Fall 2007 steelhead season review
After suffering through the fall of 2006 where we hardly got to fish the Catt at all, the fall of 2007 was all about the Catt. Drought conditions throughout the summer and the fall of 2007 left most of the smaller and medium tribs low and dry, while the Catt, which drains an area of approximately 400 square miles, had plenty of water to draw in steelhead. Flows were low on the Catt (80-120cfs) for a good portion of the fall (until early November), but even in these low flows the volume of water on the Catt is greater than the medium tribs at normal flow.
Early season also saw murky, slightly off color water. This was bothersome to many, and we guessed that it was the result of the rt. 219 expressway extension project happening near the Springville dam, and also from the gravel digging that was taking place in Gowanda on the Seneca Indian Reservation. Steps were taken to correct the rt. 219 problem, the gravel digging stopped, the waters cleared, and they cleared nicely.
The creek was also dropping and clearing faster than normal after it became muddy and blown out. It all added up to one hell of a fall season on the Catt. We were all hoping that the great fishing on the Catt would continue into December, but mother nature had other plans. Rainfall and then cold temperatures and snowmelt caused high flows on the Catt.
Fishing on the smaller & medium tribs was a little more erratic. Low stream flows forced many of the fish that would have normally run these creeks to wait it out in the lake, or possibly even enter the Catt, adding to the tremendous numbers of fish that had already come into the creek. Some creeks that normally get good fall runs of steel saw sporadic runs, and you just had to hit it right to get into good action.
While the Catt has been mostly un-fishable since Thanksgiving, those wishing to fish can find plenty of action on the smaller and medium tribs to Lake Erie. The fishing pressure is very light at this time of year, while the numbers of fish are high. You just have to deal with cold temps and wintry conditions.
As of January 14, the winter fishing on the smaller/medium tribs has been very consistent, with the warm spells and rain we’ve received having brought in fresh runs of steel from the lake. There is no shortage of water in any of the creeks now, and when winter conditions permit, there are plenty of fish to be had, and very few anglers.
The spring fishing on the Catt should be excellent, though it’s usually not in fishable shape until April, sometimes later. I believe the smaller & medium creeks will regain their normal flows and get a good run of fish to keep everyone busy in March & April.
Steelhead Camps--Fall 2008
We will continue to host more steelhead camps in the Fall of 2008. The camps include overnight lodging for two nights, two days of guided fishing, two breakfasts & lunches, and one dinner, cooked after a day on the water at our streamside cabin. Groups of three or six work best. Each camp has six total anglers, and two guides. Available dates in 2008 are October 14-15 & 21-22; November 4-5, 13-14 & 18-19 & 20-21.
Contact me to reserve your spot-these camps will fill up. The cost is $450 per angler.
Note: you must be physically fit and able to hike over a mile each day over rough terrain.
Streamside Lodging on Cattaraugus Creek
For those of you who enjoy staying on Cattaraugus creek during the Fall, I have access to another cabin located upstream from mine. The cabin is on Cattaraugus creek creek about 3/4 mile below the Springville dam. Accessing the creek requires a beautiful ten minute hike down the gorge, and it puts you on some great water. There is an especially productive hole just downstream of where you come out on the creek—lots of fish there. Sometimes the owners will drive you down to the creek on their ATV.
The rates are $85 per night for one angler, and $35 for each additional angler. There are actually two cabins within 100' of each other, and they are fully equipped. There is satellite TV, wireless internet, and a hot tub. Both cabins can accommodate up to 6 persons. They are excellent places to stay to fish Cattaraugus Creek, and several good restaurants are very close in the village of Springville, as well as a large supermarket for those who like to cook their own meals. If you are interested in booking this cabin, please contact me to reserve your space.
Cattaraugus Creek Spring 2007 review & Fall preview
After record amounts of rainfall in September & October, which left the catt un-fishable the majority of the Fall last year, we had a very wet spring also, until early May. The catt came into shape May 2, and just kept dropping and clearing, and there were plenty of steelhead around from the dam to the lake to keep us busy. These fish were mostly drop-backs, but a few fresh fish were sprinkled in. Also, on the lower sections of the creek, the smallmouth bass action heated up as the month wore on.
