Was up on Tug off and on in mid Feb. Res was full then but not all that much snow by the normal standards- Ground was covered but not real deep.
 If they got more snow the melt may well trigger some large releases.

Thanks sarge, glad you got some and helped the newbie, too. I tie  a big pink worm that's thinned  aquaseal rubbed over chenille. The best day I've ever had on the river(that ain't saying much) was with it on 4/1  right at the bridge.  Thanks for the report!!!!!
 
Charlie

Saw a dropback hen caught yesterday on I Creek in WNY.  Finger Lakes fish were reported to be in in numbers and still pretty hard when schocking was doen Thurs and Fri.  And it looks like the Genesee may come down this week, too.  There should be fish in a lot of these spots, and on the SR into May.  On the SR, just take your time, remember where you've seen gravel in the past and watch for lighter patches of bottom, and if there are no ghosts out on the redds, fish the deep areas up and down from the disturbed gravel.  If you do fish to spawners, try to avoid catching the hen(s) as if you spook them downstream (or kill them) the males all disperse, looking for other hens.  Big, gaudy, threatening stuff, or roe imitations work well on the males.  If I were opposed to fishing redds, I'd go lower on the river and find a place they would slow down while coming upstream , like the stairs, or some of the runs around the ball diamonds and down below the Endzone, and fish roe patterns (I'm partial to globugs in the snaggy spots as they are cheap and ez to tie).  DEC says the fish are scattered throughout the river, but most of the pressure is upstream.  But a lot of fish that come in late won't run the whole river, so there could be a lot of freshies downstream, or in the middle river where the long runs could have big patches of the right substrate.   
 
L13 

L13,great post and very good info.Heck,maybe I'll make a run late April.

x2.  I'll use some of that advice, Lucky.   Get some of those Erie fish first, Jack.
 
 
Charlie

I'm going to get them Charlie.......I feel it in my bones!

Sarge, great to here you had a good trip!!! I dont care what anyone says...ten hook ups in a day is a good day indeed...

You are all welcome.   Spring fish are very different than fall fish. and if they are not where you first go, sometimes a little "out of box" thinking can be helpful.  The conventional wisdom is that they are running upstream, and even the 17 miles of SR is short in relation to the west coast, so they will hit their heads on the dam and then stack downstream into the UFZ.  And  a lot of fish will.  Buit if they have to get on the gravel fast, and a lot of later run hens will come in loose and dripping an egg here and there right out of the Lake, some will drop on the first gravel they hit.  A few years back I was reconoitering lower I creek with some guys from USGS for a project we were working on, and we went down a side channel in the wetlands at the low end of the creek, and hit a spot where a small trib came in and had cleared gravel and had some flow going, and there was a pair out on that, with still a couple of miles upstream to hit the typical Rainbow water.  This is also the time of year, Dime, when you can get some value added with that season pass.  I would wager you could find a redd today in the tail of the meadow.
 
L13  

Lucky, ive yet to see a steelhead redd in douglaston to date but have witnessed salmon spawning down there even as far down as wetland type areas like you mentioned just below the meadow where it gets veiny... id imagine early spawners of rainbow, summer run and fall runsteelhead are already dropping back though. I wouldnt doubt that steelhead do spawn down low, just havent seen it yet and often this time of year the water is way higher than 500 cfs where visibility is tough down there

True about the high flow and clarity. Also a lot of the late fish may come in around the same time they lock up for the late spring- summer period.
 
L13