With Steelhead runs really starting to pick up on some local rivers I did the unthinkable: I went chasing 8” Wild Brown Trout in ankle deep water. I could almost hear anglers in passing cars yelling out: “You’re going the wrong way!” as I sped away from the coast. Fall is such a grand occurrence in small towns spattering across the Dairy farm lands of Western New York.

Sweeping Combines make their way up and down corn rows as flocks of birds gather for the big migration. Every other white picket house has a small stand pedaling bright orange pumpkins and Duck Eggs by the dozen. You can almost smell the All Spice in the air as autumn winds whittle their way through turning leaves. The vibrant colors of the land only play second fiddle to the deep hues of wild brown trout. Where I usually find those tiny little head shakers today I find a couple fish pushing that magic 20 inch mark, but most likely a bit short. Still a wonderful surprise for the angler drumming a different beat.

With conditions holding fortuitously on the edge of a great storm we jumped quickly through the window. Ghostly mist and a blaze orange sun rise captivated our attention early, but soon those colors turned to racing chrome.

With it becoming so rare to find great spacing on our local streams you really have to savor the day when everyone is happily doing there own thing. The “swingers” were lazily 2 stepping their way through the big runs, while “short liners” targeted the riffles, and not far off the “pinners” were drifting the transition water. It’s nice to see everyone getting along.

My time guiding in Alaska seems so far away now. The memories of the Big Rivers out there are starting to fade like the black and white photos of our ancestors. Still, sometimes they all come rushing back, if just for a moment, in great detail and color as I wade the Big Rivers.

Got out last week and took our friend the notorious “Anguished Angler” along for the ride. My intended destination to target fresh hot immature steelhead looking for tasty bait fish was still blown out from the rains of 2.5 ago, so we had to do a little exploring. Spot 2 blown out too. Spot 3 on the clearing side, so we high tailed it further up in the system and found perfect receding waters with clarity improving by the hour. The first hour or 2 of the morning was fairly slow, but as the sun crested the high peaks and started to fall on frigid water things progressively heated up.

Orange Sun on Chocolate Water:

This red cheeked lady was one of the first:

And another. The color of these fish this time of year is striking:

Then AA fell of the wagon and scored a beaut:

This smaller buck was a tail walker/line twista:

AA had to head home to the wife and wouldn’t you know it 15 minutes later I land a phenomenal female. Tough to take great pictures alone, but I got a few. One of my top 10 favorite trout of the year:

A fish like that reminds me of that Whopper commercial: “So good you’ve gotta sit down”. Time to enjoy a little scenery:

The shale formations are hypnotic:

And small waterfalls always soothe the soul:

While I’m at it… Frank Zak sure does a nice inlay:

Enough star gazing there’s fresh chrome yonder:

Tough taking photos solo, but I like these away shots:

Catching fish with odd flies I find stramside is a fun past time. Someone loved this little jig tied on a stout hook with a finishing nail and tungsten bead:

One more on the walk out:

Shining sun. Hungry trout everywhere. A guy could get used to this: