WNY Fly Fishing Private Lessons

I offer private lessons for fly casting, the cost in $60.00 per student for two hours for casting, equipment, knots and general fly fishing. E mail me at jimguida@hotmail.com











I work with Project Healing Waters as well as Women In The Outdoors

Flies For Sale

My Patterns are as follows: Guida's Mirrored Minnows $2.50 ea, Guida's White Lighting/Black Thunder $2.00 ea, Guida's Emerald Shiners $2.00 ea, Hairballs, sucker spawn, single eggs $1.00 ea all orders must be in Qty's of 5's or 10's per style
e-mail orders to jimguida@hotmail.com

WNY Fly Fishing Trout Camps

Trout Camps are in the spring for inland trout. The classes are six hours and cover casting, fly selection, and reading the water. We provide lunch, guides, flies/leaders/tippet, rods and reels if needed, you must bring waders and wading boots, sunglasses. This is the best way to start out fly fishing and learn from some of the best instructors in WNY.

Cost is $250.00 per person $350.00 per two
Please call Brian Slavinski
716-834-4331















Saturday, April 23, 2011

WNY Fly Fishing - The Hendrickson

When the Hendrickson’s begin hatching in April - May, the major rivers of the Northeast come alive. The hatch attracts swallows, cedar waxwings and nighthawks that dart and dive and catch the bugs in mid-air.
Underwater, the hatch draws trout out from hiding to feed with abandon in the open water. The careless trout bring an osprey or two that hover high above the river waiting for an easy mark. Then with deadly speed and precision they plunge into the water with open talons. But the Hendrickson’s also bring the fly fishers to what is the first big event of the fly fishing season.

Hendrickson’s are the kind of bug that put the fly in fly-fishing.

About one-half an inch long, they live most of the year underwater clinging to the underside of rocks, in their nymph stage. In May, they undergo a metamorphosis -- swimming to the surface to emerge from their shells as flying insects. Clouds of them form over the river to mate and lay their eggs in the water. Within three weeks the whole dance is over.
Entomologists call these bugs Ephemerella Subvaria. But back in 1916, it was customary for fly tiers to name their flies for their clients.
A tier from the Beaver kill River, named Steen rod, tied an imitation of the bug for a client named Hendrickson. The fly worked and the name stuck.
Part of the mystique of the Hendrickson fly is its intricate coloring.
Fly tiers use tufts of lemon colored wood duck feathers to fashion wings and blue dun rooster feathers for the legs. The body of the bug has an elusive pinkish-grayish mahogany cream hue. Some specialists say the color varies from river to river. In his original fly, Steen rod claimed to use the "urine-stained hair of a vixen" (female fox) to achieve this critical body color. Maybe old Steen rod was having one over on Mr. Hendrickson? Or maybe he was cleverly marketing his fly's mystical aura? Recipes for the Hendrickson fly still call for this material, though it is not readily available. However, fly shops do stock a pinkish-grey synthetic substitute.



In the week prior to the hatch, the Hendrickson nymphs become very active. Turn over a submerged river rock and you can see them wriggling with anticipation, while other bugs appear sleepy. Meanwhile, in garages and storage closets across the region, fly fishers also begin to stir. They patch leaks in their waders with duct tape. They buy fascinating gadgets that "really catch fish" on the Internet. But these outward movements mask the awakening of their subconscious fishing faculties. Fly fishers begin to dream of vivid red-spotted brown trout that take artificial Hendrickson flies with crisp decisive movements.

Like the prehistoric cave painters of Lascaux, the fly fisher's visions play a crucial role in the hunt. Standing by the river, ordinary people see only rushing water, while really good fly fishers "see" fish.
Half the time they are still dreaming, but they are often right.
Fishing the Hendrickson hatch is a civilized affair. Because the bugs don't get moving until late morning, there is plenty of time to sleep in and even have a leisurely brunch before heading to the river.

Generally, the best fishing is just before noon and again in the early evening. In the morning, the trout dart about catching the nymphs that are swimming to the surface. Sometimes, they break the surface snapping up the adult winged fly. In the evening, the trout feed lazily at the surface on the spent egg-laying flies, or spinners. But unusual weather can shift these times considerably, so it is best not to assume anything.

The morning hatch stage and the evening spinner stage require different flies. Steen rod’s famous fly imitates the newly hatched female as it floats down the river contemplating its first flight. Another fly called the Red Quill, invented by Art Flick, imitates the male spinner.

