It’s been a while since my
last update. As you can imagine I’ve been on the water a lot lately. If you
follow my blog, you know my statement that conditions can and do change
quickly. True to form this is exactly what has happened. We have gone from low
water drought conditions, to high water flood conditions. We’ve been begging
for some rain and that’s exactly what we got. I often say be careful for what
we ask for, we may just get it. When all this rain finally settles out, we are
going to receive approximately 7 inches of rain. This is a lot of rainfall
without being generated by a hurricane. As of now I am still fishing the Salmon
River. We are making a shift from salmon fishing to steelhead fishing. We had a
great salmon run hopefully this will continue on to the steelhead run. As for
water flows, as you can imagine, water flow is up. Water flows went from the
minimum flow of 185 CFS a present flow of 1800 CFS. This is not adding the
heavy runoff. The run off was so heavy that Douglas salmon run closed
operations down due to high water flows for Saturday October 22nd, A
rare event to say the least. As for the
fishing, the salmon run was very good run to say the least. We had fish
trickling in almost daily, which made the fishing consistently good with just a
little bit of effort. Over the last two days I’m seeing a sharp drop off the
new salmon coming into the river and a slow but steady improvement in the
steelhead fishing. Keep in mind we will still see a few new salmon trickling in
periodically and of course there is salmon spawning all through the river as of
now. At this stage of the game we will concentrating our efforts towards
steelhead fishing. I would like to tell you the type of water and a few
techniques we are using catch these steelhead, But the game has changed. One
thing is for certain Standard flies will produce, egg patterns in colors of
Orange, Chartreuse, and her Oregon cheese. Egg sucking leech, I like the Orange
heads on this fly pattern. For the high
water break out all the fun stuff we like to swing. It will take a couple of
days to figure out the new patterns with the steelhead fishing. Conditions can
and do change quickly.
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
The biggest change over the
past week is the water flows. The water flow started out at 335 CFS, now is reduced
to 185 CFS. The drought continues to have its effect. Hopefully we will get some
heavy rains soon. Please note; with the present low water flows the lower fly-fishing
zone on the Salmon River has been closed. As you can imagine this reduction in
water flows is having a big effect on the fishing. Fist the fish are still on
the move, the paste of the run has been picking up over the last week or so.
This is normal for early October to see heavy runs of salmon; it is now the
peak of the run. Obviously with the fishing, we have had made some adjustments
to the low water. Nothing-unusual most of our adjustments are basic fishing
101. Low water salmon are more spooky, now, so we needed to back off the fish and
make longer cast, lengthen our leaders and of course lighten up on the weight. Often all we need to do is use a bead headed
fly and a little line handling skills. This is often more than is needed to get
the fly and keep the fly deep enough for the fish to eat it. The further off
you can fish, the more relaxed the salmon will be. Relaxed salmon will bite more aggressively
and well stay in their respective holding location considerably longer. Keep in
mind that at this stage of the salmon run, spooked salmon will often react by
continuously pushing upriver. We are now in early October and the salmon
spawning activity is growing on a daily basis. We should be at pick spawning
soon. We are on now occasionally starting to see a few steelheads showing up.
Hopefully these fish will keep their normal schedule. The fly pattern that
seems to be developing, is at first light in the morning we are having good success
with bright colored flies like size 6 crystal willy buggers in colors of bright
pink, Purple and occasionally chartreuse. After that once the water gets lit up
by the sun, We need to drop down in tippet size. At this point we are fishing
size 6 willy buggers or other patterns of equal size. Also picking flies with
the flash that is tone down has also been effective. With the spawning now
going on, egg flies will now become important addition to the fly box.
Note;
At this time I still have
some prime October days open ,27,30 ideal dates for fishing Steelhead. Please
feel free to give me a call [Cell 585-233-0436] and discuss any concerns and
your options.
Thursday, September 22, 2016
An interesting fact about
fishing the Great Lakes tributaries, is that how fast conditions can and do
change. Over the past week the salmon fishing on the Salmon River has improved
on an overall basis. This is not to say the fishing is hot and heavy but the
pace of the fishing is slowly improving. We are still fishing for a few hookups
day and a couple of fish in the net. But the salmon are silver bright, hot and
angry when hooked up. The fishing pressure overall is still very light for this
time of the year and we are able to work the water and fish where we like. This
is definitely my favorite time of the year to fish for salmon. For now most of
my fishing efforts is focused on the lower river, fishing in the Douglaston
salmon run. At this point I am able to
start to put together a daily pattern. Most days we will see early morning
movements of salmon that I would rate as a light but steady trickle of fish.
