News
Saturday, February 06, 2010
The fishing this past week has been some of the best, winter fishing I have seen in a long time. I have been running back and fort from the Oak Orchard and the Salmon River. The water conditions on the Oak are about as good as it gets for winter fishing. For now the water is at a medium flow and slightly stained color. There are fish in all of the mane pool from the dam on down. For flies we have been using estaz eggs in chartreuse, Fished under a strike indicators. In the lower end of the Oak there is a few brow trout still around and looking for food. We have been getting these fish with both egg flies and white bunny flies. This quality of fishing in the Oak Orchard River, will most likely hold up for a week or two more. This obviously depends on the weather and the water flows.
The Salmon River, hear too the fishing has been way benter then average. When the weather warms up enough that the ice will clear out of the D.S.R and then the run will fish. Most of the action in this part of the river, has been in the after noon. This tells me that there is still a flow of new fish entering the river all moat daily. We have found the most consistent fishing in the D.S.R. to be concentrated in the upper half of the run. Productive flies for the lower half of the Salmon River have been egg flies; Oregon cheese nuclear row bugs, carpet flies, river row egg patterns, all in size 10 to 8
The upper half of the Salmon River is the same story. All the pools and pockets have steelhead coming and going. The fishing is what I call a study pick, work your way through the pool and see if there is a fish that wants to bite. The fishing pressure in this part of the river has been light. The heaviest concentration of fish is in the fly fishing zone. We have been doing extremely well lately in this part of the river. There is a lot of steelhead starting to concentrate in pools of the fly fishing zone. It is very easy to accidentally follow hook fish right now. To avoid this problem we have been using strike indicators to control our drift. As for productive flies, things are starting to change. Early this week we had a strong egg bite. Now that the water flows have been consistent for a while and all the stray eggs are starting to clean out of the system. As result the fish are becoming more receptive to nymphs and small wet flies once again. This means back to stone flies, hairs ears, and similar stuff. When fishing this part of the river I am using letter tippits. I'm often using 6 pound test or 3X tippits. This is light enough to get the soft drift that I need, but still strong enough, with care to handle a large steelhead.
- posted by Jay Peck at 4:44 PM
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The Cold is Back
The water flows settled back down and it is back to the cold. When the water temperature is as cold as it is, the fish do not know the difference. We are talking about water temperature a round 32 to33 degrees. What a lout of fishermen do not think about is that when the weather is cold as it is now. The water temperature can rise 2 to 4 degrees. The reason for this is that on river and streams that have, springs feeding in to them, water temperature can warm up a few degrees. Spring water flows out of the ground around 42 to 45 degrees as result warming the water temperature. When the air temperature is above freezing, 31degree snow melt is running in to the creek and rivers, quickly dropping the water temperature back down, one more thing to thank about when we go about fishing.
As for the fishing the Oak Orchard River the water flow is still up and the water color is still muddy. The water color should improve by the end of the week. I would suspect that the fish will be spread out from the dam on down river. Concentrate your efforts in the main pools.
The Genesee River is a mess. High water muddy water continues and now ice. One of those winters for the Genesee River.
The Salmon River has come back down and is now running at 750 CFS plus run off. As we hope the reason high water has pulled in a new batch of fresh steelhead. I was fishing the salmon over the week end. The high water did more than pull new fish in. The high water stirred up the River bottom creating a massive egg drift. As result we were able to dial in on the steelhead with egg patterns. The Old standby size 8 nuclear row bug in Oregon cheese did the job. This egg bite will probably last a other week before it dies out. Then we are back to fishing nymphs and small of flies.
WINTER FISHING SPECIAL
Daring the winter months the productive fishing time daring the course of the day is much shorter. Typically during the winter most days there will be approximately 6 hours productive fishing, before light conditions and cold temperatures shot the fishing down.
We are offering a winter fishing special for guide trips. One person will be $200 and two persons will be $300, this is a saving of a $100. This is for the home streams only. Oak Orchard, Sandy Creek, Genesee River and multiple days, for the Salmon River. This special also includes local trout streams Oatka and Spring Creek. We meet at 8 to 8:30 a.m. and on the water by 9 a.m. and fish straight through to 3 p.m. take advantage of the best part of the day. We will be running the special until March 15 2010. Give us a call and fend off cabin fever.
For available days feel free to give me a call at 585-352-0439 or the fly shop at 585- 352-4775.
- posted by Jay Peck at 6:13 PM
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We will have to see how much rain we get out of this upcoming weather front. Hopefully there will be enough rain to bring the river's backup and get our winter fishing back online. We need to get the water flow back up. The fish that are in the river now have been playing the game for some time now. They kwon the game well and the fishing has become very technical.
The ice is finally starting to clear out of the Genesee River. You will still need to use caution when fishing along the river banks. There is sections were the shelf ice extends out into the river. If you are standing on this ice when it breaks, you could find yourself standing in neck deep ice water. Water flows and clarity have been fluctuating daily lately. You'll have to just go and take your chances for now.
The Oak Orchard River water flow has been fluctuating a little bit over this past week. However these water fluctuations has not been enough to pull new fish and yet. The lower portion of the Oak where the water flows is slower, is where most of the productive fishing is. Hopefully the rain will be significant enough to bring the water flows up and maintain a flow long enough to pull in new fish. As for the smaller streams and creeks, this is a mix bag of still frozen, low water, hopefully soon high water. You will need to check on the immediate conditions before fishing.
The Salmon River water flow is still at 285 CFS, hear too hopefully we will get some rain so the water can go up. As I said the fishing has become very technical. We have been using light tippits and small flies, well at least small for me. We're using nymphs in size 12 to 8 mostly the flies are sort of stone fly nymph, hairs ear or Caddis a merger. It has been the same deal as it has been the last couple weeks. Hook a fish or two a fly pattern, put that pattern away and try another. More flies we tried more bites we were getting. Hopefully the water flows will come up this week and we can it out and swing some flies for a change.
