Mar 28, 2025
Tiny Walnut Creek flows into Silver Creek near the creekmouth close to Lake Erie, and young angler, Andrew Frelock, found a way to fool some wary fish in the headwaters of the creek. Submitted photo
The Lake Erie tributary fishing streams of Chautauqua County have articulated through a metamorphosis of sorts, from overflowing banks with excessive snowmelt two weeks ago to an extremely low-flow condition since then. The result of low flow in spring is clear water and spooky fish, bringing anglers to use their very best stealth tactics.
This weekend, the anticipated rainfall is a beacon of hope, promising to move the streams closer to normal for this time of the year. This will allow the fish to return to the streams, relax and head into a feeding period where anglers may expect to test their stretched lines and full parabolic bending rods.
In the last few days and through last weekend, the clear water moved schools of steelies back downstream and back to Lake Erie. Not all of them. Crafty anglers like Andrew Frelock headed upstream to check on pockets and holes that may have isolated some numbers of fish from migrating downstream. It’s a smart play, though not all anglers thought of trying it. Moving to one of his favorite spots in tiny Walnut Creek, Frelock confesses, “It was a couple of hours before I found any fish, and finally, I did manage to fool one fish.”
Tiny Walnut Creek flows into Silver Creek near the mouth with productive fishing upstream to the falls located below Route 39 in Forestville.
“I threw egg sacks with brown trout eggs and some typical Marabou-style jigs with nothing to show,” Frelock said. “My cousin and I believe I ‘Matched the Hatch’ with a jig that I threw on.” Frelock crafts his own jigs as the understudy of his mentor, Gerald Brydalski. Brydalski owns Jigmaster Jigs and administers the Meta social sites of “Western New York Steelheaders” and “Steelhead Jig Tying.” Brydalski has helped legions of anglers to learn more about catching steelhead.
This tiny little jig is about 1-inch long and fooled steelhead in the clear water fishing conditions the last several days. Photo courtesy of Andrew Frelock
“It was a different style jig that I was gifted from the very kind Ryan Lassick at the Hairy Trout during the jig-tying night,” Frelock said. “The run we fished was not far from the car; it warmed up later that day, and we were both exhausted from the heat in our waders. It was a good thing we didn’t pass that pocket.”
It was a sunny day that day.
“We found that good pocket; it had a slate drop that deepened to about 4 to 5 feet and was about a 20-yard drift,” Frelock said. “The fish hit right off that slate drop. I twitched the jig three times, and the bobber went shooting down. After I landed the fish and took some pictures, about 15 minutes later, I had another take, only this time at the tail end of the drift. Had it hooked for a minute, and it shot downstream. To be honest, I lost that fish due to hesitation. If I were to move with the fish even the slightest, I would have had a better chance, but hey, they call it fishing, not catching.”
I thank Andrew for sharing these details, which I’m sure every steelhead angler will find invaluable. I must admit that the jig that fooled the fish that day was tiny and not very handsome.
“The jig is crafted out of chenille and hackle,” Frelock said. “You tie the long end of the chenille of the back and wrap the hackle around that, then fold it back into the jig to get the tail. The remaining chenille becomes the body.”
Gotta love the outdoors.
CALENDAR
March 29: New York Hunter Education, Springville Field/Stream, 8900 Chaise Road, Springville, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Register online: https://www.register-ed.com/events/register/224954; Free, must complete homework prior to class.
March 29: Sportsmen’s Raffle Day, Southtowns Walleye Association of WNY, noon-4:30 p.m., $25 entry, 5895 Southwestern Blvd., Hamburg. Info: Jim Stechenfinger, 716-310-4646.
March 30: WNY Environmental Federation, quarterly meeting, 1 p.m. start, Knights of Columbus, 36 Pierce Road, Hamburg.
March 30: WNY 3-D Archery Winter League Shoot-off, open to public, West Falls Conservation, 55 Bridge St., 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., $15, kids shoot free, info: 716-863-7342.
April 1: Opening Day for NYS Inland Trout Season.
NOTE: Send Calendar info or related outdoor news to forrestfisher35@yahoo.com.
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