r3g3
Heyy Charlie- You picked the best time so far this season for early unmolested fishes- hope ya found a few- weather permitting.
Am sure the reports of a few starting will get the circus train started- by the time I get up again will be stumbling over people instead of cobble.

Fish were there in very, very small numbers. Saw maybe 10 all day, and  those just swirls. Never saw a hook-up out of hundreds of people fishing.  Talked to guys that abandoned the DSR in the morning as nothing was happening. Guess it was just off.
Water was warm. Rained off and on  from 10 . We fished below 2a, UFZ, Schoolhouse, Barrel and looked at lots of other places with nothing happening. But, had a great day with tons of laughter and great company.  I'm glad I finally got to fish with Uglyfish, won't be the last by any means. The chubs were everywhere, rising by the dozens and trying to whack your flies on the swing, occasionally getting hooked. I guess  if you use 1/0's you'd never have  to  unhook them. Now there's a reason....
     Walked in the powerlines from Pulaski St. to the bottom  of Schoolhouse.  There's a chopped swath for most of the way, but lots of bungee sticks and stubble. We followed a flock of vultures- shoulda told us something.  At 350 crossing was a non-issue- at 500 still doable if you wanted to cross over from the north and walk down to the bottom of the wire. Jailhouse was empty, looked like a ghost town. They have posted right to the last 50 feet of the land adjacent to Schoolhouse.
Went up and fished the tail of the barrel and saw that it's filled in even more. I could easily wade across in  a good  100 foot stretch, that wasn't so a few years ago, unless you were willing to go a little deep and had some great balance.  If jailwater inmates fish back there at low water they're going to have to duel with those fishing the north. Literally.  I no longer miss it. I'll fish it from the north, much better approach , especially with the changes. The Kiddie Pool had some facelifting done by the DEC?  An excavator put in a bunch of rock at the launch , basically eliminating the red light gravel bar and pushing the channel and  south seam  over past the center bridge pylon.  The prime spot in the pool is gone. Probably eliminated  room for 4-5 guys and makes the fish run a narrow gauntlet without  much space to hold at lower flows.   The Church Pool also lost the gravel bar on the North Bank and straightened out.    It did improve up towards the wire.  The tree at the top of Paradise lost all the branches in the water and has become a non-issue, a few trees are back in the curve- it looks like you could cross at low water but very, very dicey. We tried to cross at the bottom of Paradise, but the deep corner turned us back.  I didn't look at the tail of Purgatory, but I'm guessing it's safer to just walk -in from the LFZ.
We had an amazing incident happen in front of Dawn's where we had gone to peer off the bridge at the zoo. Not many people there. I'll let Wayne tell it, but I missed a prime opportunity to shoot some hilarious video. I may have had one take, as I had my loop I usually keep in hand for swinging rip from my hand, but no hook-up. Would I do it again? Yeah, it was a good trip with lots learned and a good guy met and fished with- well worth the trip.

fichy

r3g3Heyy Charlie- You picked the best time so far this season for early unmolested fishes- hope ya found a few- weather permitting.Am sure the reports of a few starting will get the circus train started- by the time I get up again will be stumbling over people instead of cobble.

Fish were there in very, very small numbers. Saw maybe 10 all day, and  those just swirls. Never saw a hook-up out of hundreds of people fishing.  Talked to guys that abandoned the DSR in the morning as nothing was happening. Guess it was just off.Water was warm. Rained off and on  from 10 . We fished below 2a, UFZ, Schoolhouse, Barrel and looked at lots of other places with nothing happening. But, had a great day with tons of laughter and great company.  I'm glad I finally got to fish with Uglyfish, won't be the last by any means. The chubs were everywhere, rising by the dozens and trying to whack your flies on the swing, occasionally getting hooked. I guess  if you use 1/0's you'd never have  to  unhook them. Now there's a reason....     Walked in the powerlines from Pulaski St. to the bottom  of Schoolhouse.  There's a chopped swath for most of the way, but lots of bungee sticks and stubble. We followed a flock of vultures- shoulda told us something.  At 350 crossing was a non-issue- at 500 still doable if you wanted to cross over from the north and walk down to the bottom of the wire. Jailhouse was empty, looked like a ghost town. They have posted right to the last 50 feet of the land adjacent to Schoolhouse.Went up and fished the tail of the barrel and saw that it's filled in even more. I could easily wade across in  a good  100 foot stretch, that wasn't so a few years ago, unless you were willing to go a little deep and had some great balance.  If jailwater inmates fish back there at low water they're going to have to duel with those fishing the north. Literally.  I no longer miss it. I'll fish it from the north, much better approach , especially with the changes. The Kiddie Pool had some facelifting done by the DEC?  An excavator put in a bunch of rock at the launch , basically eliminating the red light gravel bar and pushing the channel and  south seam  over past the center bridge pylon.  The prime spot in the pool is gone. Probably eliminated  room for 4-5 guys and makes the fish run a narrow gauntlet without  much space to hold at lower flows.   The Church Pool also lost the gravel bar on the North Bank and straightened out.    It did improve up towards the wire.  The tree at the top of Paradise lost all the branches in the water and has become a non-issue, a few trees are back in the curve- it looks like you could cross at low water but very, very dicey. We tried to cross at the bottom of Paradise, but the deep corner turned us back.  I didn't look at the tail of Purgatory, but I'm guessing it's safer to just walk -in from the LFZ.We had an amazing incident happen in front of Dawn's where we had gone to peer off the bridge at the zoo. Not many people there. I'll let Wayne tell it, but I missed a prime opportunity to shoot some hilarious video. I may have had one take, as I had my loop I usually keep in hand for swinging rip from my hand, but no hook-up. Would I do it again? Yeah, it was a good trip with lots learned and a good guy met and fished with- well worth the trip.

