Salmon River steelhead report continued...

The last week and a half has seen the steelheading continue to be very good.  Most areas still continue to hold fish.  Still target fast water but I've noticed more hook ups in the deeper holding water in the last week.  The fishing has began to move to a more typical steelhead bite, that is, on and off, like a light switch.  First light typically produces fish but now they are prone to turning on and off through the day.  If the bite your fishing shuts off, be patient and hang out, it will turn on again.  If you're not patient, then move around and try different areas, you'll find the bite again.



Erich Gaston with a dandy Salmon River steelhead.
11/20/2011



The Atmar to Pineville area still has tremendous numbers of fish, but you'll have to share you fishing areas with others.  The steelhead crowd at this point are more the 'dedicated' steelheaders, those who don't mind the weather and would rather stand knee deep in water during the winter than sit in the Lazyboy waiting for winter to end.  These guys are usually advanced in their skills and have fine tuned their equipmaent and approach the the river and the fish.  Hanging out with these fellas can be very rewarding.

Pineville and down to Pulaski sees less angling pressure and the solitude of the river is awesome.  From the driftboat I see very few people down stream from Pineville and the Sportsman, it's a thing of beauty.  Not a lot of boat traffic as the water is still low, about 450cfs at Pineville gauge.



Even I get to fish a little with clients sometimes.  I landed it on a
10' 7wt indie fishing with a chartreuse w/ pink dot glo-bug.
11/18/2011



I've been primarily fly fishing with clients and the indie fishing is good.  Glo-bugs continue to produce well with chartreuse w/pink dot and straight Steelhead Orange being the top producers.  Eggs will produce, stick with blue or chartreuse sacks.  Beads will work, try mottled patterns in charise and glow roe in chartreuse.  fish these in 8 and 10 mil.  I am using all leader/tippets on 6lb  P-Line florocarbon.

Salmon River steelhead fishing report

Finally got a chance to download some pictures to my laptop and put a report together.  Have been busy on the river since the last posting and the steelheading is awesome.  Most all stops in a float produce steelhead, with some areas of the river holding amazing numbers of fish. 



Joe holding a typical Salmon River steelhead, about 8 lbs


Have been fishing both flies and egg sacs, both producing well.  As for egg sacs two colors are producing excellent, blue and chartreuse.  If your going to put your money on one color, then make it blue.  Have had some limited success with pink but you will do best right now using blue or chartreuse.  If you are a trout bead man, then the chartreuse bead in 12 mil will be a good choice.

Flies that are producing well are Glo-bug  patterns in chartreuse with pink or cherise dot, solid cherise, solid steelhead orange, Oregon cheese with pink dot and try a pale blue with cherise dot, these egg patterns are working.  If you want to try nymphs, try black stones #8,10 and Copper Johns.  I've been floating all these under a strike indicator and have been having the best success with the Glo-bugs.  If you are swinging flies then Intruders, BH Wooly Buggers and MOAL leeches are going to work for you.


From Tyler Texas, Darryl withstood the cold
for a few sleelies.



As I mentioned, most areas of the river will produce good steelheading right now.  I fished / floated the Altmar to Pineville stretch for a few hours this past Saturday and it was loaded with fish.  Only problem is it was loaded with fishermen too.  It's surprising to still see so MANY people fishing right now.  It obviously speaks to the excellent fishing right now but the parking lots and the river look like salmon season.   Mid-river, Pineville to the Ace, crowded,  upper Sportsman to Sportsman, crowded.  In between these areas though you can find some solitude and steelhead that are willing to play.

 I have seen a lot  more spey guys on the river this fall, in areas I have never seen them in before.  Most single hand fly-rodders are indicator fishing and most guys with spinning gear are using floats now-a-days.  Most spin guys I see are using beads and I've noticed many using the 'ol pink worm (with success).


Also from Texas, Allen holds one of several steelhead brought
to the net this past Friday.



Steelhead report and more



Brand spankin new, ain't she a beauty

 First the big news, the Pineville bridge is open.  Looks like it will last a while.  Sure will make traveling around the river alot easier.  Secondly and just as important, we have water.  At Pineville gauge right now 1110cfs.  It's a new world out there for boating and wading.  The fish seem to like it too.

