Chautauqua Creek Journal

Summer is Here

The weather today is perfect and my father and I hit an upper part of the creek early in the morning. The scenery where most steelheaders fish can't match that in the upper stretches of the gorge. Once the fishway goes in it will be interesting to gauge how many steelhead (and fishermen) make it up to this remote area. My father caught two rainbows on a dry fly. Saw some lunker browns hanging in two pools but will take more time and preparation to coax them out for a take. They didn't get so big by being dumb.

Sunny Saturday

Had a nice day on the creek with my father, finding fish scattered throughout.

Back on the Creek Again

Had a beautiful, crisp afternoon on the creek today. Met the father and son duo of Chris and Keegan.That's 5 year old Keegan with his fly rod in the picture below. Father-in-law took a cold dunk in the creek early on but recovered with a change of clothes and some cooperative fish. The game's acreek.

Saw a few today . . .

Nice Walk

Went out today with Tony, walking from the viaduct to the South Gale Street bridge. We found fish scattered about, mainly in the deepest pools, but the water remains so low and clear they are nearly impossible to catch.

Salmon Camp 2008

Our annual trip to fish for salmon on the Pere Marquette River in Michigan took place during the last full week of September, and was a success. We fell in between big runs but there were enough fish in the river to keep us busy. Air temps were upwards of 80 degrees during the day, but quickly cooled after sundown. I prefer warmth to freezing cold like we have had some years. The grub was, as usual, hearty.

 

Another Season Begins

There are steelhead in the extreme lower reaches below the North Gale Street bridge, but you'll never catch them. Saw a pod of twenty or so tonight in a pool so still that half the fish were pointed downstream, barely moving at all. Stripped a fly through them just for kicks with little effect.

Water levels are higher than at this time last year though that's not saying much. I hold out hope that a healthy rainshower will suffice to kickstart a run. Fingers crossed.

Time to get the gear ready . . .

There has been a lot of rain lately and the creek is running high compared to most years at this time. Combine that with some unusually cool temperatures - highs in low 70's all this week, with nighttime lows reaching into the 50's- and there's a definite feeling that steelhead season is upon us.

Short but Sweet

Went out three times this week, on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Forgot the camera one day and didn't get many good pics the others. Without any new precipitation, we found the water progressively lower and clearer each day. The Village fortuitously backflushed its water filters Saturday afternoon and the temporary stain allowed us to catch a couple. Today the water was noticeably lower and most fish had moved to either the deepest holes or deeper riffle water, in the usual spots. Only a few were still on the redds and those that were spooked almost as soon as you approached. There are three monstrously large steelhead in front of the old water intake barrier, but good luck getting anything to them. They are holding in the deep, green depths of the pool and once in a while one will float up like a shimmering mini-sub coming to surface. I regret to say Spring 2008 appears to be played out. We are supposed to get some rain next weekend but I doubt many fish will hang around that long.

Nothing Endures But Change

October 30, 2004:

April 10, 2008:

Another Fine Day

After a rocky start, with some question about whether the creek would be fishable after the night's rain and snow, we found the water in fairly good condition, if chilly. We had to start early and the fish weren't active at first but they warmed up some as the water did. My friend Tony joined us for the first time and did very well, with five hook-ups and one landed. It was a great day to be outdoors and, once again, we had the place to ourselves. A lot of folks have no idea what they are missing.

Short but Sweet

It rained most of the night and the creek was too stained to fish in the morning, which worked out well because we had friends visit during the day anyway, but we managed to get out for a couple of hours in the early evening. My father-in-law caught two. I was busy taking pictures. Yeah, that's it.

Afternoon Update

Shelby, the fishing wonder dog, accompanied us this afternoon. The fish were still active, so we were surprised to have the whole place to ourselves.

Morning Update

Lots of fish and other creatures. (Today's bonus question: what's missing in the second picture?)

Meanderings

Had a good afternoon walking the creek with my father-in-law. The weather was crisp and the water was still fine, but another 24-48 hours without new rainfall will make for easily spooked fish. In 2004 a log fell across the creek and diverted enough water to carve a new path across the inside neck of a loop in the creek. The diversion had a sharp turning radius and a nice undulating waterfall that dropped into a fairly deep pool before it rejoined the main creekbed. Fish could often be found in that pool. Over the winter the water has diverted again, this time back into its former path so that now the diversion is empty, exposed and dry.  A hundred years ago the banks were dotted with mills from Main Street up to Glen Mills on the Little Chautauqua; today, the only evidence of them is secreted away among trees and underbrush. Change is constant, natural and human.

The Game's Afoot

Took out a friend today who had not fished in over 50 years. He had one hooked on the third cast but didn't know it until too late, and in my eagerness to get him into the pod of fish cavorting in front of us, I had skipped the important lesson about setting the hook. We remedied that and he landed one soon afterwards, as confirmed by the visual evidence below. Had a nice DEC biologist stop by to take a creel survey; first time that has happened in my five years on the creek. I didn't fish much but had good results trying to get the hang of swinging flies. I know it's not a new technique, but I haven't used it before, and it was nice to (a) watch your target swing out into traffic to take the fly, (b) feel the hit, and (c) get a perfect set right through the nose or jaw every time. It seems like you get either a clean set or nothing, which, I suppose, must be better for the fish in the long run, assuming they're released.The water was perfect, sun warm, and fish plentiful. Looking forward to the next month.
Play Spot-the-Fishy in the last photo.

They're In

Scouted a long stretch of the creek yesterday and found a decent number of steelhead scattered throughout. The water was a perfect emerald green, and with the snow-frosted surroundings, made a pretty picture. We're supposed to have warmer temperatures this week, so there will be some snow meltoff, but once that's done I expect good conditions, including more fish. Should be a fun month.

Fly Fishing Expo

If you can make it to Mayville, New York on Saturday, March 29, a Fly Fishing Expo will be held at the new Chautauqua Suites Meeting & Expo Center. There's a great lineup of workshops scheduled on topics of interest to steelheaders, including "Great Lakes Tributaries: Reading the Water" and "Steelhead/Salmon Classics: Equipment, Flies and Proven Techniques". There will be opportunities to meet and learn from the pros. And it's all free. Click on the thumbnail below for a full-sized view of the expo flier and see the expo webpage for up-to-date information about the workshops and displays available. The Chautauqua Suites facility is great and I highly recommend it to anyone traveling from long distance. Mayville is only a few miles from Westfield, and is a short drive to Chautauqua Creek, Twenty Mile Creek (PA), and Canadaway Creek, and about 45 minutes from the Cattaraugus.

Empty Water

Thought I would get back to the creek today after a long fishing hiatus. The water was just a shade north of perfect green, but very fishable. The lack of steelhead was a problem. There were two goobers with spey rods and walking sticks who wandered into my favorite area. They had an interesting technique, which was to wade noisily through the middle- not nearby, squarely in the middle- of most of the pools and runs where fish usually hold in that stretch, pointing soberly at the empty water. Will have to try that sometime. Freezing temps and snow are predicted to move in tonight, but I think the water flow is strong enough to prevent icing if it passes in a few days.

Fishway Meeting

The public is invited to attend an information session for the Chautauqua Creek fishway project, on which construction is expected to begin in 2008/2009. Representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation will be on hand to describe the project and answer questions. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. on April 21, 2008, at Eason Hall, 23 Elm Street, Westfield, New York.