Salmon River, NY - mid-January report

Two words say it all

Fishing right now is a sport for the hardiest of souls.  The mercury dipped to minus 25 this morning and as I write this it has clawed it's way up to 3 above, the bright sunshine is telling big lies today.  I took a ride to the river this morning and it looked beautiful.  That being said, however, the temps are dangerous if you are ill prepared.  The only anglers were in the Altmar area and they began showing up about noon.  Prior to this, in these temps the river is covered in skim ice, hard to fish through that stuff.  By 11:30 this morning the river was clear in the Altmar area except for a fog lifting off the river, which got thicker and colder everytime the wind picked up.


Looks nice but is bitterly cold, bundle up!

The water flow is 1200cfs being released and 1640 cfs at the gauge in Pineville.  The heavier flow does help to clear the skim ice but doesn't eliminate it.  Most anglers will be in Altmar on days like this as the water will clear by late morning.  From Pineville down, however, the ice never gets a chance to clear.  Until the temps push back up into the high teens/ low 20s the river from Pineville down to the lake get little to no fishing pressure.  This coming Saturday is forcast for mid 20s so could open up some nice steelheading opportunities.  I took the water temp at Pineville and it is hovering just above freezing, 33-34 degrees.



Skim ice, a pain in the ... drift.

Most anglers today, I saw all of three and these showed up in Altmar about 12 noon, showed common sense and stayed home.  Not to say these few anglers were lacking good judgement they looked well prepared to stay warm, but most guys like myself will wait for warmer weather.  Fishing in these conditions is a mental game as well.  First you have to REALY love steelheading. Second, you need to be fully aware of what you will be dealing with, the sunny day can throw your preception of the true conditions and that can be discouraging and dangerous once you're out there.  Third, you need to compartmentalize the cold when after an hour or so you DO begin to get cold.  You may be able to hang out another hour or more but need to change the body and minds focus from the cold to something else.  I have found that hooking into a steelhead about this time help change the focus.



A hardy soul with the fly zone in Altmar all to himself.

Winter steelheading can be challenging but for the persistant angler it can also be enjoyable and rewarding.  It's not gonna stay this cold all winter (let's hope the Polar Vortex stays where it belongs).  Mid February normally begins to see temperatures moderate to the mid 30s for daytime and the steelhead also begin to start setting up to spawn.  If you 'pay your dues' winter steelheading, you will be rewarded.

Tight lines