Salmon River report - September 23, 2013

Fall officially arrived and it feels like it.  Friday and Saturday were warm on the river and we did get rain Saturday afternoon through the over night, not near enough to make this guide happy but any is better than none.  The river is running at 455cfs at Pineville with the release at 335cfs.  We've had temps in the 50's-60's the past few days and the overnight temp are dipping into the 30's, this is a good thing as it helps lower the water temp and this helps the fish.  The rain we got did help pull more salmon into the river with a decent run of Silvers blasting in.  There were reports of a few steelhead although I haven't seen any yet.

Early morning on the Salmon River, good time to fish right now.

So far the salmon are on the large side, with a fair number hitting the 30 lb mark.  Right now these fish are fresh and most are runners, hard to hold onto.  From last Wednesday to today the spawning activity is ramping up with new spawn beds seen everyday.  Most fish are still running and the deep holes are full of salmon.

Flies are working well with leech patterns doing the bulk of the work for us.  Set up is with 9' 9wt running WF floating line.  We have been able to use 15lb floro tippets and no fish shying away yet.

Dennis Ling with a nice King pushing 30lbs.

Besides the number of fish increasing so is the number of anglers, and leaves.  After last years storied run I am bracing for more than the normally crowded conditions usually dealt with around the river this fall.  Oh well, let's all be nice and we'll all have fun.

The river is setting up normally and should produce another great salmon season this fall.  I'll post again soon.

Tight Lines.

Salmon River report - Harvest Moon 2013

Last full moon of summer, Harvest Moon.

I fished the Salmon River last evening, not so much to catch salmon as to watch the Harvest Moon rise over the river.  This moon is the last full moon of summer and last night it appeared in all it's brilliance.  By the time the next full moon appears in October the salmon run will have peaked and will be slowly giving way to the migration of steelhead into  the river.

The Salmon River is running at 412cfs as I write this post.  Till we get some substantial rain it will hover here. The forcast is for rain this weekend which should pull some fresh fish into the river.  We are also enjoying cooler temperatures here which help the river a lot.  The estuary is holding fish in good numbers and the river has fish from top to bottom, not big numbers yet, but plenty to keep you busy.  With the water flows at their present level most of these fish are holding in deeper water.  Last evening I did see a few moving in the run I was on, I expected this.  I managed to hook up on one but never got it to the net. These fish are fresh and strong, a challenge to even the most experienced salmon angler.  I was using a 9' 9wt set up with a conventional floating wf fly line.  I was swinging a dark, tungsten conehead tube fly attached to a 15# florocarbon tippet.  The fish I cast to (I actually had opportunities at three salmon) didn't shy away from the rig, that will change soon. 

Until the river sets up with spawning fish or until there is a full-blown run, fish primarily the runs between deep holding water, especially the first 2-3 hours from sun up and again in the late evening.  You will ALWAYS find salmon on the move in these areas at these times of the day.  Pick areas in these runs where the water softens and look for salmon to be resting there.  In these flows you wont need alot of weight, I usually use only a weighted fly and swing through the runs.  If I need weight, say the run is 2'-3' in depth, I have found the Rio Freshwater VersiLeaders work well for weighting the rig.  These are a sinking leader and are constructed for various sink rates.  Check them out, they work well for both salmon and steelhead in most flows here on the Salmon River.

This week in September 1988 I became a licensed fishing and hunting guide here in New York.  This marks my 25th year working as a guide.  This has afforded me the opportunity to meet thousands of clientes from all over the world, which has influence my life to a degree and broadened my view of the world.  I know that I don't have another 25 years here, at my age the math doesn't add up, but I do plan to be around for awhile yet. 

Have a great fall fishing.  I'll post soon.

Tight lines.