The steelhead are well distributed through out the river.  The Pineville to 2A stretch is fishing great.  We are able to find fish most places we throw a line.  The fish so far have been dime bright, very little color showing.  Have had good success on glo bugs in Oregon Cheese with a cherise dot and chartruse with a cherise dot.  Also tie a few in light blue yarn with a cherise dot and have had success with that works too.  Because of the success with glo bugs I haven't really focused on trout beads alot but word from the river is they are working good,  try some 12mil beads, alot of guys are doing good with these.  Blue egg sacks are still producing good as well.


Mark Ullman with a fresh steelhead 10/27/2011



Looking for something to  do next Saturday, November 5? If you're in Erie, Pennsylvania check out the Steelhead Expo.  It looks like it is primarily focused on the Lake Erie fishery but should be interesting.  It runs from 1pm to 9pm and there will be some major venders there with their new product.  Click on the '"expo" above to check it out.

One last observation from the rowing seat, it was cold today, no rain or snow, but cold, late November type cold.  Time to be thinking about warmth and wading safety.  Nothing can make a day miserable like cold hands and feet.  Time to put away the stocking foot waders and pull out the boot foots.  Also, wear you korker or studded boots, felts will freeze on you and be very dangerous to wade in.  I know I don't need to tell you that, just a reminder.

Salmon River Steelhead Report



Weldon Walshe with a chrome steelie, 2nd cast of the day. 
10/22/2011



Have spent the last few day targeting steelhead and have not been disapointed.  More numbers daily but still have to find them.  I have found chrome in most of the traditional areas but not all areas holding day to day.  This means that they are on the move and need to see the runs increase.  The upper area of the river, Altmar to Pineville, is producing more consistantly.  This is early in the run for steelhead so as we move into November I expect the numbers to increase through out the river.  Also, still alot of salmon, most are looking a little beat up, but have landed a few fresh, clean kings in the last few days

We are getting fish (steelhead) and many are good sized fish.  We hooked, and lost, a brute yesterday.  I did get a couple good looks at it and I would guess it to be in the 14 -16 lbs range, would have liked to have slid the net under it.

We have had best success on blue egg sacks.  Tried beads and flies with some success but eggs are the ticket on these fresh steelhead, blue eggs.  Have picked a few on pink and chartruse, but blue is tops right now.



Good selectoin of egg patterns, need to hit the tying bench.



Fly patterns to use are Glo bugs in Oregon Cheese with either pink or roe dot, solid cherise and solid orange roe.  Sucker spawn (the fly) is also a good choice.  I also do well with a purple estaz fly tied with a short chartruse poly tail and a set of bead chain eyes. The same estaz pattern tied in butterscotch estaz with a red or bright orange poly tail works good too. All my fly fishing right now is indicator fishing although I'd guess that swinging an Intruder or a Moal Leech would work on these fresh fish.  Getting good results with indies fly fishing the head of runs in fast, oxygenated water.  Lastly, for both spinning and fly fishing I am using 6-8 lb test florocarbon P-Lines. 

The rowing seat is a great place to be this time of year.  If you want to fish from the seats in front of or behind the rowing seat, give me a call.

Salmon River fishing report



Christa Marx with a nice Chinook salmon 10/17/2011



In a word, awesome!  Since last Wednesday  there has been a steady run of fresh salmon into the river and as of yesterday, Monday, the run still continues.  Yesterday, as always, floated with clients from Pineville to 2A bridge and there are literally salmon everywhere. Fished with Austin and Christa Marx and had a excellent day.  This was Christa's first time salmon fishing and she ended the day with 7 salmon landed and probably as many hooked and lost.  Austin landed 8 Kings and lost twice as many.  Most of the spawning areas are heavy with fresh spawning salmon and there is also the constant movement of new fish throughout this stretch of river.  There is word, however, that the influx of new salmon into the lower river is done.  This would mean that the run has peaked and will get no better than it is now.  With the fish that have entered the river in the last week we should see some great salmon fishing to the first of November.  Also, yesterday's float saw VERY few anglers. Except for the Sportsman areas, there was hardly a soul to be seen.  Also only crossed paths with two other drift boats. 