The high water conditions on the Catt in March & April forced us to fish the smaller and medium streams, which had plenty of water and lots of fish until the end of April. Once the steelies left, the bass moved in and provided great action, plus there was always the chance you could hook a late-run steelhead.
What’s in store for this Fall? No one knows for sure, but my guess is that there will be plenty of steelhead returning to the catt. Fishing pressure was extremely light during the Fall of 2006 and spring 2007, meaning that the fish got a reprieve from the normal angling pressure the catt sees. This could result in above average numbers of fish returning to the catt, including more bigger fish.
Lets hope for good flows throughout the Fall, with a few high water events to bring in lots of fresh fish and spread them out throughout the creek. I like flows between 150 cfs and 400 cfs in the Fall. Anything higher usually means muddy water in the Fall, unlike the Spring when flows of 500-600 cfs can sustain good water clarity.
I also expect lots of big browns to be around on the lower Seneca Reservation this Fall, as their numbers have been increasing due to the DEC stocking. The DEC has also reported anglers catching 15+ lb brown trout this summer trolling the open waters of Lake Erie.
It pays to snoop around early in the season, especially on the lower sections, as the stream changes significantly from year to year due to Spring flooding. You’ll have to learn your favorite run all over again. This is actually fun, and it’s as if you’re fishing a different river from year to year.
Looking at my fishing log from last September, I started doing well on the Catt just after the first week. This was mainly due to the high water the catt had in September. On September 9, I went 5 for 7. Four of the fish hooked were adult steelhead, 2 were jacks, and one was a nice 6lb brown. The flow was between 350-400 cfs. On September 11, with a flow of 275 cfs, I was 2 for 5, and all were adult fish. On September 28, I was 4 for 8, with all four fish landed being adults. I would love lots of water in September, with a dry October & November! Keep your fingers crossed!
Summer is well under way, and thoughts of steelhead and bonefish are not in the forefront of most people’s minds. That’s not the case here at CCO. I am always (well, almost always) thinking about steelhead, bones and other game fish, and continuously pondering ways to improve both the freshwater and saltwater angling adventures that I offer.
Ever since I started CCO back in 1999, it has continued to grow and expand, and I owe that to the many wonderful people that I’ve had the opportunity to meet, guide and fish with. Many of these people have become good friends, and I get to spend time with them, year after year, in beautiful places, doing what we all love to do. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to share many wonderful adventures with these friends over the years & I look forward to sharing many more memories with them, as well as meeting many more new friends along the way.
Thank you all for your friendship and support over the years. Don’t hesitate to call or e-mail anytime, to ask questions or seek advice, or just to say hi. I’d love to hear from you. See you on the stream or flat, or both!
Weather = Reality =Truth
Some anglers may complain about it while others may curse it, but what Mother Nature chooses to dish up always equals reality. Whether it be too hot or too cold, too windy or too cloudy, it is going to be what it is going to be and no technique so far devised by even the most savvy of anglers has ever made her change her mind. To an angler simmering in a stew of dreams, wishes and expectations, bad weather can be a hard pill to swallow. And it doesn't help that each photo you see in every fishing magazine was taken on a perfect day... usually with a trophy fish. And it also doesn't help to see on "Fishing with the Stars" a week's fishing success compressed into a half hour fishing show. It is hard to remain sane and realistic when we’re led to believe that the weather will be perfect each and every day and we will have TV show success every hour of every day we fish. Even experienced outdoorsmen must struggle with holding on to what they know is the truth given the Madison Avenue images they are bombarded with. It’s kinda like the Playboy image of women versus reality. A lot of angling imagery is similarly air-brushed. Now I don't want to make too many comparisons between the porn industry and fishing, but anglers do call fishing pictures fish porn! So as it is with the opposite sex, the reality of fishing is pretty damned good and it's important not to get too seduced by the "selling" of angling.
