Photo: Greg Dini

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Turkey Day Report

An epic day on Thanksgiving. Went to the Saugatuck in hopes of a searun brown. Instead I hooked my first ever CT steelhead in brackish water! I was swinging the same fly tied below for the Salmon. I also hooked up in fresh water a beautiful native tiger trout. Will get pics up second I get a new camera usb cord. Tied up an interesting pattern for these sea run brownies, a pattern that just might imitate a sea lamprey. Check out the stinger fly and the two purple bucktails. This is to imitate a lampreys arching back as it moves through the water. Youtube sea lamprey swimming and you'll see what I mean. 
Heading to Naugatuck in the morning to best my salmon of last week, see you out there! 
tight lines

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Brown trout season

November 23,2011
SW CT saw 2 1/4 '' last night! Its about time mother nature got the ball rolling. Those prospecting for browns 20'' and above now is the time. These are the best conditions we have had yet this fall. Get out their before turkey day and swing some large streamers (white and black patterns). I know I will be out after dark/work tonight. Good luck out their and tight lines.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

a tasty morsel

Pot of Gold:Bonefishing in the Croton Watershed

A below average fish for this river but plenty big to drag me around with a 4x tippet!  Some might disagree but I have always felt that Carp on the fly is trickier then bone fishing. Feeding carp can be an endless search through your fly box. Last time I went carp fishing the carp was sticking his head out of the water and feeding on some weeds a couple inches off of the surface. Perhaps tie a fly imitating a brown/green kelp like weed with a brown parachute? 

Connecticut Salmon on the swing




The simple pink fly in the upper right corner was the go to fly this past July in Alaska. A good bet for these Atlantics. 

November 22,2011 Atlantic Salmon
Has an epic day on a Connecticut river yesterday. Blue skies with a prolific midge hatch early afternoon. Did not come up on any trout sipping but  I am sure they were around. Instead I worked some long runs with the spey. When I first arrived at the run I saw a roll about 100 yards down river. With a lot of good water to work it took me about an hour to swing my first fly into the fishy section. On the third cast I switched actions with a wiggle motion rather than a little tick tick and ZZZZZzzzzz! It was amazing to see the fish attack the egg sucking leech with such violence. The feed on flies such as these or say an intruder are incredible. I believe that many times the attack is out of self defense rather than hunger. How would you like a lamprey swinging into clamp on your face? The Salmon jumped and danced multiple times. I usually do not like to boga grip freshwater fish however, I took a quick peak and the hen turned out to be just under 7lbs. A true brute!

She wanted a sweeping left to right wiggle motion...not the tick tick. Fly has beautiful action and is tied on a 2/0 gamakatsu, black bunny strip, 2 strands of purple flasabou, black marabou,with orange dubbing as an egg/head. Simple but effective. Especially with this current rain we are having!

November 23, 2011 
On the saltwater scene I just got off the boat with no luck. We stayed in Riverside harbor and found some schoolies. Are true target however, was a searun brown at the Mianus River confluence. Maybe with some real rain we will get a chance. Snapped my 11 foot switch today...here is a clip of what happen....

Bad luck on the water today. No sea run brownie to be had and a left over banana peel in the car to deal with. No wonder. 
On the upside we did see a beautiful push of stripers. The Cormorans' were also hydro planning in the shallow mud flats for minnows. Maybe with this rain that we so desperately need we will soon move the shy and temporarily acclimating sea run fish here or on the Saugatuck River. 

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Stay Low

This time of the year one must keep the fly deep. So if your tying a few up there is no need to take much time on each one. Instead "fly" through them. If you have plenty of back up flies then you will consciously or unconsciously fish the fly in a manner full of snags. Yes getting hung up on the bottom is currently a good thing!

Large Brown Trout season in Southern NY and CT is almost here

Rain is finally in the forecast. With a flood and the added drop in air temps browns will begin to move up various systems and stake their claim on a nice gravel bar. Prior to the spawn is a safe time to catch these fish. Remember browns love a little orange in their fly. With fly selection think big. Pull out and try a striper fly on the river, you just don't know. Here is one of my go to patterns.

naugatuck river salmon

For those of you looking to score with the salmon in the Naugatuck River. Here is a simple and straight foward fly to tie. I call it the Yosemeti Sam, its a good one. Swing this fly in 3-4 feet of water and throw on the sink tip for the deeper holes. As far as the actions goes...a very slight tick tick is the trick. Whats nice about this fly is the eyes. Unlike most salmon/steelhead flies the Sam can fish semi deep pools without using a sink tip. The EP body ensures that the eyes will not give the fly a jigging motion, instead it will deliver a balanced motion. Split shot or an extra weighted fly is not allowed on the Naugatuck. I cannot begin to count how many people I saw fishing the Naug on monday without enough wait.  If you are not losing flies then you are not fishing them hard enough! tight lines and see you out there


materials:
pink kiptail for the gills.
EP white/or pink fibers for the body.
Silver and purple flashabou (more silver then purple)
Tapered loop up eye size 1
red crystal dumbbell eyes in size large or medium
EP anadromous red brush

