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Alex Cervaniak is a fly fishing blogger, one
of the new generation of fanatics who've embraced technology to find out
where the action is and where it isn't. A resident of "upstate" New
York, the action is often closer to Alex than to most of us!
Surrounded with opportunity and variety, Alex is happy to chase carp or
chrome, lake run browns or largemouth bass. On of the most amazing
stories in all of angling, however, is the phenomenal success of steelhead
in the tributaries of Lake Erie. Pronounced terminal fifty years
ago, the lake has been resurrected phoenix-like by the introduction of
Pacific salmon and two strains of steelhead rainbow trout. The area
from Cleveland, Ohio to Rochester, New York is now home to some of the
finest steelhead fishing in the world. That's a proximity Alex puts
to good use.
Alex, you publish
The Day Tripper Blog. How did you start blogging and what do you want to accomplish with
your blog?
I never stop thinking about fly fishing or fly tying, it's literally 24/7.
So the main reason I started it was to just kind of get my thoughts and
experiences on paper to look back on in the future. I want to have a blog that shows people that
you don't have to make big bucks, use high end gear, or be a snob to enjoy
fly fishing. I want people who are already avid fly fisherman to realize
how much fun fly fishing the water in their backyard is and that they
don't have to live up to the "Industry Pressure" that you have to travel
around the world to find good fishing. Who needs Taimen when you've got
Carp?
You've announced a new on-line magazine - www.defconfly.com. What's that
all about and when will we see it?
At this point I'm planning to launch the first issue sometime in January
2008. It will be bi-monthly to start, and hopefully I will get enough
content from writers to have a new issue out each month. My vision for
this is to develop into a hybrid between a video magazine and a standard
magazine. Even though a full blown video magazine would be cool, I still
enjoy good old fashioned written articles.
How long have you been fly fishing and when did you start tying your own
flies?
I've been fly fishing for just under 3 years now, and tied my first fly on
January 6, 2005
Where do you live? What are the local waters you fish?
I
moved to the Albany, New York area from northern Michigan just over a year
ago so I'm still figuring out what my new home waters are. For
Smallmouth Bass and Carp I usually fish the Hudson or Mohawk Rivers, and
there's a great little pond up the road I like to go to for panfish and
largemouth bass. To get my trout fix I'll fish the Battenkill, Ausable, or
some of the unnamed trout streams in the Adirondack Mountains. I'm also
within day trip distance of the Catskills. There are some great
backcountry ponds here. You've got to hike in several miles to get to
them, but the fishing and solitude is worth it. Then for Steelhead, I
usually fish the Salmon River.
What's your favorite fish to chase?
My favorite fish to chase? I don't know if I could pick just one. I could
narrow it down pretty quickly though. Steelhead, Smallmouth Bass, Carp,
and Brook Trout. The best day trips are the ones where I get to go after
more than one of them.
What drove you to this selection of flies? Tell me a bit about how you
fish them.
I chose the patterns I did because I wanted to have all of my bases
covered. There's no worse feeling than not having the pattern you think
would be best for the situation you're being faced with. Then each pattern
had to be one I could tie in under 5 minutes. Even the speys I tie for
steelhead are simplified versions of the classics, only incorporating the
key elements of the pattern. I lose way to many flies chasing steelhead to
justify spending 10 or 15 minutes on a single fly.
The eggs and nymphs are fished with the standard Indicator Rig, or Chuck &
Duck when the current is too fast and deep to effectively fish with an
indicator rig.
For the hairwings I cast them up and across, let the fly drift down, and
then let it swing. Once it has hung for a few seconds at the end of the
swing I strip it in. If water temps are warm I might only make a few casts
through a hole or run, or if the water is really cold I'll meticulously
cover the area before moving on.
I am not the guy who goes to his favorite hole and stands in one spot all
day. I work the area until I'm satisfied I've covered it well and move on
to the next. Since moving out here to NY, it's nothing to put 4-5 miles on
my wading boots each trip out.
With that said, I don't leave active fish to find active fish.
Describe your favorite outfit - rod, reel, line, leader.
My "go to" rig for steelheading is my 8wt Pflueger Medalist, a 10/11
Okuma Integrity Reel with a spool set up with a WF floating line for
Indicator Fishing, and a spare spool set up for C&D. I also carry a few
different lengths of T-14 that I'll use to quickly convert my C&D spool
into a shooting head setup so I can swing streamers and speys in deeper
runs where my floating line won't allow me to get my fly where I need it.
For leader material I carry spools of 6#, 8#, 12#, 14#, and 20# Berkley
Vanish Fluorocarbon.
What's your "go
to" when you don't know what conditions will be like?
For Indicator fishing I usually use about 3' of the #20, then about 3-4'
of 12# if I'm going down to the 6# tippet, or 3-4' of the 14# if I'm going
down to 8# tippet. My tippet length is usually about 6 feet. I decide
whether or not to use 6# or 8# based on water speed and clarity. Then a
small split shot about 18" away from the fly to get it down. I like the
pill shaped indicators that attach by twisting a rubber band. I also use
the indicators you peg a toothpick in to keep them in place.
For C&D my main leader length depends mostly on the water depth. But a
length that gets me by in most situations is about 7'. At the end of my
main leader I tie on a barrel swivel. Then on the other end of the barrel
swivel I use about 3' of 6# or 8# tippet. My choice of weight also depends
on the water depth. If the current is raging I'll have a slinky which is
attached to the main leader by a snap swivel that freely runs on the
leader. If the current is slower, I'll use a few split shot attached to
the tag ends from my knot to the barrel swivel.
For swinging streamers or speys my leader is pretty much the same as my
indicator leaders, just shorter so my total leader length is about 7'-9'.
However I just got a 13' 8wt Spey Rod that I'm excited to learn to fish
with.
I usually know what conditions will be like ahead of time and will set up
appropriately at the car. If I don't I will start out with the Indicator
rig and adjust as needed.
What is Alex Cervaniak's dream fish - what do you want to catch or where
do you want to catch it? What fishing fantasy haunts you?
I have many dream fish. A 10"+ Brookie from a mountain brook I can
step across. A 30"+ Lake Run Brown Trout. A Sea Run Steelhead on a Spey. A
40"+ Northern Pike on a Popper. A 20#+ Carp. A Landlocked Atlantic Salmon
on a Dry Fly.
I am haunted by many fish. There was a Smallmouth that hammered an 8" Butt
Monkey on the Hudson this Summer. It's the first Smallie I've ever felt
the need to play it on the reel While reeling up the slack to play it on
the reel, and right afte the guy behind me said, "I am gonna get this one
on video!", the fly just came loose. I can still see the fly flying back
at me through the air in slow motion. A few weeks ago I lost a Brown Trout
on the Battenkill (on a Butt Monkey) that I know in my heart was at least
24". I had just caught and released an 18" Brown minutes before and the
second one felt much bigger. I'm haunted most of all by fish I've saw or
didn't see, and couldn't provoke into striking. It is these fish that
cause me to carry around 2 and sometimes 3 Bugger Barns of flies. It is
these fish that have me reading and thinking about fly fishing 24/7.