This fish activity will generally last until mid morning. After that it is time
to cover water and hunt for holding fish. At this point there has been enough
fish moving through the system that there are groups of salmon scattered
throughout the entire river. Some hunting
maybe required to find the small groups of fish. With a little effort locating
a pod of salmon should not be a problem. Also keep in mind the lower fly-fishing
zone is now open and there is a few salmon that have already made it into this
section of river. Over the past week the Salmon River watershed has received
some decent rainfall. Water flows still remain at fall minimum flow of 335 CFS.
water temperatures has warm over the past week, Temperatures now are in the
upper 60s low 70s degree range.
I’m starting to notice a
pattern develop. At first light in the
morning we are having good success with larger flies like size 4 willy buggers.
After that once the water gets lit up by the sun. We have needed to drop down
in tippet size and fly size. At this point we are fishing size 6 willy buggers
or other patterns an equal size. Also picking flies with the flash that is tone
down has been more effective.
Note;
At this time I still have
some prime September days available these are October 3,4,5,6,27,29,30 ideal
dates for fishing Chinook salmon and possibly catching a run of Coho Salmon.
Please feel free to give me a call [Cell
585-233-0436] and discuss any concerns and your options.
Thursday, September 15, 2016
As far as the Chinook salmon and
the Salmon River are concerned, fall is here.
As of writing this report the salmon fishing has been picking up every
day for the last few day. All indications are pointing towards a normal salmon
season. Too early to know for sure but all indications are positive. The timing
of this group of salmon running is typical for mid September. More years than not we will
receive at least a small round of salmon at this point. Also the lower fly zone
will be opening for this coming weekend. Generally speaking it will take the salmon 3
to 4 days to reach the upper river. At writing of this update there should be a
few salmon scattered through the entire river system. Do not expect to find
heavy concentrations in any single location. However if you’re looking for
fresh salmon and light fishing pressure this is the time to fish.
Water temperatures have
plummeted over the last few days with the cool, almost you could say cold
night. Last few mornings water temperatures are starting out at the low 60°
mark and finishing up the day in the mid 60s degree mark. We are seeing
approximately 5° temperature swing daily. Water flows have not fluctuated much
over the past week, flows remain at fall minimum of 335 CFS.
For those of you who fish with
me in the past, or follow this blog will know I am primarily a woolly bugger
fisherman for salmon. So this comes to you with no surprise that we have been
using Black, brown, and occasionally olive woolly buggers.
Note;
At this time I still have
some prime September days available these are September 20,21,22,25,29 ideal
dates for fishing Chinook salmon and possibly catching a run of Coho Salmon.
We are also offering two spey
casting classes.
Date for the casting clinic are
Clinic 2; October 1 Saturday,
starting time 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Meet at 2.A
fishing excess parking
Please feel free to give me a
call [Cell 585-233-0436] and discuss any concerns and your options.
Monday, September 5, 2016
Fall is coming. Things are
starting to change, Especially with the fishing. Over the last few days there
has been small handfuls of salmon making their way through the lower end of the
Salmon River. Nothing consistent yet but a very good sign, considering it’s the
end of August into early September. The
salmon fishing on the lake has been consistent to very good. All signs are
pointing to a good relatively early start to the salmon season.
Over the past two weeks the
Salmon River watershed has received some heavy rain falls. As result water
flows have been increased to fall minimum water flows of 335 CFS hopefully we
will continue to receive plenty of wet whether so this flow can be maintained.
Water temperatures have also dropped, for the lower river water temperatures
are fluctuating between a low of 68° to a high of 72°. River conditions are
starting to look a lot like fall. If you intend to take a vantage of these
early trickles of fish, planning on starting your fishing day as really as
possible. You will want to take a vantage of the cooler water temperatures.
Also most of the activity will be over by midday. I do personally enjoy late
August early September salmon fishing. Keep in mind we are fishing for a fish
or two. The main salmon fishing traffic has not hit the river yet.
There are still plenty of
opportunities with the local trout streams. With some of the recent rains and
cool night water conditions are improving quickly. By now most of the summer
mayfly hatches are over. However streamer fishing can be very productive
especially at first and last light. Also keep in mind ants and beetles will
continue to be available to the trout, good thing for us dry fly fisherman.
Note;
At this time I still have
some prime September days available these are September 20,21,22,23,24,25 ideal
dates for fishing Chinook salmon and possibly catching a run of Coho Salmon.
We are offering another
fishing option for early salmon season, running from late August to mid
September. This is fishing for salmon in the morning for either Atlantic Salmon
or Chinook salmon depending on availability. Then heading off to the Brook
trout water for an afternoon of trout fishing.
We are also offering two spey
casting classes.
Date for the casting clinic are
Clinic 1; September 3
Saturday, starting time 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Meet at Pineville fishing excess parking Clinic 2; October 1 Saturday,
starting time 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Meet at 2.A
fishing excess parking
Please feel free to give me a
call [Cell 585-233-0436] and discuss any concerns and your options.
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