Guide's Day Off

Posted by M. Hynes | Posted in | Posted on Thursday, October 22, 2009

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I thought of Wednesday as the calm before the storm. I needed to get away; someplace I don't fish very often. But needing a dozen dozen flies that haven't been tied for clients, and patching waders, tying leaders, finding the materials to tie that dozen dozen, an oil change, new tires, family obligations, oh, and "when was I going to take the trash out?" The correct answer to these questions is RIGHT NOW! (especially the last one). Except mine had a "but" at the end. But I am going to Cattaraugus to swing flies before I am guiding for steelhead (almost) everyday between now and Christmas. Everything else has to wait. Except the trash. We used a friend's Chautauqua lake house Tuesday night as a forward base camp (thanks Nate!).

We were prepared. Ok, ok. We had too much.





JD's first-ever steelhead.
Do not try this hold at home. I am a trained professional.




Bright colors were the ticket for swung flies.





Nice fish Jim!




12'8" 7 weight Scott ARC = being able to put the wood to the Chromers.







JD finished out the day with a nice chromer, his second steelhead.





All in all it was a very fun, productive day. Most of the fish landed were on large streamers. If you haven't tried swinging big flies you are missing out big-time. Stop by the shop and check out our selection. You will not be dissappointed!


Right now there are scattered fish around all of our rivers. We need rain! and it looks like we will get it. If you need a fix this weekend, search out the bigger deeper holes on the lower part of the rivers. Super-gin clear water means lighter flouro tippet (4x), and single-fly rigs. When the water is sloooow, usually no weight is needed. Just make sure your indicator is at the correct depth (1- 1 1/2x the depth of the water). Don't be afraid to set your indicator at 2'. Adapt to the conditions. If you'd like to swing, most spots will not even require a sinktip. A slightly weighted fly should do.


Good luck everyone. If you need something, you know where to find me: