Salmon River news and update

 The gauge at Pineville is 216 CFS at a release of 185 CFS.  We are still dealing with low water conditions and there is no measurable rainfall forecast with in the next week.  If you remember back to October 1, 2010 the Salmon River hit a historical flow at over 20,000 CFS.  It's hard to imagine that but when I think back to that day it't kind of crazy.  

Pineville boat launch at 20,000 cfs.

Short Bridge at downtown Pulaski in 20,000 cfs.

Since then we have had 3 seasons, including this one,  were we have had to deal with low water conditions.  Not being able to work out of a boat as a guide presents some challenges.  One is that you are limited to river access.  With the boat I am able to float from Pineville to 2A and have many opportunities to fish areas that receive little to no pressure, even in the peak of the salmon run.  Now I am limited to areas I can walk into and sometimes that is limited by the physical ability of my clients to cover ground, most are out of shape and lack the endurance to walk great distances.  I remember times 25-30 years ago when, do to low water conditions and we could not use the drift boat, we would leave a car at 2A and then drive a second car with clients to the Sportsman's Pool and make the 'death march' down to our waiting car at 2A.  

The second challenge is carrying enough gear in with you to take care of anything that would come up.  With the boat I have all that I would need and more. 

And the third challenge is, if you client wants to keep salmon for the smoker, they need to be dragged out from the river.  In the boat you float them out and no one is worse for the wear.  On foot I always review the rules and rule #2 is that the client drags his own fish.  (Rule #1 is that all foul hooked fish are released.)

As for the fishing, there are fish throughout the main river system.  The tribs like Trout and Orwell Brook are in desperate need of water so the fish that are waiting to run these are stacking up the mouth of these creeks.  Every morning these fish are picked off by opportunistic anglers, but each night these areas fill up again with fish.  Some fish are setting up to spawn but unfortunately there are fish also setting up to spawn in the estuary now. 

We need rain and need it badly.  I'm not worried about the egg collection at the hatchery, they will get what they need.  But there are upward of 60%-70% of the salmon that return each year that are wild fish, spawned and reared in the river and these are the fish we need here on a yearly basis. They are stronger, survive better than hatchery fish and are the early runners that we have come to depend on for our September fishery.

If you are fly fishing, Deceivers, leeches and most bunny type flies will produce.  I have had good success with a Slumber Buster on steroids tied on a #2 salmon hook.  I use a tungsten cone head to eliminate weight on the line, but in these low water conditions sometime a non-weighted fly is all you're gonna need.

You might as well come up and give it a shot.  As they say 'a bad day of fishing is better than a good day of work'.

Tight lines

Salmon River NY update

 Well, despite the low water we are still getting decent action on the salmon run.  Most action is in the early morning as salmon move from holding water through to the next deep pool.  Areas like the Short Bridge, Sportsman, Pineville, Abandoned Trestle  will see good movement at first light. Not a lot of action in the spawning areas yet but by this weekend there should be fish setting up regularly in these areas.

Two of what turned into a three fish limit on salmon.

Right now the gauge at Pineville reads 209 cfs at a release of 185 cfs. 

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Summer trout fishing tips

It's July 4th weekend and a lot of you will no doubt be heading to the rivers and stream to get some 'much needed' fishing in.  Here in the central New York/ Salmon River area we have had a couple weeks now of warm to outright hot weather and virtually no measurable rainfall.  The streams are quite low and water temperatures are warm. When water temperatures hit 68 degrees both rainbow and brown trout get stressed.  If the water temperature continue to rise and gets in the 75-78 degree range for an extended period, it can be fatal for both species of trout. This means that trout in most rivers and streams are prone to heat stress and are weakened.  Here are a few tips to help our trout fisheries from the New York State DEC.

1. Avoid catch and release fishing for heat stressed trout.  Trout already weakened by heat stress are already at high risk of death no matter how carefully they are handled.

2. Don't disturb trout when they are gathered in unusually high numbers.  It is likely these fish are recovering from heat stress on a pocket of cold water.

3. Fish early.  Stream temperatures are at their coolest in the early morning.

4. Go to plan B. Have an alternate fishing plan ready in case the water temperatures are too high at your intended destination.  Consider fishing a body of water that is less prone to heat stress or fish for a more heat tolerant species like smallmouth bass.

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I've been busy

I noticed it has been 1 year since my last post.  It has been a busy year for me and posting took the back seat for awhile.  But, as I sit here beginning this post I realize how much I enjoy writing and I have missed this.  Maybe I needed the break.

A lot has been going on with the Salmon River fishery.  If you have fished here in the last year in the Altmar to Abandoned Trestle area you noticed quite a bit of work done to the banks of the river, especially from the Wire Hole down stream to the Bovines.  Haven't really seen the purpose for this but who can understand the state of New York.