Weldon Walshe with a Salmon River steelhead. 10/15/2010



As for the rest of the river upstream from Pineville, there are plenty of salmon and you will find that most anglers and guides are in this portion of the river (easy access, low water). 

The steelhead fishing is also turning on.  We have hit several in the past week and I have been seeing other anglers landing steelhead.  As for my schedule I will be running my first float targeting steelhead on this Friday.  I will be fishing with a father/son returning after two great days of steelhead fishing same time last fall.
The predictions on the steelhead fishing this fall is to be exceptional.  I have some good dates open through November and December if you'd like to get together for some great chrome fishing.



Austin and Christa with 2 Salmon River Kings 10/17/2011



Salmon River fishing report - salmon run

Sorry it's been so long since last post.  Guide work is busy and 3:45 am wake up the last 2 weeks has left me a little tired.  But here's what's happening as of yesterdays float trip.

There is no lack of fish but most of the fish are located above the Sportsman's hole to Altmar.  Below the Sportsman's yesterday was slim pickin's.  The word I got below the 2A bridge sounded like there were a few salmon moving up, but no large numbers.  Sunday, Sept 25, I saw the first spawning activity this fall and in the week and 1/2 since the salmon are spawning full bore, beds everywhere you'd expect them to be.  There has been little rain here so water is still low, 426cfs at pineville.   This means that spawning salmon feel are vulnerable AND shy.  I've been using #10 florocarbon to at least get near the fish.  We're having some cooler temps so I'd expect the water to continue to cool down, it has dropped temperature 10 degrees since this past weekend.  This will translate into steady movement of fish into the river and we should see more steelhead entering now.  Speaking of steelhead, we had our first  one on for the season this past Saturday, didn't land it, but was nice to see chrome!



Tube fly patterns



A couple of posts back I said that the run does not peak till the full moon, so I'd look for the run to peak around the middle of next week, just  after Columbus Day.

We've been using basically egg sucking leeches in both tradition fly and tube fly patterns.  In the past few days, due to fishing pressure, the darker colors are producing better but at first light on bedded male salmon the bright colors work very good, till the sun (what sun ???) gets high.  Here are some of the fly patterns I am using.  I like hot beads!

On salmon fly hooks, I like the top left leech w/tungsten cone

Salmon fishing will be good till about the third week of October.  I will post again in a few days.

Salmon River Update

Been on the river a few times since last post.  Not a lot of movement mid river but that is changing as I type.  Has been a good movement of salmon into the river in the last day or two.  The cooler temperatures at night with some cold rain we had last Thursday have sparked this movement.  These fish should be in Pineville area by tonight or tomorrow.  We will be getting more rain tomorrow, Tuesday and should see more fish entering the river.  The fishing off shore in the lake has been good and these fish will be entering the river SOON.  

The water flow at Pineville gauge is just under 400cfs, about normal for this time of the year.  Don't expect it to increase anytime soon as no major rain fall is in the foreseeable future. Still plenty of water for good fish movement and enough to float a drift boat.  Some have asked about floating with 3 clients plus the guide, unfortunately with this water flow 2 clients is the limit.  If the flows push above 750cfs 3 clients is no problem in the boat.

As usual I will be fishing the Pineville to 2A bridge section this fall for both salmon and steelhead.  Even during the peak of the salmon run the crowds are minimal and there is plenty of both open water and fish.  Actually some of the best salmon and steehead water is in this stretch.  I have a few excellent dates for salmon open in early October and plenty of good steelhead dates from October 20 to the end of December.


Well worn foot path along the Salmon River

 
Walking along the river this time of year is very enjoyable.  The fall season is taking hold and the leaves are starting to change colors now.  The smell of fish is in the air (sometimes not a pleasant smell). The fishing is quiet right now but seeing fishermen standing in the river fishing is like a notice that something is about to happen. 

