Fishing Report

[shawncat]

Well heres what I know about opening week.Good fishing opening day with many 3-5LPS. fish caught but I did'nt see any real big ones strung.Sat. and Sun. much of the same with Sun. less crowded.I recomend 4LPS.test at the buzzer due to the fact you are going to be snagged by other anglers in the bigger holes and your line takes a beating stretched,nicked you know what I mean.2LPS.test is better after the initial frenzy and a few anglers limit out.Power bait,dough bait,plastic worms,jigs ,rooster tails seem to work the best for spin-fisherman.Fly -rodders do'nt seem to have much room at Maramec at the big holes at the buzzer.If I were to break out the long pole it would probly be in the PM.Seems the bigger fish come from the usual holes.I'll call them long hole,bathroom hole,2nd set of rapids ,suspension bridge for a lack of better names.I've had my best luck on 1/32nd wht.jig,orange and wht.plastic worm,wht. or yellow power bait and dark rooster tails.I caught a nice 2LPS. and seen another nice one caught with a new jig stuck in there mouths grn. with two rubber legs.It may not be new but I hav'nt seen it.Both fish were better than average so it may be good.Someone said they sell them at the lodge.The trout seem to be nice size and really you do'nt have to be to picky because I seen the neighbor kid catch a half a dozen fish with a bare chrome jig head no lie I would'nt believed it if I would'nt seen it.No snagging all were hooked in mouth and he walked away with a stringer full of 2LPS.plus fish Go figure???

[loo10]

Fished Maramec for the 1st time on Thurs & Fri (3/2-3/3).

Met a friend.

Maramec is a different animal.

'Bout anything goes.

You're standing alongside one person using jigs,

another guy flinging cheese worms, and another

guy using powerbait.

There's fishermen wading all the way across the stream

and up the opposite side casting right at you; their lures

landing within feet of you.

But amazingly, we didn't get hung up together too much.

Overall, people are friendly.

Although there are a few jerks scattered in.

I was using a flyrod and doing well on cracklebacks

when a guy yelled at us and said, "Hey, this ain't Bennett Springs!!!"

O.K. I had to give him that one.

The main holes seemed to hold alot of fish with few in between.

All-in-all...a fun few days.

[Randall]

i went out saturday morning around 8ish and caught on chartreuse copper johns, then went sunday about 3 and did well on the pheasant tail and the green crackle back.

maramec springs has got to be the most frustrating place i've flyfished. i think i get hung up as much as i get on the water. crowds make flyfishing there even worse, and i noticed i was getting eyeballed a lot. there are definitely some people there that have the wrong opinion about flyfishermen. its a ball in the middle of the week later on in the season though.

[shawncat]

Yea, I agree with you guys but don't give up on it theres some big fish in there.I think Maramec's fish been running a little bigger on average then the other parks for the last couple of years.Don't know why.Seems like Bennett used to have alittle bigger fish than Maramec but that may have changed.Talked to some guys that just fish Bennett and they said Maramec had nicer fish.I usually get my fly-rod out during the week or in the P.M.Another good time is over the Memorial week,4th of July.For some reason pressure is light.Maybe everyones at the lake.

[Seth]

Hey shawncat.....was that jig you called a new jig.....was it one that had a painted green head, green chenille body and then had 4 pieces of white round rubber laying along the back of it?

If so, that is what I have been catching a lot of trout on. They have been around for a year or two that I know of. DJ's there in St. James has sold them for a couple years now I know.

I still haven't used my fly rod hardly due to the crowds of people. I will get down there this Saturday and I hope that I can get some time with the fly rod in. I want to try drifting an orange or chartreuse glowball on the surface and see what happens. Those pesky trout have been eating floats off the surface like crazy everytime I have been down there.

[Randall]

whenever i saw em hitting my indicator, i put on a crackleback in a similar color and get ready to set the hook.

[Seth]

Do you dead drift cracklebacks like a dry fly or do you bring it back with short strips?

I have never caught any trout on a crackleback down there. Only thing that I have gotten them to bite on were beadheads, san juans, and glo balls under and indicator.

[Randall]

i dead drift the crackleback as a dry... had to use hella floatant though. i've had really good luck on copper johns, pheasant tails, and scuds in the past, might be worth a shot to try. wd-40's work okay too.

[loo10]

Did well on cracklebacks the 2nd & 3rd.

About a size 12 or 14.

Light tan.

Pinched a #8 split shot on at the knot

& stripped it back...

similar to a beadhead.

And fish DID appear bigger than at Bennett.

Good luck.

[shawncat]

Hey shawncat.....was that jig you called a new jig.....was it one that had a painted green head, green chenille body and then had 4 pieces of white round rubber laying along the back of it?

Exactly!!!