Friday November 4, 2011

We all went down to Douglaston in the morning with the hopes of fresh chrome but it was not to be. I forgot how depressing the low flow was when down at that section of river. That’s just my opinion though. People everywhere didn’t help. I counted 18 people in the meadows alone with another 10 above and below that run. Heck, if I want to fish in a crowd I’ll head to Altmar. So that’s what I did!! I made it back to the DSR lot at 9:30, hopped in my pollution machine and headed to the land of dark horses to do a little reconnaissance to see how the river changed from last year. Even though I didn’t hook anything that morning it was nice to be able to fish the tailout of the schoolhouse and the tailout of the wires. I saw plenty of fish hooked and the atmosphere was rather cool, with a large group being guided. Mission accomplished, time for lunch. I met up with Dad and Dave and they had left the DSR as well due to the crowds and lack of push in the flow. They had gone to 2A bridge, but didn’t hook up with anything, although they did see a few hook ups. We all decided to head to the Pineville area for our last evening of fishing. It was a good choice because it seemed the fish were fairly active and some fresher fish were moving through as well. It was a little crowded up top so I headed downstream to the next run and found some room. The guys across stream were hooking up consistently floating beads, sacs, and flies, but I couldn’t get a touch. I switched flies and sizes of flies a couple of times but no tugs for me. It was about an hour before we had to head back to the truck, so I went back up to where Dad and Dave were. Dave had lost 2 steelhead with his single handed rod and nymphs and my Dad didn’t get touched swinging. I hopped in above Dave and put on my cheater fly….tungsten conehead purple Swarn-a-Bugger with a pink bead in front of it that was not pegged. I had on a 3.9 ips polyleader and the combo worked pretty good. A bit ugly to cast and turnover with a mid belly line, but it worked.

On about my 12th cast or so I felt a nice hard thump that pulled the loop out of my fingers. The rod was throbbing as the steelhead came up to the surface and flew up into the air. After the splash landing he took off downstream a short ways, stopped and started coming upstream right to my feet. He got into the shallows and I was ready for the next run. He took off again, running and slashing at the surface as he went downstream.

After that the fight was close to shore in a deep slot. He rolled around and changed direction a few times, but he was about tuckered out so I lead him shore and I landed him in the shallows. Dad and Dave were ready with the cameras so they took a few quick shots and Mr. Steelhead was on his way back to deeper water.

It was a little past 4:30 at this time and I said, “Hmmm, end on a good note or fish a little while longer?” My Dad said, “End on a good note.” So that’s what I did. I watched Dad and Dave fish some more and saw some steelhead jump and splash, but that was it for the trip. All in all it was another great time in Pulaski, NY fishing the mighty Salmon River. We had a wonderful time at Whitakers cooking out for lunch and dinner, having some drinks in the evening, and sharing some laughs. It was also good to see old friends, make some new ones and share time on the river with all of them. Tightlines till next time!!

11/23/10 Swinging in 3500+ cfs

After a good nights rest we all woke up and wondered what the day would bring. We new rain was in the forecast, but were'nt sure how high the river was going to be due to run off. The previous night 1800 cfs was on the chlkboard at Whitakers.

Dad and I were ready so we hit the road and headed to the UFZ, but before we get to 2A I look down towards the river and whoa!!! Dad look!! The island is under water!!...it wasn't like that yeasterday!! It's gotta be at least 3500 cfs.

We kept going and arrived at the fly zone but there were too many cars parked. We called Dave and Matt and to let them know we were heading back to the shop to devise a game plan.

While we were in the shop, we confirmed the flow of 3500cfs, and several other anglers came in and said the trib we had in mind was blown. After playing with the dog and BS'ing for a while we decided to go to 2A and see if we could make it up to the Compactor Hole.

It must have taken us a half hour to get up there. The water near the road was waist deep and the next crossing was just too deep to try so we went the back way to find a place to cross safely. After some hiking in the woods we managed to cross and get to the big river. We just looked at each other and laughed as if we all couldn't believe we were going to try and fish, but we did.

We all fished hard but there wasn't any takers for us to play with, but we still had fun. Everybody stayed safe and worked the water hard but it wasn't meant to be. At least we knew how to get back to the truck safely.

During lunch we tried to figure out where to go next, and we decided to stop at Altmar to see how things were. Not much better, but I did see a friend and asked them how they did in the morning. He said they did great in the UFZ and when they left there was only one guy there.

We hopped back into the vehicles, arrived at the UFZ and hastily made our way to the river. It sounded nasty from the road and becamed extremely loud as went down the trail. It looked even worse, but there was room to fish amongst the brush and the 3 other kind anglers we shared the run with that afternoon.

I asked one of the guys if we could fish below him and he said "Sure!! Thanks for asking...just give me some room when I have a steely on." I said "No problem!!"

Dad found a small opening in the brush to fish from and was the first one to hook up. I looked downstream and saw a fish thrashing around while his rod was bucking all over the place. I reeled in and grabbed the net to help him land it wherever we could do so. The sweet female made some great runs and we both thought she was going to head to the next pool but she stayed in the run.

Dad did a heck of a job playing her and led here right into the net. Yeah Baby!! A steelhead on the swing in 3500+ runoff!! Who would of thought. We tried to get a picture but she wasn't having any part of it and splashed off into the dark water. It was a nice fish too. Still somewhat silver and very clean looking with a touch of color.

