Bear Treks

Tales: Tom’s 22 inch Monster Trout

It was Easter weekend in Northern NY and as usual for that time of year you can expect the weather to be anything from nice to rotten. This day was rotten with an air temp of 38 and a similar water temp. Tom has come up to visit me as that this is my traditional time to be opening the camp up. He had the itch to be throwing a fly around and headed up above camp for a little session. About an hour later he reappeared and had nothing to report as he warmed himself in front of the raging fire I had going.

Snowflakes were flying as he said he was heading down stream to a large pool about 200 yards below camp. I said to him ” Tom go try right below camp where two branches of a split in the river formed a confluence.” I told him that I had a couple of good hits there the day before and that I had a large one on there the previous Fall. He dragged himself away from the soothing fire and headed across. I watched him for a few minutes and then got back to work around the camp. Next thing I know i here all this yelling and look over to see his fly rod bent in a giant C. I grabbed the camcorder, which is always at the ready here, and went to his aid.

Five minutes of epic battle later this slob came to net and after a photo session was released. This was one of the most impressive trout I have ever seen and I have seen a lot. This brown had to be pushing 7lbs and the jaw on the thing looked like the chin on Mike Tyson. This was a brute and as soon as I get the needed equipment and skills to transfer the old 8mm tapes to digital you will see the battle on my site. The photos don’t do it justice, this thing was a slab.

Adirondack Fly Selection: Best of the Classic Patterns – Nymphs

Next up in our review of the best classic patterns for the Adirondacks of Northern New York – Nymphs.

Nymphs:

BH Hare’s Ear

This is the #1 nymph in the east folks — a fly so common that if you simply say “bead head” everyone get’s a mental picture identical to the fly shown above. A classic, and just a killer fly pattern. Early, middle, late season — it’s all good.  Tie it on a curves caddis hook and use a dropper system, you’ve doubled your chances at catching double the trout as well.

Zug Bug

Like I said earlier in my search pattern post, my favorite classic nymph is the Zug Bug.It immitates so many different kinds of aquatic life, from caddis, mayflies, to stoneflies — it would be a good idea to come to the Adirondacks with several sizes and weights stocked.  Emerging insects of all sorts will be covered with this pattern, and if trout are ever so finicky you have no idea what might trigger a strike — do yourself a favor and throw on a zugger.  My father and I have been on the river a few times when everyone else reporting to the fly shops was getting skunked, and we killed it using BH Zug Bugs.  Sometimes, you just have to give em exactly what they want — and often the Zug Bug is the remedy.

Prince

Similar to the pattern above is the Prince nymph – a real go-to pattern in fast riffles when caddis and stoneflies are present.  My first ever really large trout was caught on a Prince in the WB Ausable no-kill section, in a very fast section of pocket water.  The trout darted out from its respite area in a back eddy along a rocky embankment, inhaled this fly, and kept on going downstream with it before I could do anything but hang on for dear life.  I ended up losing that fish, but the Prince has been a mainstay in my box ever since when I fish the rivers of the ADKs.

Montana Stonefly Nymph

Another great stone fly imitation, and in the Adirondacks the stone flies can get huge — with this pattern a size 8 or 10 will do, but sometimes the bigger the better with this pattern.  I’ve caught large trout on size 6 and even size 4 Montana nymphs, particularly on the Saranac river where stone fly hatches are to biblical proportions each year, the size of these insects seems to increase every season as well.  Huge trout love huge stone flies — the yellow or chartreuse trigger on this pattern will serve you well and stand out when it comes slowly drifting through the pocket.  Huge trout often can’t resist this easy and fulfilling meal.  Sometimes even just hanging this pattern in the pocket from an upstream position will entice a vicious strike… try it sometime if you’re fairly certain a trout should be holding in a given stretch and the usual technique for whatever reason isn’t getting it done.

Tight Lines!

[images via dreamdriftflies.com]

Increase Your Chance Of Success/Fun – Fish With Nymphs

Just a fantastic read from start to finish about why fishing nymphs is so important on Hipwader.com

A great quote from the article:

…all you really need is two or three all purpose patterns in a couple of different sizes. If one doesn’t work, try another. If none of them work, try a new hole, chances are there are no fish at that one. And since nymphs make upwards of 80% of a trout’s diet, you will be more successful, which will make it more fun, which in turn will keep you fly fishing.

I completely agree. Under the surface of the water lies an entire ecosystem ready to be explored, particularly for the person just starting out with a fly rod.  I wish I had started fishing nymphs first, rather than trying to demystify the cast, presentation, and drag aspects of the dry fly presentation all at once as a novice.

As it happens, my sister recently started fly fishing and my father and I started her using nymphs and streamers first — showing her the techniques of keeping the fly in the water for as long as possible and managing line, and not as much on casting.  She’s had much more success early on than I ever did, and has an appreciation for the sport and practice right from the beginning because she’s had success to go along with her patience.  She ended up catching a beautiful holdover 17″ Brown Trout as her very first catch — an experience I sure wish I could relate to.  Kinda like hitting a 300-yard drive straight down the middle the first time you ever pick up a golf club.

But to bring it all back around, the fly was a #8 Peacock Backed Wooly Bugger, perfectly dead drifted along the seams of a nice piece of pocket water on the West Branch of the Ausable. Classic Adirondack fly fishing…

And I think it’s still her go to pattern!  So the tenants of the article ring true for me and the experiences I have to share, fish nymphs and streamers and your rate of success and the amount of fun you have while fly fishing is sure to increase as well.

Adirondack Fly Selection: Best of the Classic Patterns – Emergers

Next up in our review of the best classic patterns for the Adirondacks of Northern New York – Emergers and Wet Flies.

Emergers / Wet Flies:

Soft Hackle Hare’s Ear

The texture and color of Hare’s Ear has to be one of the best all-purpose materials around for imitating various types of aquatic life — particularly mayflies. The Hendrickson, March Brown, and Gray Fox are basically all covered with this one pattern, and who knows what else a trout may think this killer pattern resembles floating downstream. An absolute must-have emerger that works just about anywhere… especially in the ADKs.

March Brown Wet Fly

When March Browns are in the river, you’ll not want to be on the stream without one of these. My father once hooked up on two trout at once by quartering downstream and swinging this pattern along the seams below him. His point fly and dropper both got some attention. This pattern can be tied with and without a wing… dad likes red thread and gold ribbing with his variation of this classic pattern.

CDC RS2 Emerger

Such a simple but deadly emerger is the olive RS2. On an overcast June day in the Adirondacks, this might just do the trick for you. While it imitates many of the PMD variaties, the shape and coloring of this particular version of the pattern have proven to be especially deadly.

Caddis Emergers

While just about ANY caddis imitation will do when their out — there are two specific types of caddis emergers that have worked very well over the years in the Adirondacks:

1. La Fontaine Sparkle Caddis

2. Caddis Poopah

Shark’s Caddis Larva

Simply one of the best caddis larva imitations around, and my father swears by it. He ties his versions with and without the bead depending on the depth he’s looking to target. Often his go to pattern when there’s no discernible hatch, it’s the middle of the day, or we happen to be fishing a long, wide, non-descript run on the Saranac River for example. Trout seem to come from every nook and cranny of the stream to inhale this pattern. Look at the picture from Global Fly Fisher, can you blame them… it looks real!