Syracuse.com - More interesting stories from opening day of CNY trout fishing season

[HuntingNY-News]

I share stories about a 10-yeare-old who reeled in a 19 1/2 brown; a mystery angler who landed a 24-inch rainbow on Nine Mile Creek and a teenage fly fisherman who had his best opening day ever.

Submitted photoKyle and his nice brown.Last Sunday’s opening day of trout season produced a host of wonderful memories and catches.

The following three tales stand out:

A great start

The magic for young Kyle Barnes occurred on his very first cast.

The 10-year-old was using his spinning outfit to cast worms from shore with his father, Paul, on the Tioughnioga River in DeRuyter, when he hooked and landed a 19½-inch brown trout.

“I’ve been fishing there for years and never caught anything bigger than 12 inches,” the father said.

The ironic thing about that trout, the father said, was that neither he nor Kyle caught another fish. They didn’t even get another bite during the ensuing hour that they fished.

Paul Barnes, who admitted he wasn’t expecting to catch much, said he came unprepared. He didn’t even have a stringer.

He said he threw his son’s trout in the back of his truck and drove it to their DeRuyter home, which was nearby. He gutted it and put in the fridge.

The father returned to the river with his other son, Cameron, 6, but they got skunked.

Kyle’s fish, though, was more than adequate, Barnes said.

“My wife cooked it that night on the frying pan with some seasoning. It was big enough to feed the whole family,” he said.

Mystery angler

The talk at the end of the day on Nine Mile Creek was about an Oswego man who landed an eye-opening, 24-inch male rainbow trout.

A couple of nearby anglers, who took pictures of the fish for the guy, tried to persuade him to put it back in the water. The angler would have none of that, insisting he was going to take it home and have it mounted.

“We told him it would make more sense to put the fish back. ... and to have a replica made instead, using the pictures and the measurement,” said John Nolan. “He insisted he was going to keep it, which is his prerogative.”

And he did.

The pictures are available, but I’m not going to run them on this page or on my blog, or even give his name, unless he gives his consent. As Nolan said, that’s his prerogative.

Lucky fly guy

Jake DeCapio, owner of the Wayfarer Co., a spin and fly tackle shop on Nine Mile Creek, said the unwritten story on opening day was how the low, clear water increased the results of local fly fishermen.

The high, colored waters that normally characterize opening day in Central New York handicap the fly fishermen, who are often outfished by the worm and lure guys.

Not so this year. A good example was Joe Sicherman, a 17-year-old fly caster from Fairmount, who started out on opening day fishing Nine Mile with his buddy, Ryan.

“I caught and released five fish on flies on Nine Mile and then went over to Skaneateles Creek and caught six more,” he said, noting that he was using Nine Mile scuds and it was his best opening day ever.

He went out again on Monday and landed 10 fish, and was out again on Wednesday and caught 9 to 10 more.

The West Genesee High School junior said his biggest fish so far has been 12 inches.

“Doing well is all I care about, though I would like to get a big fish, of course,” he said.

For sharing their exploits, both Sicherman and Kyle Barnes will get the pick of outdoors-related books on my desk. If the Oswego angler ever reveals himself, he’ll get his choice as well.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog