Wayne-o's Guide Service

It was December 28th, 2007 and I just needed to try out the new Guide Series fly rod I had purchased from Gander Mountain with my gift cards from Christmas. I rigged the 9 foot 8 weight at home because it was only 36 degrees and then headed for Pulaski, NY. I live only 15 minutes away.

I had decided to fish the town pool as the water was running over 1000 cfs. I like the town pool if I am only fishing for a couple hours because of the easy access. It also normally holds a good number of fish throughout the season.

I wanted to fish the section right behind Yankee Fly and Tackle just below the bridge. This was before Dawn posted her property, only allowing her clients to fish there. As I approached the river I saw there were two people fishing the pool with spinning rods. One of them was right behind Yankee Fly and Tackle standing nut deep in the water and casting out into the fast water.

I was disappointed because not only was he fishing where I wanted to but he was standing right where he should have been casting. This is one of the biggest mistakes I see on the river. People don’t realize fish want to take the path of least resistance. This guy was standing in the nice slow current and casting into the white water.  I knew it wouldn’t be too long before he got sick of not catching anything and he would give up the spot.

I set up and made some casts down behind the Pulaski VFW. After fishing for about 20 minutes with out any luck I noticed the guy by the bridge was packing up. I watched him leave and rested the area he was in for about ten minutes before I moved up behind Yankee Fly and Tackle.

Standing about 10 yards below the short bridge and in the water only up to my ankles I began casting. I started very close to shore and worked my way out to the edge of the fast water. These current seams are where you will most likely find steelhead feeded on whatever washes out of the fast current.

It was my tenth cast along the edge of the fast water when my line stopped. I lifted the rod and felt the fish move as I set the hook.  I could tell it wasn’t a huge fish but it was fresh. After two quick runs and a nice splashing jump slide the 4 pound steelehad up  onto the shore.

I quickly arranged him on the shore with my new fly rod for a picture. After the picture I carefully released the fish to fight another day. Once the fish had swam away I realized I had forgot my hand warmers and decided my goal for the day was accomplished and it was time to go get a cup of coffee.