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New York Fishing Report for Lake Ontario and Salmon River
Capt. Troy Creasy
February 17, 2003
Salmon River - Freshwater Fishing Report
It's still cold
The past weeekend was pretty much a bust as fishing goes. It was -2 on saturday and -12 on sunday. Needless to say, my sports stayed home. A smart move. Sooner or later it will warm up, the snow will melt and there will be lot's of big water, teeming with trophy trout. Hang Tough!
Here is something to take your mind of the cold winter weather.
Here are five sure-fire ways to cut down on those annoying hook-ups and bent rods the next time you're on the water:
1. WADE LIKE A MAN, AS FAST AS YOU CAN. The rush of swift current around your thighs may be invigorating, but the more times you pick 'em up and put 'em down between the river banks, the more fish you're going to chase out of casting range. Silver-coated trout, fresh from the lake and not used to a shallow-water environment, are most easily frightened by bold, high-stepping anglers. Dark fish on the spawning beds are less wary but still bolt when a wader's waves wash over their backs.
2. LOAD UP ON THAT LEAD. I get tendonitis in my rod arm just looking at the stringers of cannonballs some fishermen sling. How can they cast those rigs? When the Salmon River is running at medium level, sometimes referred to as "half a gate," a single size 5 split shot or a pair of size 3/0 sinkers will keep a fly or spawn sack bouncing along bottom in most spots. You might need twice as much weight in deep, swift-running pools. More than that will result in an unnatural presentation and frequent hangups. Worse, that plunking noise you hear will send salmon scurrying. The next time you notice your bait is passing over the head of a visible fish, don't automatically add another sinker to the line. Instead, aim the next cast a foot or two farther upstream, to give your rig more time to reach bottom.
3. START LATE AND QUIT EARLY. Fishing for river-run salmon is not a game for gentlemen who insist on rising at a civilized hour. It's a blue-collar sport, all the way, and if you yearn to get skunked, just keep hitting that snooze button. Kings which have miles to go before they reach their spawning grounds do most of their sprinting in the early-morning hours. Hit the river at dawn and you'll see them throwing roostertails of spray as they race upstream. They seldom hit when they're on the move, but fidgety kings will strike while resting between upstream sprints. The early riser has the huge advantage of casting to fish that haven't been harassed by other anglers, at least, not since yesterday. Other than the first hour of the day, late evening is the most productive time to fish for salmon. That's when green hens and dark, hook-jawed males slip from deep-water hideouts to excavate their redds in the riffles. If I absolutely didn't want to catch one of these aggressive, easily seduced fish, I'd reel in my line and go home at about 5 p.m., or whenever my stomach started to growl.
4. RIG BIG. Do you remember the bad old days when it was common knowledge that chinooks and cohos wouldn't strike bait, lure or fly once they'd started their spawning run, and therefore had to be snagged? I suspect the mythology about uncatchable salmon sprang in part from the ridiculous tackle that was employed by many anglers in those formative years. Rods were only a tad more supple than broomsticks, and lines were as thick as telephone cable. Few chinooks would be stupid enough to grab a hook that was knotted to one of those hawsers. Yet, walking along our salmon rivers, I still get my feet tangled in a snarl of 40-pound test, now and then. A 15-pound line is heavy enough, and noodle-rodders can get the job done with 8-pound mono when kings are their target.
5. FOLLOW THE CROWD. I saved my best not-catching tip for last. Fishermen have a strange way of cuddling like kittens around cozy-looking pools, (Altmar brige, Schoolhouse)and not entirely without reason. During the middle of the day, or whenever streams are low, fish tend to hide in deep holes. Yet, precisely because they are surrounded by fishermen and constantly bombarded by lead sinkers, holed-up fish are tough to catch. You can stick with the gang, if you enjoy a real challenge, or you can boost your odds of success by stretching your legs and hunting for fish that nobody else has found.
Call me a loner, if you like, but the first thing I do when I see a crowd of anglers is start walking in the other direction. That is, unless it's one of those days when I'd rather NOT catch a fish.
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