In the last few months, I have had two trips that experienced considerable bad weather. One was to the Seychelles and one was too our Destination X on the Yucatan's West Coast. In the Seychelles on Farquhar Atoll, we had a low pressure system perched above us that sent a cascade of high winds and cloudy conditions our way. For the Yucatan trip it was the dreaded cold front with wind that put the tarpon down and made fishing tough. Now here's the interesting thing with these trips. Not once, on either trip, did any trip member get discouraged or sulky or bitchy. To a man, they all took the bad weather in stride. No "I don't mean to complain but..." which always means a complaint is on the way and often a fella will complain about something weird like the ice maker when in truth he is just upset about the weather. On these two trips, there weren't any show stopping, mood swings that are often the social equivalent of throwing a wet blanket on a raging, warm fire. No, we had none of that. These guys got it. They were having fun. And it wasn't the faked kind of fun, but the real deal. They weren't just pretending because that's how they thought they should act, they were genuinely enjoying themselves. Most of these guys were experienced outdoorsmen. They had hunted and fished and in some cases kayaked and climbed most of their lives so they approached the trip with realistic expectations. They could handle the truth. Others on these trips were steelheaders and if there ever was a cult within fly fishing circles, it is steelheaders. And if you don't know a diehard steelheader they are a tough group. Steelheaders NEVER complain about the weather and if one does so, you must turn in your steelheaders membership card and announce to the group "I am an pansy," or apologize the rest of your angling career.
Sometime between "A River Runs Through It" and when the pharmaceutical companies started using fly fishing as a way to sell erectile dysfunction drugs (don't you just want to grab the fly rod out of those male models hands and tell 'em to go back to the car... worst casting I've ever seen.... but I digress), I got a little discouraged by the attitude that some anglers were beginning to show when things just didn't go the way they thought they ought to go regarding the weather. There was a lot of whining and finger pointing and in their minds they thought they had purchased an experience and dammit they weren't getting it. So somebody has to be held accountable, right? Now in fairness to these "newbies", they had been recruited by the media and had joined up based on the "I want YOU!" message that In Flight magazines, insurance ads and and banking commercials had conveyed. Namely, fly fishing is cool & with the right outfit, you can be too. It doesn't matter if you have any outdoor skills, or even if you understand that "attitude is everything", just grab a rod and go fishing. No demands will be made of you, you will have to do nothing more than show up and all will go just as you see it in the magazines and on TV. We struggled with these anglers and their attitudes and a lot of the anglers on our trips got pretty tired of it.
Then something began to occur in the last few years. Fly fishermen began to police their ranks. Just as with climbers and kayakers and of course, steelheaders, fly fishermen began to no longer tolerate those who whined about the weather. They were fed up and they weren't going to have some guy ruin their trip. These anglers understood that in angling, success is measured less by how many fish you catch & more by how much you enjoyed the journey. And it is the journey that counts. If you learn nothing about yourself and gain no skills, does catching a big fish really mean or change anything? It didn't take long for anglers to get the message. Some began to evolve and assume more productive attitudes, while others just faded away from sport and went on to more "controllable" enterprises.
So if weather equals reality and reality equals the truth, then the guys on these last two trips taught me an important lesson. And it is this: How you handle the truth is just as important an angling skill as being able to cast 80 feet of line or present a fly delicately. The real skill is to accept whatever comes with patience and grace. And these guys did. Written by Todd Sabine @ Angling Destinations, Inc.
Article courtesy of Angling Destinations, Inc.
CATTARAUGUS CREEK WILD STEELHEAD
The Cattaraugus creek is the jewel of Western New York’s steelhead streams. From the Springville dam downstream to the mouth, the Cattaraugus offers fly-fishermen nearly 40 miles of fishable water. Combine this fishable water with the beautiful setting existing around much of this stream, and the good numbers of steelhead which journey up its currents each year, and you have a rewarding angling experience that is close to home.
The icing on the cake is that a number of tributaries to the Cattaraugus have significant natural reproduction of “wild steelhead” juveniles that descend to the lake, reach adulthood, and return to the stream to spawn and continue the life cycle.
