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Author Topic: November....A Road Trip, A Tumble, but Kept Chipping Away  (Read 2964 times)

Jim C.

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I hadn't been out to Western NY in 2 years, so the early part of the month was focused on getting ready and fishing out there.  I used to live in Buffalo in the 80's, which gave me the luxury of picking the best days on the water.  Planning from afar, you're left to the mercy of Mother Nature.  She through a monkey wrench in the works.....gale force winds. lake effect snow, slippery banks, and high water all came into play.  My first full day started with losing a big fish on the Lower Niagara River.  I thought I had things under control until it took off in the current and found a show ending snag.  Never saw it....so I can only guess and I'm guessing 15 LBS. easy.  The river was stained badly from the churned up Lake Erie that feeds it, so no other chances came my way.  I'm going to rant a bit here.  The water levels out there have been perpetually high, so bank erosion changes the shoreline, and eliminates or makes old paths dicey.  What bugs me is that the erosion seems to be made much worse by the jet tour boats filled with gleeful tourists that race past and cause bank gobbling waves.   I tried an alternate way around an old, damaged path on the way out. By the time I realized it was trouble, I had slipped back down and buckled my ankle.  I wasn't the only one to lose it.  A guy down the shore took a swim in waders, and was lucky to regain footing.  My injury was bad (and has now degenerated into drop foot).  I had to medicate and stick with easier terrain for the rest of the trip.  This is an awful lot of typing with no fish or scenery pics :P

The "easier terrain" meant that I had to deal with crowds in many places.  I was wearing the skunk hat after 2 days, plus I'm not real big on crowds.  This Lake Ontario trib was sort of like the Showhegan Fairground in August.



Day 3, I was determined to get in the winning column, so I doped up and  headed out.  It wasn't until late, but I managed to limp far enough to find a degree of solitude and a willing fish.  The king salmon was dark, but at 34" it tore up that small water.  It would have made a good video to watch me stumbling after it.  But at least, it would make a good pic.  Wait a second.....where is my ##$%^^ camera.  MIA!  I'll blame the above mentioned meds for being in a bit of a fog.  Yeah, I know "no pics, no fish."  At least I found the camera later.

The 2nd part of the trip was well inland toward the Southern Tier, small water, and not a soul in sight.  Perfect.









These watersheds haven't been stocked in nearly 30 years.  The wild rainbows were fat and furious when hooked.







And a few browns added a bit of variety.





Micro marabou's were the ticket for me



Back to Maine for the rest of the month.  The pattern of a fish here, a fish there continued.  The stocked brookies are holding on.  This photo doesn't do this one justice...it was quite a tank, but it was a difficult to set up a decent shot.



Tube jigs triggered most of the brookies.





Splake proved to be very elusive at all spots, but just before Thanksgiving I came up with 2 prime specimens on back-to-back casts.  Unfortunately, it was a short-lived mini-blitz.





Surprisingly, and as a December preview, I got into the best concentration of fish I've found in quite sometime on the 1st.  14 fish in 2 hours.  We'll see if it holds up, but at least December's in the books. 8)










gotagetm

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Re: November....A Road Trip, A Tumble, but Kept Chipping Away
« Reply #1 on: Dec 02, 2019, 02:23 PM »
very interesting read,and beautiful photos!!!!! :thumbup_smilie: :thumbup_smilie: :thumbup_smilie: :clapping: :clapping:

NBourque

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Re: November....A Road Trip, A Tumble, but Kept Chipping Away
« Reply #2 on: Dec 02, 2019, 02:33 PM »
Great report Jim. Figured I’d run into you at some point haha. Onto December...

TightLinesMaine

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Re: November....A Road Trip, A Tumble, but Kept Chipping Away
« Reply #3 on: Dec 02, 2019, 05:01 PM »
great report Jim, looks like you made the best of a not-ideal trip to say that least.  Love the rainbows (that one in the net is a fatty) and great color on those splake, very cool.  Good action in Maine for December 1st too.

I'm so over these early winters myself, I miss the years of fly fishing right up until Christmas or New Years...

Jim C.

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Re: November....A Road Trip, A Tumble, but Kept Chipping Away
« Reply #4 on: Dec 03, 2019, 07:52 AM »
Nice to see you, Nick.  "Is that you, Jim?"  Good guess....then again, how many whitebeards do you know who enjoy submerging their 'nads in ice water for hours? ;D

Great report Jim. Figured I’d run into you at some point haha. Onto December...

Jim C.

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Re: November....A Road Trip, A Tumble, but Kept Chipping Away
« Reply #5 on: Dec 03, 2019, 07:57 AM »
Thanks, Randall.  I hear you on the early winters.  Had a run for years where things didn't crash until Jan. 5 or so.  We'll see how it goes from now till April 1.  On the bright side, we missed a lot of the snow.  Some of my old stomping grounds in Upstate NY are buried under a couple feet.


great report Jim, looks like you made the best of a not-ideal trip to say that least.  Love the rainbows (that one in the net is a fatty) and great color on those splake, very cool.  Good action in Maine for December 1st too.

I'm so over these early winters myself, I miss the years of fly fishing right up until Christmas or New Years...

NBourque

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Re: November....A Road Trip, A Tumble, but Kept Chipping Away
« Reply #6 on: Dec 03, 2019, 09:58 AM »
Nice to see you, Nick.  "Is that you, Jim?"  Good guess....then again, how many whitebeards do you know who enjoy submerging their 'nads in ice water for hours? ;D
Haha this is true.

Dukdog

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Re: November....A Road Trip, A Tumble, but Kept Chipping Away
« Reply #7 on: Dec 03, 2019, 10:58 AM »
Very nice  report with pics!!

franklin fisher

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Re: November....A Road Trip, A Tumble, but Kept Chipping Away
« Reply #8 on: Dec 03, 2019, 06:56 PM »
  Sorry for your misfortune on your trip Jim.  I won't hold you to the "no pics no fish" rule.  I am sure that was a great Salmon.  Thanks for the monthly great read.  I always look forward to it.

fish wayniac

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Re: November....A Road Trip, A Tumble, but Kept Chipping Away
« Reply #9 on: Dec 04, 2019, 05:23 AM »
Jim, Bummer on your NY trip and your foot. You did get some nice rainbows after you switched locations. It’s good to the Maine fish still biting. Those Splake have nice colors. I hear you on the early winter we will have to switch to drilling ice holes.

 



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