Thanksgiving 2008 at the Salmon River

[Dave]

What a trip! Aaron and I headed up on Wednesday afternoon ready to go get 'em on Thanksgiving Day. The alarm went off at 4:15, so we suited up, and headed out. We began the journey in the dark morning hours, and got to our spot with plenty of time. At first light, we were the only other anglers there, and throughout the day we only encountered a few here and there. We fished the upper part of the river, and got into fish at every spot. The most amazing thing was catching fresh silver fish up river! Here's the best part, we caught them in slow water, AND fast water; in deep water, and in the shallows. There's something thrilling about looking at a riffle you know is only 6-8 inches deep, then throwing your fly there and having a steelhead lunge at your fly! The day was epic, to say the least. We worked our way up, and then on the way back, we had another shot, or as we say, "Bonus Round". Instead of taking the time to stop at spots, we merely kept walking on the water line and casted our line, following our drift. On the walk back we caught a little less than a dozen fish, a good mix of steel and browns. On the way out in early afternoon we bump into FlyDad, and so we decided to fish together at Town Pool, and we got into them there too.

Day 2: Black Friday, which I now consider to be "Silver Friday"
SloNDeep came up to meet us at the crack o' dawn. I was hoping the day would be as good as the previous one, and sure enough, it was. The action at some points was unreal, resulting in numerous doubles, and even a TRIPLE! Aaron and Eddie were doubled up, so I knew I had to make my next cast count. . .as I stood hoping, I hook into a hefty steelhead! When walking back through the river like the day before, we got plenty of fish in our "Bonus Round". It was great fun to fish with the Eddie that day, and with FlyDad the day before. These were certainly days that I'll treasure. Thanks again Aaron, this steelhead trip was one for the books! ! ! It seems that I always say that, but it is true. Like Alain and I have said before, we're never disappointed when we fish with Aaron. Every time up is a learning experience for me, and I can't wait until the next one.

Just a few pics now, more to come.

Doubled up!




The "Sarge" with a fat beauty








Another double, the colored up beauty was Eddie's trophy fish, with incredibly vibrant cheeks.


I love releasing these beauties and seeing them thrash off into the freezing water.


Aaron, releasing another one:


And. . .another double

[Dave]

I wanted to include just a few more things.

1. I'm about to reveal all of our secret spots, so get the pencil and notepad ready. . .
The secret spot is: wherever you see water. We fished lower river, mid-river, and upper river, all had a lot of fish in all sorts of different water types.

2. In some of the restricted areas (zones) we did see plenty of people abusing the rules, meaning that they were CLEARLY chuck 'n ducking. It is clear because they are using mono, and then heaving a huge slinky out, consequently splashing me on the other side. I'm hoping that what we saw was the exception, as I know that Torrey reported a few weeks ago that things were shaping up.

3. Always be ready to move on and change it up. As Aaron always instructs me, the most efficient way to fish is to cover water and change your rig accordingly. That yielded my success, whether it be fly selection (color and size), depth, leader length, etc. Of course, when this happens, all seems to fall into place and maximizes your chances. There were moments when conditions would change, and only a very slight component needed alteration.

4. Short product reviews: Thingamabobbers are great for Great Lakes fishing, especially the larger ones for large heavy water. I found that they were very sensitive. I also used yarn, which is sensitive, but doesn't capture the "vertical" sensitivity that the Thingamabobbers do.

5. Thanks Alain for letting me use your spey rod setup. The reel was particularly impressive with it's smooth action and ability to take in a lot of line quickly (not to mention its aesthetic beauty). Perhaps you could put the details of the model below. It caught me lots of steelhead!

[alanb_ct]

Dave,

Thanks for an awesome report! I knew you would get fish, but even by Aaron's standards, your results seem stupefying! Nice to see other TPO members there, too. I echo all of your comments. The conditions sound good, with lower water and warmer air temperatures.

I just assembled my spey outfit for my trip with Aaron the weekend before. Rod is a 12.5' Winston Vapor 6/7 I bought new from HRO, and it is paired with a Tibor Everglades reel, that I bought used. Line is a Rio Windcutter II. The reel is truly heavy-duty, saltwater grade and quite heavy, but I figured it would balance the long rod perfectly and it does. The drag operates like no other I have ever felt. The sole drawback of this reel for spey is that the spool diameter and width limit the amount of backing to 100 yards of 20# Sci-Anglers backing with the heavily forward tapered spey line. For example, I have also have another reel, a Lamson Radius 3.5, that has a smaller diameter, but wider spool and it could accomodate 36% more line and backing by volume (yes Torrey, I calculated that ).

Anyway, I actually know next to nothing about spey equipment or casting, so I will leave that discussion to others on the forum.

Thanks for the great details of a wonderful trip!

[Brookie]

Great report and photos, Dave. Sounds like you guys hit the mother lode. There's nothing like it when you get 'em good!

[Nymphmeister]

U guys got 'em good boy!

[AaronJasper]

I had a great time last week! The triple was nuts! I am just lucky to have put so much time in that I can show other people how much I enjoy that fishery.

Dave,

We will be back up there in a week and a half! We are going to give them an a** whoopping again!

[FLYDAD]

Dr Dave & Aaron
It was a pleasure seeing you and fishing with you on the Salmon river Thursday after noon.

Dr Dave is right the river is loaded with steel, BUT don't go up there and think you are going to have a killer day.
The old saying still holds true 10% of the fishermen catch 90% of the fish
.
As for me I had mixed results this weekend. During the time I was there I hooked 19 fish and only managed to land four of them. Some of them I lost from fishing to close to fast moving water once they got into the fast water you were doomed. I also had a few were the hook just pulled out. All in all it was a fun weekend and I cant wait to go back.

I fished a lot with the pin this weekend boy is it a blast fighting the steel with the pin. I also watched Dr Dave handle not only the spey rod but also the pin. Aaron has thought him well.

And Aaron well every one knows that he could catch a fish in a mud puddle if he had to.

Dave

[SlowNDeep]

Dave and Heron,

It was great to get out and fish with you guys, and totally amazing to hit it that good up there.

It took me a little while to shake the rust off, but after that, it got pretty exciting.

I have never seen so many double hookups, and a triple - well that is one of those have to see it to believe it stories. I still feel bad for that guy who went through the run before we showed up.

I can't imagine how many we might have caught if we stayed on the river.

It was a lot of fun, thanks for the invite!

[nutman]

you guys are killing me, your runs are crazy looking right now .As for the better reel set up on that 12'5 rood look into the ross cla 5 or 6 they hold alot more line .
I want to fish up there one of these days ,The steelhead are just entering the river here . Atleast winter steelhead .
Dave your right ,these guys make it look easy ,remember when they head for fast water just open up the drag and let them go . then move into postion to reel in again ,if you have room .Lots of guys try to horse these fish .Ive seen that more then once . I saw someone fight one right into fast water as soon as it hit the fast water he opened his hand off the reel and losened the drag .He caught up to it and fought the fish again ,right out of the fast water .I know this cant always be done ,but it is a trick I thought Id mention .

[TroutAholic]

Awesome report Dave. Man you guys really thumped 'em good!