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Archive for the ‘Stories’ Category

Fishing with Tom and Joe 11/14/15

Posted in Reports, Stories, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I had the pleasure of guiding Tom and Joe today. I decided yesterday I was tired of playing the who can get on the river earliest game. Last Saturday I pulled in to the Launch at 3:50 am and was not the first boat in the river. This morning we launched the boat at 5:30. I knew we wouldn’t get the spot I wanted but I also knew we could still get a good spot. We anchored up in a spot I like, started the heater and waited for day light.

Once it became legal fishing time we started casting Finger Lakes Tackle spinners. On Tom’s third cast the spinner stopped dead then took off upstream in the mouth of a nice 6 pound steelhead. Tom did an excellent job fighting the fish and it wasn’t long before it was in the net. They had decided they wanted to keep one to eat so this one went into the box. It was a good thing it did because the rest of the day we had a lot of trouble getting them to the hoop. We did land a nice little brown trout later in the morning though.

Spinners and egg sacks took all the hits today. Talking to people as we made our way down the river it seemed that most people were having a slow day. There were a few drift boats that had a pretty good day though. I know Tom and Joe thought it was an excellent day, as did I. We battled snow, wind, and cold all day yet still managed to hook multiple fish and land a couple. That is a good day in my mind.

Tom and Joe also enjoyed the comfortable seats and the warmth of the heater. Multiple times they complimented the Pavati especially using the doors to get in and out of the boat. I am definitely looking forward to fishing out of it this winter.

Finger Lakes Tackle Spinners doing work

Finger Lakes Tackle Spinners doing work

Happy Customers

Brown Trout and Cigars

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Reno Fly Shop

Posted in Product Reviews, Reports, Stories, tagged , , , , , on October 6, 2014| Leave a Comment »

This review is very late as it was mid August when I had the pleasure of visiting the Reno Fly Shop. I figured late is better than never and I must share my experience with this awesome fly shop.

The Reno Fly Shop is located right in Reno, Nevada. It is walking distance from the Truckee River. The guys that run this shop are great. I was headed to Reno to visit some of my wive’s family so I of course googled fly shops in Reno, Nevada. It turns out there is only one and it is the Reno Fly Shop. Looking at the map I could see it was walking distance from Circus Circus where we were staying so I put it on my must do list.

Our first day in Reno my wife, son, and I went for a walk around. After checking out a few shops we made our way to the Reno Fly Shop. As I walked in I could tell I was going to like the place. We were immediately greeted by one of the owners. (I am horrible with names.) We told them we were in town visiting family and I was interested in fishing for at least one morning while I was in town. We talked about fishing in New York and Nevada for a bit.

I asked about hiring a guide as I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of time to fish and wanted to make the best of my time. They told me that if guided back home I probably didn’t really need a guide there. They would rent me the equipment and point me in the right direction. This was a shock to me as most places want to get as much money out of you as possible.

I came back a few days later to rent a fly rod for the next day. The basic set up was $20 a day. That included fly rod and reel, a hip pack, leader, tippet material, fly floatant, and basic tools. All I needed to buy was some flies. They picked out a half dozen flies that would work, gave me directions to a good section of the river, and told me how to fish it. I couldn’t wait for the next morning.

The next morning my wife, son and I arrived at the river around 7 am. I was going to fish and she was going to go for a run through the park with our son. I rigged up the fly rod and headed to the river. On my first cast the dropper became snagged on a rock and when it came loose the line tangled on the end of the rod. I placed the reel on the rock next to me as I made my way up to the tangle on the end of the rod. As I untangled the line the reel fell off the rock leaving me holding just the last 8 inches of the rod. You can probably guess what happened at that point. The rod snapped in my hand. I couldn’t believe it. I sent a text to my wife and headed to the car.

After breakfast we headed back to the shop to tell them what had happened. I had full intentions on paying for the rod I had broke. When I told them what happened they told me not to worry about it it was covered under warranty and they would just send it back. Not only did they not charge me for the next days rental because I didn’t get to fish that day but they wouldn’t let me even pay the shipping to send the rod back. These guys are fisherman and understand that things happen. Of course this caused me to spend extra money in the shop on clothing and a fly box that I have been using this salmon season and am very glad I bought.

The next day I did get to fish the Truckee River which is a beautiful river. I didn’t land any fish that morning but I didn’t hook into a very large trout that go off after making a down stream run around a very large boulder.

If you are ever in Reno I highly recommend that you stop in the Reno Fly Shop. Even if you don’t have time to fish while you are there I am guessing you will at least want a tee shirt as they have a great logo.  If you are planning to fish while you are in town this is a must stop before you fish as they guys really know there stuff. There is no doubt in my mind that your day on the water will be better if you stop in the shop the day before.

