Steelhead

The rainbow trout (oncorhynchus mykiss) is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea or lake run rainbow trout. They are anadromous usually returning to freshwater to spawn after two to three years at sea; raoinbow trout and steelhead are the same species. Several other fish in the salmonid family are called trout; some are anadromous like salmon, whereas others are resident in freshwater only. The species has been introduced for food or sport to at least 45 countries and every continent except Antarctica. 

Venison tenderloin on an open flame

Tonight's dinner in the woods

Recipe:Butterflied Venison Tenderloin Steaks

Here's one that team GTO will definitely be making this week at camp. A simple yet tasty way to prepare your harvest this fall.

Ingredients

1 venison tenderloin cut into 3/4 inch butterfly steaks
1 cup Speide Sauce (check your grocery store's marinade aisle)
2 tbsp sea salt and pepper

Cut your tenderloin into 3/4-1 inch venison steaks and place into a sealable freezer bag with 1 cup of Speide Sauce marinade. Seal bag and make sure sauce in liberally applied to all the steaks. If more is needed add more sauce. Place steaks into the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. Light your charcoal or propane grill, preferably hardwood charcoal. When grill is ready take out your steaks and liberally apply sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to all the steaks. 4-5 minutes on each side until your reach a nice medium/medium rare and pull off the heat immediately. Serve right away either naked or with your favorite sauce. A nice chimichurri would be wonderful over the platter of steaks.

The next time you harvest a beautiful white tail or elk try this one out

Cheers

Billy

Fall Trout

The fall can be one of the best times of the year to catch big trout in lots of waters.  Here in WNY we have the best of all worlds, while we can chase the salmon run up tributaries off Lake Ontario, sneak up on chrome steelhead off Lake Erie, or retrieve big gaudy streamers though the wild trout waters all over the area and catch the large browns that have done a great job avoiding the summer pressure of fishermen.  The limited pressure on the rivers and creeks this time of year makes it a wonderful time to get out there and land one of these beauties.  Deer hunting helps kill the pressure of crowded banks and streams.

What techniques can we use?

Like the early season don't be afraid to hook up a strike indicator and drift your favorite nymphs through the riffles and deep pools along your favorite trout stream.  Theres not much of a hatch in WNY to match this time of the year, but all time favorites like the hare's ear, red headed brassie, or pheasant tail nymphs will get the job done.  Pick a seam outside the fast current where food would pile up and drift your indicator through making sure you have enough weight on your line to get your nymph low and basically feed it to the big brownies.  If this isn't working don't be discouraged the trout might need some help realizing how fun it is on the end of your tippet.  If drifting that favorite nymph isn't creating the desired results  then it's time to drop a dropper of the back sub-surface wolly bugger or small streamer.  Tie an 18 inch section of fine tippet off the leading fly and drop a small nypmh off the back.  The top streamer or bugger while getting attention of the fish will either get the job done or get enough attention to hunger the fish enough to gobble up the trailing nymph.

Another option for fall time trout is beating the banks with streamers.  The bigger, gaudier, and flashier the better.  Give these bulls something to chase, something that looks like a meal.  Look for undercut banks, down trees, boulders or large rocks.  Places that huge trout can hang out, feel protected, and run out for food all in a small area. Short, quick burst, erratic retrieves with bunny streamers or mouse flys will drive big buck trout crazy and result in a definite hook up.

Fall trout fishing can be some of the most fun you can have on the water all year round.  Big wild browns is my goal usually, but I'll settle for just about any kind of trout.  If anything this will be one of the most enjoyable times for you since the pressure will be low and you can experiment with multiple techniques and flys.  Fill that fly box up with multiple nymphs, wet flys, and big gaudy streamers.  floating strike indicators or no, a couple split shots or floating line take your pick.  It will all work out as long as you work on the perfect presentation in the perfect holding spots on the creeks where these smart trout have been hold up all summer long.  Good luck out there and remember to enjoy the outdoors while you're out there hunting, fishing, and grilling the outdoors.

Cheers

Billy

Overtime

Tis the season. The season I wish there were thirty hours in a day and nine days in a week. The salmon run is in full effect out of Lake Ontario, bow season is starting to get good, and duck hunting opens in a week. From stream to stand as much as I can leaves little time for blogs to be written, face books to be posted, or twitters to tweet. I love October and everything that goes along with it. I love fly fishing for huge salmon and steelhead. It's a treat to grab a huge brown trout while drifting for these awesome fish. When not wading the tribs of the Great Lakes I sit in a tree stand admiring the changing of the leaves. The beautiful transformation passes the time as I sit in stealth and await a trophy whitetail. As the days pass and the weather changes those same whitetail begin to change their behavior patterns as well. Do they know why this happens? Do we know why? Mother Nature changing the environment right in front of our eyes.

In the coming week we will be going to our southern tier operation for four days of bow hunting and fall brown trout fishing. We will prepare the camp for weeks and weeks of debauchery, camaraderie, and hopefully a productive whitetail season. The whole idea of a hunting camp is what drew me to the sport. An escape, a place we gather to de-stress and fulfill our primal urge to harvest and provide. It might just be an outhouse and trailer from 1984 but it is a sanctuary that I look forward to coming back to every time we leave.

