Ausable River - Wilmington NY

A different type of fishing that has seen rewards been reaped by many. This forum allows us to learn more about Float and Fly fishing from those who have made it their number 1 way to fish.
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JVE
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Ausable River - Wilmington NY

Post by JVE »

The fishing is very good down here on the West Branch of the AuSable River. There are all sorts of hatches taking place - caddis, mayfly, yellow stones, etc - so the trout are rising if you like surface activity. Also, the trout are taking stick caddis if you like nymphing. Managed to land a number of rainbows and browns - caught a nice very fat 16 inch brown a couple of days that put up a great fight for a good 5 minutes or so- using 6x time casting size 18-20 drys so it takes a while to land a decent size fish. If you ever get down to the Wilmington NY area, make sure to check out Tom Conway's new fly shop. Tom is a very good friend and just opened up a new shop in town a week ago. His web site if fairly new, but, you can check it out via: http://ausablerivertwoflyshop.com/
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joco
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Post by joco »

thanks

good to no..if i ever want to go down there.

joco 8)
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northernfly
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Post by northernfly »

Thanks for the update John. How did the 2 fly competition go?
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JVE
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2-Fly

Post by JVE »

I did not attend the 2-fly this year - to many things going on last week so I never did get around to registering. Anyways, the attendance was down this year, but, the show and dinner was good from what I hear.
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Still Good

Post by JVE »

Went down to Wilmington again this past weekend and the fishing was just fantastic. All the rain really cooled down the river - think it was around 59F according to local reports. Caught a number of browns and rainbows and even managed to get a couple of wild brook trout - off the beaten path near Ausable Forks. I would say the Ausable river is 6 inches higher than normal and will most like be at normal level by the weekend if the hot weather returns.
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Post by Manfred »

My good friend and I have fished the West Branch Au Sable on two weekends this year: Victoria day weekend and the one after that. They stand out as some of the best trout fishing I have experienced in New York in the past few years.

A few years ago, it became something of a standing joke that I simply could not catch a fish on the Au Sable. I might catch somewhere between, let us say, two and 20 on the Salmon or Chateaugay in the Malone area, and then go down there (either later in the same day or a day very close to that day) and get skunked. Repeatedly.

Starting last year, and moreso this year, I was acheiving enough success on the Au Sable that I was more inclined to drive the extra distance (from Ottawa).

I would still say, though, that, for every fish I could catch on the Au Sable, I could catch some mutliple of between two and ten around Malone.

I know that many people have an aversion to thinking about fly fishing in terms of numbers. Increasingly, I do too. I make these statements here only as an indication for those who might be starting out and experiencing frustration. The fishing is certainly easier around Malone.

Certainly the whole fishing experience on the Au Sable is great, as are the amenities in Lake Placid. At the same time, though, even if they are not as pretty, I have developed a sentimental attachment to the Salmon and the Chateaugay.

I have a question for JVE, if he does not mind answering: Have you found significant numbers of rises in more than one or two places down on the Au Sable?

I am not asking for the locations here, but simply for the fact of whether you have found the rises at more than a couple of locations. I have a couple of the maps with the dozen or so named spots and I have fished several of them. I have encountered hatches at several spots, but consistent rises at really only one spot on any given weekend. I have heard that there can be rises at many spots on the river on a given weekend, but that has not been my experience and I wonder if has been yours.

In any event, I enjoyed reading these posts. I checked them tonight because I was seeking news about either Malone or Lake Placid. I am getting eager to go to one or more of these rivers again soon.
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Post by ganman »

Hey Manfred...good to see you again. I'll chime in my experiences. I have seen rises all over the Ausable from the ski jumps to the Forks. It can be hard to tell sometimes in the pocket water. I would say spinners account for the most surface feeding and caddis pehaps the least because so many caddis in the Ausable crawl to the shallows and emerge well away from the trout. That is why its common to see the air full of caddis and no trout rising. Right at dusk you'll see the water come alive with trout eating spinners. On flat water they'll just make little sips.

I've seen lots of surface activity during the Hendrickson hatch during May afternoons but more in the evening for the spinners. March Browns hatch so sporadic that they don't bring the trout up often but the spinners again are another thing. They come back en mass in clouds and so the trout will really turn on.....same thing with the green drakes. Sulphurs I have limited experience with but one cloudy afternoon they hatched all afternoon along the River Road and the trout fed non stop. The summer flies I have limited experience with on the Ausable other than Trico's that suprisingly bring alot of small trout to the surface along the River Road.

