Ausable/Saranac/St. Regis

[Simms]

Just returned home from a fantastic week on the river up in and around Wilmington, NY.

West Branch of the Ausable was stocked heavily weeks prior. The high water made some spots to fish tough, but it was worth it. Caught endless amounts of little stockies, however up above the Forks, (below the damn) and Whiteface, we caught our share of 17''+ fish. Most came on nymphs, with a few hogs on Matukas and Ghosts. The lower end of the Ausable fished better than the upper. (west branch) Jersey bridge on the east branch was loaded as usual, but we rarely venture over to that river. Covered bridge spot was even stocked! A real shocker! Hasn't been stocked in quite some time! All in all, the West Branch of the Ausable has been stocked great and fished great! The high and cold water put a lot of fish down, but we still did excellent despite the conditions.

The St. Regis was not yet stocked, but we hooked into alot of BIG holdover bows and browns! All on nymphs. The gentleman at the campgrounds said it will be stocked next week. No worries though, still some great holdover action!

The Saranac was EXTREMELY slow. A few fish were caught, and I mean a FEW.:crap: We never found out if it was stocked or not, or if the fish were just being stubborn due to the high and cold water. Either way, we still had some action with the chubs for a bit. 4 trout total.

The weather was dismal to say the least. We fished after dinner last night and the river was up 8 inches from lunch time. EEEEK. The sun did peek through the clouds yesterday and friday a bit, but it didn't last long. The high water will help the fish dispearse. Despite the rain, the fishing was great and a great time was had by all! The Wilderness Inn treated us excellent like usual! I will be up the week after memorial day again!! Can't wait!!!:hubbahubba:

 

[troutbum2live]

Awesome report Simms! Sounds like you had some great fishing!

I was on the W. Branch Thursday and it was somewhat slow for me, but Ill be back up soon enough!

 

[Simms]

Above catch and release and below it seemed like better fishing, however whiteface was on fire...Maybe we can meet up after memorial day

 

[troutbum2live]

Yeah thatd be awesome


Its only gonna get better from here!

 

[flyI4]

i didn't realize the ausable and some other rivers up there were so dependent on year to year stocking. Does the ausable holdover atleast a decent portion of fish each year? If not, is it from put and take fisherman or lethal temps?

 

[troutbum2live]

The Ausable does not have a stong holdover population. If youve been there in winter, some portions freeze up pretty badly.

 

[Burtbords149]

:ttiwwp:
Always wanted to use that.

Nice report SIMMS, I'd love to get up there and stand in Fran Betters' footsteps, check you PM soon

 

[BIGBOW]

The Ausable does not have a stong holdover population. If youve been there in winter, some portions freeze up pretty badly.

As far as Im aware, they have good holdovers. What are you comparing it to? Trout are able to holdover in cold water and that river always stays oxygenated. I've seen quite a few there

 

[Simms]

This year was VERY BAD winter. Nancy and her guides from TCO were a little concerned..Most of the Ausable, both the East and West Branches, freeze solid right to the bottom. If you fish up there, im sure you know the "floom" (the water fall right below Hungry Trout) Well driving past there on snowmobiles frequently during the winter, it was only a trickle! Normally, it's RAGING...I have caught holdovers on the Ausable, however you would be suprised how many fish don't make it. Fish the DEEP pockets/pools (Monument, 86, Twilight, Forks) and you will find some. However, dont fret. NY does an absolute STELLAR job of stocking the CRAP out of these rivers! Whether last years fish survive or not, each and every season on the Ausable/Saranac/St. Regis is incredible...

The St. Regis, atleast the spot I was at, holds many holdovers as its very deep and somewhat fast moving, preventing the water to begin icing.

 

[BIGBOW]

We have a place near Chestertown so I try to fish the Ausable as much as possible. Havent been up yet this year cause we just got a new place, but shouldnt be long now. Never knew that holdovers were a problem there. That river has always been productive, what about the bygone days when stocking wasnt what it is today and winter's werent as forgiving as these days. That area used to see much worse weather and still hold fish. Im sure the colder the year, the worse the holdovers, but I just dont see that entire river freezing solid. I always check it out when hitting the slopes.

 

[Simms]

BB,

Yeah, the Ausable does freeze solid in the winter in spots...But then you think, how do the chubs and aquatic life sustain life year to year when most trout can't? Either way, NY DEC does a fine job replenishing the rivers for the season. Also, if you saw the amount of Ospreys/Eagles that inhabit the tree tops next tot he rivers, this could be a contributing factor to the decline in holdover population. I mean, christ, we prob caught over 175 7-9'' trout over 4 days...Thats a snack for these birds of prey

 

[smp928s]

Simms and Company I don't mean to hikack the thread but the question about chubs surviving is a whole other question that I have wondered about for years. My parents live about 30 minutes from the Daks on a small stream (3-5 foot wide in spots, 3 foot pools or so in spots). I have seen this thing all but dry up in the summer and it has prob frozen solid some winters although it always seems to have some water. Every summer the thing is filled with creek chub. My assumption is that they are not adept at holding their ground and get washed from larger holding water but is has alwasy fascinated me.

