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Posts Tagged ‘Guided Steelhead fishing’

Take your kid to work day

Posted in Stories, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 26, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Last year my oldest son came home from school upset that his classmates had been off for take your kid to work day. We explained to him that kids aren’t allowed into the aluminum factory that my wife and I work in. Then it dawned on me that he could come to “fish work” as he calls my guide business. He was so excited that could come to fish work with me next year.

Well next year came and I had it all set up. Customers to take that understood the plan and how our trip could be cut short as Gunnar would be with us. Then the Corona virus shutdown school and guiding. This left me with one very disappointed 6 year old. It was time to come up with a new plan.

Plan B was to “guide” my father and wife for crappie and/or rainbow trout. Gunnar was very concerned that we would get in trouble for guiding when it was shut down. I told him mom and grandpa would just pay us at home where no one would see as he made sure they both knew they were going to have to pay him.

That morning Gunnar helped me get the gear and boat ready. Then he packed snacks while I went and bought subs for us for lunch. When we arrived at the reservoir he helped to launch the boat.

Unfortunately we tried about everything we had and couldn’t get anything going on the reservoir. We decided we would head back home and try fishing in the creek that separates our property from my parents. In the truck on the way home my dad gave Gunnar $4 which made his day.

Back at my parents house Gunnar wanted to ride his bike before fishing. I headed down to the creek with his fishing rod and a container of worms. As I made my way across the lawn I saw a fish splash on the surface. It was a good size steelhead. I called to Gunnar, who had just put on his bike helmet, telling him there was a steelhead in the creek. He came running down very excited to try to catch it. I explained we needed to be very careful not to spook it. I took the bobber off and hooked a whole night crawler on. I told him I would cast it for him becuase it needed to be a precise cast. Not sure if the spin cast rod would even make the cast I made a test cast in the yard.

We then snuck down the bank into position. After multiple bad casts I landed one the drifted perfectly to the fish. I was shocked to see it grab the worm. I set the hook as I handed the rod to Gunnar. The fish turned downstream splashing in the surface. Gunnar struggled to fight the fish as he laughed at the way it took line and splashed. After a couple minutes he managed to get it to the shoreline. I ran down the bank and grabbed it for him. He was ecstatic to have caught the biggest fish of his life and be the first person in our family to catch a steelhead from the creek.

He ran up to the house to get his mom so she could take our picture. After a quick picture we returned it to the water and watched it swim away.

We then returned the bobber to the line and proceeded to catch multiple shinners and horned dace. After all they were our target species when we headed to the creek. Gunnar later told me he had a great day at “fish work” and wanted to do it again next year. Given the circumstances take your kid to work day couldn’t have gone better.

Gunnar’s first steelhead and the rod he caught it on.
Gunnar even let Beckett catch a couple

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Salmon River Report 3/14/15

Posted in Reports, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 14, 2015| 2 Comments »

I had the pleasure of fishing with Joe and Natalie today from Altmar to Pinneville. We started at the Schoolhouse pool where were Natalie caught here first ever steelhead a nice 9 pounder that put up a good fight. Joe also hook into a very good fish that would have been his first ever fish on the centerpin if it hadn’t made a hard run right at the boat and broke off.

Overall the fishing was slow today. We hooked five and only brought the one to the net. Most people we talked to on the way down had little or no luck. This time of year can be very hit or miss. The fish are in prespawn mood and the bite is either on or off. Today was mostly off. Actually all of our hook ups came at our first stop. We tried almost everything, beads, sacks, jigs, plastics, and plugs. The best bait was plastics today.

In another week or two the fishing will really heat up as the fish spawn and head back to the lake. Looking at the snow pack along the river and up on the hill we are going to have high water right into May again this year. I am going to offer Walleye and Steelhead combo trips the first week of May. Walleye at night and steelhead during the day. Call for details.

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Salmon River Report 1/1/15

Posted in Reports, tagged , , , , , , , on January 1, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I didn’t fish today but I did take a ride around the upper half of the river after having an amazing brunch at the Tailwater Lodge. There were not many people on the river but those who were did well. There is a good amount of snow in Altmar and it didn’t look like people were traveling far from the parking lots.

Fish were being caught on both egg sacs and beads. The drift boats were also getting fish on plugs. With more snow in the forecast walking won’t get any easier. This is an excellent time of year to hire a guide with a heated drift boat.

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Rate Increase

Posted in Reports, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »

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.

 

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Water Report 3/30/14

Posted in Reports, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

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.

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Steelhead Fishing Report

Posted in Reports, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on November 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »

The water is dropping and the fish are hitting. The Salmon River is at 900 cfs. This is a great level to fish from shore or a drift boat for Steelhead. The river has fish from top to bottom with most of the fishing pressure being on the top half of the river. Your best bet is drifting an egg sac or bead under a float. If you are fly fishing egg patterns such as the 3 loop pink lady(my favorite) will get the job done.

Cold weather, snow and strong winds will keep most away the next couple days. If you can handle the weather you should be rewarded with fish.

The smaller streams are also on the drop. The Sandy’s have been fishing well and and should be at good levels by now. Earlier in the week they where both still very high. After all the high water we had there are Steelhead in all the small streams. Don’t over look even the smallest of waters. If it connects to Lake Ontario there are probably fish in it. Remember though if the water is low and clear it will take a lot of stealth to get the bait to the fish before they see you.

