First off, the river is in prime condition, it don't get any better than this. The water release is at 900cfs and the gauge at Pineville is at 944cfs. What this tells you is that at this point there is virtually no run-off adding volume to the river, the water flows from here on out are dependent on what the power company decides. Let's hope they continue to feel generous.
The steelhead are reaching peak or just past peak spawning, a lot of dropbacks in the river and these are not from the hatchery, they have only recently begun to take eggs so we wont see any fish drop out of the hatchery for awhile. This means that there should be good fishing on dropbacks through mid-April.
Swinging flies is becoming very productive in the river now. Spawned out steelies are on a feeding binge so leeches, streamers, sculpins and big meat flies are connecting regularly. If you prefer the indicator, egg patterns, big golden stone fly nymphs and San Juan worms in the fast water will hook you up.
Inland trout season starts Sunday here in New York. The creeks are in good shape, maybe a little low depending on where you're fishing. The forcast is for mid 50's and chance of rain, showers. This should make for a busy day on the trout streams. Most years the opener is about 10-15 degrees colder and often the percipitation is snow. Also, no snow banks to climb over this year and the water is not high or off color as it is many opening days.
I plan to take my wife and head out Sunday afternoon on a local trout stream. I always look forward to the opener, this year a little more than others. Probably has to do with the mild spring so far and knowing that I wont have to throw streamer as there is already some hatching going on. I'll probably try a few small Dark Hendrickson comparaduns and I always like fishing traditional tied Red Quills early in the season. Richard Strolis has a great video showing how to tie the Hendrickson Comparadun, click on his name for the link to some excellent fly tying vids.
Hope your steelheading and trout fishing are good for you.
Tight lines.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Salmon River report and more...
Back on the river for the last few days. A lot of bedding activity in the usual areas. Water flow has been at 500cfs for a while but it is scheduled to increase later today to 900cfs. This is due to the weather forecast, 50s -60s into April and no freezing temps at night. This all means that any snow pack left in the Tug Hills will be melting and in all likelihood will be gone completely by the end of this week. I don't expect any heavy run off, there just isn't enough snow to make that happen. However, when this is gone you will see the release cut back, probably down to 335cfs, in about a week from now. Let's hope it doesn't drop lower. Once the snow melt is finished you will see the water temps rising and if they are anywhere close to their forecast we could see water temperatures hit 50 degrees by April 1.
The tributaries west of the Salmon River will loose water fast over the next week if we get no substantial rain fall. Those to the north will get a little more volume as the Tug melts, but once that is done the flows will drop pretty quick. The next week or so should be very good fishing on the tribs north of the Salmon River.
Fisheries Report
This past February the New York State DEC released it's New York's 2011 Lake Ontario Fisheries Program Highlights. To say the least it is a good report. With the focus on the Lake Ontario and eastern basin tributaries here are a few tidbits.
First of interest to me is the tributary creel surveys done by the state.
Total estimated angling effort for all tributaries was 1,111,362 angler hours. The Salmon River accounted for 68% of the total with 751,127 angler hours.
The estimated catch and harvest of Chinook Salmon on all tributaries surveyed were 125,180 and 45,214, respectively; below 2005/2006 estimates. The Salmon River accounted for 68% (85,106) of the catch and 70% (31,516) of the harvest.
Coho Salmon were caught in 11 of the 21 tributaries surveyed, totaling 30,676 fish. The estimated catch increased markedly from the 2005 (18,163 fish) and 2006 (5, 804 fish) surveys. The Salmon River accounted for 95% of the catch (29,113) and 97% of the harvest (10,154).