One feature of the Salmon River is the foot paths that run up and down both sides of most of it's length.  These are well wore after 40 years of use, some as deep as a foot and if this fishery vanished tomorrow you could still walk these path 50 years from now.  I always think of the thousands of anglers who walked these paths and left their own impression in the banks here.  Some of these paths look almost cathedral like.

I'll be fishing regularly now and will post as the run progresses.  Keep your line tight.



Salmon River Fishing and Misc.

Made it to the Salmon River this evening to spend some time at one of my favorite walk in places.  This is the kind of spot that is going to have a predictable movement of fish, especially in the first light of morning and the evening.  What you need to have is a section of fast water between two larger holding areas, like between Frasier's Run and the Wires or the Compactor and the Upper Compactor.  These larger, deeper runs hold fish during the daytime and  since salmon trend to move readily at night, the runs between see good movement at first and last light of day. 

I didn't expect to find alot of moving fish but I knew I'd find a few and that's the way it turned out.  Saw three salmon edging up out of the deeper runs to head up stream.  Was able to connect with one, briefly.  The other two were on the move and had no intentions of giving my fly a chance to provoke them. 



New bridge looking from north to south



Was a nice evening though and I was glad to get back to the river.  I stopped by Pineville bridge to check on the progress there.  They're putting the concrete deck down now and the main floor of the bridge is done.  All that is basically left is the approaches to the main bridge. 

Fall is coming to the river.  A few trees starting to change colors and with the cooler temperatures in the evenings now the dew forms fast and heavy.  I love this time of year.  Here are a couple of pictures of the new bridge.  Should be able to use it before too long.


New concrete deck looking towards RT 13



I'll be on the river again later this week and then almost daily till the end of October as my schedule stands right now.  I will be posting updates from here on out as often as I can. 

Keeping Track of Time

This evening there is a full moon.  For many this is nothing more than a monthly astronomical happening.  It makes the tides ebb and flow.  It signals another month behind us.  But for me, ever since the salmon runs have been an event in my life, the full moon has been my time keeper.  For example, this past July we were in Victor, Idaho when one evening I watched the full moon rise over the Tetons.  Beautiful yes but in my mind I am counting "August, September, October, 3 more moons till the salmon run is at it's peak".  That's the way it is now, for me.  Every full moon I am counting how many more till the peak of the salmon run here on the Salmon River.



Full moon rising over the Tetons


The run has actually started.  This past week we received the remnants of hurricane Lee and the added push of water down the river seemed to get them moving.  Sure, right now they will enter the river in spurts, nothing steady yet.  But the peak of the run will come when the moon is full during October.  Everyone has their own idea as to when the salmon run peaks. When I began guiding here I met and worked with a guide, Tommy Cornell, who said the run doesn't peak till the leaves are floating in the river.  This also has been a reliable tell for the peak of the run.  But you can't see the leaves as you float down the river in the dark of early morning.  The leaves don't illuminate the river like a street light the way the full moon does in October.  And for time keeping purposes, the leaves don't fall every month.

For me, once the full moon of October begins to disappear, as October heads towards November, I will look at the next full moon and the one after that and the one after that, and I'll count the months off till the salmon run peaks again.

Hexagenia



Excellent Hex spinner water, the love the riffs

The fishing pressure on the local trout streams has become basically non-existent and I have found most areas here empty of fisherman.  We have good  water levels and with the warm humid weather the fly hatches are excellent. One in particular has had me on a local stream every evening for the past three nights,  the Hex spinner fall.  The first evening I noticed the larger spinners floating in the air above the riffles and mistakenly thought it was the larger Isos we have here.  I don't expect them to be this large this late in the summer, but, the fish were going nuts on them so, I played along.  Not having an Iso pattern I used a #10 brown X Caddis and in about 45 minutes up to dark and had landed @15 browns, 5 of these 18- 20" and none under 14".  The next evening I had a revelation.



