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Post by Mark Patenaude on Oct 5, 2006 11:38:38 GMT -5
Charley, You don't necessarily have to cast and strip. After tying on the streamer you can place a "riffle hitch" over the head of the fly so that when drifting down and across the fly will travel broadside showing the entire fly profile to the fish and let it drift broadside all on its own. Just hang on, you won't have the advantage of being in the middle of a strip when the fish hits it, thereby setting the hook. Some of the strikes can be vicious... Follow this link for how it is done. I use this technique quite often when fishing for Steelhead. Its almost like tying a sides-ways knot so that the fly drifts broadside and you want to make sure that the leader runs back up and over top of the fly on the side of the fly that will face you when drifting. The web page shows the setup if you were standing on the right bank, facing down stream, swinging from left to right. www.frontrangeanglers.com/newsletter/april/rifflehitch.htmMark |
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Post by JoeOverlock on Oct 5, 2006 14:15:03 GMT -5
+1 Karma for that!  I've never seen that technique before, I can't wait to try it! |
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Post by ctroy36 on Oct 5, 2006 21:37:34 GMT -5
Mark:
Very interesting. I'll have to see how that works with some black-nosed dace that I tied up the other day.
Today I took advantage of a sunny afternoon and went back down to the river for an hour or so. Took one nice 10-inch brown on a GRHE. There were tons of BWOs coming off the water but not so much as a single fish feeding on top. I even stood around for a while before leaving waiting to see if there were any rises. Really strange to see that big of a hatch and no feeding fish. I know that they are there, but they seemed to be not at all interested in the bugs.
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Post by ctroy36 on Oct 16, 2006 21:29:46 GMT -5
Nice sunny afternoon, so I went down to the river in Lee to see what I could find. River was high again and very cold -- 52 degrees. Seemed like a good time to try wooly buggers but they brought no response. Decided that since conditions were more like early spring, I'd try dead drifting nymphs. Tied on a bead-head GRHE and a four-foot sink tip to get the fly down in the water. Fished that combo for a while with no more luck than the bugger and was about to give up on that when a fish took. Turned out to be a nice brown about 17-18 inches that took about 6-8 minutes to bring to net. Thought several times I would lose him but finally got it close enough to net. Beautifuly marked fish. One of the nicest from that stretch this year.
Switched back to a streamer -- black-nosed dace -- and fished back down the river but no more takers. Decided my fingers were too cold to fish much more and was unlikely to do better than I already had so I packed it in.
Just hope there are some more days to get back there before it really gets too cold.
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Post by JoeOverlock on Oct 17, 2006 13:50:52 GMT -5
We need to get you a digital camera, Charley.  |
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Post by ctroy36 on Oct 17, 2006 14:37:06 GMT -5
Joe:
Got one. However the one time I tried it (Hoosic report, Sept 29) all I got on my post was an URL. Besides, I found that trying to handle a fish, the net, my rod and the camera made for an awful mess.
In truth, though, I really wish I had it with me yesterday. This was a real pretty fish -- dark and brightly spotted -- and fat and healthy. I try and fix the image of a fish like that in my mind but that's never as good as picture. I caught a couple of larger browns this summer but this guy was special as I did not expect to run into a such a good fish and he fought like a trooper. I was lucky to land him.
maybe next time.
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Post by ctroy36 on Nov 2, 2006 19:49:50 GMT -5
Thought I'd take advantage of a warm November day and check out the river in Lee yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately it was really unfishable. Out of its banks, flowing at 752 cfs -- about three times normal -- and cold and discolored.
Gave it a try anyway but the flow made wading near impossible and not even a sink tip and some lead shot would get flies much below the surface.
If the rain ever stops and the river goes back down and it warms up, it should be worth trying again.