Chinook salmon Marking Project
In 2008, NYSDEC purchased an automated fish marking trailer (Autofish) which is capable oadipose clipping and/or applying coded wire tags (CWTs) to salmon and trout at a high rate of speed and accuracy. To determine the proportions of wild and hatchery Chinook salmon in Lake Ontario, all Chinook Salmon stocked by New York and Ontario from 2008-2011 were marked with an adipose fin clip. In 2011, preliminary results indicate that 38% of Chinook Salmon harvested by anglers in Lake Ontario were wild. The proportion of wild Chinook Salmon observed in most New York tributaries varied by fish age but was generally low (i.e., 5-12%), except in the Salmon River where approximately 44% of angler-caught Chinook Salmon were wild. (italics mine)
In my view there are 3 factors that contribute to this. One is the pen rearing and stocking of salmon as opposed to hatchery rearing. Non-hatchery fish have proven to be healthier and have better survival rate as compared to hatchery fish. Second is the elimination of snagging back in the early 90s. This has resulted in more fish left to spawn and snagging was only allowed (legally) in probably the best spawning water for salmon, Altmar to Pineville. Third is the required minimum release that was required by the DEC last time FERC licensing was needed. This resulted in spawning beds staying covered during the incubation and alvine stage of a salmons life.
This latter point is why I feel the Salmon River would never sustain any significant steelhead population with out stocking. During the incubation and alvine stage of the steelheads life the Salmon River is flowing at minimum release which means the spawning beds are high and dry. Should the state ever suspend the steelhead stocking programs the steelhead fishery would virtually disappear from the Salmon River. The only Lake Ontario tribs on this side of the lake (US) that could sustain a naturally reproducing steelhead population is the Niagara River, the Black River and possibly the Genessee River. (Back to the state of the fisheries report.)
Projects completed in 2011
A new well site identified in a hydro-geological survey at the NYSDEC Salmon River Fish Hatchery was developed and began contributing approximately 200 gallons per minute to the hatchery well water supply in September.
The Stony Creek angler parking area on Delaney Road (County Rt. 152, Jefferson County) was completed in September.
Projects ongoing
The tributaries west of the Salmon River will loose water fast over the next week if we get no substantial rain fall. Those to the north will get a little more volume as the Tug melts, but once that is done the flows will drop pretty quick. The next week or so should be very good fishing on the tribs north of the Salmon River.
Fisheries Report
This past February the New York State DEC released it's New York's 2011 Lake Ontario Fisheries Program Highlights. To say the least it is a good report. With the focus on the Lake Ontario and eastern basin tributaries here are a few tidbits.
First of interest to me is the tributary creel surveys done by the state.
Total estimated angling effort for all tributaries was 1,111,362 angler hours. The Salmon River accounted for 68% of the total with 751,127 angler hours.
The estimated catch and harvest of Chinook Salmon on all tributaries surveyed were 125,180 and 45,214, respectively; below 2005/2006 estimates. The Salmon River accounted for 68% (85,106) of the catch and 70% (31,516) of the harvest.
Coho Salmon were caught in 11 of the 21 tributaries surveyed, totaling 30,676 fish. The estimated catch increased markedly from the 2005 (18,163 fish) and 2006 (5, 804 fish) surveys. The Salmon River accounted for 95% of the catch (29,113) and 97% of the harvest (10,154).
Seventeen of the 21 tributaries surveyed had reported catches of steelhead. For all tributaries surveyed, the total estimated catch and harvest were 58,846 and 5,366, respectively. The Salmon River had the highest estimated catch (39,697; 68% of total) and harvest (3,657; 75% of total). The release rate for steelhead on all tributaries combined was 92%, and was 91% on the Salmon River. (italics mine)
Chinook salmon Marking Project
In 2008, NYSDEC purchased an automated fish marking trailer (Autofish) which is capable oadipose clipping and/or applying coded wire tags (CWTs) to salmon and trout at a high rate of speed and accuracy. To determine the proportions of wild and hatchery Chinook salmon in Lake Ontario, all Chinook Salmon stocked by New York and Ontario from 2008-2011 were marked with an adipose fin clip. In 2011, preliminary results indicate that 38% of Chinook Salmon harvested by anglers in Lake Ontario were wild. The proportion of wild Chinook Salmon observed in most New York tributaries varied by fish age but was generally low (i.e., 5-12%), except in the Salmon River where approximately 44% of angler-caught Chinook Salmon were wild. (italics mine)
In my view there are 3 factors that contribute to this. One is the pen rearing and stocking of salmon as opposed to hatchery rearing. Non-hatchery fish have proven to be healthier and have better survival rate as compared to hatchery fish. Second is the elimination of snagging back in the early 90s. This has resulted in more fish left to spawn and snagging was only allowed (legally) in probably the best spawning water for salmon, Altmar to Pineville. Third is the required minimum release that was required by the DEC last time FERC licensing was needed. This resulted in spawning beds staying covered during the incubation and alvine stage of a salmons life.