Hex comparadun compared to #14 BWO









24" brown trout



As I stood along the shore preparing to wade out a fly landed on my cheek , it was a female hex spinner.  These flies are probably all of 1 1/2" long  and then I realized these weren't Iso spinners, they were Hex.  The trout don't start rising, not really rising , more like SLASHING, until about 8:10 and this continues on into darkness.  While I stood there another fly landed on the bill of my hat so I snapped a picture, it was the male spinner .  I had no patterns for this fly but I did have a few stimulators in my box and the trout loved them.  Again, another evening of BIG browns.





Male Hex spinner





 Yesterday I took a few minutute at the vise and tied a couple Hex comparaduns on #8 4x long hooks and hit the riffs again for the third evening in a row.  To the point, another tremendous evening and the largest brown I've ever take out of a local trout stream, a 24" male.  The spinner fall seemed to be lighter yesterday, I don't know if the showers we were having was affecting the Hex or if the hatchs/ spinner fall is nearing it's end for the time being.





Well, I will once again hit the riff tonight, it's an urge I can't resist.  It's like being hooked on a bad habit.  I've been Hexed.



















Local Fishing and the Salmon River

My wife and I came home early from the west.  With water still high on the Snake River, Wy and the probability that it will stay high till late August,  we decided to come home.  We did spend some time in Montana though and the Madison and the Gallatin were fishing fine.

Locally the rivers and creeks are down which is typical for the summer.  The trout fishing has been good here if you stick with the small stuff, #18-20 BWO and #20-22 Midge working fine.  I was up to the West Canada Creek  and it is in very good condition.  Did some searching with Parachute Adams and had good success thru mid afternoon but as it moved towards evening had to shift to the small stuff again, BWO primarily.

It is the Salmon River, however, that most are interested in.  It's August now and we wait for the first movement of salmon into the river.  The water release is 185cfs but with the rain we've had the last couple days the gauge at Pineville is at 268cfs, the run off from Orwell contributing to this and Trout Brook probably adds to this down below.  Reports from the lake are good, indicating the fish are moving this way.  Normally Labor Day weekend marks the un-official start of the run, doesn't matter if it's 10 fish or 100 fish that show up around this time, it's ON. 



In the river now you'll find good bass fishing as well as a few brown trout.  Any summer run steelhead have found refuge in the deeper spring fed areas of the upper river and have been keeping their mouths shut.  I'm going to float the river in the next few days and check it out 'from the rowing seat'. 

Wyoming, Idaho, Montana Reports



An Idaho fatty



As I suspected the big water in these states are high and off color and there is still alot of snow in the Tetons, Snake range, Greys and Salt range.  Probably wont see any serious fishing on the big water till August.  But there is fishing.  I floated the Salt River in Wyoming with friend and guide Dave Barber.  The Salt was up and a little silty but the spring creeks feeding it were clear to mildly colored, these provided good dry fly action on Cutts.  The first one I landed pushed 18" with the rest in the 12" range.  I did have one BIG fish on for about a minute.  It made three runs pulling line off the reel and fighting me deep.  I never did see it but I'd say was fighting like a brown trout, a BIG brown trout.  Based on my Salmon River experience I'd guess around 5 to 7 lbs.  He spit the fly. 



20+  Idaho Cutthroat

Moving into Victor/Driggs, Idaho basically offered one option.  Pine Creek,  from the summit to Swan Valley, was in great shape and still held post spawn Cutts.  The first outing produced my biggest Cutt, +20".  Through a week of fishing it I managed a pair over 20" and most in the 16" -18" range.  In a typical, "normal", year these fish would have dropped back into the South Fork by this time but with the higher water flows they had stuck around for a little longer, good for me.  As we left Teton Valley for Montana the Teton River was beginning to fish.