And so it begins... Salmon River report - Labor Day 2013

Labor Day is the unofficial start of the salmon run here on the Salmon River and it appears that this year it may be the official start.  The release is 750cfs till 9pm tomorrow, Sunday Sept 1and it is running at 824cfs at the Pineville gauge.  The fish have been staging off the mouth of the river and this push of water has started to bring them into the river in fairly good numbers for this time of the year.  As of this posting you will find salmon up into the river between Pulaski and 2a bridge.  This water release will be cut back to 335cfs tomorrow night and should stay there for awhile, ensuring a steady run of salmon into the river.

Here in Camden we're starting to get a glimps of fall

The season is beginning to move from summer into fall, the trees are starting to show some color now for the past week or two, nothing major yet, but fall is upon us here in salmon country.  The last few mornings on the river have been cooler with fairly heavy fog over the river, I love that.  I feel anticipation rising as I think of what is coming over the next 6 weeks. 

September 1988, the year I started guiding here on the Salmon River doesn't seem that long ago but this September will mark my 25th anniversary of guiding, a milestone in my life.  I have spent almost half of the 57 years I have been alive working as a guide.  This experince has been full of great memories of many days spent on this river with all kinds of clients under all kinds of conditions.  I've seem major changes take place here that to this point have affected the fishery in mostly positive ways.  Our salmon fishery is world-class and the steelhead fishery, outside of the west coast, is in a league of it's own.  Dispite the negative press about crowded conditions, the Salmon River does, over most of it's course, offer an angler solitude and excellent fishing.  If a person complains about fishing in crowded conditions it's  because they have chosen to fish where it is crowded, there are other options on the river.

I am still fishing the local trout streams and will for another week or so.  There is an excellent Hex and White Fly hatch every evening right now, I can't seem to get enough of those big browns.

I will post again soon.  Have a good season and if you see me on the river give me a shout.

Tight lines.

Pre-season news letter, August 2013

The summer is moving towards fall and the recent change in temperature, getting cooler, has thoughts looking towards salmon fishing.  I just put together my late summer news letter for my client mailing list, sort of a pre-season prognastication of the fishing for the upcoming fall.  I am copying it here also this time.  Hope you enjoy it.

 

Late summer news letter

 

Hi folks,

 

I hope you’re having a great summer. 

 

It’s hard to believe that in about 6 weeks we’ll be chasing salmon around the river again.  After a wet summer the reservoir at Redfield is in good shape at full pool as I write this.  Things have cooled down temperature wise here in the Salmon River area and this has everyone here thinking of salmon fishing. 

 

Salmon Fishing

 

A nice Salmon River King from early October, 2012

As far as Lake Ontario fishing goes reports are that the fish haven’t set up yet due to the different wind directions over the past few weeks.  Without a steady wind (west wind preferably) the lake water is constantly turned over and mixed with no thermo-cline which means the fish are scattered.  This doesn’t mean they are not catching fish, actually there are some nice fish being taken now, they’re just not staging yet.  Reports from the lake do suggest that this fall’s salmon run should be another incredible run.

Last 2 years have seen a good mix of hatchery and wild salmon in the creel census and this fall should be no different.  These wild fish definitely help keep the salmon run strong and has established the fishery here as ‘world class’.  This fall is going to be awesome, again.  I have some prime date open the last week of September through October. I have excellent mid-week dates in early October open, including as of this writing October 13 and 14, the Sunday and Monday of Columbus Day weekend.  If you’d like to plan a trip with your son or daughter who will be off school these days contact me as soon as you can, these dates will book.  As you would expect, at this point most of my Saturdays are booked through to the end of the year.

Fall Steelhead fishing

 

16 pound Salmon River Steelhead
caught early November, 2012

I am very excited, looking forward to the steelhead fishing this fall.  Last season (2012/13) we netted some BIG steelhead.  The river was in prime condition for steelhead fishing and the fish were happy to cooperate.  Around here the general feeling among the guides is for another exceptional fall for steelhead fishing.  We are looking at good numbers of steelhead to return and if it’s like last year’s class of fish, we should see quite a few in the 14-18 lb. range, let’s hope so.  I have excellent dates open for fall steelhead fishing October thru December, again with the exception of most Saturdays.  Contact me and let’s work out a date for steelhead fishing this fall.  If you want to bring a group of 3-4 I have a very good guide who will work with us.

