Allegheny River Fly Fishing

With the last week being dry the Allegheny River in North Western Pennsylvania has been red hot for fly fishing. The Corp of Engineer has been letting little water out of the Dam creating great wading conditions as well as floating conditions. This has been the best early summer late spring fishing on the Allegheny yet. We've been catching healthy nice sized fish. The Caddis have been hatching and all of the other evening hatches will be following soon.

Sulphurs, Green Drake, March Browns and Caddis have all been showing up on the Clarion River. The fishing has been great over the past few weeks. The water is low again and easily waded. For the past week the water was up making streamer fishing excellent. Dead drifting dries on the blind has been working too. Yesterday marked the first great day on the Allegheny. The tailwater release is finally at a level that made for ideal fly fishing conditions. Even with the day temps reaching near 90 and a bright sun we still had great fishing all day long. I'll post the pictures soon of the four new Clackacraft Fly Pods that we are guiding out of now. See you on the river.

Warm temperatures and low water conditions prevailed this week. The fish still have been chasing streamers, hitting dead drifted nymphs and taking dries in the evenings. This week we have seen Sulphurs, March Browns, Caddis and some occasional Green Drakes hatching. This weekends cool spell will slow things up a bit but nymphing will still be good. We hope to see you on the river!

With little rain and long after run off this spring, Cattaraugus Creek has been producing some great opportunities for Chasing Spring Chrome. Shane Appleby to advantage of the great weather and low water this week to test Orvis Poly Leaders matched with his spey rod swinging woolys on the Catt. Looking at the pictures below is just a sample of how his Monday and Tuesday went. We've been fishing the poly leaders for over a year now for both trout and steelhead. They make great detachable sink tips for standard and switch casting and improve on already existing skagit and spey lines. You can find them at Orvis.com in many sink rates and lengths or you can check them out at Glendorns Fuller Brook Outfitters shop when you are in the neighborhood. My good friend Steve at Lake Erie Ultimate Angler can tell you all the details about poly leaders and has a great assortment too. I hope you can get some time on the water using poly this summer. See you out there.

Damon

Eagles Everywhere, Cascades tumbling down high bluffs, White Water Rapids and steelhead on the end of the line. For a moment you would think you where in Washington, Maybe Oregon or even B.C. After over a decade of guiding on Cattaraugus creek in Western New York it was about time to finally start floating it. The pictures below tell a story of our day in three snapshots. I hope you enjoy and we look forward to showing you an adventure down the Catt some day. By the way the Hendricksons are hatching on the Clarion also.

With the warm spring temperatures and perfect water conditions floating the Clarion River this week has been a great opportunity for Brian, Shane and I to get out and catch some nice browns. This is a picture of one that I caught yesterday while Shane was rowing. The day before Brian and Shane got into some nice fish all day long. With the water temperatures being so cold from the run off the fish have been taking softly and hook up to landing ratio has been down. Its still fun to see the take and miss the fish anyhow. Looking forward to the Hendricksons in a couple of weeks. The stoneflies have been spotty with very little surface action yet. It's coming soon.

See you on the river!

Have you ever tried switch rods or even two handed rods for trout? If you haven't this is the year to do it. You'll find fishing the long rods will open up many more doors of opportunity for you during the fishing season. Did I mention big trout too? Shane Appleby, the new fly fishing guide at Glendorn working with me in activities is a master on the Allegheny River fishing spey rods rigged with Skagit lines, swinging for big trout. Check out the Crocodile he caught yesterday. The fishing season is on check back for more trout and spring steelhead reports soon.

Warm sunny days, slow run off, low clear water is stirring up some great early season fishing on the Clarion river and the Allegheny. We did a short float yesterday, with the new raft we are going to use on the Catt., and managed a few fish with Shane tackling this nice brown. The season is here and we look forward to meeting you on the river.

Damon

I know I've been neglecting the blog over the past few months. The fall steelhead fishing was fun this season with the Catt. being fishable allot! Can't wait to get the new raft out this spring and try some spring steelhead down the gorge. The winter has been nice for great skiing, snowshoeing and cross country. What really been happening is check out the pics below. It helped me with my winter woes and finally after all these years of fishing the flats of Belize was able to get my first Grand Slam!!!! The Jack Crevalle was bonus. The fish weren't the biggest that were on the flats that day, it's the point though, three in a row in the same day. Check It Out!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope to see you on the rivers this spring, summer and fall.