This latter point is why I feel the Salmon River would never sustain any significant steelhead population with out stocking. During the incubation and alvine stage of the steelheads life the Salmon River is flowing at minimum release which means the spawning beds are high and dry. Should the state ever suspend the steelhead stocking programs the steelhead fishery would virtually disappear from the Salmon River. The only Lake Ontario tribs on this side of the lake (US) that could sustain a naturally reproducing steelhead population is the Niagara River, the Black River and possibly the Genessee River. (Back to the state of the fisheries report.)
Projects completed in 2011
A new well site identified in a hydro-geological survey at the NYSDEC Salmon River Fish Hatchery was developed and began contributing approximately 200 gallons per minute to the hatchery well water supply in September.
The Stony Creek angler parking area on Delaney Road (County Rt. 152, Jefferson County) was completed in September.
Projects ongoing
In an ongoing effort to improve Salmon River Hatchery water supplies, the development of a shallow infiltration well will be further investigated in 2012.
To improve public outreach efforts at the Salmon River Hatchery, new aquaria and interpretive displays will be installed in the visitor’s center in 2012. In addition, an underwater camera will be installed in the fish ladder, allowing the public to view fish on a closed-circuit TV monitor. That would be cool!
Final thoughts
We had a awesome fall season on both salmon and steelhead. I believe that we are going to continue to see exceptional fishing here in the Salmon River continue for some time to come. I have been guiding here since 1988 and through the years since the state has put a lot of research and effort into the Lake Ontario fishery including it's tribs, trying to get a handle on the resource and how to sustain it. Seems like it's starting to come together, only time will tell. For now though there are a lot of happy lake and tributary fishermen.
Tight lines.
To improve public outreach efforts at the Salmon River Hatchery, new aquaria and interpretive displays will be installed in the visitor’s center in 2012. In addition, an underwater camera will be installed in the fish ladder, allowing the public to view fish on a closed-circuit TV monitor. That would be cool!
Final thoughts
We had a awesome fall season on both salmon and steelhead. I believe that we are going to continue to see exceptional fishing here in the Salmon River continue for some time to come. I have been guiding here since 1988 and through the years since the state has put a lot of research and effort into the Lake Ontario fishery including it's tribs, trying to get a handle on the resource and how to sustain it. Seems like it's starting to come together, only time will tell. For now though there are a lot of happy lake and tributary fishermen.
Tight lines.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Lake Ontario tributaries report
Spent most of this past week off the Salmon River and fished quite a few tribs with clients. The water level in most of the tribs we fished is in good shape, plenty of water for steelhead. The tribs to the north of the Salmon River were a little higher than those to the west and also tended to be alittle more off color, not muddy but cloudy. As for quantity of fish, not a lot but most did hold fish, both steelhead and browns. A few streams we saw no fish, at least not where we poked around.
We fly fished all these tribs with good success. We indie fished using mostly black stone fly nymphs in #12-16. A lot of small stones flies out on the banks now. Also Copper Johns were working good in # 12-16. We fished these CJ's on the end of the tippet with a dropper run off the hook. I like to run Glo bugs on the dropper as they drift higher in the water column than the CJ's, helps to cover more water.
Didn't see much spawning activity, however, we did land a few steelhead with loose eggs and even landed a couple that were already spawned out. All fish we landed were chrome, didn't hit any that looked as though they had been holding over since last fall. Judging by that I'd believe that the tribs will be seeing a lot of spawning activity very soon.
As for the Salmon River itself the release is up to 900cfs as of a few days ago and the gauge at Pineville is running at 1060cfs at this time. We have had quite a bit of rain and some snow (none sticking to the ground as the temps are above freezing) since this last Wednesday. The reports I got off anglers who did fish the river is that it was SLOW. One fella I spoke to Thursday said they pin fished with a guide, floating from Pineville to the Ballpark. He had ONE bobber drop and landed that one fish. He is a very good fisherman so it's not the man, it's the fish. If your having slow action right now it's fairly typical of this time of the year. The fish are setting up to spawn and their attention, well, they're a little distracted. Work hard and cover alot of water, you'll find fish that will cooperate. I have a good fly pattern for spawning steelhead and will put a post together when I get minute.