Nice 4+ lb. smallmouth I picked up in a tournament
on the St Lawrence River a few years ago 

More to current matters.  Yesterday the Black Bass (Largemouth, Smallmouth) season opened.  A lot of anglers look forward to this,  but here in New York state you can fish for bass catch and release from December 1 through to the opening of the season. The regular season runs from the third Saturday in June to November 30, so basically you can fish for bass year round here.  The Salmon River is a great Smallmouth fishery in the summer. Quite a few people fish it during the summer and wet wading with a fly rod or light spinning gear is fun.  Use a small Rapala type lure to imitate bait fish or a fly rod with something like a wooly bugger will get you action.

Another event I wanted to post is the fish for free days next weekend June 27,28.  This is a great opportunity to get out side and do some fishing if you haven't purchased a fishing license.  Also if you live out of state you get a chance to try a New York state fishery for free.  If you get the chance why not wet a line.

The spring steelhead season came to an abrupt halt this year with the state closing all charter fishing and guiding due to the COVID virus.  By the second week of March I had already cancelled my trips for the spring as most of my clients are traveling in from out of state (as far away as Michigan this year) and even out of country with a few clients coming from Quebec, Canada.  Most of these folks rebooked for this falls stealhead fishing which is good, however, this took quite a few dates out of my fall schedule that would normally have book with other anglers.  At this point I am booking the fall as I normally would and am looking forward to another great season on both salmon and steelhead and am especially looking forward to seeing many of you again in the boat.

As a final note, enjoy your summer and stay safe and healthy. 

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I'm still here

I've been on hiatus for quite awhile, but I'm still here.  I got busy through the fall and winter, for a while it was brutal.  Getting off the river after fishing all day in 10-20 degrees make for a tough day, so when I get home I pull the anchor rope out of the boat to dry and then I'm looking for the couch.

Fishing through all of this was very good, great some days.  We have had several years now of some very good steelhead fishing and it helps when it's bitter cold outside.

I just posted the egg collecting report for this spring's steelhead take, awesome numbers.  This is consistent with past years take and we are reaping the benefits out on the river.  I am looking forward to another good year this coming fall.  Only 3 more full moons and we'll be in the peak of the salmon run.

I'll Post soon with local trout fishing report.

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DEC asks for your help

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (OMNRF) requests your help with recovering samples of Coho Salmon caught in Lake Ontario beginning in 2018 and continuing until 2021. Each year, NYSDEC stocks Coho Salmon as fall fingerlings at six sites along the New York shoreline, and as spring yearlings at the Salmon River, and Metro East Anglers in cooperation with OMNRF stock Coho fall fingerlings at the Credit River. As part of a continuing effort to evaluate the effectiveness of stocking programs, we are evaluating Coho Salmon stocking strategies by mass marking and/or tagging all stocked Coho Salmon in 2016-2019.

Some portion of the Coho Salmon caught in Lake Ontario may also come from natural reproduction instead of hatcheries. Although some streams are known to produce wild Coho smolts, the relative contribution of wild and hatchery Coho Salmon to the Lake Ontario fishery is unknown. This information is important for fisheries managers to understand trends in Coho Salmon catch rates. To determine the proportion of wild Coho Salmon in the Lake Ontario fishery, the adipose fin of all Coho Salmon stocked by NYSDEC and OMNRF will be clipped in 2016-2019, including the fall fingerlings stocked by Metro East Anglers at the Credit River. Tags are 1 mm long pieces of coded wire inserted into the snouts of fish prior to stocking, therefore invisible to the naked eye and undetectable without specialized equipment. Recovery of mark and tag data is ongoing until 2022.

To supplement NYSDEC and OMNRF sampling by the Fishing Boat survey and at fishing tournaments, we are asking volunteers to collect Coho Salmon heads from fish harvested in the Lake and tributaries and place them in freezers located at sites from the Niagara River to Oswego (see below). Bags and labels will be available at freezer locations, and instructions for collections are provided below. We would like your help. Please be on the lookout for Coho Salmon when fishing. For all harvested Coho Salmon, please cut off its head, toss it in a bag, label, and put it in a freezer. If you are willing to collect Coho Salmon heads and store them in your personal freezer, we will happily come pick them up. Arrangements can be made by emailing fwfishlo@dec.ny.gov.

DEC Completes Salmon River Hatchery Egg Collection

DEC Salmon River Hatchery staff completed steelhead egg collection on April 4, 2019.  The egg take resulted in 2.47 million eggs from 681 Washington strain steelhead, exceeding the target number od 2.15 million eggs.  Fish hatched from this collection will be raised in the hatchery for approximately one year and then stocked as spring yearlings in 2020.

Staff collected an additional 194,72 eggs from 51 Skamania strain steelhead.  Steehead are stocked every spring in Lake Ontario and Lake Erie tributaries where they contribute to both the tributary fishery and open lake fisheries.  Current Lake Ontario steelhead/rainbow trout stocking include 497,700 Washington stain yearlings, 43,000 Skamania strain yearlings and 75,00 domestic strain rainbow trout yearlings.  Lake Erie stockings include 225,000 Washington strain steelhead and 5000 domestic strain rainbow trout.