A few notes

 

I am working to update my web site so look for some changes soon.  Another change in my guide service this year is that I now have a card reader for my phone. You can pay the balance on your trip by credit card if you want.  You’ll still need to pay the deposit by check or MO.

 

 In closing

 

I have had some great times fishing with you over the years and some of the memories are unforgettable. The past few seasons have seen the fishery pass everyone’s expectations as to the potential this fishery could reach.  The techniques and fishery here has changed dramatically over the years and if you have not been here for a while I would be happy to re-acquaint you with this great resource.  I look forward to seeing you this fall.

 

Tight lines,

A little trout fishing through a heat wave

The Redfield boat ramp, lots of water.

It's officially a heat wave, three days in a row over 90 degrees.  That make 8 days this summer so far over 90, last year we had 28 days over 90.  It's all relative cause 90 with humidity is HOT.  It wont last long, we're past mid-July and that means in about 7 weeks we'll be chasing salmon around the river again, can't wait.  The next full  moon in August will bring us to with in two months of the salmon runs peak.  We have had good rains up to this point in the Salmon River water shed.  I took a drive up to Redfield two nights ago and the reservoir is in great shape, nice and full, at least full pool. 

The local streams on the other hand are getting low.  The Salmon River is running 650cfs at Pineville and the release is 500cfs.  Pretty nice flows for the middle of July.  It's sure to help the summer run steelhead live a little more comfortably.  The smallmouth fishing in the river is still nice, lots of cooperative fish.  Also, Oneida Lake is starting to turn on for smallies.  Drifting in 8'-10' of water working the edge of rock piles, shoals or under water points gets the smallies.  If the are weeds near by, all the better.

Late evening brown on a brown x-caddis.

I've fished the Mad River and Fish Creek this past week, LOW water.  The trout are feeding after dark due to the heat.  I have had a few takers before dark, few being the word that best describes the action.  But a few are better than none.   The old traditionals, BWO sparkle dun and hi-vis Adams are not doing the job.  The picture shows a brown that fell for a brown x-caddis #12 and all the trout in the past week have been on that fly.  They take it hard, probably hungry by late evening.  All these trout are strong and healthy.

Still a few drakes hanging around.

There are a few Green drakes hanging around.  Not much of any thing else on the water though.  I am anticipating the Hex hatch to start in about 4 weeks here on the local streams, always a highlight of summer for me.

 The Hex hatch marks the transition for me from stream fishing for trout to Salmon River fishing for the fall/winter season.  My drift boat is all ready to go, no last minute prep this year.  Now I am prepping rods, reels and line.  Check the fly boxes, boat gear and terminal tackle.

Salmon trips have been booking nicely and late Sept and 2/3 of October is booked.  Looking forward to fish with some old clients and a few new ones this year.  If you are interested in booking a guided trip this fall for salmon or steelhead give me a shout, I'd be happy to accommodate you if I can.

Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Tight lines.

Salmon River report mid-summer

A lone angler with Ellis Cove all to himself.  A rarity here
9 months out of the year.  Water flow here is at 300cfs.

The summer to this point has been a mixed bag of weather with most of the bag full of rain.  Thirty days in June and nineteen of them rain days.  A little over a week ago the Salmon River was pushing 3000cfs in anticipation of some heavy rains forecast, in the Tug Hill water shed this rain never developed the way it did to the south of us.  As I type this the river release is 1000cfs with the Pineville gauge at 1130cfs.  Yesterday the gauge struggled to hit 300cfs.  If you are a kayaker come on out and have some fun, this flow should hang around for the weekend to accomodate 4th of July vacationers.  The forecast for the next week is more of the same, hazy, hot and humid...and rain.



Fish these and hold on, smallies crush 'em.