Nice report Charlie :) glad you guys hooked up and shared some water, with us too.

Thanks for the stories guys.
 
Dam when you started I hope that tale was going to end with you guys blowing in a couple of the pill heads that have been ripping people off there lately.
 

Thanks Ug.
I got that from your post.
Its just that there has been a LOT of ripping off around lately from what I have been reading.
 
Just hoping that you guys were lucky enough to catch them in the act and get a couple of losers off the streets for a while.

Yep, fishhead is a common term for me and it is another wired fir $#it head. I have moved past the stereotype of a fishhead being None with an out of state plate.  Here is my criteria for a fshhead.
1: anyone who litters
2: anyone who is intoxicated on the river, drinks and drives between spots. It's ok to have a few cool ones, but when you  start at 9 am...........  I will include firing up on the river bank Creech and Chong style in this one too.
3: anyone whose outfit costs more than the sum of all my gear put together
4: anyone who feels that they own the river, especially  just because they drove a few miles  to get here
5: most anyone who fishes the local tribs, you know the ones with surf poles and thirty pound test.
6: anyone who is disrespectful to the residents of the community, their fellow fisherpeople and the fish/river
 

One of the few places ya can be in off season where everyone holds the door for each other and means it when they say 'good morning' and ''how are you today'.
Great place-great folks
Anyone knocking it or screwing it up Pizzes me off.
As a part time resident found its easy to spot the idiots in Silly season.

Andy I changed it a bit. Wouldn't want my dad to be a fishhead now  😜😜

What brings money in, in the summer season?

The lake in general is what keeps the traffic rolling through.  Like Andy said most of the state parks and campgrounds on the lake keep everyone chugging along and most are full or close to it throughout the summer.  Couple that with the steady line of folks making the trip to the mall from Canada and it stays busy. It all boils down to the lake though. Heck Charlie Caprara must be doing ok with the size of those two new dealerships right off 81

I hate all those car dealerships blocking access to a public river. Oh, they're parking lots.....

Those stealerships are nice looking, we have bought a car or 2 from them.   I would like to know how many more NEW jobs were created when they opened as both were already operating elsewhere.  I would think the builders were not local. Sales tax from the purchases will stay in the county. I am torn on the PILOT program.  They really need to look at each case individually. Jailwater would have been built no matter what PILOT or not.
 
Back to tackle. What is the smallest fly you consistently fish for steel.  I use 12's all the time. Do any use 14's.  Thinking of tying up some of my green nymphs in a 14. All the worms I have seen are that small or smaller. Do you get to a point where the Steel CA not see it as well..............
 

I know shot size varies a lot, depending on the flow and the depth of the water.  But, what is the most common size shot to use?

dimebrite2
I believe it was 10.5 million to build those dealerships clint. And guess what... They are on a payment in lieu of taxes program in which they do not pay taxes based on full assessment... The fisherman should be just as heated towards them as they are towards jail water... you'd think???

Just having a little fun here folks... Nothing too serious :)

Another mid stream jump in here, heck I feel like you brother with the busy end, but 10 mil ?? Shoot I could buy my entire town for that coin , lol.
NYS is offering start up biz a tax incentive .Not all are as lucrative as a tax shelter jail water or a new 20 year deal of a cement plant . We ( little people ) seem to be the grunts that keep the wheels turning , only wish we were greased a little bit too.

The biggest key to the fishery has always been the LAKE, us river walkers are supplemental income on a small window.
I love and have loved the area in the summer for many years , honestly more then the circus of the salmon.
Notice my avatar is of the Lake :)

No bait  allowed in the fly zones.  I would guess it would be hard to keep on the hook, casting with a fly rod. You also can't use a running line and mono (chuck and duck) in the fly zones.  A simple egg fly is cheaper and probably just as effective. You might want to review the special regulations for the SR before going.  If I was going to fish bait (if I did it would be skein or sacks under a float) I would use a spinning rod. Way more effective for what you're presenting.

Never used myself but I've known and heard of power bait working very well for steel and browns