Monday, November 14, 2011

november 14,2011 FIshing Report



The fishing continues to be red hot. Got out on the Naugatuck River today in hopes of feeding some salmon. The Naugatuck is a great bet this time of the year and the flows are currently perfect. Focus your energy in the Beacon falls(Pines Bridge Road until Naugatuck state forest) area for the upper section of the river will not be stocked due to current work being done to repair the damages seen by Irene and Lee. Make sure you put in some time by the "Pines Bridge" hole and "Breen field" riffle. The fish usually hold in the hole they were first introduced to for quite some time. With no rain as of late these fish have not spread much. Unlike years back, those helping the stocking program are confined to releasing the fish within easy access areas (they cannot utilize the RR track that runs parallel to the river in this section b/c of the law.)
Remember to put in a lot of time in every hole. Work a hole inch by inch and right off the rivers' floor.  If a salmon does not want to feed do not worry. Working the hole thoroughly a salmon might attack out of defense or irritation. How would you like it if a big lamprey was being swung straight into your face? With any sunlight red and orange could be good. Less light means darker flies so think purple and black. Holes that are seeing a lot of foot traffic should be fished with nymphs like a golden stone. Sink tips in most sections are necessary. A big river goes hand in hand with a solid rod. Leave the trout rod at home unless you want to break it on a 25 lb salmon.
On the trout side of things we sight fished into a beautiful wild bow caught on the swing with a pink/silver intruder. Shortly after we found a big brookie rolling on the surface like a shark sniffing out a blood trail. It appeared that the fish was conditioned on pre-emerge midges. Owen was lucky enough to hook the beast on a caddis (indicator) with an olive larva midge nymph dropper combo.
Lets prey for rain in the next few days to stimulate some sea run browns into our various CT rivers.
Good luck out their and tight lines

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

prospecting for large browns

The full moon is the time to start prospecting for large browns. It was this time of the year last year when I landed this beast on one of my signature bunny flies. Will put fly picture up soon. Lets hope that we will receive some rain soon. Get out there and start skating the mouse patterns! You never know what lake fish is residing in the river for the spawn.

November 9,2011

We sat on this point where a shallow mud flat feeds into the channel. It was a beautiful sight watching striped bass launch at peanuts in less then a foot of water. Sitting on this point the fish had no choice but to pass through. We had quadruple headers on the fly! Not bad for finding the casting room for all four of us on a 21' sea craft.

Fishing for stripers and blues should continue to be very good on the low tide for the rest of the week in the afternoon/evening. If birds are skimming then wait until tide drops. The fish are their however might now want to start swimming until some water moves east.
The Full moon is upon us and now is the time of year to give your favorite trout holes a careful look at night. Water temperatures in Southern New York and connecticut have finally dropped. Big black bunnys and mouse patterns are the way to go. Pray for rain! The smaller rivers need it.  Remember to keep your head lamp from shinning on the river. I know I will be scouting the East Branch in Brewster for lake fish within the next two nights. Good luck out there and tight lines! 



Orvis Yonkers new store manager David Tremsky hooking into his first striper and bluefish on the fly!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

November 8, 2011

Striped bass and blackfish are stacked in the western long island sound. Togzilla is out there. Striped bass are for the most part schoolie size however, this time of the year their are big ones to be had in the evening and at night. Black flies are the way to go for these. Big eel patterns as well, as long as it is dark. It's a late season for the bluefish. Cocktail blues are feeding on peanuts in and outside of all the major harbors throughout the afternoon. 
For the tautogs makes sure you fish on the high tide. Incoming being best. The weather is looking to be almost as nice at it has in the past two days so if you have the chance call in sick and get out there! 
Bottom line the fishing has been an absolute blast. With Irene setting the stones for a slow fall (minus the albies in early Oct) the striper fishing has finally become red hot. Get out their now for the weather in a week from now should be back in fall mode. 
Long story short the past two days have been full of so many blues and stripers I could only begin to recount them all. A7 lb striper was the biggest on fly. I was not able to fool a blackfish of the fly like last week however, my buddy got a couple while aboard on the spin. 
For imitations think 4 inch spearing and 3-4 1/2 inch peanuts. Surprisingly a 1-2 weeks ago the peanuts were more in the 5 inch category. 
Get out there while you still can! 
tight lines 

Monday, November 7, 2011

November 7,2011 Fishing Report

Fishing is going off. Low tide was best today. Get out there and watch the birds!  Tight Lines.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Fishing Report: November 6, 2010

The fishing in the western Long Island Sound is simply going off. Striped bass and tautogs are stacked. Blues are still mixed in however, not nearly as much as a week back. A monster tog was caught on the south side of two tree channel in 22 feet of water. The beast weighed 23.5 lbs and was only 1.5 lbs shy of the world record. The black fishing is very hot on the eastern edge of captains island. Think incoming tide, rocks, 20-30 feet of water, and green crap imitations and you might just get a monster. The black fish are absolutely huge right now!
Striped bass were seen all over the western sound. Greenwich, Byram and Rye. Look for the birds in the shallows and if they are not at work then go out to the depths. The fish are stacked! The stripers are mostly in the schoolie range however there are big ones to still be had(the various reefs are a good bet.) If you have big eel patters then get them out there! Do not forget a few bay anchovies because there is still a chance for a late season albie!
On the freshwater scene the CT DEEP finished their fall stocking of 400 Atlantic salmon in the Shetucket and Naugatuck Rivers in the 3-18 lb range. Swinging a flashy streamer is the way to go. Keep in mind one might not get a hit until you flash him in the eye or mouth. Make sure you work the river inch by inch for these fish might not care to expend energy to get to the fly.
Will be out fishing all day tomorrow!
Tight Lines!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

November 1, 2011

First day I have not been out on the salt water in quiet some time. Conditions looked good. Hopefully make it out tmrrow late afternoon/evening to see whats swimming. Tight Lines