We should have very fishable water for this spring. We don't have a heavy snow pack in the Tug Hills so any high, run-off water shouldn't last too long if we get any.
Tight lines.
We fly fished all these tribs with good success. We indie fished using mostly black stone fly nymphs in #12-16. A lot of small stones flies out on the banks now. Also Copper Johns were working good in # 12-16. We fished these CJ's on the end of the tippet with a dropper run off the hook. I like to run Glo bugs on the dropper as they drift higher in the water column than the CJ's, helps to cover more water.
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| Spawned out Steelie |
As for the Salmon River itself the release is up to 900cfs as of a few days ago and the gauge at Pineville is running at 1060cfs at this time. We have had quite a bit of rain and some snow (none sticking to the ground as the temps are above freezing) since this last Wednesday. The reports I got off anglers who did fish the river is that it was SLOW. One fella I spoke to Thursday said they pin fished with a guide, floating from Pineville to the Ballpark. He had ONE bobber drop and landed that one fish. He is a very good fisherman so it's not the man, it's the fish. If your having slow action right now it's fairly typical of this time of the year. The fish are setting up to spawn and their attention, well, they're a little distracted. Work hard and cover alot of water, you'll find fish that will cooperate. I have a good fly pattern for spawning steelhead and will put a post together when I get minute.
We should have very fishable water for this spring. We don't have a heavy snow pack in the Tug Hills so any high, run-off water shouldn't last too long if we get any.
Tight lines.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Salmon river steelhead report, late February
After the roller coaster ride we had for a while in early February, the water release had been at 500cfs for the last week and a half. With the run off from rain and some snow melt the gauge at Pineville is at 734cfs. This is a good flow for steelheading on this river. I'd like to see a little more water as we head into the spring as it will give spawning steelhead cover and hopefully result in good recruitment of steelhead fry in the river's spawning areas. Too often as we head into late April, early May these areas are high and dry and any chance of a successful hatch and recruitment is virtually lost.
The fishing has been sporadic as far as when they are active. The only consistant action come at first light and lasts anywhere for an hour or two at best. From then on we have had to fish hard and cover lots of water to stay in the action. The average day is still producing 3-4 fish landed with 6-8 hook ups a day.
Fly fishing with indicators is still producing most steelhead. The flies of choice being glo bugs, black stone flies #8-12 and as of recent have been having some success with the wiggler pattern. I have been fishing the Spring Wigglers, sometime referred to as Michigan Wigglers, in the traditional tie and have used a few hybrids of this pattern in pink and in a green body with black shell. Click on this link for a good pattern for the Spring Wigglers I have had a few spin fisherman and have had consistant success using egg sacks, blue, pink and chartruese all producing. Beads work too, however, I don't have the confidence in them as some fellas do so I stick mainly with eggs, "If it aint broke, don't fix it" you know.
The ice fishing locally has been a disappointment. The weather has cycled warm then cold, with the emphasis on warm, so most bodies of water have never produced consistantly good ice. This past week alone there have been 2 ice rescues on Oneida Lake due to falling through thin ice. Lakes and bays in the north country, Jefferson- St Lawerence counties, have been more stable in the ice making/staying department so most guys have headed north.
I am looking forward to the next 2 months for spring steelheading. There are good numbers of fish in the river and we are already seeing fresh fish entering the river to spawn. As for spawning activity, still pretty quiet although I did come across a few steelhead spawning in the Trout Brook area of the river. I hope the rising gas prices don't have too much impact on those who have to drive aways to get here. Right now if you travel here you can expect to see gas prices in the 3.85 to 3.95 range, not good.
If you're planning to come up this spring and need info feel free to contact me, happy to offer any assistance if I can.
Tight lines.
The fishing has been sporadic as far as when they are active. The only consistant action come at first light and lasts anywhere for an hour or two at best. From then on we have had to fish hard and cover lots of water to stay in the action. The average day is still producing 3-4 fish landed with 6-8 hook ups a day.
