Salmon River, Oswego County, NY 10/3-6

[jayL]

Good trip. I'm getting pretty good at this salmon thing, so it's definitely more fun each year. I spent about half of the trip targeting steel and browns, and found that I caught just as many salmon with the altered rig. The key is fishing down low at the DSR for biters. I did manage one biter upriver on day three.

I didn't photograph many salmon, but our group definitely caught them in better numbers this year than ever before.

The brown was the most insane experience I've ever had fishing. It's been my goal to get one up there for years.

Pics:

 

[Acristickid]

Sweet!

PIGS!

Love it.

 

[Fishidiot]

Great pics and great report Jay! Glad to see you had such an awesome trip and finally got your Insane Brown after many years. That brown really is incredible and for many FFers could be considered the fish of a lifetime. I'm curious about the fish held by your buddy, second photo from the bottom: Is that a steelhead? It looks like a steel to me but could it be a Coho or something else?

 

[govtmule]

awesome brown JAY....sounds like a kick ace trip....see you on Valley sometime...again

jeff

 

[David]

Beautiful Jay!!! Congrats on all the fish, but esp. the brownies!

 

[ezpickins]

I'm so jealous! That looks like amazing fishing.

 

[tomgamber]

Wow, that looks like no fun at all... :roll:

 

[MattBoyer]

Fishidiot wrote:
I'm curious about the fish held by your buddy, second photo from the bottom: Is that a steelhead? It looks like a steel to me but could it be a Coho or something else?

I'd guess it was a steelie. Coho don't have spots on the lower half of their tail. Also, of the Pacific salmonids in the Great lakes, the steelie is the only on with all white gums. At least that's what they tell me.

Boyer

 

[afishinado]

Awesome brownie Jay! It's great you got a good pic of him. Congrats.

 

[ryguyfi]

Great pics Jay, looks like fun. Maybe I'll join you one of these days. I was wondering there for a while why you weren't posting, then it hit me you were fishing. Go figure. lol

Nice brownie, beautiful color and nice big old hook jaw. Hope they look like that in a few years in Erie!

 

[Acristickid]

What did the big brown take? How did you land him?

See any Giants fans?

 

[littlejuniata]

Awesome

Browns are beautiful

 

[jayL]

Thanks guys.

Dave,

It is a smallish steelie. We only saw one coho, and it was foul hooked.

Paul,
The brown took chartreuse estaz. Giants fans were everywhere, unfortunately.

I hooked the brown in some fast shallow water. My friend spotted him, then lost sight of him for a while. I went upstream and found him in the next pocket and he sucked the fly down after a few casts. I fought him for 10 minutes or so.

 

[jayL]

Looks like another trip Nov 13. The browns should be all over the place, and the river will be polluted with steel.

Who's with me?

 

[tztrout]

Great trip Jay!Congratulations that brown is something! Literally jusy got back from Pulaski-Friday to Sunday. Unfortunately can't report same success. Water was in the 1400-1500 level 1150 + runoff. Fished hard all day Saturday but water levels made for tough wading and tougher landing. Hit the lower blower Sat evening some hookups near the wire. One beautiful red coho landed, some of our crew murdered them here earlier in the week. Not complaining we had a good time, but unfortunately didn't get my son into any fish. Vet's day may be a possibility.

 

[greenlander]

jayL wrote:
Looks like another trip Nov 13. The browns should be all over the place, and the river will be polluted with steel.

Who's with me?

Jay - we're going to miss eachother by a week again. I'm up Nov 6 to 9th. Would have liked to fish it with you.

Have you been up for steel in Pulaski before? Do you expect the same advantages in the DSR? I expect the steelhead are a little more likely to bite upriver because they naturally chase/take more willingly than kings ... and because the gauntlet isn't nearly as brutal in November.

That said, I'm likely going to fish 2 out of 3 days in the DSR. Considering a guide for a day or two too.

 

[jayL]

I have never fished the DSR outside of sept or oct. Once the salmon run is over, I usually head upriver to an area like the wires. I have been thinking about how awesome a good push of steel would be in the DSR, so I'm considering it for the Nov trip. You certainly should find some solitude there.

I have been to pulaski for steel a handful of times. It's VERY different, especially as the season drags on. Expect more water, tougher conditions, less people, and (imo) more enjoyable fishing!

I have had success in late fall/early winter with flesh fly patterns and eggs. The steel and browns gorge themselves on decaying salmon flesh and loose eggs.

Let me know how you do.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Jay thats an amazing brown! :-D Good for you man 🙂

 

[Treeguy]

That is for sure a small Steely! cohos are more of a early run..and yes the mouth/gums being all white is a tell tale...but to the exp. eye they look very different. Often a male Coho has a kype. And by the way unless it is going on a stringer GET your hands away from the gills..that is a sure death to any fish! Cradle them with your hands loose and kneel down close to the water..not trying to be a *** just want to make sure they live to fight another day!

As far as a Guides on the Salmon river..nuts...unless you need someone to show you a good hole or the right to get in earlier then the rest of the crew..the river is loaded with fish and it is not hard to get them..Guides in my opinion are not worth the money for most anglers...unless you do a drift boat trip..thats another story..well worth it!

Brown trout of that size are common and if you know some good spots for them you can catch them in numbers and even much larger then that fish...i have caught 5-8 lb browns in that river back to back in a few casts...they are very common fish. 12 lb + fish are not as common and can make your day in the river...

The Dsr can be better or worse..many factors..water level being a big one..sometimes the fish push so fast upriver that you will do better finding holding water up river when they rest. The big reason most fish it is the fish are fresh from the lake but they often run at night and get to the black hole or further in a very short time. Come Nov. i would not give the DSR your money but in Oct it can make all the difference being close to the lake.

 

[jayL]

If you're talking about the brown, my hand was behind his pectoral fin and the gills were not touched.

As for the steelie, I asked my friend if contact was made, and he said he doesn't think so. Hopefully the fish is ok.

Thanks for the info!