolly buggers!!!! In fact it may work even better with the woolly buggers at times because so few people dead drift streamers! I tie my own leaders that tapper down to about 10lb.test and then add either 3 to 4 feet of 8lb. or 6lb. test for my tippet(total length 9') and that depends on water clarity and depth.

A Six or seven weight fly rod is best, but I know some guys who have used a 5 weight and landed fish. The only problem with going too light is not having the backbone to land a 15lb+ steelhead that is dead set on going back to the lake. It is better to have too much muscle than not enough!

If you have any other questions just PM me and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

bfly

Qkalaker · Posted: Wed 01/21/09 12:36 pm Post subject: Seneca Lake area flyfishing

Flyguy!

I live on the next lake over. Hope you are going to the Esperanza Mansion, Geneva on the Lake, or Belhurst Castle for the reception. The info. on Lake Ontario oriented fishing is all great stuff. Coleman's is the best one stop shop for fly fishing info. in the Rochester area. Oswego is an hour from Geneva, as is Rochester. Fishing in Seneca Lake tribs is mostly limited to Catherine Creek at the south end of the lake. There can be great native rainbow runs there. It can also be busy with anglers. I'd have to check the regs, but I think you can fish the Finger Lakes tribs year round up to the first barrier impassable by fish. Otherwise, the trout season opens April 1.

Consider John Gaulke, fingerlakesanglingzone.com John is the only guide in the Finger Lakes who specializes in fly fishing from a boat on the lakes. He has a great reputation, no exaggeration there. . There is awesome flyfishing that time of year on the lakes for landlocked salmon.

That time of the year, the weather can really suck. A few years ago we had a snowstorm on March 17 that shut down western NY down for a week. Be ready to be flexible. Back up plan, take your girlfriend for a wine tour around Keuka Lake. Okay, Seneca Lake is just as good, but I wont admit it! PM for othe info. and no disrespect to the other posts, they are giving you great stuff.

bullishfisher

Guys,

I've been reading your great answers, and I am planing to go there from Argentina. I have to go to Toronto and I could be arriving Rochester area around March 7th, untill 10th.

Any tips, advice, etc. are highly welcomed now, since I have to pay my tickets and hotel now!!!

Cheers,

JCO