The Red Quill is smaller and has a deep mahogany body with clear wings.
A good local fly shop will have the flies that match the local conditions. But fooling the trout takes more than just a pretty fly. The fly must behave like the real bug. This is called "presenting" the fly.
A Hendrickson nymph should rise from the bottom as if it were swimming to the surface. Presented in this way, a foot or two in front of a trout's nose, a nymph is a sure way to hook a fish.
If presenting a nymph sounds hard, presenting a spinner is harder.
The spinner is a dead fly floating on top of the water. Now, you might think that getting an artificial fly to play dead is easy. But in truth it takes a lot of work to make your fly do absolutely nothing. The many threads of current pulling on the fly line conspire to pull the spinner fly off of its dead drift. If your imitation moves at all, with respect to the current, the trout will ignore it. Dead flies are not supposed to move, after all.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Monday, April 18, 2011

WNY Fly Fishing Stream Report 4/18/2011

Most of the smaller steelhead streams are fishable, but low and clear the bigger ones are coming down. The same is to be said for the inland streams.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

WNY Fly Fishing Stream Report 4/10/11

 Well Luke, Jeff, Paul and I went out to do some much needed fishing for one of the last Steelhead trips of the spring. The weather was very nice, but a bit too sunny for me, the creeks were low and clear. The morning started out strong with my first cast with a hook up on a nice steelhead on a Hairball and just a few more drifts then another, the rest of the day the fishing slowed down to a crawl so i decided to think outside the box and put on a bubble gum pink San Juan worm and it proved to be a great choice as i put a hurt'n on the steelhead and browns. The afternoon warmed up nicely the stones started to hatch so i switched to a small stone and caught more until dark when Luke hooked the monster of the day only after a spirited battle several jumps he headed into the log jam and broke him off.




 

Friday, April 8, 2011

WNY Fly Fishing Stream Report 4/8/2011

Well most of the streams are coming down and have good color as of today, so the fishing should pick up for the weekend. Steelhead is slowing down with lots of suckers being caught now so this might be the last chance to get some in the smaller creeks.

Friday, April 1, 2011

WNY Fly Fishing Stream Report 3/31/2011


Luke and I took Kim, Jeff out to do some trib fishing to a new spot that they have never been too before, well the fish Gods smiled on Kim with a monster steelhead (34")  that took all of 20 minutes to land and broke Luke's net in the process. The fish took her over 150yds down stream!!!!!!  Kim did a perfect job on fighting the fish while Luke landed him with the broken net with no handle. Kim was amazed how a fish that big would take a small Hairball egg fly. Special Thanks to Lucas Carroll for the photo's

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WNY Hatch Chart

Name Size Dates
Stoneflies 10-18 April - September
B.W.O 18-22 April - September
Hendrickson 12-14 April - May
Black Caddis 16-18 March - May
Caddis 14-18 April - September
March Brown 10-12 May - June
Grey Fox 12-14 May - June
Sulpher 14-18 May - June
P.M.D. 16-20 May - June
Lt. Cahill 14-16 June - July
Green Drake 8-10 May - June
Isonchia 12-14 June - August
Yellow Stonefly 12-14 June - September
Hexagina 6-8 June - July
Trico 20-24 July - September

Ants 16-22 June - September
Beetles 12-16 June - September
Flying Ants 16-18 June - September
Hoppers 10-12 August
Crickets 10-12 August

USGS Height Gage

USGS Height Gage

Flow Rate Guide

Oatka Creek
2.60 – 2.80 low water flows·
2.80 – 3.00 moderate flows·
3.00 – 3.20 good fishing flow·
3.20 – 3.40 starting to rise·
3.40 – 3.60 High Water


Genesee River near Wellsville
100 – 200cfs Summer Flows Low water
200 – 300cfs Summer Flows Good Water
300 – 400cfs Spring Flows Fishable·
400 – 500cfs Spring Flows High Water·
650cfs + Stay Home


Cattaraugus Creek

Cattaraugus in Fall
100 – 250cfs Low Water Flow·
250 – 400cfs Good Fishing Flow·
400 – 650cfs Fishable Flow·
650 – 800cfs High Water Flow·
800 – 1000cfs Very High Water Flow·
1000 – 1200cfs Stay Home Tie Flies


Cattaraugus in Spring

100 – 250cfs Low Water Flow·
250 – 400cfs Good Fishing Flow·
400 – 650cfs Normal Fishing Flow·
650 – 800cfs High Water Flow·
800 – 1000cfs Very High Water Flow·
1000 – 1200cfs + Stay Home Tie Flies

Followers

Mirrored Minnow

Mirrored Minnow

Rainbow Runner

Rainbow Runner

Emilee's Spey

Emilee's Spey

Thunder Creek Minnow

Thunder Creek Minnow

Simple Sculpin

Simple Sculpin

Hairball

Hairball

Rabbit Leech

Rabbit Leech

Hare's Ear Wet

Hare's Ear Wet

Peacock Emerger

Peacock Emerger

Sulpher Emerger

Sulpher Emerger

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