October, a time of change, a time of harvest. The month of Halloween, the month of hunting, fishing, and cooking. Huge salmon, nice big browns, bucks and does preparing for the upcoming rut, and flocks of migrating ducks and geese. I might complain about my lack of time or how busy I am, but I truly do love putting in the overtime in the field, in the woods, or waist deep in a Great Lakes tributary. Stay tuned for reports from the many adventures coming up throughout the next couple of months as we hunt, fish, and grill the WNY area.

Cheers,

Billy

Get outside

  Anyone claiming to be bored needs to get outside. Turn off the tv, the computer and all your other electronics. I understand hunting and fishing equipment can be expensive. 

  NY state has so much more to offer. Theres tons of state parks and land to hike on, walk on, fish on, hunt on or even ride your bike on. There's some very picturesque parts of NY that aren't hard to get to.

  If your into fishing theres countless possibilities. Even in winter. Don't have ice fishing gear you say. Theres streams that don't ice up that offer steelhead fishing all the way till spring. Hook into one of these "muscle" heads just once and you'll be hooked. Theres many small streams all over that offer good bank fishing for trout. Then theres enough park ponds and lakes that hild largemouth and panfish to get you through the summer. Which takes you into fall and the salmon run off Lake Ontario. Having just got involved in this myself for the first time. Let me tell ya. This is some fun fishing. Drag screaming runs. Fish that fly out of the water. Not to mention its just a beautiful time to be outside. 

  If you can pull yourself away from the salmon and steelhead streams, theres more than enough to hunt. Deer hunting starts in October and goes till December. Throw some duck hunting in there. Before you know it the snows flying and your spending late nights a field hunting coyotes. Then it's spring and your turkey hunting. Theres a little break to be had during summer. Thats when you can enjoy your quarry on the grill, or in the smoker. 

  Theres a whole years worth of activity. Stop being bored. Get outside, make some memories with friends. Maybe you'll even meet somebody new. 

Josh

Withdrawal

I've been back to work now for two days. Two days since being on the Salmon River. two days since feeling the fight, hearing the scream of the reel. Two days since feeding my need. Some may say I've been distant these last two days, while some may say I've been cranky. I personally would say none of them are correct. I'm an addict, an addict for big fish. I need to experience the fight , the thrill, the challenge and reward of fishing for chinook salmon. Not just fishing,but chasing the king on the fly. Tying our own creations, tasty morsels of thread feathers and yarn that these monster fish just can't resist lashing out at. The run is ramping up, more and more fish are going from staging in the lake right off the mouth of our tribs and running upstream to spawn and eventually meet their maker. More and more fish to chase means less and less days of the annual run. The run will die off the fishing will succeed and I'll be back at square one. With drawling for one more fish, one more hook up, one more acrobatic display or run upstream while my fly reel empties out. Sure there are lake run steelies and browns that temporarily feed the urge, but that last king salmon will always be in the back of your head. Urging for the next hook up the next season of another chinook king salmon.

Billy

River Report: Salmon River pulaski, ny

Not knowing what to expect from the salmon river set me up for a great experience. The town of Pulaski itself is a perfect American fishing town with river side lodges cleaning and smoking fish for a nominal fee. The waters did not disappoint. Picturesque landscapes, rippled waters, bends turns and pools were all amazing experiences. With miles of public fishing access the salmon river has a spot or situation for all to enjoy their day on the water.
Only having two days in the salmon river region we got to work on different locations along the river. First day we fished the sportsmans pool. The better action day of the two, Monday we had multiple hook ups on the fly, but like the many other anglers we seen, not one was landed. Close, but no fish in the nets. Broken leaders, straightened hooks, dislodged hooks, we saw or experienced many disappointments. Out of the over one hundred hook ups we seen throughout our long day on the water about ten were brought to a net. Still the fight, the screaming of the reel, the jumps and acrobatics of chinook salmon made our trip.
On Tuesday we moved our adventures to a fly fishing only section upstream of the salon river salmon hatchery. The day started out amazing with three hook ups right away in the morning. More screaming reels and laying line while doing battle with the salmon river kings, but once again more dislodged fish. After a couple hours in the upper fly section I hooked into a large chinook salmon and battle we did do. Upstream, down stream, line laid out and brought in for more time then I had in any previous fight this trip. 6-7 jumps, air acrobatics, summersaults and leaps. While maintaining great pressure and finessing the drag of my reel the salmon came in for us to get a great look at him. A king of fish darkened and silver all at the same time. This fish was about to cap off an amazing trip when it decided differently and took off on a last minute dash, a run for it. Down stream and into the heavy currents my line peeled off, a jump and roll and like that the battle was over. The fish had spit my fly, dislodged the hook once again. Defeat gave way to my sore wrists that had tired throughout the battle with the fish of the weekend.
Shortly after all the negativity was wiped clean as I looked down shore and josh was hooked up with a king salmon of his own. He had drifted an orange imitation sack through a pool and fed it to a beautiful hen. Finally for the first time of the whole trip we got a fish into the net, landed. Team GTO had landed a famed salmon river salmon. Our homework paid off, our custom tied flies hooked many fish, probably a dozen for the trip. It was a success.
All in all a great trip with great friends and great beers. Fat tire from New Belgium brewery and a harvest pack from Boston brewing company kept the soreness to a roar dull all trip. We have finally experienced the famed salmon river and already have another trip planned for steelhead fishing and one more for next years salmon run. Like previously stated in past blogs its like an addiction. A sickness if you will. The fight of the fish, the screaming of the reel, the pull of the drag. Energy shoots through me like a main line of adrenaline. The salmon sickness, if this is the only cure, that's alright with me.