In the fall Isonycha's used to account for alot of surface activity but that was 20-30 years ago. Fran Betters used to say Isonychia time was his faviurite time to fish the river. Not so in recent years. I don't know why but they are no where as numerous as they once were. The best surface activity in the fall takes place on drizzly afternoons for Olives. They are small....sz 20-24 but the trout really go for them. The last hurah I guess.

If its hatch matching and rising trout you're looking for the best place in Northern NY by a long shot is the Black River near Boonville NY. There are miles of waist deep flats. Its big water and every night there are rising trout and some big ones to boot. One of the bonuses on the Black is if you're on the water early in the morning you can see trout rising. You can catch them on the same spinner imitation you caught them on the night before. They probably drift for miles and you can see big ones in inches of water in back eddies where the spent flies collect.
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Hatches

Post by JVE »

I cannot speak about early morning this year as I have been fishing mostly in the evenings and a couple of times late in the morning and afternoon - call me lazy for not making the effort to get up early. Anyways, I was having great success in the evenings and even in the afternoon so I never did get to bed early - justify staying up late and having one too many bourbons. I found the hatches, when they where going on, to be late in the evening. Once in the while, if cloudy, there consistently was a blue wing olive hatch going on even mid-day - small grey/yellow parachute's in the size 16-20 worked great. Most nights, there was a also a black caddis hatch where the grey parachute also worked fine. By the way, this is always my go-to fly. In the faster water, it is hard to tell if there are any rises going on, but, my reliable parachute also worked if I did see any anything flying around. Nymphing in the late morning/afternoon worked best when I had either a zug bug or small yellow stone fly tied on. Funny, the brook trout preferred the zug bug while the brown's & rainbows loved the yellow stone fly. There was all kinds of green caddis found under rocks, but, none of my caddis nympths worked as good as the stone fly. I did see some yellow stone's flying around, but, not many. Also, my zoo cougar worked great - love stripping this thing and watching brown's attack it. I never catch to many on the cougar, but, the brown's do like to at least go after it. I do most of my fishing around from Whiteface downstream. Since I have a place near Wilmington, I fish on the still-water and also paddle down-stream to where the rapids start and wade down towards the KOA campground - not a lot of pressure here. Also, I really like fishing down towards Ausable Forks - just some very pretty spots that does not get a lot of pressure.
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Post by Manfred »

What great information you guys have provided! Thank you very much. If I manage to get down to either Malone or Lake Placid any time soon, I will try to post some info.

Thanks again.
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Post by ganman »

BTW I forgot to mention the Tricos hatch early in the morning and the spinners come back and lay there eggs within minutes....late..late July thru August to early Sept. The same fly works for both dun and spinner and there are two distinct sessions during the morning. Its all over by 9 AM. When you first try fishing it its pretty exasperating but it gets easier. The flies are 24-28's but you can still see them on the water. The action takes place along the River Road in the no kill stretch where the water is like glass. Where the monument is....is a good place. Good time to break out the 2-3 weight. For me once I got the hang of casting long wispy tippets and getting them to lay out straight it was pretty easy. If you see a rise where you figure your fly should be very gently raise the rod. :wink:

They might be tiny but tying Tricos are pretty easy. A few wisps of hackle for the tail, a black thread body and some white antron or snowshoe rabbit fluff tied upright or spent for the spinner.
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Post by Evan »

is the trout fishing good all summer long down there or does it slow down a bit during mid summer? Still into that fine scotch jve?
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Post by ganman »

Normally you can have good fishing. If its been a cool wet summer no problems. However its different if they've had a hot dry summer.

You absolutely need a thermometer. Anytime the temperature is below 70 you can fish but the lower the better. In the hottest weather it usually swings into the low 60's overnite. You can have good fishing in the AM. When its real hot it will climb into the 70's by midday and may not cool down to almost dark. It becomes critical if it dosen't cool at night then the trout become real stressed. It happens but not that often. I went a decade or more without seeing conditions like this.

If the Ausable gets too low and warm try some other local streams. The South Branch of the Saranac is big water and alot of it is only fishable when the water is low anyway. Along the Silver Lake Rd are a couple parking areas you have to walk down to the stream. The Saranac is in a tight gorge here and is always cool. The stream runs north south so it rarely gets any sun on it.
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