If you were not looking at a calander I could convince you that it was late March here. The temps have been in upper 30s to low 40s, almost 50 a few days ago, and what little snow fall we've had is fast disappearing with the temps and rain. Usually I would grumble about having to work on the river in sub freezing temps but these last few outings have been a pleasure to guide. The anchor rope doesn't freeze, my clients don't freeze, the rod guides don't freeze and most importantly, I don't freeze.
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| Redfield bridge at Rt17 and Waterberry Rd |
The water is up with a release of 1200cfs, but with the snow melting and the heavy rains of last night and this morning, the gauge at Pineville is pushing 1700cfs and I'd speculate will continue to rise, if not from additional release, definitly from run-off. Our spring run-off comes from melting snow in the Tug Hill Plateau, which is collected in the reservior at Redfield, NY. Normal snow fall usually averages any where from 20'-30' a year, however, this has been a LOW snow fall year. I took a ride up to the reservior yesterday and it is near full pool.
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| Boat ramp in Redfield, NY |
The snow on the ground was around 1' deep. Most years I'd have had to use my snow shoes to get around on top of 6'-8' of snow. It's hard to predict what the run-off situation will be this spring, but winters not over here by a long shot. We could still make our average snow fall amounts between February and Arpil . One thing is for certain, there will be no shortage of water from here to May at least. This will mean that substancial flows on the river should be the norm from here on out (subject to the whim of the power company).
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| Size does matter! Smaller is better. |
As for the fishing, to this point it has been good, not stellar but consistant. Each outing recently has produced 3-4 steelhead landed daily with 8-10 hook ups on average. Most of our fishing is indicator fishing with fly gear and the key to success has been getting down deep. Last post I mentioned shotting so a review of the info on the link I posted would be a good idea. Also I have been using small profile flies as these sink faster than bulky flies. I've been fishing these on a staight 12lb leader about 10' long with a 6lb tippet section, roughly 16" in length. I use a #12 micro swivel between my leader/tippet for various reasons. One is to make the transition from 12lb to 6lb easier, and I place my shot pattern above the swivel so it never ends up down by the fly. As you can see from this picture I am using mostly bead heads and this extra weight helps. Some patterns I am using right now, however, are weighted under the body of the fly.
Don't let the heavier water flows discourage you from fly fishing this river. Just like the spin and pin fellas love the big water, the fly guy (or gal) can have good success also. Tight lines.
