It's October.  That can mean a lot of things.  Pumpkin Spice, Cooler Days, Butternut Squash Soup.  Here in Western New York we celebrate a lot of things fall, as a fly angler, one who really enjoys swinging flies with a two handed switch or spey rod, I cheer out loud every morning as the sun rises to the arrival of our lake run fish.  Primarily the steelhead (if your from the west rainbow trout) that enter the creeks feeding into Lake Erie.  Most of these fish are smolt that are released into the tributaries and find there way into the lake.  After their arrival into the lake they spend anywhere from three to five years foraging on all types of food sources, primarily baitfish, including emerald shiners and goby minnows.  Swinging fly patterns using marabou, rabbit strips and flash wrapped around various sized hooks, shanks or tubes work very well at fooling this fresh run fish into striking at what they think are the bait they are used to chasing in the lake.  What makes this type of fishing the most enjoyable is the "grab".  The grab is hard to explain in words as it's a feeling that can vary as the fish is taking the fly.  I think that if you every talk to anyone who is a "swing" enthusiast, it's a mutual agreement that the tug is the drug.  Don't hang up your waders this fall, keep your boots wet and try swinging flies for our lake run fish and I think you'll find yourself immersed in a new technique of fly fishing.  Tight Lines.