Fly fishing with indicators is still producing most steelhead. The flies of choice being glo bugs, black stone flies #8-12 and as of recent have been having some success with the wiggler pattern. I have been fishing the Spring Wigglers, sometime referred to as Michigan Wigglers, in the traditional tie and have used a few hybrids of this pattern in pink and in a green body with black shell. Click on this link for a good pattern for the Spring Wigglers I have had a few spin fisherman and have had consistant success using egg sacks, blue, pink and chartruese all producing. Beads work too, however, I don't have the confidence in them as some fellas do so I stick mainly with eggs, "If it aint broke, don't fix it" you know.
The ice fishing locally has been a disappointment. The weather has cycled warm then cold, with the emphasis on warm, so most bodies of water have never produced consistantly good ice. This past week alone there have been 2 ice rescues on Oneida Lake due to falling through thin ice. Lakes and bays in the north country, Jefferson- St Lawerence counties, have been more stable in the ice making/staying department so most guys have headed north.
I am looking forward to the next 2 months for spring steelheading. There are good numbers of fish in the river and we are already seeing fresh fish entering the river to spawn. As for spawning activity, still pretty quiet although I did come across a few steelhead spawning in the Trout Brook area of the river. I hope the rising gas prices don't have too much impact on those who have to drive aways to get here. Right now if you travel here you can expect to see gas prices in the 3.85 to 3.95 range, not good.
If you're planning to come up this spring and need info feel free to contact me, happy to offer any assistance if I can.
Tight lines.
Friday, February 3, 2012
7 months and counting, 1000 hits
Just a short post to thank everyone who visits this blog. I started this blog 7 months ago and will pass 1000 hits by tomorrow. That's an average of 143 hits a month. Thanks again for your visit.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Salmon River report, late January
If you were not looking at a calander I could convince you that it was late March here. The temps have been in upper 30s to low 40s, almost 50 a few days ago, and what little snow fall we've had is fast disappearing with the temps and rain. Usually I would grumble about having to work on the river in sub freezing temps but these last few outings have been a pleasure to guide. The anchor rope doesn't freeze, my clients don't freeze, the rod guides don't freeze and most importantly, I don't freeze.
The snow on the ground was around 1' deep. Most years I'd have had to use my snow shoes to get around on top of 6'-8' of snow. It's hard to predict what the run-off situation will be this spring, but winters not over here by a long shot. We could still make our average snow fall amounts between February and Arpil . One thing is for certain, there will be no shortage of water from here to May at least. This will mean that substancial flows on the river should be the norm from here on out (subject to the whim of the power company).
As for the fishing, to this point it has been good, not stellar but consistant. Each outing recently has produced 3-4 steelhead landed daily with 8-10 hook ups on average. Most of our fishing is indicator fishing with fly gear and the key to success has been getting down deep. Last post I mentioned shotting so a review of the info on the link I posted would be a good idea. Also I have been using small profile flies as these sink faster than bulky flies. I've been fishing these on a staight 12lb leader about 10' long with a 6lb tippet section, roughly 16" in length. I use a #12 micro swivel between my leader/tippet for various reasons. One is to make the transition from 12lb to 6lb easier, and I place my shot pattern above the swivel so it never ends up down by the fly. As you can see from this picture I am using mostly bead heads and this extra weight helps. Some patterns I am using right now, however, are weighted under the body of the fly.
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| Redfield bridge at Rt17 and Waterberry Rd |
The water is up with a release of 1200cfs, but with the snow melting and the heavy rains of last night and this morning, the gauge at Pineville is pushing 1700cfs and I'd speculate will continue to rise, if not from additional release, definitly from run-off. Our spring run-off comes from melting snow in the Tug Hill Plateau, which is collected in the reservior at Redfield, NY. Normal snow fall usually averages any where from 20'-30' a year, however, this has been a LOW snow fall year. I took a ride up to the reservior yesterday and it is near full pool.
