Salmon River

[wlybgr]

Fished the Salmon River in Pulaski, NY this past weekend. Was able to get a cheap direct flight from Dulles to Syracuse which certainly beat a 7-8 hour drive. My cousin picked me up from the airport Thursday afternoon and it was a straight shot up the highway to Pulaski. Checked into Whitaker's mid afternoon we picked up some flies and our licenses. Hit the river for a couple of hours with no luck. Woke up early Friday morning to find it dumping snow. Fished again all day with my cousin only getting one hit and nada for me. Saturday was another skunk but we fished all day and continued to talk to people picking up advice trying to get dialed in. Everyone we talked to either on the water in the fly shops were extremely friendly and willing to give tips. Hit the river again Sunday and after making some more adjustments finally had my first fish on. My excitement lead to error and I quickly lost the fish due to my fly line wrapping around my reel. Not long after re-rigging I had another fish on and managed land first steelhead on the fly. He was a nice and healthy 20 inch fish. A little later in the day I hooked into a monster steelhead. My best estimate and others who saw the fish break surface estimated the fish to be at least 20 pounds. After a few minutes of tug of war and to my dismay he spit the fly. Towards the end of the day I tied into another nice fish that was significantly larger than my fish first fish (but not as big as my lost fish). After a few nice runs my cousin grabbed the net and I landed my second ever steely. After a quick photo he was quickly released. In the meantime my cousin managed to land a nice brown. Perseverance certainly payed off and we had a great trip. Got to spend some time with my cousin who I don't get to see very often and the two steelies were icing in the cake. I was using an 8 weight and the fish were caught on glow bugs. My cousin was using a spey rod and I think I might have to pick one up in the future. We are already booked at Whitaker's for November. Hopefully it won't be quit so cold! Going to try and attach a pic of my bigger steely.

On another note my fighting butt popped off during my fight with my missed fish. Does anyone know someone that does this kind of repair so I don't have to send it back to Sage? It is an 8 weight VT2. Thanks in advance!

[cletus9000]

Pretty fish and nice report. Glad you persevered.

[jnashed]

Nice report! Looks a lot quieter up there in mid-winter. Sage has a warrenty so I'd think (except for S/H )that would be the cost effective way to go. But I do know someone I have worked with in the past who does great work on custom rods that could help you out, but he lives in PA. Let me know if you want his info.

Jim

[wlybgr]

Thanks! Jim - thanks for the offer, I really appreciate it. I think I have decided that the easiest thing to do is to just send it back to Sage.

[Kirbstyle]

I've been going to Pulaski for the past 5 years during the Columbus Day long weekend. We always stop @ Fat Nancy's to get our license then off to Watertown/Brownville. luckily, I have a friend that has family in the area so we get to stay for free.
The fishing has always been fun and we've always come home with fish in our coolers.
Last year we tried something different and got a guide for half-a-day trip in a float boat. We caught more fish on that 4 hour trip than the rest of the weekend combined. Obviously, we released a lot due to the 2 fish limit. Our guide was great and well worth the price. He showed us tips & techniques that would have taken years to figure out.

http://underthefloat.com.p8.hostingprod.com/home

Good job on the fish and for going in the cold!

[Salmo trutta]

Nice.

Columbus day in Pulaksi is like down town New York times square on New years. Insane numbers of people. Fish scared shiatless with all the weight and people bombing them. Now is a good time to go, spring is excellent too. November might be my favorite but it can also be very crowded. This past year I kayaked the whole river in a day. Cool way to see the river and fish different spots with no one else around.

[Sleepy Weasel]

Congrats on the first steelie. What was the key going to an indicator/right angle rig? I know a thing or two about repairing fly rods, how close are you to Mont. Co?

[wlybgr]

Sleepy Weasel - Thanks for the offer! I live in N. VA but I have decided the easiest thing to do is just to send the rod back to Sage. My set up was an 8 wt floating line to a 9ft tapered leader to 8 pound test and about 18 inches of 8 lb fluorocarbon tippet. A couple of small pieces of split shot placed above the blood knot and a thingamabobber as an indicator. I think that moving the thingamabobber up further towards the fly line on my last day was the key.