Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Empire State of Mind.



As I begin the first two hours of an eventual eighteen hours of driving over a day and a half, Jay Z's Empire State of Mind happens to come on the radio. It puts a smile on my face as I make my way north to waters filled with migratory salmonids. At stop number one, I am treated to a home cooked meal, two extremely happy dogs, and a quota of flies to tie at the vice. After a brief nap, Adam and I are loading up the truck at 1 a.m. getting ready to hit the road for the long haul. 


I Love Fall.


Sight Fishing Amongst Dozens of Liners. 

Early fall might be my favorite time to fish. The leaves are all starting to turn to hues of yellow, orange, red, and brown. The ground is littered with fallen leaves and all of this color is reflected on the surface of the water creating one large mirage. The weather is at the perfect temperature for anglers. A cold bite in the early morning and late evening interspersed with a warming sun and blue bird skies. Throw in a dash of salmon, steelhead, and the occasional brown trout and you have a recipe for a great day on the water. 


The First of the Season.


Took a UV Tube Fly. 


Adam Bringing in an Atlantic.


Think He is Happy?


A Rare Female.


Powering Away.

The day of fishing is slow. As in all Great Lakes tributaries, the place is a circus, but we do our best. All these fish have been through a gauntlet of flies, bait, hooks, and ounces of lead careening through the air and water disturbing their feeding and spawning. Most of the fish completely shut it down, once the sun hits the water. But there are quite of few that continue to feed on chinook eggs dead drifting down the riverbed. Choosing a place of higher elevation you can pick and choose individual fish to drift too with the hopes that they will find your pattern appealing amongst hundreds of naturals and the many flies they have seen in their lifetimes. 


Another Buck.


Running Under The Tree.


The Net-less Land.


A Small Bruiser.


Premature Release.


A Small Chinook.


Adam's First.


An Overly Aggressive Male.


Tail.

After a long work week, a long drive, and a long day of fishing we were quite tired but the fall scenary more than carried us on as the sun faded behind the tree line. As the other anglers headed off, Adam finally had some room to swing and lossed three massive Chinooks that exploded on his streamer. I eased into a favorite run for the first time of the day, and twenty yards below me my first brown of the season fell victim to a dead drifted egg pattern. The last fish of the day released, we hiked out to the truck and made our way to our five star sleeping quarters, ready for round number two in the Empire State. 


A Beauty.


I Think We Need A Bigger Net.


A Nice Hen.


Close Up.


Admiration.


Got Kype?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful fish. That big brown there at the end is magnificent. Thank you for sharing.

Ben

Troutdawg said...

Me Likey!!

Unknown said...

Freeking Great Pics man. Top notch once again.