I went back to where I was fishing and decided to change to a conehead Swarn-A-Bugger, but before tying it on I slid an orange bead on the line. After I had the fly tied on the un-pegged bead would slide down to the fly and give it an egg sucking look.

After about 10 casts, the fly hits the water and drifts about 5ft and right before it starts swinging, the line gets pulled out of my hand so I set the hook. Straight out in front of me a big male steely comes up crashing the surface, takes a jump and motors downstream. The reel is singing and I am loving the rain hitting me in the face while the wind howls. Nothing like having a fish on that puts the weather in the back seat.

After some hard downstream runs I work him back upstream where Dave gave me a hand landing him. WOOHOO!! A nice thick male and just like dad's steelhead, this one didn't want a photo either. It was tough enough to get the hook out, but as soon as I did, two big tail swipes and he was gone.

Dave was next to hook up about 30 minutes later. I hear him hollar and I look up at him to see his line near me but the steelhead is jumping upstream of us!! "Your going to have fun with this one Dave!! Keep him tight," I yelled to him. He did and he also had a heck of a fight on his hands. The steelhead just didn't want to come in when it got close. Dave tuckered her out though and led her right to me and I scooped her up in the net. Again, another riled up fish that took off before we could get a picture and we were ready with the camera too.



Dave got re-rigged and about 5 minutes later he hooks another one!! This one takes off downstream and goes nuts for the first part of the fight. The hook stayed put and Dave fought this one better then the first one he landed. Even though it thrashing around in the shallows, Matt did a good job netting her for his father.



Dave did his little steelhead whisperer inpersonation and we actually got a picture of this one.



Dad had one other good tug and had the steelhead on for a little while, but it came un-buttoned during some heavy head shaking. He had luck on the Swarn-A-Bugger too. It has became a big confidence fly for swinging over the past 3-4 years.

Dad and I flip flopped for a change of pace, so I decided to put on a Purple Swarn-A-Bugger with a pink bead in front of it. I didn't get a bump for a half hour or so, and began to step downstream to see if the fish slid out of the "swing zone." A few casts and nothing so I safely took a step downstream while holding on to the streamside brush.

I made another cast and it made all the way to the end of the swing and BAM!! A silver bullet comes flyng out of the water and sends water spraying everywhere on the re-entry. Boy did this fish pull hard. I thought the line was going to break or the hook was going to pull free with all the pressure I had on her. I had to stop her though or the battle would have been all over.

She stayed below me and did her darndest to get free, but none of her tricks worked. Dad came down with the net to help me land her and when she was ready I led her to him. Scoop....way to go dad!! I took the net, removed the hook and kept her in the water while did got his camera out. He said he was ready so I lifted her up and we took a quick photo. I held her in the water for a few seconds before she strongly swam away from me.



What a memorable day!! Dad and I landed 3 fish on the swing between us, fishing a flow of 3500+ cfs.....who would have thought? Not us, but we made the best of tough conditions and everybody stayed safe.

11/29/10 Swinging in 1800 CFS

Dad and I put our thinking caps on and layed out few plans for tomorrow that depended on how crowded some of the spots would be.

I thought we lucked out at the UFZ because there were only 3 cars parked, but when we got the paradise pool it looked liked a trout rodeo. We talked to a few guys and then decided to head elsewhere rather than add to the crowded stretch of stream.

We then went to an area that I thought would fish good in the high flow, but I was wrong. Basically we went on a wild goose hunt and got sweaty from a long walk. We hiked back out from where we were and decided to fish on the other side of the Pineville boat ramp since we had about an hour before heading to lunch.

I decided to change flies and try a Crazy Comet, which is basically a popsicle style fly with bead chain eyes. This one was purple in the rear half, black in the front with a lot of flash throughout.

It was a little tricky since the water was over the top of the grass tussets, and I didn't want to trip and take a dip. The casting was close to shore to cover the slower water which felt fishy, but the dangle was a little tough since the fly would swing into the grass and get hung up now and then.

Working my way down the little area we had to fish, I was able to get the fly to swing below the tussets into the slack water....BUMP....great another tusset. I raise the rod to try to free the fly, but the line comes alive and the rod starts to bounce a little. THERE'S ONE!! It comes to the surface and splashes and I see some gold and big head. Cool!! I think it's a nice brownie!!

The head shakes were nice and heavy and I could see him flash, but he stayed down deep, pulled hard but didn't really go to far. I'm sure the cold water had him on the sluggish side.



When I had him in the shallows I lead him to a little hole in the tussets where I could land him and keep him in 6" of water. Dad was taking a couple of pics during the fight so I asked him if he was ready, and we took a few quick pictures of the nice brown trout. He was colored up nice and had nice deep body and a small alligator head including a cool kype too!!





That was it for the morning on a cold day, but at least the sun was out and shining bright. We met up with our buddy Dave and his son Matt who were going to stay for a few days, then we all got lunch and geared up for the afternoon.

Dave and Matt went to the 2A bridge area while Dad and I headed to the mid river to find a safe area to fish. Dad and I got to nice area and saw a guy showing his friend a few spey casts. They saw us and decided to stop and say hello, then they were off to another spot because the flow was too fast for their liking.

As soon as the guys were up the trail I began to fish and on about the third cast I feel a tug on the end of the line right where the other guys were just standing. The hook came out early and that was the only action we had all afternoon. Hopefully the water wouldn't be raised overnight.