If you are interested in fishing the Salmon River right now you can have a lot of fun with smallmouth bass.  They are eager to play and are never disappointing.  If you are fly fishing swing a deep fly like a cone-head wooly bugger, MOAL leech or a nice wool-head sculpin pattern.  Fish these in a size 6 or 8 and work the fast water at the head of runs like the Long Bridge, Compactor, Bird House or Sportsman Pool.  I fish these type patterns with a 7wt fly rod and Rio indicator line.  Run a straight 10lb test P-Line Floro-clear leader at 7' and tie on a 6lb test P-Line florocarbon tippet.

These smallies are also a lot of fun on an ultra-lite spinning outfit.  Run 6lb test and Mepps, Panther Martins and small Rapalas will work great.  Same deal, fish them through the fast water at the head of a run, instant fun!  The water temp is mild and great for wet wading.  A word of caution, wear your wading boots, the river is full of sharp pointy things that have been left there by countless anglers over the past 40 plus years.  Oh, and bug spray, don't forget bug spray.

Navagational hazzard at the head of Frazier's Run.  Get the
chain saws.  I can see a drift boat trying to get through the
right side with 50 salmon fishers standing there come September.

The local streams like the Fish Creek, Mad River and the Salmon River above Redfield are fishing nice with plenty of good water to keep the bugs coming and the trout and happy.  Area rivers like the West Canada Creek and Mohawk River have been impacted more by the rains so far and are hard to fish with the high water or, as with the West Canada Creek right now, un-fishable being at flood stage as recently as yesterday.  Be careful out there.

The graphs for Delaware River system looks like a roller coaster track and at present are at good fishable levels.  The problem is that the West Branch is susceptible to mudding up fast and if the tribs that feed the East Branch are muddy then so is the EB. 

Enjoy your summer.

Tight lines


Catching up

Been a while since my last post.  I've sat down several times to do this, post to the blog, but always seem to get side tracked.  A lot have happened in the last 6 weeks, spring run off sent the Salmon River to almost 9000cfs and with in a week the power company had it down to under 500cfs, the steelhead fishing came to a quiet end.

 I had a chance to fish the Delaware River towards the end of April with good friends and fellow guides Jeff Church (he did the rowing) and Gary Edwards, the fishing was mediocer but put three veteran fishing guides together for a day in a drift boat and the day was far from a bust.

Gary with a 18" Delaware brown trout.  These wild fish are nice.

Along the way of life, I managed to pick up a deer tick and  along with it I got Lyme disease.  Been three weeks since being infected and have one more week to go on the meds, sure hope this ends the sickness.  I have never been sick with a 'disease' before and hope not to be in the future.  Aside from feeling like I had the flu for a few days initially and just generally crappy, I have  basically been feeling wiped out, no energy.

Trout fishing locally has been good.  The Fish Creek in the Camden area is fly fishing well.  At this point there are some Green Drakes hatching as well as sulphurs (just starting) and your garden variety of caddis and midge hatches.  The most productive flies recently have been parachute Adams #14-16, BWO sparkle duns #16-18 and thorax Sulphurs #18, in that order.  Parachute Hendricksons were the only fly you needed for a couple weeks but it is moving to the back of the fly box now.  Should be seeing some big Isos soon.


Our neighbors from the north working to protect the fantastic
Great Lakes fishery.   

This past week has seen alot of activity by by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. The US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Canadian Fisheries and Oceans and the US Army Corps of Engineers have been busy in their efforts to control sea lamprey in the Great Lakes.  Locally, the fresh water streams and tributaries that feed Lake Ontario were treated with lampricide.  I took a few minutes to chat with the folks from the Canadian F&O who were taking care of the areas here to the east of Lake Ontario.

I am in the process of fixing a few chips in the gelcoat of my drift boat.  Never did it before and am some what tentative about the whole process.  Have one side done and so far so good.  I can wait to get the other chine done so I can buff the boat out.  She'll be ready for the Snake River come July and August, I can't wait.  My wife and I will be on the way west in just a few short weeks.  That trip every summer never gets tiring, so much to fish and so little time.

Hope your summer is a good one and you get to your favorite fishing stream or lake.

Tight lines.