Rain, Rain, Rain

Well we are finally getting a good dose of it. Rain most everyday and some good soaking stuff at that. The best of it is going to come this evening and tonight, there has been a good soaking rain for a few plus hours and it will continue all night. It is a cold rain at that, been burning my woodstove all week. Wondering if folks think it will push them down to the lake or if the cool temps may make them linger. Wont matter to me either way as I have alot stuff to do and not alot of time to do it.

HT-The reports are that they are already knocking the stripers dead in LI Sound. Rain or shine the river run will be over soon.

     Hey Clint- MHO on your question is that the dropbacks are moving out and dont think it has too much to do with water temp after they have spawned- DSR reports improving fishing -that indicates to me  that- as usual for this time of year- the lower river is where the most fish will be found regularly- movin out. One run willl have fish and others wont-can get spotty.
That bein said the Atlantics are showin up and the Steel that are late or still waiting to spawn- always very low numbers around this time of year compared to earlier- will still be there and the cool temps will be good for holding them a bit longer.
Its winding down kinda quick now and fresh fish  are spotty at best upriver from now on.. If you are like me and not a numbers guy- think you are- its still fun mid and upper if ya can find occasional takers.
Was kinda happily surprised at the action last week..Personay still expect one or two freshies here and there for a coupla more weeks. Gotta travel and work for them though.
      As you can see most- regulars even- have moved on to other fishes this time of year but its great to go to upper places for the next few weeks with a CHANCE of a fish and generally few if any other folks around.
    At that area I PMd you about the other day had one freshie movin up while I watched. Never even tried for it either- just enjoyed the show.

Mother Nature has things backwards. We are now getting April showers in May.

Since you mentioned it trevor im gonna tell ya what i saw on saturday. In 5 minutes time saturday morning i saw 2 dropbacks off the rt. 52 bridge staurday morning.... also, same two cars parked by the tall bridge in town both saturday and sunday.... are there still steelhead??? Yes....are there abundance of them??? NO... it was pretty cool to see the two off of the bridge being untouched and unbothered....

Bring on the rain..... :)

    Thats pretty much the way I have found it to be Dime. If I'm up in the next week or so I WILL be upriver or mid river lookin and castin- but not with too high hopes. Am too toopid an stuck in my ways to go downriver too far.
    As said in the past have generally found a fairly fresh spawner or two till the third week of May but this year two of my 3 'spots' were ruined by down trees and resulting mud and sand wash over those usual 'late' spots.
  Didnt wanna say one of those 'oh yea they are still here' things and have lurkers run up thinking they are gonna score- Aint generally that way now.
    Like those very early reports where somebody hits a pod and the next weekend two hundred guys take their annual trip thinking its ON- only to take a nice drive anna hike.  LOL
If I wanna get into any real earlies think I may lift my DSR ban and get down there this August. Well it wasnt a real Ban- just havent done it in a few years. Waitin up river while you guys are fishin downriver is startin to make me nuts.
Ok  OK  --MORE nuts.

I excersized my steelie rod- 10' 7 wt.- on 3 dozen stripers this past weekend to ward off thoughts of August and beyond  I found out it didn't have enough backbone for big fish... Lost a hog...  HT is talking about putting his camper on the river Aug-Nov. , which means a place to stay some of the time, and  easier planning and logistics. Nancy and I thought about going west again this August, but decided that we could spend over 20 days at the river or at the coast for the same money. So, this year, I'm not giving up striper fishing, which I absolutely love with a passion, and will still get to chase steel and salmon on a regular basis.
Sometimes, I wish I was closer to one or the other, but being right in the middle is OK.  Will definately come up this summer to check out the smallies.  Any larger ones in the estuary, compared to the above the DSR? Just wondering if the yak or canoe is a must, or if I can get away with wading the river?  By the way, the Super Moon screwed the fishing for about 4 days, bringing huge quantities of cold, sterile offshore water in with the big tides.
I watched it change from dark  blue to that nice, clear green-just like prime steelie water- and the fishing turned on. I hope the rain keeps the river up enough for all the parr and smolts to stay alive and healthy.
Here's some pics from the weekend- hint- lurkers can head east for awhile....








 
Have fun at whatever and wherever, salmon will be staging soon....
 
 
 
Charlie

Great pix, Charlie.Wish I had some to add but everyday life getting in the way, again.Living fishing through you guys for now so keep the photos coming. Pete.

ORIGINAL: pafisher

I was looking at "fishing reports" on the Fisherie site and "Ironhed",a charter captian,states that the fishing on Lake Ontario is the best it's ever been!Now this is out of the western basin but those Kings will be heading east this summer :)

About 1 week ago back til 3 weeks ago kings were on fire on the east end as well... it will be here sooner than later ;)

Charlie... a yak or watercraft is not necessary. I actually didnt even wear waders at all when i smallie fished last year...didnt once step in the water for them waders could/would help though...i would prefer wet wading though... the yak could help as well for the sole purpose of being able to cover a lot more water; and in some situations maybe more effectively. Im no smallie expert but last year was my first time targetting them and i did rather well. Never targetted them in the estuary; and probably never will

Youd be surprised at how big of baits and patterns they hit... definitely tie ip some large/bulky crayfish patterns...keep in touch with me as well, as i may very well be around while youre up there.

Dime, I know  you're right about the cray flies. I bet Trev gave us a good lead on small black snakes....
There's a lake near me that was a PHENOMENAL bass lake fo a number of years because of the droves of black water snakes they feasted on. I'm sure that was only part of the equation, but it sure didn't keep them from hammering unweighted black worms.  I've got some eel flies that'd work- I don't know if they have that oily smell like eels, Trev. I'd troll 'em during the day- might not work as well dead for stripers. Dime - my favorite smallie fly is a 5" 1/0 Deceiver. I also use a 5" 2/0 Gurgler. Even the 10"ers hammer them.  Smallies ain't shy. I'll let you know when I'm going .
 
Charlie

Charlie, do yourself a favor and take Nancy out in the Yak. Public put in at Rt. 3, you'll be able to go up and down catching fish.. You know how to catch em' so just explore the estuary.. If it;s a nice day then you'll have no problem going out to sea.. The big pond with some nice beaches to chill on..
Pretty impressive area in Summer.. Timing wise ? Late July - Aug..
Screw the snakes, it's the bugs that drive you off the river..lol

Different fish have different rules for off season but IIRC bass can be targeted with artificial lures ONLY in NYS in off season. There are special regs for different waters though. I think on Oneida lake you can only target them in May during the off season and again with artificial only.

     Gotta wonder bout flashy large stuff just like we use for Sharks in August--yknow - popsicles and such. Who knows might even hit a Skam or Atlantic.
    Havent tried them but may try that insteada bug imitations.= be kinda fun no matter what happens.
  When I use the crawlers on the fly rod I always kinda hookem in the head and drift them downstream and work the line  on the current for different spots ( like a small  eel or large sandworm for Stripers)- if ya tend kinda easy so as not to  break off the bait ya can sometimes work it right across the pools to the other side -with a friendly current-keeps the crawler up and kinda swimmy too. (dont be too quick on the hook set if ya try that)--baby snakes???

Trev, I  just read a piece by a fisheries biologist on the west coast and according to his studies, the number one predator of low water fry? SNAKES!!!!!!!!  Even garter snakes can go beneath the water and eat fry. Might explain the numbers you seem to see. Geez, I kinda like where I smallie fish- ain't no stinkin' satan sticks
Dime, steelie fry should start hatching soon, they have an incubation period of 1-5 months. I think the water gets too warm for them to flourish, if I remember correctly. Might have to do some research.
 
Charlie