Saturday, October 20, 2012

OCT 19TH TRIP TO KEN LOCKWOOD GORGE IN NJ

Yesterday I went out to the Ken Lockwood Gorge in Califon NJ.
The place I first learned Fly Fishing over 25 years ago.
It had started raining early in the morning and I knew this should turn on the Fish to feed as the water has been so low for so long.
The trout are now spawning and will take an egg pattern Fly if its the same size as their eggs.
Back at my Moms house,
 The house I grew up in, the South Branch of the raritan River Runs right behind it.
this is some 20 miles downstream from Califon and the water was already chocolate brown when I left her house.
 But up here in the the Gorge it was just starting to come up a bit and get a little of color.
This time of year you will often cast a lot before a hookup, and today was no different.
but after a while I caught a 13 inch brown trout on the pale yellow egg Fly I was casting.
It was a male and very colorful! I fish awhile longer and moved down to another pool.
There I saw many Caddis Flies starting to come off so I switched to bead head Pheasant tails, two size 14 and one size sixteen at the top I tie these flies onto my tippet off of the bend of the next fly about 6 to 7 inches apart. You can use an indicator up the leader if you want,  this can work very well.
After some time I hook another fish, This one a Brook Trout, its about 12 inches and real pretty!
I stop fishing to eat a sandwich and just sit and watch the water for some time. 
Its now starting to get a little more off color now and come up the bank a bit but the leaves are not to thick in the water yet so I then start to Fish with a big Rabbit fur fly that a guy I know swears by. He ties it on a long shank hook with a stinger hook in back. its dyed dark olive and about 3 inches long. The stinger hook helps hook fish as they whack it short to see what it is and maybe stun it before eating it as it looks like it might bite back. That is what I think they do anyway.
I fish this with a sink tip line as you want to fish these type of Flies very close to the bottom.
a Teeny 130 is perfect for this BUT! they don't make it anymore so now I fish the Rio dc 150 and that works great as well. STRIP IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT! QUICK 10 INCH STRIPS! they dash for it.
I fish this for some time and WHAM! I hook a real good trout! It turns out to be a solid 3lb female Brookie @ 17 inches and full of eggs I land her and let her go like all the rest, Giving her just a BIGGER GRIN!            

FRIDAY 12TH OCT TRIP TO PULASKI NY

The Director of the American Fly Fishing Schools, Mike Corblies called me about going up to the Salmon River in Pulaski NY to meet up and fish with Kevin Margosian of  BIG KEVS GUIDE SERVICE.
jmargosian@hvwisp.net  phone 518 470 7908
Kevin has become our newest member in American Fly Fishing Schools. He invited Mike and I up to fish with him.
very early that morning he picked us up at our motel and off we went to the Salmon river.
Well before dawn we walked out into and up river to get to our run we fished at dawn.
Local law states the fishing can only be done at 1/2 HOUR BEFORE SUNRISE UNTIL 1/2 AFTER SUNSET. So we waited until 6.45 am and started fishing egg pattern flies.
Within minutes we had action, Chinook or (king) Salmon as well as Steelhead were stacked in the run we were on and they took flies every 10 to 20 casts.
Kevin has been fishing this River since he was 9 years old he is now 39 and knows it better than just about anyone. He would make a few casts and hook a Steelie that he was just pointing out to Mike and I.
when the light came up enough Mike had put the Fly rod aside and started filming.
I hooked a King that swam downstream at first, saw all the other sports in the water and went back up past me, and like Joe Morris of the Giants back in the day just kept on going, pulling the Fly about 50 yards upstream.
Just like most fish, he managed to "GET AWAY!"
After more than three hours we landed three kings up to 30 pounds and two steelies up to 9 lbs, but had many more than that hooked and lost.