Grindstone Creek was fishing well Tuesday and Wednesday. I fished it both days and we hooked multiple fish on each day. Unfortunately our 6 pound leaders where no match for the fish we hooked and they all got off.

If you need flies, egg sacs, hooks, sinkers, floats or anything else stop into Salmon River Sports Shop. Button will hook you up with everything you need.

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Oswego County River and Stream Report 11/7/13

Posted in Reports, tagged , , , , , , , on November 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

The fishing is good all over the county right now. The Oswego and Salmon Rivers have been fishing very well. The Steelhead fishing on both has been excellent and there have been a good number of Brown Trout caught too.

Smaller streams have been dropping but with recent rain and more rain and snow in the forecast that may change. The small streams will have some left over Salmon along with fresh Steelhead and Brown Trout. The Salmon are mostly beat up and close to death but you may find one or two still in good shape.

If you are thinking about getting out after some Steelhead the time to do it is NOW. As I said the fishing is hot. If you are new to Steelhead fishing hire a drift boat guide. Not only will you learn the techniques but you will get a very enjoyable trip down the river.

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High Water on the Salmon River NY

Posted in Tips and Tricks, tagged , , , , , , , on November 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

The start of Steelhead season has been very wet. With all the rain we have received the Salmon River has been running at what most consider to be high levels. Personally I prefer 750 cfs to 1800 cfs but I know most people do not.

There are two reasons I like the high water. The first is it makes running a drift boat down the Salmon River much easier as you can float about any where. The second reason is that it creates more places to fish. High water on the Salmon River changes the runs and pools enough that it actually makes more holding water for the Steelhead.

Many people are afraid of the high water because they don’t know where to find fish or they can’t see the fish. It’s not difficult. All you need to do is fish the slow water on the edge of the fast stuff. Inside seams on a corner are perfect. Another great spot is the edges of where the fast water runs into the center of a pool. If there are rapids and fast water upstream from the pool there will be a seam created on both sides of the edge of the head of the pool. This is a prime location at first and last light.

One mistake I keep talking about because I see it so often is people wading where they should be fishing. I can’t stress this enough. If you are wading over your knees you are in too far. This is especially true in times of high water. Steelhead don’t want to hang in the fast water. They will hold and rest in the slower currents on the edge of the faster water.  Make sure you are fishing these spots not wading into them. I see too many people wading out waist deep and casting into the fastest water in the river.

One last tip. Don’t be afraid to take a walk along the side streams and diversions of the Salmon River. High water makes many of these very fishable. Look for a deep pocket or long run that you can get a drift through. You may be very surprised at what you find on the end of your line in these little sections of the Salmon River.

If you still don’t feel comfortable fishing the high water hire a guide to take you down the river in a drift boat. Drift boat fishing on the Salmon River is the hands down best way in high water. You won’t be disappointed.

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Salmon River 3/28/13

Posted in Reports, tagged , , , , on March 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

My friend Andy had today off and asked me to take him down the river for a few hours today. We decided to meet for breakfast at 7 as he didn’t want to get up as early as I wanted him to. At about 8 we put the boat in the water in Pineville with plans of taking out at route 2A.

We both had stuff to do in the afternoon so the plan was to plug fish mostly and float fish a couple spots. We hooked one very nice steelhead fishing with a jointed Rapala while back trolling. Unfortunately the fish rolled right at the boat and the hook came out.

We talked to a couple guides during our float and everyone seemed to be saying the same thing. The fishing was better than it has been on the Salmon River but still a bit slow. We did see one boat land a very nice steelhead while fishing with a float.

I think if we had more time and had fished harder we would have caught a few. The river is very crowded right now and if you are going to fish from shore get there early to get the spot you want. After we took the boat out I drove up through Altmar and it almost looked like salmon season. I counted 8 boats still on the river from Pineville to Altmar and that was just what I could see from the road. Good luck and see you on the water.

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Salmon River Report

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on March 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »

This past weekend the fishing slowed this past weekend. I believe it had to do with 2 things. One factor is the fact that the steelhead are starting to prepare for the spawn. The other was the fact that there was a big stone fly hatch this weekend with the warm weather. The snow on the banks was almost black with stone flies. They were everywhere.

We fished from Altmar to Route 2A on Saturday with only 2 fish on and landing none. On Sunday we fished the Lower Fly Zone in Altmar from 7 am to 9 am hooking 3 steelhead and landing none. One was fouled hooked so we broke it off. The other two broke the 6 pound tippet.

The water was at 900 cfs and will be through Tuesday. I am guessing there is a good chance of it going higher after that as it was 50 degrees this afternoon in Pulaski, NY. They are calling for a major change in temperature at the end of the week. There will be a serious cold snap that will slow down the run off and the river level will most likely drop.

If you are going to fish the next week egg patterns, stone flies, and streamers will all be good choices if you are fly fishing. For the spin and pin fisherman 8 mm and 6 mm beads in natural colors will be a good bet. This is a great time of year for a drift boat trip down the river allowing you to cover much more water then you would on foot. Good luck and see you on the water.

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