After a few sleepless nights and multiple daily reports, Sunday morning finally came, marking the start of my first excursion to the Salmon River located in Pulaski, NY. This premier river is famous for its trophy salmon and steelhead runs, as well as trophy brown trout and is located approximately 4.5 hrs (285 mi) northwest of Deerfield, Massachusetts. The greatly anticipated trip made the drive out seem rather short, but it gave myself and my fishing partner plenty of time to prepare for the species we planned to pursue.
March can be an exciting but also unpredictable time on the Salmon River. The majority of the steelhead (Chromers) migrated upriver from Lake Ontario in the fall time in search of prime gravel beds for spawning grounds. They overwintered in the deep pools located throughout the river, but the majority traveled to the headwaters in the Upper & Lower Fly Zones, just downriver from the Altmar Hatchery. Although this was the target species of the trip, we were hoping to hook into some trophy browns as well. March 2010 was unusually warm this year, speeding up ambient and water temperatures, as well as snow runoff. The river remained at 285 CFS for most of the winter, but luckily they were releasing water from the reservoir at 750 CFS in preparation for the spring runoff. Prior to the trip, warm temperatures and days of rain brought the river up to ~1150 CFS. I was excited for the increased flow as it would hopefully bring some fresh fish up river, but it also kept the water temperatures low (35F).
Day 1:
We arrived at Whitakers Sunday afternoon where we checked in, bought licences, and of course supported the local fly shop. Unfamiliar with the water, we decided to drive the length of the river to Altmar to familiarize ourselves with the different sections of river. We spent the remainder of the afternoon in Altmar at the Lower Fly Zone. Anglers lined up 5 on each side of a pool was a new atmosphere for me, but I had to remind myself that this was one of the best trout fisheries in the Northeast. We hiked the water in search of a spot to fish, tossing everything from egg patterns to woolly buggers. Immediately, we saw hookups and quickly realized that these fish were strong which resulted in many observed break offs and runs down river. The catch rate to hook ups seemed to be very low. We spoke with many great fishermen, who provided tips and techniques for our next three days. Although neither of us hooked up the first day, we were prepared and excited for the next morning.
Day 2:
My friend and I arrived at the river well before sunrise in preparation for the expected busy morning. It was Monday however, and the crowds has depleted from Sunday. I started fishing a bright "suckers spawn" pattern and hooked into my first Salmon River Steelie within 15 minutes. I did not expect to land my first hookup, but multiple anglers within the vicinity coached me through the battle. I managed to keep the fish upstream and my friend netted the fine dark male steelie pictured above. He was ripe with milt heading upstream for the hatchery. I quickly hooked up another 3 times, but only managed to land 1, which happened to be a beautiful hen that recently spawned. The fish turn dark in color after over-wintering in the river, but they quickly turn silver again once they have spawned. A lull in fish activity urged us to try different stretches of water. We fished areas below the Fly Zone, which included Sportsman's Pool and Papermill Pool, where I hooked up with a monster, but after multiple runs and leaps through the rapids, this acrobatic steelie finally broke me off. It was truly the big fish that got away.
Hook-Ups: 5
Fish Landed: 2
Percentage: 40%
Day 3:
With the majority of the fish in the Lower Fly Zone, we opted to watch the sunrise from Cemetary Pool. Luckily, we arrived each morning with the pool to ourselves, but this popular area proved this atmosphere to be short-lived. Expecting rain for Tuesday & Wednesday, we were very surprised to feel the abnormally warm March sun beat down on us so early in the morning. Although the water level decreased from the previous day, fish continued to lay on the seams between the main current and absolute slack water where they voluntarily struck bright glo-bug patterns. However, the main current was still strong resulting in either a poor hook-set or fish breaking off. Of the 7 hook-ups that morning, I landed zero. In frustration, we returned to Whitaker's Fly Shop to purchase some heavier tippet. Unsure of our afternoon plans, Rob generously offered us his season passes to the Douglas Salmon Run (DSR) for the afternoon. A lower stretch of the river, privately owned by the Douglaston family cost $30/day/angler. We couldn't pass up the opportunity. We hiked the entire stretch of the lower river, but no fish would take, so we finished the evening back on Cemetary pool where I hooked up another three times on small prince nymphs, but could not land any.
Hook-Ups: 10
Fish Landed: 0
Percentage: 0%
Day 4:
The early action in the Lower Fly Zone could not be ignored at first sunrise, so there was no surprise that Ryan and I hooked-up a couple more times, but we could not coax them to shore. With plans to leave in the early afternoon, we opted to finish our trip with a visit back to the lower stretch of Route 2A to Route 81 bridge. We explored some new water and saw some spinfishers land a nice chromer.
Hook-Ups: 3-4
Fish Landed: 0
Percentage: 0%
In all, we deemed the trip very successful hooking-up more than we expected and I caught two more fish than I expected. HA! As warned by fellow fisherman, I am now epically obsessed with the SR and look forward to fishing it in the near future.
Tight Lines!