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| Boat ramp in Redfield, NY |
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| Size does matter! Smaller is better. |
Don't let the heavier water flows discourage you from fly fishing this river. Just like the spin and pin fellas love the big water, the fly guy (or gal) can have good success also. Tight lines.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Salmon River mid-winter
Shotting patterns for indicator fishing
The water temps are in the mid 30's which mean that you'll find most steelhead in their winter lies. Fish deep and slow. Indicator or float fishing are very effective in accomplishing this. In water flows such as today use a stacked or bulk shotting pattern, it gets you down fast and will keep the fly, bead, etc... out in front of the drift. In low water on the Salmon River, say 400cfs or lower, use a standard or shallow/ riffle shotting pattern, it will get you down with out hanging up in the slow current. Check out Raven's web site for some great info on shotting patterns.
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| Our first real snow fall this winter, January 13, 2012 |
Been a while since my last post. Seemed to get busier in December but the steelheading was very good for the most part. The weather was stable, nothing like a normal December for this part of the state. We've had bare ground for the majority of the winter so far, with our first significant snow fall this recent Friday and Saturday. Still though, not the heavy lake effect we are used to here.
The temps were moderate to warm, felt more like later March that December, and January continued to see very nice temperatures for fishing. The water flow during this time was the real wrench in the gears. It fluxuated from one day to the next seemed like and this kept the fish continually changing their lies. As of about an hour ago the flow at Pineville was 1040cfs, this is a very good water level and with the sub zero temps last night and again tonight, this much water should help to keep the upper river fairly clear of slush. Below Pineville will be a differnt story. When the temps drop to these lows sometimes the slush never clears below Pineville all day. Normally in the boat we'll put in at Altmar about 9:30-10:00am and follow the slush down steam as it clears the river.
Keeping rod guides clear of ice
One question that gets asked alot during this time of year is 'How do I keep my rod guides clear of ice?' There are many ideas that have been tried, vasoline on the guides, spray Pam cooking spray on them, some fellas who build their own rods use snake guide for their winter rods. These allow the guides to flex as the rod is loaded and cast and helps control the ice build up. Eventually you just have to clear the ice by hand, no way around it. I have found that for fly rodding, using a high rod nymphing, indi type approach keeps build up down. When you're fishing short with a high rod you are not doing alot of stripping between casts which keeps the water out of the guides. The only thing with this is you normally get an ice build up where the line is constantly laying on the water surface, and this will eventually need to be cleared. With spinning or pinning gear I have found that, as soon as you have reeled in and before you cast again, tap the back of the rod with your hand, two or three times, this knocks the water droplets collected in the guide off and slows the icing process. But again, eventually you'll need to de-ice by hand.
One question that gets asked alot during this time of year is 'How do I keep my rod guides clear of ice?' There are many ideas that have been tried, vasoline on the guides, spray Pam cooking spray on them, some fellas who build their own rods use snake guide for their winter rods. These allow the guides to flex as the rod is loaded and cast and helps control the ice build up. Eventually you just have to clear the ice by hand, no way around it. I have found that for fly rodding, using a high rod nymphing, indi type approach keeps build up down. When you're fishing short with a high rod you are not doing alot of stripping between casts which keeps the water out of the guides. The only thing with this is you normally get an ice build up where the line is constantly laying on the water surface, and this will eventually need to be cleared. With spinning or pinning gear I have found that, as soon as you have reeled in and before you cast again, tap the back of the rod with your hand, two or three times, this knocks the water droplets collected in the guide off and slows the icing process. But again, eventually you'll need to de-ice by hand.
Shotting patterns for indicator fishing
The water temps are in the mid 30's which mean that you'll find most steelhead in their winter lies. Fish deep and slow. Indicator or float fishing are very effective in accomplishing this. In water flows such as today use a stacked or bulk shotting pattern, it gets you down fast and will keep the fly, bead, etc... out in front of the drift. In low water on the Salmon River, say 400cfs or lower, use a standard or shallow/ riffle shotting pattern, it will get you down with out hanging up in the slow current. Check out Raven's web site for some great info on shotting patterns.
Steelhead fishing in the winter time ain't for sissies, even the diehards will get beatup. However, with proper preparation and a positive mental approach, you can have a great time and success. Take some time this winter and enjoy the steelheading. If you want some help feel free to send me an email, I'll see what I can do. If you'ld like to be guided in the drift boat contact me, I have some good dates for this late winter/ spring steelhead fishing. Have fun and stay warm.
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