JestersHK

Nice job. No matter what they always head down hill LOL. I've yet to see one run up a hill or towards the truck.

Sounds like my trip to NC last year too. I never seem to vacation at the right time of the season LOL. I did catch a few small native rainbow in the davidson watershed area, but man I had to work for those fish

I'm curious to get down and check out the stream. Have heard mix reports... Rocks were def slick down there even in the park this year. More so than prior years. I picked up some new wading boots. Still breaking them in, but I am going to stud them this year for sure.

So after my recent trip to New York I was curtailed from chasing Steelheads and Salmon up on the Salmon River by the fact the biggest fly rod I had is a 5wt. The guy at the outfitter shop said 8wt is the absolute minimum he'd recommend given the size of the fish and the flows they are in and said a 10wt is your best bet. Anyone here chase big salmon and such? Any good recommendations? Paging @duckydoty LOL. I know they grow them big up in AK. I'm trying to put a trip together later this year. I'll be doing a guide trip on the first day which they provide all the equipment, but would like to bring my own as well so we can venture out on our own. I prefer to not spend a fortune on a setup that will only see use a few times a year, but I fully get buy once cry once as well. Would hate to have a cheaper rod blow out on me on a big steelie or salmon. I don't need a super awesome caster either as my fly fishing technique is newby and ugly as sin Thanks in advance guys!

Another awesome hunt there BH. Always love your stories. Keep killing those geese!

Nice job John! Figured you would of had more luck at bennett without the crowds. Haven't done any C&R there this winter though myself. Sounds like a great road trip!

HAHA, I may have a pic or 2 on one of my phones... Its funny in how much upstate NY resembles southern MO. Minus all the snow they get. That and all of the areas we were in were urban. I literally fished behind the hotel next to a wendy's parking lot. One of the locals said they catch them on cheeseburgers after they get stocked. The guy at the fly shop said the stocked fish get flat fished out of the streams... Apparently they have some poaching issues, and lots of folks keeping more and very little catch and release.

Looks like you guys tagged a few nice ones, and I think anyone who fishes there will tell you 20 fish at night is a pretty great night. Taney for me is always hit or miss LOL. What was the water like was it all the way off? Surprised you didn't hit any on the sticks. Night time is my favorite time to throw them and the fish we do land are usually solid ones. Nice job and thanks for sharing!

Congrats guys and good luck on the new start up! Very exciting to see and I can't wait to try out the craws on my little creeks.

Well I am back from the North. Sadly without even seeing a single fish... Where to begin LOL. I only had 1 day set aside to go fish and I had prescouted a few places that I found online that looked promising. One thing I figured out right away was that its the wrong time of year to do any wade fishing . At least for the rivers, streams, and brooks I was targeting. The water was up and fast, and also muddy from the warm temps causing snow melt and the unseasonable rain they had up there. The first place we went to was just blown out up to its banks... We tried throwing some sticks in the fast murky water, but it was useless. We next targeted a small Brook that supposedly held native browns and brooks. This was where we encountered problem 2. There is very little stream access and parking is non existant. We found some of the yellow signs marking public stream access, and I dared to pull the car over as far as possible on the shoulder without getting stuck into the snow. From here we slid down a snow packed hill to a little brook about 8 feet wide. It looked fishy and the water was crystal clear, but there was nothing in it... We headed back into town, and found some public access behind some shops, but again the run off had the water dirty and moving too fast to wade to get to better water. I started searching nearby towns and we made a short 30min drive north only to find more of the same. I was out of time at this point... I did find a few places to check out when their season starts. One thing I am going back for is the Salmon River. Its about an hour from my familys town and you can chase the steelhead. I wasn't equipped for big steelhead, but I will be going back and chasing these monsters for sure. The guy from the flyshop reccomended this guy for a guided trip. www.yankeeangler.com Next trip up will be boys trip and all fishing so hopefully I have something better to report back. Still had fun, but stinks getting skunked...

Heres a pic of song mountain. Other than that not much snow left. The weather here is about like home. Found a great little fly shop in Syracuse today called Trout fitters. Owner was a cool guy. Said they were nymphing so I stocked up. Hopefully pic fish are tomorrow.

For sure. we are heading to Syracuse today with family. May fish this afternoon, but Saturday is set just for fishing. It's nice up here. Snow on the mountains to break up the dreary days.

Although I like the cut to your jib BH, I believe I'm the one supposed to fill the crazy caddy role as part of my jedi fisher apprenticeship... You guys crack me up.

Made it safely up here. Not a bad drive at 13 hours. Missed most of the rain. Got my license and hit the section of river right by the hotel parking lot. No bites and didn't see any fish, but tomorrow we'll see what we can find!

This is shaping up to be a great year for you John! You got a guide, a camera man, a volunteer boat operator, and a crazy guy to carry all of your stuff around. Just need a guy to cast and a guy to reel for you and you'd be all set LOL

Some really great pictures there. Always love your Photog skills... Makes me want to use a real camera when fishing and not just the old potato phone camera...

Wow. Beautiful wilderness there. The water looks pristine too. Someday I will make it there...

Man that looks and sounds awesome. I just got caught up on the History Channels 'Alone' series which is in Patagonia this year. Looks like a place I could get lost in for a few months! Any chance you could post some more fish pics for us non facebookers? Thanks for sharing!

Good luck! Cranes on my list of places to get to this year...

I caught a smallie there last year too. I've also caught kentucky, carp, drum, gar, walleye, and white bass. I also saw a guy catch a huge flathead on a rooster tail up there... Lots of water. I love the 'bonus' fish too. Especially the walters as they are delicious. One thing I notice fishing at night with crank baits is you may not slay them, but all the fish you do catch are usually pretty decent solid fish. Very few little dinks will hit those sticks.

Awesome trip there PW. I too am envious of your trips down there. Hmm 11 hours for a chance to chase some reds... Almost worth it! I watched a guy fight a 37 incher once in Florida and man those fish just do not quit!

Thanks! Hoping to catch a brookie too. I've found some mixed results there around private access. Sounds like as long as you enter and stay in the stream you are good. I will not be testing those boundaries though We will likely stick to the public access areas. I'll be fishing with family who are just getting into trout fishing. They do know all the locals in the small town though so we have that advantage.

The West Branch has some Brooks in it as well. I believe thats the one we are going to fish as its open for winter C&R.

I may be reading Smalliebigs wrong but I think its more of how someplace where as kids and young adults growing up we would never expect to see or find that kind of thing. Don't get me wrong I know it has happened in the past and will continue to keep happening in the future sadly. As his topic states its just CRAZY out there sometimes. Despite what the statistics say I do not feel as safe doing anything out in public as I did even 10 years ago whether thats fishing, hunting, going to a baseball game etc. IMO in my short 36 years of age society has changed and continues to change not for the better.

HAHA That's how I say it. Apparently there's even debate among our family members up there on how its pronounced.