If you have been fishing the Salmon River or just reading reports you know it has been a strange and tough year. After a couple years of earlier than normal runs we have been spoiled. There have been fish in the river all September just not in the large numbers of years past. Many anglers have had trouble figuring out what needed to be done to catch fish in these conditions. Even guides fishing almost every day have been finding the fishing tough. The trick has been to keep moving and cover lots of water. Standing in one spot all day was not going to get it done.
The cold weather and rain we have received over the last few days has help. The fishing has improved daily. The mid and upper Salmon River have been fishing well. Plugs being pulled from drift boats and cast by shore anglers have been producing fish. Also estaz eggs and woolly buggers have been a good bet.
The rain should start bringing the water levels of the small streams up. As of right now most of them still do not have enough water to fish well or even bring the fish into them. There is more rain in the forecast and it is raining as I write this. I will have a better small water report after my guide trip Thursday.
The Black River has fish but not a lot of them. They are doing work on the power generation dams in Dexter so there is no flow coming from them. The water flow is only coming from the over flow dams. This is changing where the fish would normally hold a little bit. There is also not a lot of water running right now.
The Oswego River has picked up over the last few days with good numbers of salmon being caught.
Now that August is here we aren’t far away. Within the next couple weeks there will be some fish that enter the river. If you are looking for low pressure fishing this is the time to hit the river. There may not be big numbers of fish in the river but there also won’t be very many people fishing for them. The fishing is not consistent enough for most people to plan a trip to the area so you will most likely be fishing with local anglers.
From the end of August through September fishing at night in the river mouth will be hot. This is a very fun way to catch King Salmon. We slow troll the lake shore on the calm nights. If the wind is blowing we anchor and cast just inside the river. The fish are very fresh and fight hard. I have some open night fishing dates left. If you are looking for a chance to relax and still catch big Salmon give me a call.
The month of September I will be concentrating on the Salmon River in Pulaski, New York and the Black River in Dexter, New York. Both these river have excellent runs of big King Salmon year after year. The Salmon River will be both drift boat and wading trips. The Black River will be drift boat trips only.
Come October the focus will be on the smaller streams that fill with Salmon from Lake Ontario. This gives my guests a chance to get away from the crowds of the main river. It also gives them a change of scenery and a chance to learn new water. Most of these trips are fly fishing. If you want to learn how to fly fish for Salmon this is the perfect time to do so. I am more than willing to teach you.
Open dates are filling up fast so if you are thinking about a guided Salmon fishing trip call now.
As everyone that fishes knows the cost of tackle has been on the rise the last few years. I have held out on increasing rates for the last 5 years but I have been left with no other choice at this point. Due to the increased overhead costs my trip rates have increased by $25 to $50.
I will honor my old prices for all trips already booked and any trips booked before August 1st. I have very few Salmon dates left so call soon.
I work with many other excellent guides so if I am booked I will be able to set you up with one of them.
After listening to the rain and wind all night long I decided not to get out of bed when my alarm went off. I did go for a drive later on to check things out. I started at Mexico Point State Park Launch where I found no less ice than there was a few days ago. It will still be a couple weeks before we are out there chasing brown trout.
Grindstone Creek was completely blown out. It should fish very well in a few days as long as we don’t get any more rain. This high water will bring in some new fish.
The Salmon River is high and off color in town. The Pineville gauge is reading 1150 cfs. There was no one fishing in town but there were 4 or 5 cars at the DSR. The Salmon is fishable but you will need to find slower water. This is a good time to hire a guide if you are not familiar with fishing high water. Plug fishing from a drift boat is often very good when the water is up. There is no rain in the forecast so everything should start to drop a little. Warm weather will start melting the snow on the hill though so it may not drop a lot. The flow cast is 750 cfs through tomorrow.
There are also some smaller creeks that will be fishing excellent in a day or two as the water recedes.
I had a couple free hours today so I took a ride to Pulaski with my waders and fly rod. I fished below 2a for a hour with no luck so I headed back to the truck.
I drove up to Altmar. There were a few people in the sportsman and trestle pool. There were also some at Postville. Altmar was the most crowded area of the river.
I fished the fly zone for another hour hooking on that got off. I saw two fish on stringers as I drove across the bride. One guy below me hooked two and landed one. I also saw two fish hooked below the bride.
I talked to Jimmy at Salmon River Sports Shop. He said the river has been on fire. People caught good numbers on both ends of the river yesterday.
Here is a small slide show of some of my night Salmon Trips. I have already been getting calls for next season so if this interest you don’t wait long to book. These trips start the last weekend in August and run through the end of September.
There have been some better reports coming from Sandy Pond over the last week. People have been catching some good perch off the elms. Not huge numbers but 20 to 30 keeper fish. This is a big improvement over the start of the season.
The Northern Pike fishing continues to be good using large minnows under tip ups.
I was told the bite was slow on Onieda and yesterday proved it. I fished out of Taft Bay with Andy Hilton. We got bait at Apps and headed out about 2.5 miles from the Taft Bay park.
The morning started slow with lots of lookers and a couple lite bites that we missed. Around 10 a.m. Andy hit a good perch. Shortly after I dropped down a Jigging Rapala and an 18 inch walleye wacked it. I caught one more short one and then dropped 2 at the hole. Andy dumped 2 at the hole and landed one about 16 inches along with another perch about 14 inches. He also landed a big small mouth bass probably going 3 pounds.
We talked to 5 or 6 other guys that all had worse days than us. The fish are there but they are picky. It was very cold so we didn’t move deciding just to keep trying to get the fish we were on to hit. If you are headed on to Onieda there is plenty of ice (16+ inches) but the bite is slow for now.
Wayne-o's Guide Service 