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Post by ctroy36 on Nov 28, 2006 19:46:17 GMT -5
Since it was such an unusually nice day yesterday I decided to check out the Housy in Lee. Bad news is that the river is still very high and fast -- 631 cfm, still way above normal. I thought that since it had not rained in a while the river would be down, but the Housy is very slow to get back to normal.
The high, fast water made access difficult and wading even more so. I gave it a try and tossed a few nymphs and streamers for a while but nothing was happening.
I have to believe the fish have moved off to spots where they do not have to fight the current 24/7. Unfortunately, there are not many deep pools in that stretch and even those are flowing fast. The river been like that for almost a month now. Hope the resident browns have found find a safe harbor.
Guess it's time to call it a year.
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Post by gonefishing on Apr 15, 2007 9:22:45 GMT -5
Went out and hit the Housy yesterday. Started in Lenox Dale in the morning and made my way through Lee down to Glendale in the afternoon.
Lenoxdale along Crystal Street - No hits
Lee/Lenoxdale town line on Mill Street - No hits
Lee Athletic Field/Dielsel Dans - 3 browns all taken on nypmhs, one on hares ear, the other on prince.
MeadWestvaco paper mill below the dam - one really nice 16" brownie.
Glendale - No hits.
Water was high from the rain we've had, but surprisingly it was not very dirty, it was running relativley clear.
It was tough getting to some of my favorite holes, and when I did it was tough to get a good drift through there with the high water. With all the rain in the forecast it looks like it'll be another week before the river is fishable.
Gotta love this New England weather, April is fishing like December.
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Post by ctroy36 on Apr 15, 2007 14:47:44 GMT -5
Good work.
I drove down to check it out last week and concluded that it was probably unfishable. Guess you proved me wrong. Assume you were weighting the flies to get them down.
Still might wait awhile for the river to come down a bit.
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Post by deanh on Apr 15, 2007 22:36:48 GMT -5
I fished Glendale Saturday water was high. fished the banks and only got one hit small brown about 7inches on a light brn stone. Took a water temp 38 deg still cooled.
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Post by ctroy36 on May 2, 2007 17:02:14 GMT -5
Fished Lee this afternoon. Water is still high and wading is still chancy but it is fishable. Temp about 54* on my thermometer.
Tossed a variety of nymphs and hooked and lost one fish on a Moby Dick.
Around 3:00 or so bugs started coming off the water. Looked like Hendricksons to me, but then I'm no entomologist.
Saw a few fish feeding on the bugs but did not have the right gear or flies to work them.
If the rain holds off and the water comes up a few degrees things should get better.
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Post by jlibs on May 14, 2007 9:37:44 GMT -5
5/12/07 Lee C&R section.
Lot's of dudes on the water wetting lines. Cars every where.
Good fishing with browns taking prince nymphs, hare's ears and pheasants tails between #12-18's on dead drift and light swing at the end of the drift. The most success has been with strike a dead drift and no swing with a strike indicator or large and bouyant attractor indicator fly with around 14 ft total of leader/tippet.
Water is in the 50's. Lot's of bugs around.
JLIBS
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Post by jskowron on May 16, 2007 9:24:40 GMT -5
Fished C&R in Lee yesterday evening with jlibs. I landed one brown and lost another on a #14 EHC taken at the end of the drift. Hooked and lost another on a generic soft hackle type thing dropped below a bigger EHC. It was my first fish out of the Housy since I was a little kid fishing with corn on the Southwest Branch. Strangely, the river still smells the same 25 years laters and 25 miles downstream! jlibs hooked a few as well on a bead head hare's ear (or was it a pheasant tail?) sometimes dead drifted below a dropper fly, other times using what he called a "strike indicator" but what others would call a bobber. Unless he's figured out some trick where he can make a snag whip out line from his reel, one of them was a really big fish- He couldn't move it at first, and then his reel started screaming. Not wanting to make me feel bad by catching the biggest fish, he kindly broke it off  . There were a couple of caddis hatches, separated by a nice thunderstorm, complete with hail. About size 14 green guys early on (~ 6:30pm) followed by bigger and fatter darker tan/grey guys at about 8pm (sundown). There was a consistent hatch of craneflys like I've never seen, so maybe some green san juan worms or other stonelfy larva patterns might have worked. Towards dusk there were some cream/yellow mayflies (#14-16) coming off lightly but consistently |
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Post by jlibs on May 16, 2007 10:12:27 GMT -5
As for the not one fish, but two fish that broke off right in a row, they were both hogs, but the first was a real monster by any standard.
