Salmon River report mid-February 2014

The weather here for the past 2 weeks has been down right cold.  With a 285cfs release this has lead to quite a bit of the river locked up in ice.  Today, however, the temperatures hit 41 degrees and we are looking at possible 50s by Friday.  This should open up the river to more normal dimensions and add to this the rain in the forecast for Thursday and Friday and we should see the release increased as well as run-off.  The water temperature is 34-35 degrees right now and with some snow melt it will probably inch closer to 32-33 degrees, so if you're fishing this week end and the bite seems a little off, that's probably the reason. 

I have notice the beginnings of some spawning activity but nothing to get excited about.  We still have 2 to 3 weeks till they get going seriously at procreating their species.   At present the fishing has been sporadic, typical of this time of year, however, when the bite is on it is good.  Fly fishing smallish nymphs (#14-18) under indies, black stones, flash backs, Copper Johns and other bead heads have been working well.  Also, from now till the steelies drop out of the river, fishing small alvine patterns work very well.  If you are swinging flies the alvine type patterns are working to some degree now.  As the water warms and the stealhead become more active swinging these type of patterns really gets good.

Next month is the State of Lake Ontario meeting, Tuesday March 18, 2014 in the Salmon River area.  It will be held at the DEC Training Academy (the old Portly Angler) on County Route 2A, just outside of Pulaski.  If you are fishing in the area this should be an interesting  meeting.  If you want to attend it starts at 7pm, I'll see you there.

Things are about to heat up, both tempeture wise and fishing wise.  See you on the river.

Tight lines

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


Tis the season - for Steelhead

Been a while since my last post.  Business is good and so is the fishing, the two probably go hand-in- hand.  The river is in excellent shape as are the fish.  The river has gone from flows as low as 335cfs to flows over 2000cfs.  The past week we enjoyed flows in the 700cfs range and as I type this the release is 1200cfs and the gauge at Pineville is reading 1480cfs.  This will continue to drop and I'd expect to see it settle back into the 700cfs range by the weekend.

The salmon run was excellent with plenty of fish and happy anglers. In the wake of last years historic run the river was VERY crowded.  Thankfully the boat can alleviate alot of this.  All-in-all it was a great season on the salmon and I look forward to next year. 

A nice King. Look at that bicep, heavy Krista?

I picked up a couple of new Redington 9wts, their Pursuit package (rod, reel, line and leader) to use with customers this year.  As a review, I was disappointed.  The reel seat will not stay locked up and needed to be checked (and  tightened) regularly.  Also the reel was the biggest disappointment.  The drag was weak to say the least, for a big game reel I expected more.  Granted, it's a 'package' reel but I expected more.  Also, the reel is cast, not milled, and on the third day using these, one of the handles snapped off while my client was fighting a salmon.  She was palming the spool and the handle caught her rain jacket, snapped off, cutting the back of her thumb pretty good in the process.  My feeling is that these outfits are NOT up to the task for big fish, both in design and in performance.

Dr. Ciccarelli with a nice chrome fish.

Steelhead fishing has been getting better over the last 2 weeks, alot of chrome right now.  We are indi-fishing for the most part and egg patterns are the fly to go to.  Glo-bugs in chartreuse with a pink or red dot, Oregon Cheese with Steelhead Orange dot and pink or chartreuse estaz is a good choice.  Have also pick a few on some stone flies, tan or yellow #10 and small flash-back Hare's ear, #12. 

Egg fishing is always good right now if your spinning or pinning.  Have also talked to a few guides who are doing well on beads.  Try Glo-roe and the various shades of chartreuse beads, these seem the be favored right now, 8mm and 10mm.

This says it all for late fall steelheading.  Nice job Brian.

The weather is typical for this area and this time of year.  Plan on cool to cold mornings and always plan on some form of 'lake enhanced' precipitation.  

Now is the time to fish steelhead in this guides opinion, nothing like this time of year for steelhead.  Hope you get the chance to come up and enjoy it.

Tight lines.

Salmon River fishing report - October 1-7, 2013

The water levels have been consistant with a 335cfs release and average 412cfs at Pineville gauge.  It spiked yesterday to 609cfs due to the all day rains we had here yesterday, it is however on the drop right now as run-off eases back.



Large numbers of fish equal large numbers of happy anglers.

The salmon are in full spawning mode in all the traditional spawning areas.  There are a lot of fish, and a lot of anglers.  Most fisherman are doing well on the 'catching', some are doing well on the 'snatching' too.  There are still very good numbers of salmon entering the river and making their way upstream.  This has kept the action steady and productive.

The weather has been beautiful and the forcast is for continued fair weather.  The temps are staying cool at night helping the fish survive the low water.

Hope you get an opportunity to get up here in the next 2 weeks as the fishing should continue to be very good.  Here are a few highlight from the last week.

Howard show us a nice fresh King.

A BEAUTIFUL Salmon River COHO.

Carlos and his father, Carlos Sr. hoist 2 nice
Kings caught on flies.
 

Tight lines.



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.