Dropback Steelhead and Early Season Smallmouth

I have been hitting the creek recently.  I started fishing mainly for hungry dropback browns and steelhead.  The water has been pretty low this spring, so the trout fishing has been up and down.  When the water is right the fishing is good, when it is low the fishing is tough.   We have had some good days fishing for trout and catching some decent browns and steelhead.  The big surprise was the number and size of some smallmouth from a recent trip.  Trout fishing was slow, but I did catch a decent bass on a spinner.  I decided to change lures and put on a small jig...first cast it produced a good sized smallmouth.  For the next two hour the bass cooperated and the highlight of the season so far was the amazing bass I caught.  The fish measured 21.5 inches long with a 14.5 inch girth.  It was the biggest smallmouth I have seen from this stream.  Hoping to hit the stream for some more early season bass and then get the boat going to chase some trout and salmon in the lake. 

A New Beginning...April 2010

After an almost two year break, I am going to try to get this thing going again.  Here is a little bit of what I have been doing lately. 

The first weekend in April we headed down to Rushford Lake to do some trout fishing.  The lake level was low and the water was pretty cold, but the rainbows were there.  The afternoon started with Carolynne catching a nice fish on her second cast...this surprised the guys who had been fishing all day and were trying to give her advice on how to fish.  It was a great evening fishing with Carolynne, her dad, and her uncle Dave. We all caught fish using small spinners and small jigs.  

We hit the lake early the next morning and fishing was slow...probably because the temperature dropped so low overnight.  We went back to the cabin and then explored some antique shops for a few hours.  In the evening we hit the lake again and the fish were active this time. We caught more than our limit fairly quickly and Dave even caught an extremey rare species for Rushford Lake.  We then headed back to the cabin for a fish dinner.  It was nice to be doing something new and I think we found a new tradition for the first weekend of trout season. 

Update

I guess I should try to get this thing going again. I have been out fishing a lot more recently. Most of the trips have been successful and we have been catching some nice fish. I would really like to get this blog going again and will try to report on a more regular basis. If anyone has any ideas let me know. Also, if anyone wants to be able to post lrt me know and I will get you set up. Here are a fewpictures from some recent trips.

Update

Well it has been awhile. I have been real busy with getting ready to move and finishing up school. I have been doing some fishing both on the lake and bass fishing on Erie. The early season smallmouth fishing on Erie is unbelievable, we caught so many 4 to 5 lb bass that you would not believe it. I can't wait to really learn that fishery and put a six pound smallmouth in the boat. The fishing on Lake Ontario has been good with a lot of kings and steelhead, but the fish have been a little smaller so far. Hopefully the numbers will stay high and the size of the fish will increase.

Spring is Here

The fishing in the creeks continues to be good, but is slowing just a little. That is alright though because the warmer weather has everything else staring to get good. The perch are biting in the ponds along the lake, the crappie are staring to get active , and the browns are all along the lake shore. It is now time to get the boat ready and start to hit the lake. Soon it will be time to hit the lake for some spring salmon. Here are a few more pictures from lately.

More Browns and Steelhead

Hit the stream today with Joe for a few hours. The weather was real cold and the wind made it even colder, but the sun felt great and the stream looked good. The water was on the high side and flowing strong, but the visability was great. We strated slow, but then ended with a flurry. The totals for the two hours of fishing was 10 browns and 1 steelhead. The cold water allowed the fish to fight hard and we were surprised with how healthy and strong the fish were. One of the smaller browns we caught today was stuffed with bait but still inhaled a spinner. Check out the picture we took of the bait that the fish had in its mouth. If the rain holds off this week should be real good.

Hungry Browns

Finally hit the stream for some fishing today. The creek was actually on the low side and visability was pretty good. I fished a few spot after work and was happy to see that there was still a fair amount of browns left in the stream. I was tossing spinners and the browns were cooperating. The surprising part was how cold the water was and in turn the fish were lethargic. It looks like it is a good time to do some casting for browns or to start searching some spots for steelhead.

Last Few Days on the Alagnak

Our last few days at Angler's Alibi were spent on the Alagnak River. At this point of the trip we were concentrating on fighting through the constant chum salmon we would hook to get to the more desireable silver salmon. We wanted to fill our cooler to bring fish home and hopefully catch a few big male silver salmon. We succeeded at both. The weather continued to be warm and sunny. This allowed us to fish in comfort all day. It did however slow down the fishing a little (if you call 30 salmon per person slow).
On our final day we both caught fish on our last cast. Unbelievably as we were breaking down our rods for the boat ride back to the lodge a bear joined us on the gravel bar we were fishing as if to say good bye. Back at camp we reluctantly packed up and were treated to one of the best meals we had ever had. Before long the float plane arrived and we began our long journey home. We had five flights that went through the night and the next day before arriving home at 4:00 in the afternoon.
The trip and our experiences are hard to put into words. I guess the best way we have been able to describe it is that it was "life changing". It is a good feeling knowing that there are places like this still on Earth. This was a trip of a life time that we look forward to doing again as soon as possible.