Oaks Creek Report

JBP and I decided to scout some new water tonight and headed to Oaks Creek up near Fly Creek, NY a little outside of Cooperstown. It's a smaller stream that runs from Canadarago Lake down through Fly Creek and eventually into the Susquehanna River below Cooperstown. Rumor has it there is a decent population of wild brown trout and native brookies and given that much of it remains wild, it definitely doesn't get much fishing pressure.

JBP being a raging extrovert, we quickly found ourselves parked in some nice folks' driveway walking through their backyard along some beautiful waterfront in and around a favorite local swimming hole. Oaks Creek itself was picturesque, the perfect image of a wild trout stream. It was large enough that I didn't feel over-gunned with my 9 ft 5 weight, especially in the many holes scattered about, but I could easily see a Tenkara enthusiast having a field-day in there.

It being August, the water was a bit warm for trout so I can't attest to the veracity of the aforementioned rumors. However, I did catch a good half-dozen small-mouths (the largest around 10 inches) and more river chubs than you can shake a stick at.  Again, the Iso Comparadun was my go-to top water fly and it drew strikes despite there being little to no surface activity. As the shadows grew longer, I switched to an olive woolly bugger with a red tail and it too caught plenty of fish.

Schoharie Creek Report

I spent a couple of days in Dutchess County helping out my folks a bit and on the way back, decided to reward myself with a quick stop on the famed Schoharie Creek. About an hour before dark, I stopped in Prattsville and fished a little below where the Batavia Kill Creek enters the Schoharie. A little bit of hiking brought me to a nice long riffle that emptied into an huge slow moving pool, probably man-made to cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.

The water was definitely on the warm side but as it was getting close to dark, there was quite a bit of surface activity in the riffle. I tied on an Iso colored Comparadun and went to work in the fast water. In less than an hour I caught close to a dozen fish, mostly small-mouth bass with the occasional brown trout mixed in. I will definitely hit up this creek in the fall when the water temperatures come down a bit. If it worked for Art Flick there must be something to it, right?

As an aside, the Iso Comparadun is definitely my go to fly this summer. In a size 12, it floats high and is easily visible in fast water. It's been fantastic for prospecting in moving water and has caught brown trout, brook trout, small mouth bass, blue gills, perch, chubs, and golden shiners to name a few.

Charlotte Creek Report

I was in the neighborhood so I decided to check out a few spots on the Charlotte Creek between Davenport and Stamford. It was a cool and rainy afternoon but the creek wasn't in bad shape. Cool weather and frequent rain have kept the water temps down making the trout season last late this summer. 

As far as I've seen, the Charlotte isn't known for its insect hatches and most fly fishers I know stick to subsurface stuff there. I hear a sparse black wooly bugger or a copper john dead drifted are killer. No idea if that's true since I didn't listen. This evening I went with a comparadun ISO pattern that has been serving me well of late and did a bit of prospecting. I caught the beautiful brook trout pictured above in some fast water holding behind a rock with the iso as well as a small chub in the middle of a run below a riffle before the storms drove me off. 

I got a good soaking, but it was worth it. That little beauty was my first native brook trout!

Isonychia Comparadun

A classic low-riding representation of an Isonychia or Mahogany Dun.

Hook: #10-14 Dry
Thread: Rusty Brown
Tail: Dark Dun Z-lon
Body: Hareline Olive Brown Dubbin
Wing: Natural Deer Hair (the finer the better)

Can be tied with lighter deer or elk hair and combined with different colors to represent other hatches as well.

Wikoff Mahogany Dun (Isonychia Dry)

My attempt at a traditional dry fly pattern based on a fly given to me by Bob Wikoff. This pattern worked magic for Bob on the upper West Branch in early June. 

Hook: dry #12

Thread: rusty brown 70 denier

Tail: brown hackle fibers

Body: chocolate brown Hareline dubbin

Hackle: brown

Wing: lemon wood duck

The original:

I believe Bob used a dark dun for his hackle and tail but I didn't have a dun anywhere near that dark. Also, seems his thread was tan and not brown.