 

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Blow Off Days

Posted in Stories, tagged , , on May 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »

There is nothing worse that waking up early after staying up late preparing for a fishing trip only to find the wind blowing way to hard to get out on the water.  If you fish Lake Ontario, Oneida Lake, or any similar water there is no doubt you have had one of these mornings.  This has happened to me the last two days. The wind and rain have been to intense to get out on the water.

I normally take advantage of these days by getting work done around the house.  After all a happy wife is a happy life.  Some days I just can’t get the fishing bug out of my head though. These days I like to spend tying flies, putting new line on my reels, or writing about fishing.  There is also the most expensive blow off day activity buying new gear. I try to stay away from this last one even though it is the most fun.

What do you do on blow off days?

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Oneida Lake Walleye fishing 5/22/13

Posted in Reports, Stories, tagged , , , , , , on May 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Today was my first ever day fishing open water on Oneida Lake New York. Yes there are a few bodies of water in the Central New York area that I have not fished. Until today this was one of them. I have fished it through the ice a couple times but never open water.

I have been getting reports of the Walleye fishing on Oneida Lake being hit or miss. Some days guys have been crushing them and then getting nothing in the same spot the next.

Today I was fishing with my friend Mike Tankersly aboard his Lund boat. Mike fishes Oneida Lake regularly so I was excited to be out with him. We launched out of Oneida Shores boat launch. It was my first time at the launch and I was very impressed. I would recommend using it.

It turned out today was one of the miss days, although we did have some action. Shortly after we started fishing Mike caught a perch around 8 inches. Many places I fish this would be a keeper but anyone who has fished Oneida Lake for perch knows that this is a small one there. It wasn’t long after that I felt a hit on my black and purple buck tail jig. It was a nice walleye about 18 inches or so. As we continued our drift we noticed the boats around us where moving to other spots and not drifting back through the area we where in. We fished for a bit longer and then decided to do the same.

At our next spot Mike caught another perch, this one even smaller then the first. We both caught big small mouth bass. Another fish that Oneida Lake is know for.  I also managed to hook up with and land 2 pickerel. One of which was the smallest I have ever caught. I didn’t measure it as I wanted to get it right back in the water but I am guessing it went about 10 inches.

We only had a few hours to fish this morning so we quickly went and unsuccessfully tried one other spot before it started to rain and we decided to call it a day about a half hour earlier than planned. Overall I was happy with my first trip to Oneida Lake walleye fishing. After all my one walleye would be enough for dinner for my wife and I. Mike said next time would be better though so I can’t wait to get back out there and try it again.

 

 

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Walleye Fishing Sandy Pond New York

Posted in Reports, Stories, tagged , , , , , on May 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I fished Sandy Pond last night for a few hours on my friend Nate’s Boat. Nate is a local Charter Captain specializing in Walleye and Brown Trout.
We ended up hooking 2 and landing this nice 24″ fish. Both hits came on my secret walleye lure.
Our goal last night was to try out a couple spots including one new one we where recently informed of. The new spot proved to be a good one as it was where we hooked both fish. I believe if we had stayed there we would have caught more but again the goal was to try a few different places so we kept moving. Now that we have the new spot dialed in I can not wait to get back out there.
Walleye fishing on Sandy Pond has drastically improved over the last few years. The best part is that not very many people know about the great fishing that can be had on Sandy Pond so most nights you can have the whole pond to yourself. If you are interested in a walleye fishing trip contact me. Nate or I would be glad to take you out there.

This walleye was caught while fishing Sandy Pond New York.

This walleye was caught while fishing Sandy Pond New York.

Sandy Pond New York has some nice walleyes.

Sandy Pond New York has some nice walleyes.

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Walleye Opener 2010

Posted in Stories, tagged , , , , , on February 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Spring had come early. The early spring brought on some excellent Brown Trout fishing in the end of March and it continued through the month of April. Now it was May and water levels were lower than they should be for that time of year. I had a guide trip booked for opening night at midnight and was worried.

I spent the day time rigging rods and shopping at Gander Mountain. I was worried with the low water I would need some different lures to put fish in the boat. I purchased multiple small jigs and smaller stick baits. Now that the boat was all set it was time to take a nap until 8 pm.

As I drove to the river I kept going over my game plan in my head. I was very nervous as I had never fished this river at this level before. As always I wanted to put my clients on good fish. They had called me because they normally fish for Walleye on Onieda Lake and wanted to catch bigger fish then what they are use to. I had told them I could put them on 6 pound plus fish and I was determined to do so.

