Sandy Creek in NY by Rochester

[Steelhead_JESUS]

anyone have any insight on best times to fish Sandy for the brown run? I just recently moved here to finish my schooling while wrestling one more year and have about a 2 hr drive to rochester from Cortland. I am planning on having a few days off in November but thought I read they come in a bit later than the salmon in pulaski.. anyone that fishes this— what’s your set up as far as with a fly rod

 

[bigjohn358]

anyone have any insight on best times to fish Sandy for the brown run? I just recently moved here to finish my schooling while wrestling one more year and have about a 2 hr drive to rochester from Cortland. I am planning on having a few days off in November but thought I read they come in a bit later than the salmon in pulaski.. anyone that fishes this— what’s your set up as far as with a fly rod

I've never been more upset than fishing Sandy Creek. It can be great if you hit it right. Problem with Sandy it tends to cool down slower than the surrounding creek. One time I went to Sandy and in 1 hole I found 3 MONSTER browns that were all dead probably by snaggers or mishandling from photos. Just 1 of them would have made my trip. I watched a group of 4 guys fish a hole I was working my way up to. They had 1 guy on the bank searching for fish and 3 of them fishing/snagging. In a matter of minutes all 3 guys caught/snagged fish. It was so obvious they were snagging. You don't have quite as many people on Sandy and it reminds me more of fishing a stream around here in PA. I fished it with my 10'3" 7wt and my 9' 8wt. You might even be able to get away with a 6wt on Sandy.

 

[silverfox]

anyone have any insight on best times to fish Sandy for the brown run? I just recently moved here to finish my schooling while wrestling one more year and have about a 2 hr drive to rochester from Cortland. I am planning on having a few days off in November but thought I read they come in a bit later than the salmon in pulaski.. anyone that fishes this— what’s your set up as far as with a fly rod

All I can say is I fished it on Nov 9th last year, and the browns hadn't shown up yet in any fishable numbers, so it was more or less a waste of time. A few anglers had caught a few browns and steelhead, though. It was just a bunch of rotting pacific salmon carcasses and more anglers than living fish. It's an interesting stream, though, if you hit it right. Apparently. I'm not a big fan of the savagery and crowds on the Ontario tribs so I doubt I'll ever go back.

 

[JeffK]

A lot of the smaller Lake O and Finger lakes tribs have the same issue - they mostly have runs of fish when the rain pushes up the water levels a little. Get there on the right day and it is wonderful, but that isn't every day. Unlike resident trout they are either in or out. And you have to move quickly since the locals can snag them up quickly. Brown trout eggs are known as a great bait and many people just rip open the females for the eggs.

I think the Salmon R is so popular it is so large that some fish can always make it in. Some days are better than others, but at the worst a fish or two still makes it.

 

[Biggie]

I usually fish Sandy evey year. But it is a hit or miss deal. Lots of rain brings in the browns and steelhead. Otherwise it is a trickle with the temps going down. You do see alot of snagging but you can find a hole to fish. Last year was a bust on the western tribs all around. Since you will up there, just go when you can. If you hit it right you will be glad you went, and if it's not, you're still fishing. Good luck.

 

[caddisflyer]

End of October

 

[Acristickid]

My first salmon was caught out of that creek. Back when I cared about catching big fish.

 

[Steelhead_JESUS]

thank you everybody that responded it was helpful.. i will keep everything in mind and post any pictures if I happen to get into any of these lake run browns

 

[Steelhead_JESUS]

I usually fish Sandy evey year. But it is a hit or miss deal. Lots of rain brings in the browns and steelhead. Otherwise it is a trickle with the temps going down. You do see alot of snagging but you can find a hole to fish. Last year was a bust on the western tribs all around. Since you will up there, just go when you can. If you hit it right you will be glad you went, and if it's not, you're still fishing. Good luck.

would you be willing to explain why this trib is known for catching more browns compare to any other of the lake ontario tribs? is it just because it’s a much smaller creek than the salmon river so it’s easier to find browns or is it related to stockings in that area? but thank you i will keep note of this

 

[Brown71]

Sandy is a good creek. All the smaller tribs there can have good days and bad days, because of the flow and migrations of course.

One thing to always remember about Sandy though, is its watercourse without a dam to stop fish is much longer than most streams up there. Soooo, you can fish a section and have a bad day, while someone a mile from you caught 30. And i mean that literally. We spend quite a bit of time in LO tribs in fall, and it just takes time to learn all the areas, and the likeliest spots on a given day/conditions. I could write a novel on this post, but i wont bore everyone lol. But I wouldnt give up on that steam by any means. Starting about mid November, its a great place to be. Walk and look.

Im not sure why its better than other streams for browns, but it does seem to be. In what I thought were the best years up there, 2010 to about 2015, we caught many, many browns there and the size on some fish was outrageous. My Dad and I had a few days where we each landed multiple browns over 30", and there was a few we got up to 16 lb. I primarily spin fish but when i flyfish there think eggs.

 

[Steelhead_JESUS]

A lot of the smaller Lake O and Finger lakes tribs have the same issue - they mostly have runs of fish when the rain pushes up the water levels a little. Get there on the right day and it is wonderful, but that isn't every day. Unlike resident trout they are either in or out. And you have to move quickly since the locals can snag them up quickly. Brown trout eggs are known as a great bait and many people just rip open the females for the eggs.

I think the Salmon R is so popular it is so large that some fish can always make it in. Some days are better than others, but at the worst a fish or two still makes it.

Jeff, I still never made it out to Sandy. I am back in PA for a break but heading back to new york later this week. I did get enough time to try some of those finger lake tribs and wow. Those fish are fun to catch and especially the landlocks. Some of those fish look like they came from a different planet. Like you said, I think i hit it at the right time for some of the days i fished but was surprised how many other people i saw out with how the weather was.. I waited for some snow and cold temps and fished it and did pretty well thinking i’d be the only one dumb enough to fish in a snow storm and 29 degrees temps but i was wrong.. lots of other guys out but i made out pretty well