I have been trying for a while to float this stream and make sure it was still a viable guiding option. The conditions were never right when I had the time. Today it all worked out.
There are a few new challenges but nothing myself and the raft couldn’t handle. My biggest concern on these floats is the customers don’t have to help get around obstacles. The fishing needs to be good as well.
The fishing was nothing short of fantastic with a combination of small mouth bass, brown trout and some big fall fish. One fall fish may very well have broken the state record. We had thoughts of filling the cooler with water and getting it weighed when we were done. The 90 degree heat and lack of scale on the raft to get an estimated weight ended those thoughts. It seemed like a lot of hassel for a maybe.
If you would like to book one of these trips give me a call to set it up. The cost is $400 for one or two anglers and can be fly or spin fishing.
As I was walking along the river this morning I starting thinking it’s not about the fish. I thought for me it is about seeing the sunrise and getting exercise in a way that I enjoy.
Then I thought, well that is a bunch of crap. You are only thinking that because the fishing is slow. I have had plenty of customers tell me the same thing. They tell me it’s not about catching fish it is about being outside or hanging out with friends or family. I have come to realize they were probably lying and didn’t even know it.
I have never thought or heard that on a good day. It is only the slow days or at the start of the day when we don’t yet know how the fishing will be. If the water had no fish would we still be there? The answer is likely no or at least not in the same capacity. I doubt many people would pay me to just drive them around the lake.
At the end of the day it really is about the fish. We go fishing to catch fish. Are we mad if we don’t? Probably not but we are no where near as happy as when we do catch fish. Enjoy your time on the water. Enjoy the beautiful places fishing can take you. Soak it all in. Just stop lying because at the end of the day we all are here because of the fish.
If you follow this blog or my social media sites you know I am always fishing different bodies of water. This week is no exception.
Sunday I hauled the Lund down to Cayuga Lake to fish with my friends Mark and Jamie. While the fishing wasn’t what we had hoped for it was still good. Mark caught his first ever lake trout and reminded me that catching seven trout and missing a few others isn’t a bad day.
Today I had a charter on Oneida Lake. I was hoping to send Bob, Eric and John home with a limit of walleye but mother nature had other plans. After 2 passes trolling we had 7 in the boat and needed just 2 more. As we were setting the lines for the third pass we noticed a storm moving along the south shore. Checking the radar we realized we better keep a close eye on it. As we were discussing our plan the first bolts of lightening were seen and the scramble to pull lines and get to the launch begain. We made it back before the storm hit and it was very clear we made the right move. A big thanks to Mike from Full Tank Charters for backing my truck in and speeding up the take out process as everyone was trying to get off the water at the same time.
If you are looking to get out for trout, salmon, or walleye give me a call.
Salmon season has come to an end and what a season it was. With a horribly dry summer we found ourselves facing very low water conditions. How’s that old saying go? When life gives you lemons make bull frogs or something like that.
I have to give a huge thank you to all my awesome customers. You are the reason I do what I do. In less than ideal conditions everyone was more than willing to change things up which equalled smiling faces and fish in the net. Some days where better than others but everyone was happy.
Another thank you to those who have already booked next year’s trips or steelhead trips. It’s a great feeling having most of your next season booked as this season is ending. That being said if you want to salmon fish with me next year I wouldn’t wait too long to start planning.
With the low water I never fished the Salmon River this fall. I stayed on the lake as much as possible and fished other locations when I couldn’t get on the lake. Next weekend that changes and I will be steelheading on the Salmon River come hell or low water. The reservoir is slowly filling and I expect 335 cfs base flow to return in the near future as long as it keeps raining. My Smithfly raft floats no problem at 185 cfs so I am not concerned either way.
Steelhead season is looking like it is going to be a good one. Some very nice steelhead have been caught already along with some impressive brown trout. I do have a couple December dates open that I would like to fill if anyone is interested give me a call.
Last year my oldest son came home from school upset that his classmates had been off for take your kid to work day. We explained to him that kids aren’t allowed into the aluminum factory that my wife and I work in. Then it dawned on me that he could come to “fish work” as he calls my guide business. He was so excited that could come to fish work with me next year.
Well next year came and I had it all set up. Customers to take that understood the plan and how our trip could be cut short as Gunnar would be with us. Then the Corona virus shutdown school and guiding. This left me with one very disappointed 6 year old. It was time to come up with a new plan.
Plan B was to “guide” my father and wife for crappie and/or rainbow trout. Gunnar was very concerned that we would get in trouble for guiding when it was shut down. I told him mom and grandpa would just pay us at home where no one would see as he made sure they both knew they were going to have to pay him.
That morning Gunnar helped me get the gear and boat ready. Then he packed snacks while I went and bought subs for us for lunch. When we arrived at the reservoir he helped to launch the boat.
