Tag: trout

montana/Travel Review

Travel Review: Big Sky Country

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Montana is unreal, let’s just start with that. My wife and I just returned from a great trip to our good friend “Bearman’s” house in Southwestern, MT, where the Bitterroot Valley abuts two mountain ranges. It’s been a few years since I was out there and since then, Bearman has been telling me unbelievable stories of his outdoor adventures (some of which you may have previously read about). September is an awesome time of the the year to visit the mountains. The temperature is brisk in the morning, then typically warms up to a comfortable mid-70s.

What to do in September?

Fishing- Traditionally the Bitterroot river is most well known for it’s rainbows and once the water calms down after ice-out (later May/early June)  the action heats up. In September, fishing can fire up with larger trout hitting trico hatches. The pressure from tourists is limited and you can have exclusivity on certain parts of the river. During our trip, I fished the west fork a few times, but enjoyed non-stop action on some of the local mountain lakes. I primarily used elk hair caddis drys, but the cutties in those mountain lakes would have probably crushed anything.

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Epic Scenery and non-stop cutthroat action

Hunting- If you are from the Northeast, the time September comes around, the hunting itch becomes almost unbearable. Montana and many other western states, can be your remedy to get back into the woods early.  The more popular species for the 2016 Montana archery season shown below:

Elk- September 3rd – October 16th
Whitetail-  Same as elk
Black Bear- September 3rd – September 14th
Mulies- Same as elk
Antelope-  September 3rd – October 7th

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Bearman’s father with his first Archery Elk harvest

Hiking- Aside from the hunting and fishing options Montana offers for the outdoor enthusiast, the Bitterroot Mountain ranges provides excellent hiking terrain for beginner to expert trailblazers. Click this link to learn more.

Next year, I hope to get back out to Montana and fill an Archery Elk tag. The Big Sky Country is beautiful and I highly recommend a trip out there. If you have any questions about the information in this article or would like to be pointed to the right direction in planning a hunt, please feel free to contact me. Be sure to check out more stories and pictures on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Thank you for reading!

-Michael

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My wife and I, enjoying a nice Coors after a long hike

 

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Native Cutthroat

 

 

 

 

Central New York/Fall/Fishing

Salmon River Madness

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Chronicles crew with a nice keeper chinook
Some of the Chronicles crew with a nice keeper Chinook Salmon

It’s that time of the year again! This weekend, we Boston boys will be making our annual trip to Pulaski, NY to butt shoulders with other fisherman on the overcrowded Salmon and Oswego River. Sounds fantastic right? The stress of potentially not securing your spot and fighting with a massive local “Oswegonian” is well worth it when your line gets tight and the drag starts screaming! A few of us went to college at SUNY Oswego and started fishing for these freak fish over eight years ago. Now that we have “respectable” jobs and more responsibility, we look forward to this annual trip to escape  and continue our pursuits of these monster salmon and cold Labatt Blue.

Early Steelie caught by Mr. Jones on blue egg sac
Early Steelie caught by Davey Jones on a blue egg sac

I am going to give you the most important piece of advice to help you land a salmon this fall.  Do not get too drunk the night before you fish. GET TO THE WATER VERY EARLY to secure a spot and do not leave until you are exhausted. The river will start filling up with fishermen between 6:45-7:15AM. If you safely get into position a solid hour before the others, there shouldn’t be an issue with crowds until 7:30AM. The rivers can get packed with people, but it is well worth it. The past few years, we have been having more success with hooking up and landing steelhead and bows. Salmon hook ups are frequent, but they run so hard and often come off the line.

I am not an expert at catching these things, but have had some good success following the factors listed below:

Water depth and flow – The higher the water level the better, the faster the water, the more oxygen, get the drift? There is a sweet spot with flow/depth. I like fishing the Oswego River when it’s between 4,500-6,000cfs. This river can be dangerous as hell if it get’s higher, but I have always had success during this flow.

Preliminary salmon runs – Location is key! Salmon can randomly begin their cycle depending on environmental factors such as water depth, flow and temperature. Typically the best runs start Columbus day weekend and end early November, but you never know when a major push will happen. Stay updated on local blogs and fishing reports and plan to have flexibility in setting the date for your trip.

Weather – The salmon run can greatly be affected by the weather patterns, a drop in temperature can result in a preliminary or unexpected run, as listed above. Cold nights and cooler daytime temperatures will help move the fish up river. You can never really predict the weather, but try and fish when it is getting a little colder.

“Stay Sensitive”- If you plan on using a spinning outfit, make sure you have the right line to feel your sinker kiss the bottom of the river while your leader sways into a fishes mouth. This ticking is important, because your hook (which should be on a leader, three feet behind weight) will hopefully pass through lines of fish. Salmon will rarely eat or go after your hook, so “lining” them is the best way to get success. Having minimal stretch line with narrow diameter will help you feel the tick and have more hook sets.

If you see someone attempting to snag the fish, rat their ass out to the DEC. Snagging is horrible for the fish and not real fishing. Thanks for reading and if you have any questions, please contact me at greenlakechronicles@gmail.com. Be sure to check out our Facebook and Instagram pages.

Michael

Salmon River map

Fat king caught on a homemade estaz fly
Fat king caught on a homemade estaz fly
Altmar, NY foliage
Altmar, NY foliage
Stud Washington Steelhead
Stud Washington Steelhead
Nice Bow
Nice Bow
Early morning steelie on the Oswego river
Early morning steelie on the Oswego river
Action Camera Videos/Fishing/massachusetts

It was a Swift River weekend

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http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUWLRUd21lc&feature=youtu.be

My goal for the last few years was to get a “go-pro like” action camera and bring it along on my outing adventures. Been chirping for years to my buddies about all the “unreal” things I’ve seen and sick of having them not believe me.

Swift River rainbow
Swift River rainbow

I did not want to spend $400 + on a camera that I will most likely beat the hell out of.  Recently I purchased the new DB Power action camera, cheaper equivalent to the popular go-pro. The first video I shot, is of a school of fat rainbows mocking me in the middle of the bend hole at the Swift River. I was hoping to get an action shot of a fly take, but they just looked at the camera and swam away.

I was able to land one fish before getting blatantly disregarded for the rest of the trip. It was a cool morning, probably around 43′ degrees and I expected the fish to be eating up a storm. They were biting from 7-8:00AM ish then slowed down. I kept going after them, but they stopped considering what I had to offer.  Thought it would be cool to try and get them on camera, so I slowly walked into the bend hole. I know the footage is a little shaky but its pretty cool to seem them underwater.  Thank you for viewing this post and be sure to follow our Instagram, YouTube and Facebook pages for more great footage and still photos.

Michael