* Early December - Delta Report
Although my work has kept me close to home lately, I carved out an afternoon to fish with my old friend Dan Blanton, in the Delta. Our timing was perfect, finding great weather just before the storm curtain dropped, one week ago. The stripers were on the grab, and we boated over 30 stripers between 2 and 6 lbs., in the short afternoon I had available. I was looking forward to testing a new wing material, for tying Clousers, and also to test a new Clouser pattern with a spinner blade attached to the new Targus 60 deg. jig hook. Both performed great! The materials looked very bright in the water, especially when compared to more common synthetic materials. The stripers loved it too! - Lee Haskin
* November 8-14 - Port Sulfur, LA
Club member Gil Santos and I fished for redfish with Capt Rich. Tropical storm Ida hit the area two days prior to our arrival. We booked 5 days and got to fish 3. Five days in a row of good weather here are not easy to come by. We landed an average of 5+ fish each per day. Four were over 10 pounds and one over 30, the rest 3-9 pounds. We also had a number of opportunities where the cast wasnÕt quite close enough or they were skittish or had lockjaw or all three. Spotting the fish, sizing him up, making the cast then enticing the fish to eat is a big part of the sport. When it all comes together its very satisfying so psyching yourself to remain focused at all times and at the top of your game is a big part of being successful. Equipment: 8 wt. rods, 9' leaders that included 25 lb. Maxima for a tippet and the deadly Terminator crab tied with stiff nylon material in Mardi Gras colors fooled 90 percent of the fish. Gil and I are going back in 2010. - Harry Petrakis
* November 9-15 - Salmon River, Polanski, NY
Gil Santos and I flew into Syracuse N.Y., drove 30 miles north to Polanski. People here are proud of the fishing heritage of the Salmon River and the surrounding watersheds and are eager to share everything from its history to tackle to technique and occasionally fish reports that are still warm that include locations. Combine this with the fact that the river has names for most all of the likely holding waters, there are a lot of fish and the river is short (only 11 miles long) and you can see how this can help shorten the learning curve. We had near perfect fly fishing conditions (low water) the entire time we were there.
Gil and I fished out first day with "Skeeter". He took us to the Oswego River at a place next to the Erie Canal to wade fish for browns using his flies under an indicator. Gil was using an 11' switch rod and Skeeter gave me a 14' spey to use. Those longer rods really made controlling the indicator easy and Skeeter put us on the fish. We landed 6 browns and two "resident" rainbows, as the locals called them, between 2 and 10 pounds. Later that day we met up with club member Allan Montello and his brother Skip at the resort and settled into our rooms. Allan Montello is a chemical engineer and his brother Skip is retired from a science and engineering career at Polaroid and working as a fishing guide/photographer. Check out his website at www.northcoastangler.com.
Like any good river in an urban setting, it was wise to be on the water at first light to secure a spot. We also located fish with in sight of other fishermen on a serenely beautiful stretch of river in a hole that we had all to ourselves. It was not uncommon for two anglers who found fish to take turns in the sweet spot to hook 10 or more fish in a short 4 hours of fishing. Our hosts Allan and Skip saw to it that we were in the right spot and hooking fish.
The fish in the Salmon average 6-8 lbs with double digit fish not uncommon. In addition to steelhead there are rainbows, browns and king salmon. The river got its name from the Atlantic salmon that once migrated From the Great Lakes to the Salmon River to spawn. - Harry Petrakis
* November 19-25 - Port Sulfur, LA
Club member Rich Rubin and I fished for redfish with Capt. Rich. We fished 3 out of the 5 days we booked due to cold fronts moving in. We landed 2-3 fish each per day. One was over 15lbs and one over 20. We made the most of our down time sightseeing, going to the French Market for beignets at Cafe Du Monde and taking in some of the great live music pouring out of the bars and clubs while we walked mid-day down Bourbon Street. Willie Mae's Scotch House according to Epicure Magazine has the best fried chicken in the U.S.A. so we checked that out and there was a Po' Boy Festival going on in the Oak St. neighborhood 4 miles out of downtown New Orleans. See www.poboyfest.com/history for some interesting trivia. There were booths by Emeril of Food Network fame and Acme Oyster House. Lots of local people were there to take in the food and the great live music.
We stayed at the Woodland Plantation near where we fished. Woodland was a working plantation built in 1838. Interesting history, see www.woodlandplantation.com. Our host/owner Foster Creppel was gracious, laidback and a great cook. Richard booked a return trip in 2010 as did I. - Harry Petrakis
* September - Deschutes River, OR
I went on my annual Steelie trip on the Deschutes River in Sept. My fishing partner who lives in Oregon has a 16ft. Aire raft boat and we packed it with a week's supply of food and beverages for the 40 mile float trip. We launched it at Beaver Tail and saw a lot of guides and River Jet Boats on the river with there clients. I still can't understand how a Scenic River allows Jet Boats on the river." Oh well". Our intent was to set up camp, fish for the steelies in several different camp sites and float down the Deschutes until we got to the mouth of the Columbia River. We knew from earlier float trips if we stopped too early that the guides would get the number 1 water and set up their camps. We finally stopped at Circus Camp which we thought would be already taken but it was empty, we couldn't believe Circus Camp with number 1 water was empty and it was all ours. As I was getting our gear off the raft, Don, my fishing partner, took out his Spey Rod and put on Steel Head Coachman and waded approximately fifteen feet from the raft. Don yells out "Fish On" with his first cast. I immediately stop getting our gear off the raft and put on my waders and grabbed my rod and walked up the river about forty yards from our camp site and threw out a Freight Train. After my fifth cast "Fish On" Needless to say, we did not move our camp as we had initially talked about. In 7 days we hooked up 22 Steelies and landed 14. I have been fishing the Deschutes River for 30 years for Steelies and have never done this well. This is a river that once you have fished it, you will return. - Paul Pursley