Unfortunately we tried about everything we had and couldn’t get anything going on the reservoir. We decided we would head back home and try fishing in the creek that separates our property from my parents. In the truck on the way home my dad gave Gunnar $4 which made his day.
Back at my parents house Gunnar wanted to ride his bike before fishing. I headed down to the creek with his fishing rod and a container of worms. As I made my way across the lawn I saw a fish splash on the surface. It was a good size steelhead. I called to Gunnar, who had just put on his bike helmet, telling him there was a steelhead in the creek. He came running down very excited to try to catch it. I explained we needed to be very careful not to spook it. I took the bobber off and hooked a whole night crawler on. I told him I would cast it for him becuase it needed to be a precise cast. Not sure if the spin cast rod would even make the cast I made a test cast in the yard.
We then snuck down the bank into position. After multiple bad casts I landed one the drifted perfectly to the fish. I was shocked to see it grab the worm. I set the hook as I handed the rod to Gunnar. The fish turned downstream splashing in the surface. Gunnar struggled to fight the fish as he laughed at the way it took line and splashed. After a couple minutes he managed to get it to the shoreline. I ran down the bank and grabbed it for him. He was ecstatic to have caught the biggest fish of his life and be the first person in our family to catch a steelhead from the creek.
He ran up to the house to get his mom so she could take our picture. After a quick picture we returned it to the water and watched it swim away.
We then returned the bobber to the line and proceeded to catch multiple shinners and horned dace. After all they were our target species when we headed to the creek. Gunnar later told me he had a great day at “fish work” and wanted to do it again next year. Given the circumstances take your kid to work day couldn’t have gone better.
Gunnar’s first steelhead and the rod he caught it on. Gunnar even let Beckett catch a couple
I spent the last 3 days in a cabin on the bank of the West Branch of the Ausable River. During that time I never even strung up a rod. This afternoon I told my friend it was difficult but the truth is it really wasnt.This trip wasn’t about fishing. It was a family camping trip with my wife, kids, and parents. I am not saying I didn’t think about it. I even laid out clothes a few nights in case I woke up extra early. Which I did do one morning but the thought of the dogs waking the wife and kids at 5 am as I tried to sneak out of the cabin was enough to make me roll over and go back to sleep.I wanted to take the boys fishing bit they were more concerned with the playground and swimming pool. That is of course until we were leaving and they realized they never used their fishing rods. I know one thing we are doing tomorrow.I could have snuck out in the dark and tried throwing a mouse in the famed flume pool. I had left the mouse rod at home and was more than happy to sit with Amanda by the fire.I had packed 3 fly rods and my vest in the truck just because it felt like the right thing to do. I knew they weren’t likely to be used but I had to bring them. I was camping right on the Ausable after all.When it comes down to it, contrary to my wife’s belief, fishing isn’t all I think about. Sharing my love for the Adirondacks with my family means more than catching a few trout.In a few years the boys will be fly fishing the Ausable with Amanda and I. We just have to catch that short window before they have to make a decision between the evening hatch and the cute girl they met at the pool. I still remember making that decision myself. I was 15 years old and we were leaving in the morning. Boy did we catch some nice fish that night.
Lately it seems I have been asking myself why or why not a lot. Although the question of why is coming up a lot more than why not.
I keep hearing about people dying way too young too. This makes me question a lot of what I do. It reminds me that things happen and not take anything for granted. You don’t know when your last day will be so live every day to the fullest.
Why do we spend our healthy, able bodied, years working and saving hoping to still be healthy when we are old? Why do we work jobs we don’t like just because they are secure? Why do we waste so much time doing work around the house on nice days when we could be doing something we love? This is something I have been doing less of lately as seen by my yard. A very wise man said you can’t catch a fish with a lawn mower and they don’t sell fishing rods in the lawn and garden department. Why are we so afraid to fail? Why not take a chance on that idea and see what happens?
Every Monday through Friday I walk into a job that I don’t really enjoy. I ask myself why but I know why. It pays well and has good benefits. My wife works there so I could keep the same insurance if I left. I could make the same money or possibly more doing things I enjoy a whole lot more. The difference would be I would have to work a lot harder to make that money and be away from my family a lot more. I have no problem with the hard work but I wouldn’t like the not being home with my wife and kids as much. It seems like I am already always working now. Then there is my pension plan. I am one of the few people left that were hired under the old company and still have a pension plan. If I live to 55 and am still in good health I will be sitting on a good chunk of money between it and my 401k. I could retire and instead of being a weekend warrior guide I could be a week day warrior not dealing with the crowded river on the weekend. Then again I could spend the next 17 years going to a job that I don’t enjoy only to die right before retirement. This has been my biggest WHY question lately. Why take that chance? Why not take a chance on doing something that you enjoy? Walking into work the other morning I thought, the only difference between this place and prison is the angle of the barbed wire on top of the fence.