This is truly amazing considering the state of most trout streams in New York today, the majority of which are put and take fisheries. The reason for the abundance of wild steelhead in the Cattaraugus is that many of it’s tributaries are clean, spring-fed streams that maintain optimal year-round temperatures for rearing young of the year steelhead.
DEC electro-shocking of these tributaries has yielded promising results. Sampling 100 meter sections of a small stream, merely six to eight feet wide and less than two feet deep, our crew captured over 200 healthy juvenile steelhead, all thriving in the clear, cold waters! The stream we sampled has more than five miles of water like this-you do the math-it’s a tremendous natural steelhead hatchery.
Because scale growth patterns of hatchery reared fish differ from those of wild fish, based on analysis of scales from returning adults DEC biologists estimate that one of every five returning adults is the product of natural reproduction. Another interesting observation gleaned from scale analysis is that all larger fish have made more than one return trip to the river. Amazing!
Although biologists can differentiate, with a fair degree of accuracy, whether an adult steelhead you have caught is the result of natural reproduction, there are indicators anglers can look for to provide clues to the fish’s origin. Look for fins that are full and undamaged, especially the dorsal fin, since hatchery fish commonly have deformed fins due to crowded conditions in the hatchery environment.
Anglers should consider releasing all Cattaraugus creek steelhead. It’s good conservation. Not only are these fish potential spawners that can contribute to the natural reproduction cycle, if released unharmed they may live to be caught in a following season when they will return as even larger fish. Remember a fish you keep is one less fish you’ll have a chance to catch again. Lets all protect this fishery so that our children can catch wild steelhead in Cattaraugus creek, just as we have.
CATCH & RELEASE TIPS
Always use barb-less hooks, which are the easiest to remove from the fish, your skin and clothing, plus they hook more fish because they penetrate the fish’s bony mouth easier.
Use tackle and tippet matched to your quarry. Tackle that is too light prolongs the fight and deprives the fish of much needed oxygen when it becomes exhausted. This happens quicker in warmer water, where there is less oxygen. Consider not fishing if the water temperature is above 70 degrees (F).
Keep trout in the water while releasing it by guiding it into the shallows and removing the hook while it is in the water. Use a forceps if necessary to work the barb-less hook out.
Never touch the trout’s gills.
Avoid using a landing net– this can remove the fish’s scales and skin, which produces the mucous layer that coats the scales and protects the fish from infection and disease. If you do use a net, make sure it is one of the new “catch & release” nets on the market that are made from soft, non-abrasive nylon, or better yet are the new rubber nets.
If you must photograph your fish, have someone else take the picture. Keep the fish in the shallows. Never bring it over dry land. Wet your hands and lift the trout by holding it’s “wrist,” the area directly in front of the tail, and cradling the “chin,” the area directly behind the jaw. Take the picture quickly and immediately put the fish back in the water.
Revive the fish if necessary. If the trout starts to go belly --up, immediately right it, hold it face forward in the current, and gently move it forward and back to increase the flow of water over it’s gills. Revive fish in fast flowing water which is more oxygen-rich.
Consider releasing all the steelhead you catch in the Cattaraugus creek watershed system because it is very difficult to differentiate between wild and stocked fish on the stream.
Practice Catch & Release/Use Barb-less hooks
Stream Etiquette
The streams are getting more crowded each season with all the newcomers to this sport, so here are a few reminders about streamside manners and respecting your fellow angler.
Respect an Angler's Space -This is probably the most violated rule on the river. Crowding another angler is inconsiderate. If you approach him or her, make sure to ask before moving into the area. Give the angler enough space so the two of you can fish without interference.
Don't Walk into a Run -Nothing aggravates a veteran steelheader more than another angler walking into a run of fish. Most of the time it's because the person is not familiar with the stream. Once again, watch where people are fishing. If you're not sure, ask.
Don't Jump into Another Person's Spot -When an angler is fighting a fish, often they may have to move from their spot to land the fish. This doesn't mean the space is available, because more than likely the person is coming back.