Another Post Spawn Cutt

 The Yellowstone in Montana was blown out for fishing which was disappointing cause we'd rented a house on the Yellowstone in Livingston.  But west of Bozeman the Madison was perfect and the fishing was excellent, as was the Henry's Fork and the Buffalo River. The Gallatin from the Yellowstone Park down to Taylor Creek was in perfect condition.  From Taylor down through the canyon it was milky but very fishable.  Through out, the same flies produced well.  Comparadun PMDs and BWOs #18 tied for 1st.  Parachute Adams #12 a close 2nd and in Wyoming I had good success on a Comparadun Green Drake #12



Cedar Strip Kayak



As a side note, they say curiosity has killed a few cats, but sometime it leads to some interesting finds.  While staying in Victor,  I'd heard the neighbor sawing, sanding and pounding away everyday.  Finally curiosity got the best of me and I walked over to see what was going on.  I met Howard Bybee, a young fellow who's garage was a scaled down wood shop full of wooden patterns and two cedar strip kayaks, one finished and one in the assembly stage. Howard is a true craftsman.  His work was meticulous, thought out and looked dang near perfect to me.  If you've ever wanted a hand crafted kayak click on his name and send him a message. 

Snow, lots of water and beautiful scenery



Lamoille Canyon, Ruby Mts., Nevada



We made the trip from California to Idaho with no problems.  Stopped by the Trukee in California and was unfishable.  As with most of the west the snow pack was so deep at the end off winter that it still continues to melt keeping many rivers high and off color.  We stopped in Elko Nevada for 2 days and spent some time in the Ruby Mts, truly a beautiful place on this earth.  I fished Lamoille Canyon one evening and spent more time taking pictures of the scenery than fishing.  I fished through a couple of beaver pond at about 8500 ft and with snow still on the ground it was a little cool.  Managed a few small trout but the water was high and getting close the the main channels through the ponds was difficult.  Still was a nice evening in a beautiful place.

Arriving in Idaho found the Snake in Wyoming and the South Fork high and dirty.  The South fork is running at 22,000+ cfs. They've started floating it 2 days ago with most boats that I've seen running from Conant down through the canyon.  The Tetons still have about 8-9 feet of snow pack above 9000 ft.  Teton River and Fox Creek here in Teton Valley (Victor/ Driggs, Id) are basically blown out.  I did float the upper Salt River in Wyoming this past Wednesday from Grover to Auburn.  It was high and a little off color but we floated up a few spring creeks running into the Salt that were clear and the cutts were rising good to dries.  Managed to land a few  in the 18-20" range and did lose one that was big, my fishermans quess would be 5-7lbs.  Picked up these fish on Green Drake comparaduns and parachute Adams , both #10-12.  There were small yellow stones and yellow sallys hatching all day and even saw a few PMDs and BWO.

We drove up to West Yellowstone Montana Tuesday and the Henry's Fork looks perfect, as did the Madison around Island Park and the Henry's Lake outlet. Gonna head up to the Henry's Fork again and spend some time fishing it. 

The fishing oportunities this year are a little thin but still enjoying the beautiful country here.  We'll be heading to Montana for a few days next week, really looking forward to it.  Will keep posting.

The trip west, Northern California and the Fishing

You ever have the dream were you're running and it's like slow motion or you're running in water, just can't seem to make any progress.  Well getting on the road and out of New York seemed like that.  One delay after another.  Now, however, seems a distant memory.  We made it to California almost a week ago and things are going good.  It's hot here, 100+ the last few days so we are adjusting to this.  We spent a few days in Redding checking out Lake Shasta and the Lassen Volcanic National Park, really beautiful here.



Wyoming Sky

Had the chance to stop in at The Fly Shop in Redding. Nice place and the sales person I talked to was full of info.  These guys seem to take alot of pride in their outfit.  I was pointed to the upper Sacramento River, above Shasta Lake.  As with most of the west this spring the water levels here are high and finding fishable water has been a challenge.  The lower Sac was high but the upper was in good shape.  Spent an evening on the upper Sac at Soda Creek.  Indi fished and picked up a few rainbows, nothing spectacular but it was good to finally get the fly rod out.  I would like to have tried the McCloud up there but just no time.





Lassen Volcano, Northern CA



We are in Vacaville, CA with some friends right now and will be heading to the Truckee tomorrow.  We'll be there for a couple days and then it's on to Idaho.  Tonight though, when the temps drop a bit I am planning to check out the Putah Creek, about 20 minutes from here.  It's a tailwater fishery so should be some good fishing.  Would like to hit a caddis hatch or PMD's, we'll see. 

