SUN_MON TUES

Report Sun, Mon & Tues.
 Got to SR country later Sun afternoon- very few fishing and high muddy waters. 
 Did house stuff till Mon noon and went to a feeder which was within its banks and clear-right choice-many fish around-hardly any fishermen..
 Only saw one pair actually dropping and fertilizing eggs-the rest were all apparently staging and not quite ready- wont be long though.
 A few still moving in and none seen dropping back.
 Some of the males- large ones in particular- were VERY aggressive chasing others away  and hitting a variety of offerings.
Only using 6 lb test and had one on easily twice that weight so set the drag wayyyy back and just tried to wear him ( was gonna keep him) -he was actually trying to chase other males that were in the area while he was hooked. Reminded me of King behavior.
 Had watched for a while and there was no spawining action just about half dozen male  fish laying a few feet below an empty nest at the tail of a run. Cast past the nest and drifted down through the males and he took over lol. Lost to the nearby brush heap when he finally decided to go nuts..
 A while later similar conditions at the tail of a slightly deeper run and as I drifted too far around the far bank and below the fishes- a large male came busting outa the rapids below and SMASHED the bug. Few headshakes and gonzo. It wasn't drop back feeding but territorial aggression IMHO.
 Bumped into Fran Vertolova while there-he  had just released a nice male- the guy is a SR treasure chest of into and a real gentleman- had met him on the river a year or two back too.
 Bugged out today in a cloudy chilly rain- river up and brown-perhaps next week again.
 Lots of drift boats up stream- few if any cars in the fisherman lots
Hey Clint- joined the keep a cookie for the pan club.(first in years)
Keep off the river when its like this -DANGEROUS.

Was in lower clear waters on another piece of nearby water. Wasn't any way whatsoever getting anyplace near the SR in those conditions.

You got the spot correct Clint--lol
Heard there is a lamprey barrier someplace around where you generally start and that  its holding the Steel a bit before they can jump it.
Like to fish  well above you- so they certainly are getting through it.
Went at midday to miss the crowd- if there was one- for all the same reasons as you.
Fran and I were the only ones in there but we saw some folks starting later in the afternoon when we walked out as well as fresh morning tracks in the mud..
Don't waste too much time- they spawn and go real quick in there .
Am hoping they might still be around in bout a week- or at least a fishable SR by then for drops- last chances.
Have seen many years in there where they were already bout done or gone altogether by now. Heard the snow was still in the woods there last week with very high waters -seems conditions may have  held things off for a week or so- no more than that  IMHO.

What worries me about a lamprey barrier is 2 fold.   I often catch some smaller browns on up there and it would seem a small fish could not get past it going up and will it stop the salmon smolts from getting back to lake on the down

Trev I walked through there a few times last year during peak season and every fish I saw was not clipped.   Alot of them haul **** up there.   If they travel during the day I would say it takes only a few hours tops to get from the field to past the bridge.   Once past the bridge no one fishes up there.  

Heard that there are still new fish coming into the Oak, and the Finger Lakes tribs are still alive with fish.  Forsythia just bloomed here on Tuesday, that is usually the first couple of days of April.  You guys may still have more time left than you think, and you might hit early summer run fish toward the end of it.
 
As to the small fish in the tribs, when 2B and I first started going back in the early 80's, the oldtimers we met on the river all cried the blues about how the salmon and steel had ruined the fishing in the upper river.  The main river from Pineville up was a good brown trout fishery, and all the tribs had good brook trout populations.  Now you have to drive up above the reservoir to hit that, although if you get far enough upstream on the lower tribs, I am told there are still some brookies, but you have to sort through salmon and steel fingerlings to get at them.  The browns you are seeing might be remnants of those populations if they are resident.
 
L13