Don't Play a Foul Hooked Fish -If you foul hook (accidentally snag) a steelhead, snap the line. Tackle is cheap. Most foul hooked steelhead are very difficult to control, resulting in injury or unnecessary stress to the fish. Once foul hooked, they will leap from the water and thrash about, spooking the other fish. If you repeatedly fight foul hooked fish in a crowded section, you'll become very unpopular. Also, you will find most game wardens look at this practice unfavorably.
Respect People's Property- If you come upon posted property, don't trespass. If you want to fish there, ask the landowner. If they say "no" respect their wishes. If they allow you, do something nice in return such picking up litter.
Walk Quietly Around Others-Walk behind other anglers and out of the water if possible. If you must stay in the water, walk with minimum surface disturbance. Give Others Space When Fighting a Fish & Don’t Litter.
The above article was taken from the following website: http://www.geocities.com/cattaraugusfishery/main.html
Cattaraugus Creek Fall 2006 Review
I want to welcome my new partner Ed Luba, who will be helping me out with Spring and Fall steelhead guiding, as well as our first annual trip to the Catskills in June. Ed brings with him a wealth of knowledge about our area streams, as well as an unmatched enthusiasm for finding and catching steelhead. He is a pleasure to spend time with on and off the water.
We had record amounts of rainfall in September & October, and this brought many fish into the Catt earlier than normal, but it left the creek un-fishable the majority of the time. According to my log, I had seven fishable days in September, five in October and seven in November. The best fishing came in September, from the 7th to the 11th, and again in November, from the 24th to the 30th. The fishing that week in September was excellent, and because of the high water we had big runs of fish, more than we would normally have for that time of year. The best part was that there were no crowds at all. The last week in November was definitely the best though, with lots of adult fish in the upper portions of the Catt, and warm temperatures for late November.
I’ve heard a few people say that this past Fall had typical water conditions for the Catt, but that’s just not the case. Sure, the Catt will blow out every Fall, often a few times, but the entire watershed system of the Cattaraugus, which encompasses over 400 square miles, had so much water that the creek did not recede like it normally does. This left the flow unusually high, and off color, two conditions that combine to make fly fishing very difficult on the Catt. Remember, we had record amounts of rainfall for September & October, so obviously it was not a typical year. Lets hope for more stable conditions next Fall.
The high water conditions on the Catt meant that the small streams were getting lots of water too, which means more runs of fresh fish. Fishing on the smaller/medium creeks was very good this Fall, though the creeks south of the Catt seemed to have more fish in them. Late November also found good runs of big brown trout into the lower reaches of the Lake Erie tribs.
The Spring holds a lot of promise, especially since there was so little fishing pressure on the Catt this Fall. Follow my reports to time the best fishing conditions this Spring.
Cattaraugus Creek Fall 2005 & Spring 2006 review
The Fall season on the catt was a tale of two rivers-some anglers found it hard to locate good #’s of fish, while those anglers who were on the water often enough knew where to find them, and fared very well. The good fishing started to pick up in early October and continued until just before Thanksgiving.
One observation that I made this past Fall was that many of the smaller holes and runs, or secondary holding water, often seemed devoid of fish. Most of the fish were holding in the larger pools of the river, those with a good riffle, long, deep gut and nice large tail-out Some people theorized that the runs were smaller, and that the fish only held in the larger pools because there was enough room in those pools for all that came in, and that if more fish would have entered the river, the large pools would have been over-full with steelhead, forcing many fish to utilize the secondary holding water.
I’m not sure exactly why some of the usual fish producing “secondary water” did not hold as many fish, but if you knew where to find the fish, there were plenty to be caught. We had some very memorable days on the water this past Fall, and averaged more fish than the previous Fall.
The Spring season has been a decent one. We had some good fishing on the Catt in March with the water between 500-600 cfs, though you had to work for the fish under those high flow conditions.
The first 2 weeks of April found the Catt generally un-fishable for fly anglers, though the smallers creeks took up the slack, as they did all winter and during the month of March. I was in the Bahamas for the last 2 weeks of April. May on the Catt saw great water conditions and good fishing. I was still doing well on the lower Seneca Reservation on May 7.
