Prospector
Well-known member
Water levels were low despite the rains over the day and a half prior to our arrival. Lack of water and the high temps have kept the fish out in the lake. But the slug of fresh water and colder temps started to get some fish in the stream.
Sunrise temps were in high 30s to mid 40s and climbed to low 50s or 60s. Friday was full clouds all day. Saturday was clear and sunny all day. Sunday was a mix of clouds and sun.
Although I’ve been told Atlantic salmon make up only 1%-2% of the run this time of year, on Friday several were caught and I was told Thursday was also a good day for them. I’d guess they accounted for 15% of the catch on those days. They vanished just as fast. On Sat and Sun I didn’t see any caught nor did I hear of any. Some were running on the small side going down to 15 inches. A Springdale, PA native caught the largest Atlantic I saw taken. I think it was 9lbs 8oz
I did not see or hear of a coho caught in the 3 days I was there. Steelhead must have kept them company out in the lake since very few Steelies were seen or caught. So expect them to come later. A 9.5 pounder was caught by another PA guy on Wednesday before we arrived and that was the largest one I heard of.
Browns were a different story. Early in our trip they were the most plentiful species but not in huge numbers. On Friday they accounted for the majority of the fish caught. Friday was a cloudy day and many were caught between 1030am and 1pm. Every one I saw was a male. Less were caught on Saturday but up until about 3pm, browns accounted for the majority of the catch. I managed a 26 inch male on Saturday (didn’t have a scale but I’d guess just under 7lbs). I had 4 strikes fishing behind a small Redd but only had the one hookup. Everyone who caught browns were real excited about the size. Lots of comments from nearby anglers too.
Kings were around on Thursday evening when we arrived to check out the stream conditions. They were breaking the surface and funneling upstream in small numbers but we didn’t fish until Friday. As mentioned above browns were the most active feeders during the day on Friday but during the last couple hours before sunset the Kings got real active. I managed a 35” King on Friday night and removed my fly from his left jaw and a different colored egg pattern from his right jaw. Have a good drag if you want to land them and remember 80% of the ones that break off occur when someone is trying to net them. Don’t apply any extra pressure on a short line. You’ve worked too hard to lose them at the net.
I only saw 3-4 dead Kings the whole weekend so they are really late arriving. The evening surge of Kings increased every day and they began to push upstream by 9am on Sunday. On Friday I only saw 2-3 Redds but by Sunday there were 10-12 in 3/4 mile stretch where I was fishing. The next rain day should trigger a pretty hefty migration.
The kings were probably a little below average in size, running 8-18 lbs based on the Archer Club Tourney results I saw. Some were a little bigger. The larger ones must be waiting for more water or are staging in the deep holes of the lower river.
I didn’t ask anyone what they were using but it seemed like Trout beads were the top producer. On Friday Fly fishers outnumbered the spin fisherman. Centerpinners showed up in bigger numbers on Sunday morning but fly fishing was still the dominant method.
People were there from the Czech Republic and Germany. I also heard some folks from Russia were around earlier in the week.
About half of the fish were returned to fight another day and the rest were destined for the table or smoker. It seemed like the 20 something crowd were most apt to keep fish probably because that's fairly common at that age. I imagine I did the same.
Egg patterns were not on fire since there were not a lot of fish spawning yet. As many fish were being caught on trout patterns like stoneflies, PT nymph, etc.
Included some photos of nearby angler’s fish while I fished and others I passed while relocating plus a fish I released.
Sunrise temps were in high 30s to mid 40s and climbed to low 50s or 60s. Friday was full clouds all day. Saturday was clear and sunny all day. Sunday was a mix of clouds and sun.
Although I’ve been told Atlantic salmon make up only 1%-2% of the run this time of year, on Friday several were caught and I was told Thursday was also a good day for them. I’d guess they accounted for 15% of the catch on those days. They vanished just as fast. On Sat and Sun I didn’t see any caught nor did I hear of any. Some were running on the small side going down to 15 inches. A Springdale, PA native caught the largest Atlantic I saw taken. I think it was 9lbs 8oz
I did not see or hear of a coho caught in the 3 days I was there. Steelhead must have kept them company out in the lake since very few Steelies were seen or caught. So expect them to come later. A 9.5 pounder was caught by another PA guy on Wednesday before we arrived and that was the largest one I heard of.
Browns were a different story. Early in our trip they were the most plentiful species but not in huge numbers. On Friday they accounted for the majority of the fish caught. Friday was a cloudy day and many were caught between 1030am and 1pm. Every one I saw was a male. Less were caught on Saturday but up until about 3pm, browns accounted for the majority of the catch. I managed a 26 inch male on Saturday (didn’t have a scale but I’d guess just under 7lbs). I had 4 strikes fishing behind a small Redd but only had the one hookup. Everyone who caught browns were real excited about the size. Lots of comments from nearby anglers too.
Kings were around on Thursday evening when we arrived to check out the stream conditions. They were breaking the surface and funneling upstream in small numbers but we didn’t fish until Friday. As mentioned above browns were the most active feeders during the day on Friday but during the last couple hours before sunset the Kings got real active. I managed a 35” King on Friday night and removed my fly from his left jaw and a different colored egg pattern from his right jaw. Have a good drag if you want to land them and remember 80% of the ones that break off occur when someone is trying to net them. Don’t apply any extra pressure on a short line. You’ve worked too hard to lose them at the net.
I only saw 3-4 dead Kings the whole weekend so they are really late arriving. The evening surge of Kings increased every day and they began to push upstream by 9am on Sunday. On Friday I only saw 2-3 Redds but by Sunday there were 10-12 in 3/4 mile stretch where I was fishing. The next rain day should trigger a pretty hefty migration.
The kings were probably a little below average in size, running 8-18 lbs based on the Archer Club Tourney results I saw. Some were a little bigger. The larger ones must be waiting for more water or are staging in the deep holes of the lower river.
I didn’t ask anyone what they were using but it seemed like Trout beads were the top producer. On Friday Fly fishers outnumbered the spin fisherman. Centerpinners showed up in bigger numbers on Sunday morning but fly fishing was still the dominant method.
People were there from the Czech Republic and Germany. I also heard some folks from Russia were around earlier in the week.
About half of the fish were returned to fight another day and the rest were destined for the table or smoker. It seemed like the 20 something crowd were most apt to keep fish probably because that's fairly common at that age. I imagine I did the same.
Egg patterns were not on fire since there were not a lot of fish spawning yet. As many fish were being caught on trout patterns like stoneflies, PT nymph, etc.
Included some photos of nearby angler’s fish while I fished and others I passed while relocating plus a fish I released.