I'll be posting regularly now as we are getting better adjusted here.  Once we get to Idaho we are set up in a house for a few weeks and things should settle down with alot more time on the water.

Hope you enjoy these pictures.  I'm going to try to put a slide show together here. 







Atlantic Salmon, Spey Claves and local ramblings

The water levels in the local streams, Fish Creek and Mad River have dropped conciderably in the past week and a half.  Runs that were just above my knee are now at  the top of my wading boots, more normal for this time of the year.  Mostly all fish are stocked browns with the occasional brookie.  The primary fly I have been using is a BWO comparadun with a sparkle tail  #18.  There were some stones hatching on Fish Creek the other evening and a dark brown hairwing caddis with a sparkle tail worked good in the fast water.  I was wishing I had a few Stimulators with me but they're packed and ready for the trip west.  Time flies, we're leaving a week from Tuesday.

I have landed two Atlantic Salmon in the last week, one on the west branch of Fish Creek and one on the Mad River, just outside Camden.  These were only 6-7" still wearing par marks, probably from the 2010 stockings by the local club.  These fish were explosive for their size, going airborne a few times.  They were slender, silvery fish and no mistaking their ID with their forked tail.  The local Atlantic Salmon Club are trying to re-introduce Atlantics back into Fish Creek as they were native to this area.  They have made strong efforts towards this, even building a small local hatchery to do this.  Pretty cool.

They get good support from the Spey Nation, a group set up to advance spey fishing.  On June 25,2011 they will be holding their 4th annual clave at the Pineville Bridge parking lot on the Salmon River.  I will miss it as I'll be in California by then.  They have tremendous support by the spey industry and their claves are well attended.  The proceeds from their raffle go to the Atlantic Salmon Club .  If you can spend a day with these guys, you'll have a good time, make good friends and learn alot.



Amazing camo

 As a final note.  The experience of fishing sometimes has nothing to do with the fish.  Twice in the past week as I fished locally I had the experience of coming face to face, actually almost stepping on, fawns of this spring.  My daughter's Boston Terriers are bigger than these little guys.  It's an added bonus to see things like this, actually it's like being rewarded for the time you put into the out of doors.   Did manage a picture of one

I'll try to post once more before we head west.

Shoving Off

From the Rowing Seat is going to take you on a journey down the river of my world.  Since September of 1988, when I guided my first clients for the famous Salmon River (New York's) salmon, I have seen, touched, smelled, heard and yes, even tasted, the life of a fishing and hunting guide.  Things began to happen that refined and defined who I am today.  My veiw of fishing has changed, broadened in some ways and narrowed in other ways.  Veiwing a resource like our fishery here on the Salmon River daily as a guide, has helped me to better appreciate the importance of caring for and conserving the very thing that has brought me to this, the first post to my blog.  And whether it is the fishery here on this beautiful river or on the pristene trout streams and rivers of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana that I've enjoyed so much over the last few years, it is a resource that needs good stewards, I hope I'm one of them.


Good friend and client John Fields with a Salmon River Steelhead


Many will recognize the name of this blog as it is also the title of the newsletter for my guide service.  For many years now I have kept in touch with my clients through a quarterly news letter.  Nothing fancy, just a 'hello, I'm still here and look forward to our visit this coming season'.  The news letters will still go out but this blog will help fill in the gaps in the mean time.

My wife Pattina and I are making the final preparations for our annual trip west.  We leave in just 3 short weeks.  I've been putting our fly gear together and she has been setting the agenda for us.  We're heading to California first, fish the Trukee in Ca and Nevada, it's beautiful there, and then it's up to Wyoming and Idaho for the better part of 3 weeks.  We set up in Driggs, ID and from there can fish most any of the famous streams (and some not so famous) in a day trip.  Then it's up to Montana for the first part of August and then home.  It always looks like alot of time out there but it goes by so fast.  I'll keep you posted as to how the trip unfolds this year.

Client Alexis Surovov with a HUGE Salmon River Brown.

Well that's enough for now (blah, blah, blah).  Here are a few pictures of some Salmon River trophys.  I look forward to sharing my view of life, from the rowing seat.