I believe the steelhead will head to the lake a bit earlier this year due to the warmer temperatures and lower water we are experiencing. Good fishing usually lasts until at least mid-May, where you’ll find great fishing for drop back steelhead, the ones on their way back to the lake, who’ll be gorging themselves on minnows & carp/sucker eggs to regain the weight they lost while spawning.
CATTARAUGUS CREEK FALL 2004
What a fall season on the Catt! So much for all the skeptics who said we wouldn’t have good runs of fish since the DEC stopped stocking the domestic rainbows. The fish came and the fishing was excellent this Fall on the Catt. We had great water conditions in October & November, and the fish seemed to be happy! The runs started early and some fish were at the Springville dam in early October, and after that they just kept coming.
The fish were really onto swung flies, which is my favorite way to catch them. In fact, we were having great success on the swing with water temperatures in the high thirties and low forties. I believe the reason for this was the prime water levels and excellent water clarity we experienced. These factors combined to allow anglers to present their streamer or spey fly more effectively. The smaller tributaries also received decent runs of fish, and the good news is that 18 mile creek in Hamburg received good runs of fish, after having below average runs last fall.
Another interesting observation was that on the Catt we were catching many fish that, in all probability, were wild fish (fish born in the tributaries). All of their fins were in perfect condition, which is a strong indicator that the fish may be wild. Of course, the only true way to determine whether a fish is wild or not is to test it’s DNA, but I believe there are good numbers of wild fish in the Cattaraugus system.
If you take the time to observe the fish you catch on the Catt and on the smaller Lake Erie tributaries, you’ll notice that a higher percentage of fish caught on the Catt, as compared to the smaller tributaries, exhibit undamaged fins. I do not catch many fish on the smaller tributaries that have perfect fins. Most of the fish have a deformed fin, usually the dorsal fin or a pectoral fin. Some have clipped fins. These are stocked fish. This is because most of the smaller tributaries do not support natural reproduction.
PRACTICE CATCH & RELEASE ON THE CATT
CATTARAUGUS CREEK 2004--SPRING REVIEW AND FALL PREVIEW
This past spring on Cattaraugus creek was typical of springtime angling on the catt—wait for the water drop and clear and get on the creek as soon as possible. Between periods of high and off-color water we experienced some good angling for steelhead, picking up smallmouth bass on occasion as a bonus.
The best angling for bright, fresh fish and lively “drop-backs” occurred on the Seneca Indian Reservation. The upper reaches of the Cattaraugus had plenty of fish, but they tended to be a bit darker and less spunky.
Flows in the spring averaged close to 600 cfs, which makes fly casting a bit tougher. Anglers using spey rods, now steadily gaining popularity, had a distinct advantage over those using single-handed rods. This really only becomes an issue when fishing larger streams with stronger flows, since spey rods allow the angler to cover more water with greater casting & mending ease. At the end of the day the angler using a spey rod will not have the sore shoulders and neck from casting and mending that the angler using a single handed rod would have.
The smaller tributaries to Lake Erie also fished well this spring, especially Chautauqua and Canadaway creeks, though they warm up quicker than the Cattaraugus and thus the steelhead move back to the lake sooner than they do on the Catt. Steelhead typically remain in the Cattaraugus until mid-May, with a few stragglers sticking around until June.
What can we expect this fall? Only time will tell. There were good numbers of fish in the streams this spring, which could be an indicator of what is to come in the fall. The lake fishing for steelhead also picked up in August out of Barcelona, with boaters getting into some fast action. There were even small schools of “jacks”, or juvenile steelhead, entering the lower Cattaraugus most of the month of August. Everyone will be watching closely to see what the fall returns look like this year. I’ll be posting reports on my website as often as I’m on the streams, so stay tuned.
I feel that if we get lower flows and more water clarity than last fall, the fishing will be excellent October thru December. I know that it was last year when water conditions were favorable. Start getting your gear ready and tie those flies!
In the spring I usually look for flows under 700 CFS before I even consider fishing the catt. At that level it is good to have visibility of 18-24", at least. Fishing will be more difficult in the high water, and some guys are using spey rods-they really make casting and mending in that heavy flow a lot easier. When the creek gets below 500 cfs the flow is more manageable with a single handed rod.
