Let the season begin

[Red Childress]

We moved a few fish and missed a couple at boatside over the weekend under some sucky water conditions.....the 3-5 inches of ice and snow on Sunday morning was not much fun either. Hopefully, this weekend will see us bag the first Esox of the year.


Did anyone else have any luck??

[lowbidder]

No fishing down here last weekend. Commitments on Saturday and the river was blown out Sunday. I heard about some guys further south doing well ahead of the front.

[ttabaleulb]

Thats great to hear that someone at least is able to get out and get some action. Gettin close to ice out around here. If I'm REALLY lucky, I might get some open water for the weekend. The reality is that it might not be until the following weekend. I'm dying to get the new rod and flies on the water!!

[ttabaleulb]

Well, looks like I should be able to get some casting in this weekend. Cannot wait to put the Legend X and the new flies into action. I'm hopin at least the Pike are active this early after ice out. I should have some starting reviews on the new gear at some point next week. Good luck to everyone this season. Hope its a great one.

[Red Childress]

Still waiting for the first lunge of the season to hit the net. Water conditions were horrible but we gave it a shot both days and ended up quitting early both days. Normal weather patterns on the way, hopefully.

[ttabaleulb]

Had one mid-30s fish take a swipe and miss at one of my own tied flies Saturday, just as the wind was finally calming a bit. Would have been awesome to land the first of the year on my own fly, and the new rod. Just wasnt meant to be quite yet. Other than that, just had a couple of follows from some small Pike/Pickerel. Still nice to get out. SUnday was decent weather wise.

[Red Childress]

It has been pretty dang tough in my boat thus far regarding Esox. Not exactly sure what is going on but this warm up (lack of snow at least) should really help.

[ttabaleulb]

Im hopin to get out this weekend. Water temps are still in upper 40's to low 50's. Hope to maybe find some pre-spawn fish heading for the shallows. At this point, even a small pike on the new setup would be a great way to start the year.

[ttabaleulb]

Well, it was quite the eventful weekend. Got my first fish/toothy critter on one of my own flies. That one happened to be a low 30's Pike. I was all fired up about that. Shortly after, I was lucky enough to land a low 40's Musky on one of my own flies that was on the new rod, AND happened to be my first successfully landed Musky on the figure-8 with the flyrod. I soo wish I had that attack on video, too cool. One of these days I will learn to run the GoPro all the time instead of only when I already have the fish in the net. LOL We ended up moving one more fish not long after that. All the action was right around moon set on Sunday evening. Fished all of Monday and didn't see a thing. It was awesome getting some slime in the boat to start off 2014!!

[Red Childress]

Awesome, Jay! I am very happy for you man. Double the satisfaction since she ate one of your own flies, I presume??

[ttabaleulb]

Thanks Red!! Yep, the Musky took the Fire Tiger Perch pattern I have a pic of in the Fly tying thread that I started. The fish came rippin in just as I went into the "L" and nailed it right at the first outside turn. One of those strikes that will stick in the mind for quite a while. The Pike attacked a Black/Red fly of mine. I'm really diggin this particular style of pattern that I am tying. They look incredible in the water.

[Red Childress]

I still can't believe how rainy/windy/cold the weather has been this Spring. The Esox sure have been sluggish as well.

[ttabaleulb]

You got that right Red. I've only been on two trips so far, but boat control and casting has been super tough on all but one day for us. Water temps are still only in the low to mid-50s around here and not seeing much in terms of weed growth. Looks like quite the warm up coming this week though. Should get things moving.

[Red Childress]

Fishing is picking up for us but we had to change locations/tactics. This belated warm-up is just what we needed!!

[ttabaleulb]

Had 4 follows all withing about a 1.5 to 2hr time period. Could not get them to eat. One of the smaller guys went around the 8 a few times pretty hot, but decided against it. The 2nd fish was pretty beat up, so I'm guessin the spawn is still going strong. Hopefully they finish up with that soon and get the feedbag back on.

[Red Childress]

We have changed locations once again to combat the blown out river conditions and things have gone pretty well. It has been kinda cool to fish some areas that I have not fished in 15 years.

We got absolutely hammered with rain last nite and flash flooding in the Jamestown/Falconer/Frewsburg area this morning. Schools dismissed early and plenty of mud on the way for the Allegheny drainage.

[Red Childress]

It has been some pretty wild river fishing out there the past couple of weeks with all this high water. I never would have thought we would be able to catch a few fish under these circumstances so I guess we have gotten lucky. Water is on the drop now and should be back to summer flow by the middle of next week.

[ttabaleulb]

Thats awesome that you guys are still finding some action even with the crazy water/weather. I should be gettin out this weekend for the first time in a couple of weeks. Gonna be completely different conditions since my last trip. Water temps have moved 10+ degrees and I am hoping that some weeds are finally starting to show. I have a couple newly tied flies that are ready to get wet and eaten hopefully!!

[ttabaleulb]

A bit of a tough weekend for us. We were moving fish, but I lost two. I had been running a ridiculously high hook/net ratio, so I guess the odds are starting to even out. Just hope I can put a stop to it in the near future. The hightlight of the trip was landing a low to mid-30s Pike on a topwater fly. The thing crushed it right next to the boat right before dark. I'm very surprised I was able to get that one to the net. Thing scared the crap out of me. LOL