I have ideas in my head and I think it is time to act on them. Some of these are ideas that I started working on and never finished. Those will be first on the list. Then there are others that require some start up capital. Hopefully the first ideas can fund the next ones. Maybe just maybe I can break out of that “prison” .
This goes along with my “F it” list post. Live life the way you want. Don’t do things that don’t make you happy. Don’t worry about the people that disagree with you or don’t believe in you. There is always going to be someone with nothing but negative to say. Block them out. They will likely be people who aren’t happy with their own lives or people who are in the business that don’t want competition.
Remember having an idea in your head and not acting on it is like having a fly in your box and never fishing it. If you are asking yourself these same questions maybe it’s time to fish that fly. Also, if you are looking for a partner shoot me an email if you think it’s an idea I would be into. I am always open to discuss business ideas.
A couple weekends ago my friend Jamie and I took our annual trip up to the Adirondacks and stay at the Hungry Trout Resort. I have wrote a few reviews on The Hungry Trout and they are all still spot on. If you are looking to fish the West Branch of the Ausable River it is the only place to stay in my mind. They will help you in every way they can to get on the fish.
I always say if you want to catch a trout on the Ausable go to the Hungry Trout Fly Shop and buy what they tell you is working. This year was no different. Even with 7 boxes of flies in my vest I took their recommendation and added a few more flies. As we hit the river the first afternoon trying out a spot we had never fished before I wasn’t so sure about the fly I had tied on. In the back of my mind I thought this thing is huge and is never going to work but they had suggested it so I was going to fish it. After quickly fishing one section I moved up stream and was surprised by a large brown trout that smashed that big fly only seconds after it landed in the water. I was no longer doubting the recommendation.
Over all our trip this year was very good. We avoided a lot of bad weather that hit around us. The one thing this years trip lacked was fish numbers. The ones we caught were nice fat trout but we just didn’t catch as many as we normally do. This left me wondering why and bothered me for a few days until I took the time to play out the 3 days over in my head. This is something I normally do when fishing isn’t what I thought it should have been. I want to figure out if it was just fishing or was there something I did wrong.
In this case I think it was both but more to my fault. When we arrived we took the advice from the fly shop and headed out to the river. Our goal this year was to fish some new spots rather than just going to the same spots we always fish so that was what we did this first night. The first mistake made was fishing too quickly. Many of my home water streams are smaller and only hold a fish or two per spot. This being said it is normal for me to hook or move a fish in a spot then move on if nothing happens in the next couple casts. On days when the fishing is really good on the Ausable this is fine as you will find fish that want to bite in every spot. When the fishing is slow you need to slow down change flies and fish each spot hard. I also need to remember that there is likely 20 or 30 fish in that deep hole not the 1 or 2 that would be in the shallow spot back home. Even given our rushed approach we managed to land a few fish and see a few more. Then mistake number two happened.
Since having kids I don’t do a lot of drinking. I don’t have a lot of time for one and for two I don’t want to feel like crap the next day. That being said the first night in the bar I proceeded to suck down 12 or so beers leading to a not so pleasant next morning. Not getting up as early as planned was OK because we were going to check out some more new water that took some hiking to get to. This was a beautiful stretch of water that I am sure held some very nice fish. I can’t wait to get back and fish it again with a clear head and a full stomach. We zeroed on this stretch of water and quit early due to wanting breakfast. Lesson learned. After breakfast that day we stopped by one of our regular spots and were shocked to see no one was in it. We then proceeded to put a hurting on a bunch of chubby brown trout which made us feel a little better about the morning. That evening I made the same mistake as the first evening and just fished too fast but found a couple fish to play.
We learned some new spots and a couple new techniques. One that was very cool and I am looking forward to doing again next year. Overall it was a great trip and in review I learned even more than I thought I did. The fish might have kicked our ass this year but we will be back for them next year if not sooner.
Again if you want to spend some time on the Ausable River give The Hungry Trout a call. Between great lodging, a fully stocked fly shop, excellent guides, and a Bar/Restaurant on site you can’t beat the place.
As you know I don’t normally promote other guides on my page. However, seeing how Rocky is in Tennessee he isn’t exactly competition.
I had to travel to Knoxville for work so that meant I needed to look up the fishing opportunities. I came across a few guides that offer drift boat trips so I sent some emails looking for an afternoon trip if I could fly in early. Rocky emailed me back within an hour or two. There were others that emailed me back but it took more than a day. As a guide I always respond to emails right away so Rocky got my business. We set up the trip within an email or two and kept in touch over the next month or so until it the date arrived. He was always prompt and friendly when answering my questions and I had a lot of them.