CATTARAUGUS CREEK FALL 2003
We had excellent fishing on the “Catt” this past fall when conditions were favorable (clear water and good flows). When the water was up and visibility was less than ideal, the fishing was more difficult. Fish could consistently be taken, anglers just had to work a little harder for them.
On some of the “steelheading forums” out there, and in some of the local fly shops, many anglers were complaining of a lack of fish and tough fishing. Some theories were being tossed around concerning why the fishing on the Catt was worse than in years past. Before I talk about the “poor” fishing people were complaining about, the fishing that we experienced in past years must be put into perspective.
Low water levels on all of the lake Erie tributaries in the past caused the Catt to receive heavy runs of fish because it still had a good base flow. I believe that when most of the lake Erie tributaries experience very low water levels in a given fall, fish that were destined to run these “low water” tribs search out streams with more water flow. The Catt was the only stream with good water flow in past years, thus huge numbers of trout found their way into the Catt. Furthermore, even though the Catt had good water flow compared to most other streams, it’s water was quite low and clear, congregating large numbers of fish into smaller pools on the lower Reservation section, making them easy targets for anglers. In short, we experienced above-average fishing on the Catt in years past. We got spoiled!
Fishing the Catt when it’s flow is 125 cfs (cubic feet per second) is easy. Fishing it when it’s flow is 400+ cfs is quite another thing. It’s an entirely different river in higher flows, one that is more difficult to fish and to wade. In higher flows, the fish don’t congregate on the lower Reservation sections as long, and the pools they do hold in are twice the size they were in low water, allowing the fish to spread out more. Furthermore, keeping your fly down in the strike zone is much more difficult in higher flows. Good, productive drifts are not as long as they would be in lower flows. More weight, and quicker mending and casting are required to be productive. Lastly, during a high water year like the one we had this past fall, all of the other streams along lake Erie had good water flow, so fish utilize all of them and are less likely to stray into the Catt.
Also significant is the fact that the NYS DEC stopped stocking domestic rainbows in 2001, replacing them with brown trout. Domestic rainbows were bred in the hatchery system to spawn in the fall (instead of spring like pure steelhead strains), thus these domestics run earlier in the fall to spawn in October and November. It is possible that we are beginning to see the effects of this stocking change in our fall runs with less domestics running up the streams in September, October & November. Unfortunately, it will take few years to fully evaluate this to see if the trend continues. The brown trout should help fill this void.
The Catt is still a wonderful, challenging fishery that we are blessed to have in our area. It offers excellent angling for beautiful, strong fish in a wild & scenic setting. It is always my first choice of places to fish for steelhead. Treasure it & enjoy it.
Eighteen mile creek along lake Erie’s shore was another story. It received small, sporadic runs of fish throughout the fall, and did not attract nearly as many steelhead as Chautauqua & Canadaway creeks. Fishing was hit or miss most of the fall there, and consequently most anglers ventured further west to Chautauqua and Canadaway creeks to find more fish. Presently there are decent numbers of steelhead in 18 mile creek, certainly enough to make a trip there worthwhile.
SPRINGVILLE DAM DEBATE
Plans are underway for a feasibility study to determine the costs and benefits of constructing a fish ladder over the dam in Springville. The purpose of the ladder would be to allow steelhead and rainbow trout to swim and spawn upstream of the Dam, which is currently not in operation. Removing the entire structure does not seem to be an option, as this would also allow sea lampreys, which are very harmful to game fish populations, access to prime spawning habitat.
Many people have mixed feeling about removing the dam, and you can voice your opinion to Jim Markham of the NYSDEC. The benefits of a fish ladder would be to open up many miles of prime spawning habitat to the steelhead and rainbows, as well as many additional miles of fishable water on the upper Cattaraugus creek and it’s tributaries. The downside is the possible negative effect these migratory fish would have on the wild populations of trout in many of the beautiful tributaries to the Cattaraugus. To read more about the pros/cons of the fish ladder, click on the Springville Dam Debate link on the Fishing Report/News page of my website.