I had asked them to meet me at 11 pm so we could get in the water in case there were other boats fishing that night. I arrived at the launch around 10 and there was no one there. I launched the drift boat and put all the gear in the boat. My clients arrived a little before 11 and there was still no one else there. We talked about fishing and hunting as we waited for legal fishing time. The season didn’t open until midnight. They had plans of Turkey hunting in the morning after we finished fishing and joked about being done in time to take a nap before hunting. Finally it was quarter to twelve and we got in the boat.

I rowed us out into the river and anchored up where we would start fishing. I then explained how the reels worked and what my plans were. At 12 am I had them put the lures out and pulled anchor. I started up the middle section of the river where I knew the water would be the deepest.  It wasn’t long before the left rod doubled over… FISH ON!!!.

I dropped anchor and netted a nice 5 pound Walleye as he brought it to the boat. We put the lures back out, pulled anchor, and started up the river again. It wasn’t more than a few minutes and I was yelling left rod left rod again. This time we brought a Walleye in the 6 pound range to the net.

Time to change the lure on the right rod. I put the same Rapala on it that was on the right rod. Normally I would run different lures but it was obvious tonight that was the lure the Walleye wanted. We started pulling the plugs again in that same fast deep section and it was game on.

At 2:30 am we put the 6th Walleye in the fish box. They had hooked 8 fish landed 7. One was not big enough to keep. In just two and half hours they had limited out with 6 fish all in the 5 to 7 pound range. They were very happy with the trip and had time to get back to camp for a nap before Turkey hunting.

Turns out there was no reason for me to be worried about this trip. I should have known that the low water was just going to stack all the fish in the one deep area on the river and they would want the same lures they always do.  To this day I still have not used that tackle I bought.

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Christmas Steelhead in Big Water

Posted in Stories, tagged , , , , , , on December 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »

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.

 

steelhead1

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Douglaston Salmon Run

Posted in Stories, tagged , , , on November 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »

This year I finally decided to fish the Douglaston Salmon Run in Pulaski, New York for the first time. I had always wondered why people would pay to fish there when there are 13 miles of public water to fish on the Salmon River. Then in the fall of 2012 one of my clients, John, offered to pay for me to fish for the day with him and his friends. After one more on the Douglaston Salmon Run I understood what it was all about.
I stopped by the shack and bought my pass. I then drove to meet John at the Black Hole parking lot. He wanted to park there because it was a shorter walk to the Little Black hole where we planned to start fishing. We then walked down stream and found the spot where we wanted to fish. Now it was time to wait until about 7 when it was legal to fish.
We started fishing around 7 and by 8:30 my arms were sore from fighting big fresh kings. I was amazed at the difference in the fish in the DSR. They are so much stronger then when they get further up the river. They are also much more likely to take a fly as they haven’t been abused by all the snaggers. The attitude of the people on the run is much better then some of those up stream.
The big difference between fishing the DSR and farther up the river is the $45 entry fee keeps out most of the rift raft. The rules on the run and the river walkers that make sure they are followed keep a lot of the snaggers away. As will anything there will always be one or two that try to break the rules but normally the river walkers will take care of the. The other big difference is that the fish are very fresh just out of Lake Ontario and fight like no other.
The rules may change over the next few years and the price will probably go up but as of now this is how it is. There is a $45 fee to fish the run. They only allow 300 people on it per day. All trout and Atlantic Salmon must be released. King and Coho can be kept. Any foul hooked fish must be broke off as soon as it is realized that they are foul hooked. For more information check out http://www.douglastonsalmonrun.com. I recommend buying your pass online to save time in the morning and make sure you get one. If you would like a guided trip on the DSR check out http://www.wayneosguideservice.com. I would be more than happy to guide you.

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Ice fishing 1/29/12

Posted in Stories, tagged , , , on January 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Fished this morning on Big Bay (Onieda Lake). There was a minor set back as the power steering was not working on my truck so I had to call Mike and get a ride with him instead of meeting him there. We got there a bit late but set up and quickly realized that no one was catching anything. After fishing for about 2 hours with only one bite and no fish on the ice we decided to head north to Sixtown Pond in Henderson.

After stopping to pick up Amanda and more bait we drove up to Sixtown. There were a few people out fishing and saw a nice pike brought on the ice as soon as we go there. It was a nice relief after not seeing a fish on Big Bay. I cut the holes as Amanda and Dustin cleaned them out. As soon as Amanda started jigging she started getting bites. We thought we had it made.

Unfortunately the bite slowed right away. We managed 9 keeper sunfish and threw back around 10 perch and 3 sunnies. Only one tip-up went off that actually had a fish on it. I tried to set the hook and lost it right away.  There were some nice people that gave us 2 pike as they were packing up. I came home and cut them up with the 9 sunnies. Can’t wait for fish dinner tomorrow.

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