daytripper wrote in
:

I'm baaaaaaack. And holy crap this group has gone plumb crazy without
me! ;-)

Paul G, Dave P and I spent the better part of a week fishing the
Salmon River in upstate New York, and through dead lucky timing ended
up on the river during the better part of the salmon run.

We fished our asses off, from the Douglaston Salmon Run just above the
Lake Ontario estuary to the highest legal fishing point on the river,
about a half-mile below the controlling reservoir dam. But no matter
which section of the river you plan on fishing, if you want to get
away from the crowds, ya gots to walk a bunch, and I estimate we
walked and waded roughly twenty miles over the trip, most of it
dragging typical flyfishing gear plus the almost mandatory corkers
that seem to get heavier with each passing hour. In spite of the best
damned deluxe bacon cheeseburgers, home made fries, and lots of beer,
I still managed to return home two pounds lighter than when I left
(which my wife says is A Good Thing ;-)

We caught all kinds of salmonids, from a 5 inch steelie (that Paul
managed not to back cast up on the rocks behind him - the little
critter was smaller than some of the striper flies we use!) through a
monster king that dragged my butt a quarter mile down a rock strewn
chunk of river bed. In the middle were lots of kings, a few rainbows
and browns, and some really nice steelhead - including one I caught
that was almost 30" long and put a nice hurt on my rod holding arm.

Gotta tie lots of flies for these salmon runs: I had to pop loose or
outright break off at least a half-dozen fish for every one
fair-hooked, and then the odds of actually landing a fair-hooked fish
aren't great - especially with the high flow that was running most of
the week (quite unlike last year's drought-impacted season, which left
the river looking like a moonscape, and trapped the run just above the
estuary for a couple of weeks).

Fortunately, I had tied four dozen of my all-time favorite pattern in
two colors, plus another 12 dozen various other patterns that I've had
success with in the past. I used up almost four dozen flies - half of
them my favorite pattern - including ones I gave to Paul and Dave.

Here's the big king of the trip - this dude was just under 46" long,
and he's showing off his mouth of "teeth" and a freaky big kipe. My
pink Bead-head Estaz Egg was buried in the corner of his jaw at the
end of an 8 pound tippet. I really didn't think I had a prayer of
landing him considering all the backing he took downstream in the fast
current and the fact that the river substrate is broken rock mixed
with bowling balls and a bitch to negotiate with any speed. But I
eventually caught up to him at a huge pool roughly 400 yards from
where I hooked him, where we settled down to a bull-dogging match that
seemed to last forever. I tailed him, Paul got the hook out, then I
got under him and hefted him up for the picture

http://home.comcast.net/~day_trippr/...big_salmon.jpg

and then turned him loose, to keep those big genes in the pool...

[Shameless Plugs]
As in the last four years, we stayed at the Salmon Heaven Lodge
http://www.salmonheaven.com/ where the accommodations are excellent -
cozy, warm, with plenty of coffee and breakfast munchables, a big
screen tube for the playoff games, fellow guests to shoot the crap
with - and the price is right. Highly recommended, whether for the
fall salmon run, the late fall brown run, or steelheading from early
winter through the spring.

And the best damned deluxe bacon cheeseburgers and home-made fries can
be had at the world famous Altmar Hotel, and the locals that drop in
there for lunch are incredibly friendly folk...

/daytripper


I'm going to try to get over there in November. The TU State Council
meeting is at the hatchery. Usually I overnight it (Exec meeting Fri
nite and General on Sat), so I get about two hours to fish Sat PM, but
I'm thinking about heading up on Thurs night, if the better half seems
amenable. Injuries cost me my Spring season, so I really could use a
trip.


--
Scott
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