UPDATE
We get the rain, all most 2 inches of the stuff. All the creek and river are way up. The Oak Orchard River has come up close to 4 feet, The smaller streams and creeks are about to go over there banks. Give these creeks and river about a week to come back in to fishing condition. The same goes for the Genesee River, however this river may stay out for the next two weeks. The Salmon River is going from 285 CFS to 1800 CFS for the next few days. The blast of high water is just what we needed to get the fishing going. Weather permitting we should be back on the water by the weekend.
- posted by Jay Peck at 6:00 PM
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The break in the clod whether has given us a chance to get out and do some fishing. This is just the cure for cabin fever. The warm spell has not been long enough to raise the water flow on the Oak Orchard River yet. As a result the fishing has been off. The Oak will need a good push of water to get the fishing going. The smaller area creeks are still frozen at this time. The Genesee River water flow is still low and all ice. I recommend not going near the Genesee River do to the ice. The river conditions are extremely dangerous right now. The weather forecast is for the temperatures to be more towards the freezing mark for the rest of the week. A little more thawing time and the Western rivers and creeks may be back to fishing.
The Salmon River is still flowing at 285 CFS, for now. We will have wait and see if the water flows will change later this week. As I've said in the past the 285 CFS water flow is not a bad flow for water steelhead fishing. Last Thursday I made a run to the Salmon River and fished the upper portion of the river. It was good to be back on the water and the fish were quite cooperative. We found that they had a preference for size 8 and 10 stone fly nymphs. As always when it comes to winter steelhead fishing, you need to be mindful of light bites. Set the hook carefully and maintain good pressure. A long with stone fly nymphs we also had bites on small egg flies in size 10 colors oregon cheese and orange.
Along with the steelhead fishing we have some trout fishing going on. Spring brook is one of the most stable trout streams you can find anywhere. This spring Creek is hardly ever affected by weather conditions. Water temperatures and water flows hardly fluctuate much. Fishing spring brook this time of the year is a game of midges and scuds. The midges are a size 20 down to a 28, and in a variety of colors. The scuds this time of the year are small. I have had my pest success with a size 16 scud in the color pink. Winter is a great time to be fishing spring brook and Oatka creek. The trout are always there and at times very hungry, with the added bonus of at times being the only one on the water.
WINTER FISHING SPECIAL
Daring the winter months the productive fishing time daring the course of the day is much shorter. Typically during the winter most days there will be approximately 6 hours productive fishing, before light conditions and cold temperatures shot the fishing down.
We are offering a winter fishing special for guide trips. One person will be $200 and two persons will be $300, this is a saving of a $100. This is for the home streams only. Oak Orchard, Sandy Creek, Genesee River and multiple days, for the Salmon River. This special also includes local trout streams Oatka and Spring Creek. We meet at 8 to 8:30 a.m. and on the water by 9 a.m. and fish straight through to 3 p.m. take advantage of the best part of the day. We will be running the special until March 15 2010. Give us a call and fend off cabin fever.
For available days feel free to give me a call at 585-352-0439 or the fly shop at 585- 352-4775.
- posted by Jay Peck at 10:11 PM
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It is looking like we are going to get a break in the clod whether soon. By the end of the week the air temperature should be above the freezing mark. Just the cure that we need for a bad case of cabin fever. Starting with the Oak Orchard River, river conditions here with all things considered, not bad. There are no ice issues, and water flows are at what we call a medium to medium low flow for now. The water color is clear which is normal after a prolonged freeze. One word of caution. If water flows do come up and go over the overflow. Be on the look out for large chunks of ice floating down river. Be mindful and make sure you have a quick escape. As for flies, stay with egg flies and nymphs in sizes 12 to 8. Down river in the deeper slower water try fishing white bunny flies and woolly buggers.
The smaller area streams and creeks will need a longer warming period, than what we will most likely receive. I would not plan on fishing any of these stretches of water for some time.
The Salmon River water flow still remains at 285 CFS and according to the water release predictions it will stay that way for some time to come. This is nothing new when it comes to cold whether. As you probably already guessed there is plenty of snow along the river. There is about two feet of the stuff along the Lower River and about three to 4 feet of snow along the upper river. Keep this in mind when planning on ware you are going to fish. Getting in and out of the river in some places this time in the year can be an issue. Fishing in this 285 water will require some adjusting to river conditions. The first is to light the tippets down to 3X to 4X that is about six to 8 pound test. For flies stay with the smaller stuff, egg flies and nymphs in size 12 to 8. For best results fish these with a strike indicator and a long leader. For those of you who would like to swing flies stay with bunny leach patterns in size 6 to size 4. Fish these patterns in the classic down and across swing. Swing these flies as slowly as possible, for best results you want the fly to almost hang in the current as it comes across the swing.
WINTER FISHING SPECIAL
Daring the winter months the productive fishing time daring the course of the day is much shorter. Typically during the winter most days there will be approximately 6 hours productive fishing, before light conditions and cold temperatures shot the fishing down.
We are offering a winter fishing special for guide trips. One person will be $200 and two persons will be $300, this is a saving of a $100. This is for the home streams only. Oak Orchard, Sandy Creek, Genesee River and multiple days, for the Salmon River. This special also includes local trout streams Oatka and Spring Creek. We meet at 8 to 8:30 a.m. and on the water by 9 a.m. and fish straight through to 3 p.m. take advantage of the best part of the day. We will be running the special until March 15 2010. Give us a call and fend off cabin fever.
For available days feel free to give me a call at 585-352-0439 or the fly shop at 585- 352-4775.
- posted by Jay Peck at 9:05 PM
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