I'm heading up to Pulaski New York for some steelhead trout fishing tomorrow through Sunday. Any of you fish for the chromers up there? I go up every December and usually take a few. Very demanding fishing in challenging conditions. I'll give a report next Monday.
DZ

Ahhhhhh, there is nothing like freezing fly rod tips. Missed my trip last December. Hope to make it this year, but it doesn't look good. You gonna be in the Salmon River?

Good luck, I look forward to the report.

New meaning to "cold fishing". Yea, I'll be fishing the Salmon River, Grindstone, Sandy's and Oswego unless we hit the motherload on our first stop.
DZ

dennis
enjoy your trip and hook em big ! will look forward to your report .

Before I moved here I guided on Lake Ontario and the Salmon River for several years. I still go up often to fish the salmon and speak to several guide friends on a monthly basis. They just got a small shot of rain and runoff so things are improving. I would concentrate on the lower end of the river up to below Pineville and move around and find the fish. Dont get married to a spot and cover some ground. The traditional egg sacks are working but the better fishing has been with fly's drifted on spinning gear. Stonefly's have been good according to my buddies as of late. The river has been running around 350 cfs so bring along some bobbers/floats and work with these in the shallow pools and runs, If you dont use these you will be surprised how well they work. Early december with low water I always fished a float with a nightcrawler or oakleaf bug or moussies-local ice fishing maggots with tails. Catch a few for me.

I went last year and only hooked three and landed zero, but I got the bug. I want to plan a trip this winter. Let us know how you do.

.Check your atlas and look way west. Eastern Lake Erie is the place to go. My friend Dave "stifftip" LaPorte just got back from there two weeks ago. He did several weeks a year on the Salmon in Pulaski for twenty years and the fshing has really gone down hill. Now he and Jerry Kissel of Sandwich go to The Chatauqua and a few others just west of Niagra each year and do quite well. Dave averaged 10 to 14 fish a day up to 16 pounds from 5 pounds, low day was seven. Lots of chromers and lots of fish that have come up river for a while. They do not stock salmon anymore in Erie but have an aggresive stocking program for Steelhead. You don't catch as many Browns either but the ones you do get are spectacular. He got one just over ten that looked like it came out of a stream in New Zealand, not short and fat but long and well proportioned. The two guys he went with were novice Steeheaders but they managed five or so a day. Dave does all his on the flyrod using yarn eggs he ties himself. Try it sometime. I am going next fall. I will get some pics from him to post. The stream beds are all shale and you don't need korkers but felt is a plus. I think Dave's total for the week was 56 Steelhead, 4 browns and a lone Coho. All sight fishing. Good luck in Pulaski but you should really investigate the Erie area.:)

They hit needles? :)

I agree, Erie's steelhead fishery is top notch. As good as Ontarios in its heyday.

Back from Pulaski – trip was very slow. Arrived Thursday to find the river at very high levels due to heavy rains and swelled tributaries. Saw two fish caught all day. Friday more of the same. Saturday the river came down a bit and we took a couple of nice brown trout (6-8 lbs) and dropped a steelie. Sunday the river was back to normal levels which produced the best fishing of the trip. In the three hours I fished I hooked up with three chromers and jumped all three a few times before a "long line release". Water levels are back to normal and (because of the high water last week) there should be a bunch of fresh fish in the river – now is a good time to go.
DZ

i did quite a bit of steelhead fishing in michigan when i lived there and all we ever used was flies on spinning tackle. hares ear nymphs were the ticket, what a fun fish to hook into.