FISH WITH A MEMBER TRIP – WEST CANADA CREEK

PLEASE NOTE WE WILL MEET AT THE PARK AND RIDE AT EXIT 34A AT 4:00 PM AND DEPART BY 4:15 PM AND PROCEED TO THE PARKING AREA AT  THE TRENTON FALLS BRIDGE AT THE START OF THE CATCH AND RELEASE AREA. IF YOU PLAN ON CARPOOLING WE WILL SEE YOU THEN IF NOT SEE YOU BY 5:00 PM AT TRENTON FALLS. WE WILL THEN SPLIT UP INTO GROUPS AND PROCEED FROM THERE. ( RAIN OR SHINE, HIGH OR LOW WATER )

We will meet at Trenton Falls bridge parking lot at 5:00 (trophy trout section) and proceed from there.  Anyone who wishes to car pool we will make those arraignments at the June 5^tth meeting (chapter picnic) and we will meet at EXIT 34 A on the NYS Thruway (Park & Ride) Team lead will be David Seifritz 315-558-0345 cell or e-mail dfseifritz@aol.com and Bob Alexander 315-373-4665 cell or bobalex@verizon.net

Our quarry will be brown trout, 5 or 6 weight rods will be in order however any rod will do, floating lines, as we will be nymphing and fishing dries. A sink tip may be useful for any one who wants to fish streamers. Chest waders are recommended as well as wading staffs. Wet Wading works for those of you with Polar Bear like Skin.

Needless to say a fishing license is also necessary. The hike in to most spots is not very long however some spots have steep banks so plan ahead. Most access is public however lots of land is posted. We will save these beats for any of our more unpopular members as most land owners will shot first and ask questions later in the event you might have trespassed.

West Canada is big water with both pocket water and long pools. As mentioned nymph fishing will be the way to start and hopefully we might run into a hatch or two and an evening spinner fall as well so plan on staying past sunset (Big Jim will be buying the first round at the Hotel Moore after 9:00) West Canada has lots of insect activity so you should be well prepared with an array of flies. Most hatch charts will tell you Hendrickson’s (12 & 14), March Browns (12 & 14 ), Gray Fox (14 ), Green Drakes (10 ), Brown Drakes (12 & 14), Sulpher’s & PMD’s (14- 20 ), Light Cahill (12 & 14 ), Blue Wing Olives (14-22 ), Green Caddis (14 & 16 ), Dark Blue Sedge ( 16 & 18 ),

Spotted Sedge (16 & 18 ), Little Tan Sedge (16 & 18 ), Ginger Caddis & Cinnamon Sedge (10- 14 ), as well as Stone flies.

What the hell does this all mean you ask? Well I tie a lot of flies and thought I could sell you some. But seriously caddis is the go to fly, just have some elk hair in a couple sizes 12 -18 (12 & 14 if you want to fish a 2 fly system with a dropper) green, olive, tan, and amber. X-caddis (elk hair with a trailing shuck) is also good, (14-18) Caddis pupa make a great dropper with or without a bead (16 & 18 ) Green rock worms or green weenies are also a good choice. Lafontaines emergent sparkle caddis pupa is another good choice.

As for match the hatch the afore mentioned mayflies will fill the void you never know exactly what is going to be coming off as some of the northern streams hatches run later than down south. It is my experience that emerger’s work better than most dun patterns. So a supply of them would be best, klinkhammers, cdc loop wing emergers, sparkle duns, x-caddis, and soft hackles- you get the drift, ( HA! HA! ) pardon the pun. Spinner patterns will also be helpful, and never forget the small stuff, midges! A very good web site to check out is www.troutpower.com for maps of West Canada and they also have a excellent Hatch Chart you can view and print.

Leaders should be at least 9 to12 + feet in length, and as light as you dare. Sometimes these fish can be very picky and it might be tough to land or even turn a big fish on light tippet. However you greatly increase your chances of hookups (better to have hooked and lost to not have hooked at all) Think fluorocarbon!

Last but not least, PRESENTATION-PRESENTATION-PRESTENTATION and a little PATIENCE are the most important, even more so than patterns. These fish see a lot of flies and some times you only get one chance. So pay attention if you put a good drift over a fish and you see it look over your fly, and it does not take STOP! WAIT! Now you know where that fish is. Wait him out for a minute, change flies, go smaller, check your knots, smoke a cigar I do (hope I don’t offend anyone with my second hand smoke ) I have had most of my luck hooking these fish, most often big fish, when I wait. Pounding the water just puts them down.

There are no plans for food so bring your own. I know I’ll have a cooler with some water and adult beverages (sorry Big Jim I don’t drink soda ) However Big Jim does have the first round at Hotel Moore after the trip. More info can be found on the internet DEC web site has maps and info, www.dec.ny..gov , www.flyfishingconnections.com, www.usgs.com, www.h2oline.com, these are just a few to help you out. The rest is up to you.

So please join us for some great fishing and fun, who knows even Big Jim Caddis might catch a fish or two. Please remember the trophy section is catch and release and artificial flies only. If you wish to take your catch home you must fish down stream of it. So please check the NYS regulations guide. Personally I practice catch and release so I can lie about how many fish I catch. As for you JUST DO IT BY THE RULES!

David F. Seifritz