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| Wiscoy Creek Mystery Fly |
However, Adam at Orvis Eastern Hills Mall
told me that the conditions were better at East Koy Creek, a tributary of the
Wiscoy.
So, I thought I’d hit the East Koy first and then try the
Wiscoy on the way home.
The Hook and Bullet reports for the East Koy (http://www.hookandbullet.com/fishing-east-koy-creek-houghton-ny/)
indicated that the best bite would come between noon and 2:00pm. I read as many reports as I can about moon
phases and wildlife activity and when I fish in salt water, the tide tables
become a fishing bible, but most of the time, I find that the best time to fish
is when I have time to fish.
I arrived at the East Koy by 8:30a.m. and was on the water
by 9:00 a.m.
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| East Koy Access - 37.5 miles from home |
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| 200 yards downstream - start point |
As you can see, the EC is not a huge body of water. It is a small creek with lots of twists and
turns and overhanging trees and brush.
It is precision fishing to say the least. Most of the water I fished was about 10’ across.
A beaver pond and a wider area where a small tributary
entered were closer to 20’ – 30’ across and about 3’ – 4’ in the deepest
spots.
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| Beaver Dam - Note grey sticks from spring floods |
But for the most part it’s 10’
wide and 6” to 18” deep – but, it holds browns in every bend and drop-off.
As always, I checked the bridge pool first. Several trout were holding in feeding
channels and being close to the water, I spooked a few also – the prospects
were good!
It was a sunny day and at 9 a.m.
was 86 degrees. The water was a
consistent 64 degrees throughout the day.
Even though this was not the Wiscoy, it is a tributary of
the Wiscoy so I started with the Wiscoy mystery fly.
After pushing my way through brush about 5’ tall, I could
see a small pod of trout.
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| Somewhere back there is the East Koy - I think! |
I worked my way
to a place where I could flip about 6’ of line and a 10’ leader ending with the
Mystery Fly, to a spot just above the fish.
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| Here, the East Koy takes a left, then a quick right and heads for the Wiscoy. |
Instant take! A fish
shot out of the hole and nailed my fly.
A brief fight and my first fish of the day was landed – unfortunately,
it was a 4” chub – about the size Dr. Ron uses for Perch bait!
I kept at it and like magic – I fished the chubs out of the
hole! Those little chubs are so fast and
aggressive, I’m surprised the browns get to eat at all! I also spooked any trout in the area.
So, I moved upstream.
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| Precision casting to say the least!
I saw a few rises, but stayed with the mystery fly and nailed a few more
chubs. The going was slow – with low
clear water, I spooked a lot of fish trying to get into position.
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This is one of my favorite spots.
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| A tough lie, but worth it - Doesn't look like much, but it never fails to give up some action. |
There is always a trout tight to those
branches. This is the spot where I
learned a valuable lesson many years ago – when you cast a dry fly into the branch above
the hole you’re trying to hit – don’t panic!
The first time I fished this little hole I was nervous about the
“fly-eating-trees.” So, my first cast,
though short, had to be extremely accurate – as you can see.
A few false casts and I laid the fly right into the low
hanging branch. *#*$%@&* I thought
(add your favorite expletive or two), right where I didn't want to be! Disgusted, I just stared at my line draped
over the branch thinking I’d need to wade in to retrieve it and spook anything
in the pool. As I watched, thinking, “what
else could go wrong”, the creek gently pulled my line downstream and my dry
fly, a #16 Adams, slid up and over the branch, dropped gently into the water,
where it was instantly smacked by a 12” brown!
Now, I look for branches to cast dries over to get a natural
drop and drift! The hackle on the dry fly
protects the point of the hook from getting snagged – as long as you don’t yank
it. This time, it worked again – except
after the splashy take and a brief struggle – trout 1, Dave 0.
As I worked my way further upstream, the brush got thicker
and I had to work my way through the skunk cabbage via beaver trails. At one point, I was on my hands and knees to
get out of the woods.
I finally got to a spot where a small tributary entered the
EK and from the cover of trees, watched a couple dozen brown trout as they
casually finned in the cool water and dared me to catch them.
The Wiscoy Mystery fly got a lot of attention and follows,
but no takes. I saw a few rises, and tied
on a dry fly. Nothing. Finally, at about 1 p.m., I tried a small bead
head, green caddis pupa and had a solid hookup.
Way more fight than the chubs, but while a beautiful colored brown trout,
not very big.
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| Beautiful little East Koy Brown Trout |
More casts, a few looks, but no takes. I switched to a nymph of my design, tied
using tan dubbing mixed with olive laser dub, and mallard flank for tail and
legs.
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| DFB Laser Nymph |
A few deep drifts and fish
on! However, as I set the hook, my rod tangled
in the trees overhead and while fighting the tree, my fish fight was finished.
But, a few more casts and I was fast to another brown trout.
Landed – photographed – and released.
Time – 2pm. So, since
it was pushing 90 degrees, and the report said the best bite would be between
noon and 2pm – I heard and heeded the distant call of cold beer waiting at
home.
As for the Wiscoy – it can wait.
Been fishing lately – or tying flies? Or drinking beer? Tell me about it – please!
That reminds me – my nephew John must be brewing some fresh
beer – he does a great job with several flavors like his “Perfect Pumpkin pie
(with the PI symbol) Porter” and “Hefe-wick Hart-weizen – a Cloudy Wheat
Ale," and much more. And his Dad, my brother-in-law
Larry, takes the spent grain and bakes some really great bread!
Personally, I’m glad that they bake and brew so I can eat,
drink and fish! Maybe we can put it all
together soon so we can eat, drink and fish together this year!
See you on the water!
Dave