The day of the trip arrived and of course the weatherman was actually right that day and the weather wasn’t looking the best. Due to the threat of some good storms we set up on a section of water we could motor up-stream and work back down to the ramp just in case we needed to run for cover. I was more than ok with that. I will fish in anything except lightning.
I knew we were fishing for big fish when I was handed an 8 weight rod with a 350 grain sink tip and a medium size streamer tied on the end. I say medium-sized because we fished much larger later on. I was pumped. I don’t get a chance to fish this way often. We motored up to the low head dam and started back down. The first pass down stream I connected with a nice feisty Rainbow Trout that found its way to the net. Not the huge fish I was hoping for but a good start anyway. Over the next few hours we found a some more fish that wanted to play but my ability to connect with them and put them in the hoop was lacking. The weather also was constantly changing. The skies cleared and the sun shined bright. Not exactly what I would call good trout fishing weather. Overall the catching wasn’t great but the fishing was excellent. I will definitely be coming back for revenge.
Rocky is a professional guide with top quality equipment. It was my first time casting a Orvis Zero Gravity rod and now I want to buy one. Everything from the boat to the reels were in excellent condition. A condition that isn’t always found on a guide boat even though it should be. It was obvious that he has a vast knowledge of the area waters and how to fish them in various conditions. I would highly recommend anyone coming to the Knoxville area to give him a call and set up a trip.
Today was the first day I was able to get on the ice this year. I have been trying to get out but it seems like there has been something going on every nice weekend. The weekends nothing was going on the weather was so cold I didn’t want to leave the house. I don’t mind ice fishing when its zero or less outside as long as I am already on fish. I don’t want to be scouting in that weather.
Today I had to sign my son up for baseball at 11 so I figured I would get out for the afternoon. I stopped by the tackle shop for a couple new jigs and some bait. The lady behind the counter told me good luck I hear they got a foot of snow up that way. This was not encouraging but I was going ice fishing so off I went.
I pulled into the parking lot at the Elm’s golf course where I planned to walk out from. However, when I got there I realized I couldn’t even see the ice from the parking lot. The wind was ripping and blowing snow all over. After a few minutes of contemplating braving it I decided to go check Green Point. I pulled there and it was better but still not very good so it was off the Lake View. I arrived at Lake View at the same time as a couple other guys that were heading out and there was once shanty out there already. Again the wind was ripping but I had made up my mind I was going to give it a try. I unloaded the 2 man shanty from the truck bed and filled it with gear. I have a single man as well but the plan is to fish with my oldest son and wife tomorrow so I figured I would just deal with dragging it so I was ready for tomorrow. This tuned out to be a mistake.
As I drug the shanty to the ice I realized I never put my ice cleats in the truck. The ice was snow covered so I didn’t think it was going to be too bad. As I started out onto the ice I realized I was wrong. The ice was smooth as silk underneath 3 to 4 inches of snow making dragging the shanty very difficult. With no other choice, well besides going home, I pressed on. I tried multiple techniques to move myself and the shanty with out falling. No of which worked all that well. The third time I fell I decided that was where I was going to fish. I cut two holes and set up the shanty.
Anyone who has set up a shanty in high winds by themselves know what kind of shit show that quickly turns into. After a brief fight I was inside somewhat out of the wind. I cleaned out the hole and dropped in the Vexilar. I saw I was in six feet of water and there were fish down there. It took a couple tries to figure out what they wanted but then I had my first blue gill hooked. It was a decent one around 8 inches. I say around because it fell off the hook and managed to land right back in the 6 inch hole which it more than covered before it flipped and swam away. I wasn’t happy about that but hey at least there were fish there and they were what I wanted. The next few minutes when well as I landed a few nice gills and placed them in my bucket.
Then a gust of wind came up that almost flipped the shanty. I fought to keep it held down as a few things fell off the seat next to me. Luckily not landing in the other hole I had cut that I was now realizing would not be used. As it settled down I moved my seat position further back as to keep more weight on the back of the sled. I caught a couple more gills all keeper except one. The wind was blowing snow under the sides of the shanty but I was on fish and that was all that mattered. Then it happened, a wind gust so hard it flipped the shanty up on it’s side with me in it. I struggled and managed to hold it from flying away on me. As I got it back onto its bottom I realized it was time to pack up the shanty. Why didn’t I bring that single man shanty again?
After It was packed up I decided I would fish with out it as long as I could. This was interesting as the snow was being blow into the hole and the Vexilar screen. I lasted about 15 minutes landing a couple more gills and losing a really nice one that got caught on the transducer. If I was using a heavier jig I could have lasted longer but the snow in the hole and ice on the line got to be too much of a pain. When it was all over I had 11 gills in the bucket. Considering this was a complete shit show that only lasted about an hour or so I didn’t think that was too bad. I am hoping for lighter winds tomorrow.
Wayne-o's Guide Service 