It felt as if I was up at the Salmon River and I snagged a rock and I was trying to free the line while wiggling anf jerking the rod in different directions for 30 seconds. This is not what broke the line. The fish then ran straight at me and was right in front of my feet. Again, a second time, it felt as if I was snagged on a boulder right in front of me. The fish would hold, then the fish (seemed like a boulder) would move to the side by 1-foot, then back, just holding. Then, the fish screemed down stream with a good bend in my rod while line peeled off my reel with drag as I palmed the spool. -Too much pressure after 50 yds...then the hail came...then the bad dreams last night. It's ok because I know where that fish lives.
JLIBS
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Post by flyfishgb on May 16, 2007 12:57:04 GMT -5
It's ok because I know where that fish lives. You better get that bastard. How are the flows/height of the river? |
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Post by jskowron on May 16, 2007 13:47:21 GMT -5
I'm not familiar with the river, but the flows seemed normal relative to streamside vegetation, walking paths, etc. Other than the algae covered rocks and bottom, it was easy to wade across, not getting much above my knees at any point in the two spots I crossed.
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Post by gonefishing on May 17, 2007 13:25:19 GMT -5
The rivers been running a little bit low. I'm glad we had the recent rain to get it up a touch. I think it's the rocks a little slicker than normal with algae for this time of year.
Heavier traffic than I've seen in years at the well known pull offs. Both fly fishermen and spin casters. I've been spoiled fishing the Housy for years without seeing many people.
With all of the bugs coming off I haven't had much top water action. There has been some huge caddis hatches with a variety of mayflies coming off. I went out a few nights ago and saw only four rises. Brought them all to net but they were smallies. Still getting a few browns per outing. Nothing notable, typical stockies.
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Post by ctroy36 on May 17, 2007 18:42:45 GMT -5
oneilgonefishing:
You are right about two things: The river is crawling with people and the rocks are slippery than I can ever remember.
Don't know why there is all that algae on the rocks but assume that we are partly to blame for heavy traffic since we keep telling folks about it. I'm told that the increased number of fishers makes the state happy and that if it were not so they would stop stocking.
I've been reluctant to report on my activity since it would only encourage more pressure. However, since it's inevitable, here goes.
Fished Lee twice this week with rather good success. Took a really nice brown of 17-18-inches Monday on a Moby Dick. Fished with jlibs there today and caught three browns and a rainbow. One brown was a nice 13-14-inch fish. Both that one and the one Monday look like they were in the river for a while -- dark fish with big, black spots.
Jlibs took a couple of browns and a brookie that did not look like a hatchery fish. Might have come into the river from a trib.
Fish were taking GRHEs and soft hackles. Caddis and a couple of other bugs I could not identify coming off the water but nothing feeding on top.
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Post by gonefishing on May 18, 2007 10:41:26 GMT -5
I agree about attempting to keep the pressure down. I hadn't put a post in here in quite a while. I am very surprised that they are not heating up on top water yet.
I haven't caught a brookie in few years now in the Lee stretch. There are natives in Barnes brook which empties in behind Dunkin Donuts and also in the Goose Pond brook which empties in by the Rt 102 overpass. Along with the natives the state also stocks brookies in the Goose Pond brook.