 

[DoubleHaul]

IMHO a hold over in the Ausable would be very rare- Anchore ice eats up the survivable habitat. 95% of all trout caught in the river are going to be stocked from the current years stocking efforts. Your best bet for a hold over is probably going to be in the deep pools from the monument upstream or water just upstream of the Wilmington Dam, the rest of the river is going to be a glacier for 4 months a year. The best way to get intel on this is to join the NYS Cooperating Angler Program. DEC sends me a detailed report annually of all data collected b/c I participate.

 

[Ryan R]

Jersey bridge on the east branch was loaded as usual, but we rarely venture over to that river. The Wilderness Inn treated us excellent like usual! I will be up the week after memorial day again!! Can't wait!!!:hubbahubba:

I'll see you at the Wilderness Inn then the weekend after Memorial Day, I head up Thursday, May 28th. Paul and June are excellent hosts and just two of the nicest most genuine people I've met, and Paul is a helluva chef. The dinners rock up there. We may know each other in fact, or at least the same people. I've been going with a group from my TU chapter, originally organized by Newton HS teacher Dave Pede (my TU chapter had strong "Newton connection" at one point even though we're in PA.) He's also the person that told me about the "Jersey Bridge" on the East Branch Ausable. So I immediately took notice when you referenced the "Jersey Bridge." I'm assuming it's not a coincidence we both know what the reference "Jersey Bridge" means up there? Dave is a great guy, really helped me out my first year up there and gave me some of his own flies he uses up there. I had a blast fishing with him.

Looking forward to another day run up to the St. Regis. I friggin' love that river, loaded with 14-17" 2 yr old fish in all that pocket water! Surprised the Saranac was slow but it was a bit early, I usually do better there than on the W. Branch. Love that Sam Tedford Bridge section!

 

[Simms]

Ryan,

Dave Pede was my high school teacher! hehe small world. I just got back from his high school trip that he hosts every year. Im a chaperone for the kids. Im going up for the TU trip too! lol Dave is a great guy! Like a second father to me. I was heavily involved in FFA. Im sure you have heard about Daves famous "minky" fly? lol

Ill be up Thursday at 6am. I normally hit dinner around 5pm so if we dont meet up before then, we deff will at dinner. Then I hit Frans place REAL early for a bite to eat to be on the river at sun up... Looking forward to meeting you!

 

[Simms]

Ill prob hit the Regis on Friday. Ill only have one other guy with me. Maybe we can hook up and head over together? Well play it by ear

 

[Ryan R]

Heck yeah, his minky fly was an awesome producer up there for me. Same with his "Fly formerly named Prince" nymph which is an excellent variation of the typical Prince nymph. I fished the Jersey Bridge once on my way out on a Sunday and caught over 20 trout on it right before lunch.

You probably know Dick Worth then too.

I normally head up Thursday morning but my old man is coming along this year and he wouldn't be him if he didn't throw a damn monkey wrench in fishing plans. First he said let's leave at lunch, we can work a half day then. Ok, fine by me. Then it's hey can we leave after I take Gemma (my niece, his granddaughter) to dance? Geeze, nobody else can take her this one time but okayyyy, when's that? 4:30PM. I'll probably also have to stop 80 times for bathroom breaks or "I'm hungry, aren't you" too so we'll probably be arriving sometime before dawn on Friday! It never fails, but it's getting frickin' real old.

I know a couple guys from our group that would like to try the St. Regis too, so maybe Friday we'll all have to head up in the morning.

 

[Simms]

Dick Worth and Hank Smith are too great old timers! Im afraid to say they wont be attending this year. Dick is having some medical issues and hank's knees are not what they used to be. Two great guys who forgot more about fly fishing than I could ever remember.

Well I guess I wont be seeing you on Thursday for dinner! haha I need to call Paul today to switch cabins, as a couple people in my party backed out...Ill let you know which one it is when I find out.

Pray for coooool weather until the trip. We dont want to be having any immediate blood transfusions.... no-see-ums and black flies are the worst living things god could have graced us with...

 

[Ryan R]

Dick Worth and Hank Smith are too great old timers! Im afraid to say they wont be attending this year. Dick is having some medical issues and hank's knees are not what they used to be. Two great guys who forgot more about fly fishing than I could ever remember.

Well I guess I wont be seeing you on Thursday for dinner! haha I need to call Paul today to switch cabins, as a couple people in my party backed out...Ill let you know which one it is when I find out.

Pray for coooool weather until the trip. We dont want to be having any immediate blood transfusions.... no-see-ums and black flies are the worst living things god could have graced us with...

I'm in Cedar Cabin. Yeah I know it's a shame about Dick's health issues keeping him from heading up. Dick fishing a White Wulff was a common site up there for many years! He'd howl every time he landed a fish on it. He was our longtime chapter president until he stepped down for health reasons and suddenly somebody nominated me and I got elected. Hank is a chapter member too and one hilarious old timer and a very good trout angler.

As far as bugs, I picked up a bottle of this all natural Mountain Martha's Z'off at Fran's the last several years. Friggin' works great, just spray a few dabs onto your hat (brim, top, and back) and the back of your shirt collar and it usually works really well. It's the best stuff I've ever used and you don't need a lot or even need to put it on your skin. A little dark blue bottle with light green label, it was like $10 but worth it, one bottle lasts me at least a full year.