Sun, Snow and Steelhead
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We arrived in western NY for our fall steelhead trip to sunny skies and 70 degrees. We could hardly believe we were fishing in T-Shirts in November. We took advantage of this opportunity and landed a handful of fish on the first evening.
Below is the reason why this river muddy’s up so fast with even a little bit of rain.
Day two we met up with the full crew and decided to fish a section of river we had never seen. Clouds had rolled in but the weather remained stable and we all brought fish to hand.
We walked out of the river in the dark and began the 90 minute trek up to our friends fish camp. This event has grown over the last decade from a half dozen people and 1 winnebego to almost 30 and a half dozen winnebego’s. The stories (among other things) were flowing around the campfire but we still shut down early with high expectations for the following mornings desire for double digit pound browns.
As has been the case in recent years the fishing was slow. Only 2 browns were landed on the day, one being in the neighborhood of 8 or 9 pounds. Unfortunately the camera was only around for this smaller female. They all are beautiful fish and have a very unique and unforgetable fight.
Let me pause in the middle of this post to take a moment to express one of my many views on conservation. Anglers are notorious for how their byproduct impacts our environment. I was once again reminded of this by what I saw on the river on Sunday. A Great Blue Heron had somehow got some monofilament around its legs and at some point landed in a tree. As freakish as it may seem, the mono got wrapped around the tree limb and this beautiful bird was unable to free itself, eventually starving to death. I am sure most of us here clean up after ourselves…I just ask that you take time to clean up after others. In the last year I have detangled 2 snapping turtles from monofiliment. Do what you can to dispose of this stuff properly…this is just more evidence of its impact on the landscape around us.
The next day we had plans to head closer to home and fish the big river in central, upstate NY. As popular as this river is I had never fished it as to stay away from the rediculous crowds that are notorious there. We arose to a dusting of snow.
At 1000cfs the flows were perfect to break out the big guns. And on top of that we only saw about a half dozen other anglers.
However…it wasnt to be. The weather took a turn as it often does north of Rt 90 and we found 20 knot winds driving sleet and snow into us for the next few hours.
We were hungry and looking for cover and the words of Dylan rang in our heads.
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form.
“Come in,” she said,
“I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”We stumbled upon this…and had thoughts of Chris McCandless.
Using our better judgement…we found our respite under the lee of a Sycamore.
After lunch we tried to rally. We got into a few more big runs where we knew fish had to push through.
But the weather got the best of us. As much as the weather screamed “Steelhead” it wasnt to be. Its hard to believe that we started this trip in T-shirts and ended up in snow…but thats part of what makes for memorable stories.
So we hit the road for home.
Another fall trip was in the books. The fishing wasn’t legendary, but as most trips go, the fellowship, comradarie and time outdoors was worth the price of admission.timscott…cool post and photos. That Loop/Bougle two hander outfit is SICK!
No kidding…I wish it was mine!
Tim,
Very nice – unfortunately for me I got skunked this weekend, but was able to get out and swing the two hander a bit.
Enjoyed your report, Tim. Had to go look up who Chris McCandless was. Went back and reread your report and laughed when I saw you mention after the creepy bus photo, “After lunch we tried to rally….” Struck me as funny. Bet poor Chris would have enjoyed your lunch!
Great brown trout.
Hey Tim ,that’s very cool.Thanks for sharing.
We dont have any of that sort of water here and the nearest ‘steelhead’ are in NZ……Its 90 degrees here today….not a snowflake in sight and we are gearing up to go ‘twigging’ in the mountains next week.
Its 90 degrees here today….not a snowflake in sight and we are gearing up to go ‘twigging’ in the mountains next week.
Andrew, please stop reminding them that their summer is OVER and ours is just beginning… 😉
Great photos and post !
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
Thanks for sharing. When that weather was here I was dying to get out to those waters, but things got in the way, so it’s nice to see what I missed….sort of!
snowmelt dropped water temps to like 37 degrees…and severely slowed down the bite.
Hey Timbitsscott –
Can you collect a few feathers off of that heron for me? I know some dudes who would pay top dollar for the opportunity to twist up some salmon flys with those…
Hookset 😕
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