I took my two oldest boys out fishing for brookies two years ago in Barnes brook. I hadn't fished it since I was a kid. They were in a stretch that was only about 18" wide and 12" deep. The stream dumped into a nice little hole about the size of my kitchen table. My oldest ended up pulling a beautifully colored 15" brookie out of there. I got a nice picture of the boys with it. Quite a trophy for that brook as I've never seen anything bigger than about 6" out of there.
As for the algae. I read something a while ago about towns having a hard time keeping the sewer lines clear in the spring. When everyone fertilizes their yards in the spring the runoff really creates a lot of problems by boosting the algae and other growers in the lines. I wonder if runoff heavy with fertilizer has the same affect on the river?? Beats me.........
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Post by ctroy36 on May 18, 2007 15:25:01 GMT -5
I've run into a few fish feeding on top and have talked to a couple of guys who took advantage of the Hendrickson hatch the other week and the caddis this week. Caddis seem to come off at any time while the Hendricksons were out mid day.
I didn't get a good look at jlibs brookie as he was downstream fom me but he described it as brightly colored which would rule out a stocker so it probably did come from a trib. I'm familiar with Goose Pond Brook but never heard of Barnes Brook. Does it come in from across the road from Dunkin Donuts?
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Post by ctroy36 on May 25, 2007 21:19:33 GMT -5
Fished Lee early Thursday morning. A variety of bugs coming off the water, lots of small brown caddis and some mayflies of assorted sizes and colors. Fish were taking emergers with splashy rises. Caught a couple of nice 10-12-inch browns and lost a couple more. Used a variety of flies but most takes were on a small soft hackle. About 11:00 everything shut off and I went home.
Stopped down this afternoon after work for an hour or so and things had changed. Still a few bugs but not like earlier in the week. No fish rising at all. No takers at all. Decided to check water temp and found it at 73 degrees. Hard to believe it had shot up so quick as it was well under 70 yesterday. Packed up and left.
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Post by jskowron on May 7, 2008 5:23:47 GMT -5
Fished in Lee yesterday after work. 2 nice browns on a white marabou bugger. Many craneflies in the air, with a few small caddis and midges. Rocks are slimy.
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Post by flyfishgb on May 13, 2008 9:03:05 GMT -5
fished housy last week drew a skunk, saw craneflies also and a few PMD's i believe
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Post by 1amironman on May 21, 2008 20:12:53 GMT -5
I fished the Housatanic around Lee on Monday 5/19, slight drizzle and turning cold. I landed a nice 16 inch brown on a custom fly. I'm from Pennsylvania and was in the area on business. I found your site on the web, so thanks .
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Post by jlibs on Jun 23, 2008 8:21:54 GMT -5
Report for Saturday June, 21: Housy in Lee C&R.
I swam while Jim and Dan fished. We started at about 6:30pm and worked the water until about 10pm into the blackness. While there were some bugs on the water, it never really came alive. We saw some various may flies and caddis, but nothing crazy. The usual sizes of 12-18, with some midges around in the very tiny sizes. The only may fly I actually identified was a gray drake in a size 12 that I saw over some faster riffles. We each caught a brown and we fished hard to get these 14"ers. We used a whole buffet of flies subsurface and top water and we each caught them on something different. Jeff will be proud that I was successful using his favorite fly, a size 14 EHC. The water felt like it was around 65 degrees or so, but once I did my annual accidental swim, it felt much colder once my stocking foot waders filled up. Of course, Jim and Dan were very helpful and supportive as you can imagine.
JLIBS
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Post by FlyManDan on Jun 23, 2008 22:33:29 GMT -5
Some pics.. Jim n Josh Bush-wackin...   Brownie  Jim working it...  We fished late, can you see Josh because I can't  If you look close you might be able to see the raccoon that was keeping us company  |
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Post by jlibs on Jun 24, 2008 14:00:48 GMT -5
While the black of night does not help, you can't see me in Dan's photo above because the photo may have been taken during my accidental swim and I am likely completely submerged at that point...
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