Salmon River, 12-9-08, Salmon Season Again?
Well guys, what do you get when Aaron and I have a mutual day off? Only one thing. . .A suicide run to the Salmon River!
We made it there in RECORD time, arriving at an astonishing 7:30, enough time to grab a bite with the Captain Kev. After dozing off into the bleak Oswego darkness, the next sound we heard was the alarm clock. We looked outside, and it was blizzarding. The roads were white with a thick coat, and we couldn’t drive more than 12 mph in most areas (wait till I tell you about the snow bank later in Altmar).
We stopped for our usual on-the-run breafast, and off to the morning spot. As we drove up river we noticed not a single other car in any of the popular holes. We pull into Trestle, and we are the only car there. Who else is going to wake up at first light, drive though a blizzard, all the while the thermometer is in single digits?
We hit the top of the pool first with good results, then decided to walk down a bit to the lower part of the hole. We are there for about 2 minutes, then a guy (the only other angler) unpacks his stuff in front of us. Perhaps he’s just unloading things, preparing to walk further. While he starts to rig-up, Aaron and I both get a steelhead in the first few minutes there. Then, a big ol’ Chinook Salmon starts rolling about three feet in front of us! Is this salmon season? Then, the other angler starts to enter the water and walks right in front of Aaron, about a rod length away. This spot was not capable of holding more than two anglers (at most). You must realize that one could look down river and up, only to find the ENTIRE RIVER EMPTY, VOID OF ANY OTHER ACTIVITY. Interesting, so this guy forfeits the most popular pool up top at Trestle to fish this one, right where we were and catching fish. Aaron immediately addresses him asking why, and he said that three people could fish there. Mind you, Aaron wouldn’t have even been able to cast with him there. I give Aaron a citation right about here. Aaron says, “fine, you want this spot so bad, then it is ALL yours.” Aaron and I then immediately head back up to the main pool. This guy follows us, trying to argue why we left. Anyhow, to make a long story short, he left without even casting his rod, EVEN AFTER we gave him the spot. So, we started fishing again and got into them good (at the spot that he initially walked by). In fact, that was the best spot of the day. After another hour, we decide to leave. On our car windshield is a note on the back of a small cardboard box. It was from the angler, and it contained an apology. He tried to redeem himself, and Aaron and I did our best to accept it. I really hope that he went off knowing how disrespectful it was to encroach upon us. If this was a learning experience for him, then it was worth the hassle. It is not acceptable to do that to anyone, let alone two people that drove a combined 800 miles to fish there, then wake up at first light to make sure we had first spot on the river. Reminded me of salmon season.
Next spot, Lower Fly Zone. Not many people but a few. Not as productive as we would have liked, but we still got some there. The highlight was watching a guy across stream. This man was a PROFESSIONAL, and I really mean that. He would cast, and EVERY SINGLE cast brought a fish. He would throw out his 5 inch slinky, then within moments, he’d rip the rod back, and there’d you have it, another fish on! We saw him hook about 15-18 steelhead less than an hour. He is better at lining than Michael Phelps is at swimming. I would put money on it! I’ve seen a lot of antics on that river, but this one was one of the best! I thought that rig wasn’t allowed in the fly zones anymore? Absolutely unacceptable.
Next spot, more Altmar. On the way, we hit a corner with a good amount of unplowed snow. The car starts to swerve, and then turns sideways 90 degrees. Aaron regains control only inches before we would have taken out a mailbox, and perhaps someone’s living room. So we get to the spot. Many anglers there, but we persevere, and wait them out. After they worked the water, we got the spot we wanted, and Aaron immediately started wreaking havoc on the steel! We got some more in the next hour, then headed to our final spot.
Talk about pressure fish, then let’s talk about TOWN POOL! How many hooks drift through there a season? A day? An hour? Too many, that’s for sure. We were on the infamous ice-shelf (the one across where Aaron and Juice fell right through last season at exactly this time of season). We were battling HUGE ANCHOR ICE! We’d wait 3 minutes, then get one drift, then have to wait another 5 minutes. Leave it to Aaron to get steel and a brown here to close out the day!
A great day, with great fish, and great stories! Only a few of the fish were fresh. Those fish are sure beautiful, the females had a pristine lavender stripe that ran the length of the fish. Nothing beats catching steelhead in single digit temps in the blizzard. The day warmed up significantly, and when we left it was about 31/32 degrees (much warmer then the 5 degrees it was when we hit the first pool).
Thanks Aaron, another spectacular trip on the Salmon River! This was a great learning experience yet again. Aaron would coach me on my indicator in relation to the drift and river bottom, and it always yielded immediate results. One important thing that I wanted to write about concerns “Confidence in your Tippet”. Last week and this week, I observed Aaron, as he always tries to bring in fish within the least amount of time. What amazed me is that he always put a lot of pressure on these steelhead while only using 3 and 4X. This trip, we used EXCLUSIVELY 4X. When I hook a steelhead, I’m always filled with adrenalin, and while I try to keep my rod angle at the most advantageous position, I never try pull too hard and give the fish enough tension to really make him work, and this is because I’m in fear that the tippet will break. During our last trip over Thanksgiving, I tried to fight the fish with a new confidence in my tippet, and all of a sudden, I landed every fish, this trip too. We didn’t break off a single fish, and although we were using longer spey rods (softer tips), the only time I wasn’t able to land a fish is when it spit the hook. No break offs! The moral of the story: have confidence in your tippet and make give those fish a fight.
A few pictures, with perhaps the most impressive one being last:
Lots of fresh snow, plus the 3'+ snow base already"
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q...er12908013.jpg
First one of the day for me:
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q...er12908004.jpg
Last one of the day for Aaron, we were standing on an ice shelf, if it broke we'd be in for a swim:
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q...er12908011.jpg
Aaron's big male:
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q...er12908012.jpg
Pretty female, with pastel coloration:
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q...er12908005.jpg
And a fresh one!
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q...er12908010.jpg
Brown, full of eggs, sure glad Aaron caught it before someone else did and put a rope on her. I hope she makes it up the rest of the river:
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q...er12908009.jpg
Something that's hard to believe! Another reason to look forward to our next trip:
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q...er12908014.jpg
Re: Salmon River, 12-9-08, Salmon Season Again?
nice guys ,im waiting to get a pic of the wild coho we caught here last week .Id say for the amount of fish you have returning there ,the fishery is in good shape .It has been forever since I battled snow like that to fish .I miss that ,nice catches . Im waiting for the winter steel to arrive here .The chinnok are still in and the steelhead are right behind them .I cant wait to fish the two handed rod o the sandy river for the wild steelhead here .
Id sure like to see that rig your using dave ,im going to a huge steelhead seminare this weekend out here . Alot of new flies here . have you heard of a tube snake yet ? They have been smashing them with them here .
Ill trade you a rig for a snake !
