Salmon River advice

[JackK]

Might be going to Pulaski this weekend. Depends on the weather, the loot in my wallet, and a host of other factors.

Don't worry nebe, if I don't go I'm still down for plan B

Never done it before... But definitely want to give it a shot. I'll probably be doing both fly and spin... Will start off with the fly, but I'm not very good at it, so I may switch to a noodle rod if I get insanely frustrated.

So, any advice? Techniques to use while fishing? Stuff to pack/gear to bring along? I'd be going with some people that know what they're doing, but I'm pretty much a goog at this kinda stuff...

*** Edit: Looks like the noodle rod I was going to use is broken, so will either be all fly or me taping a spinning reel to fly rod.

[rizzo]

Tony O. and Casey gave me some good tips and background on the river before I went - def. key to do research and talk to some people who know whats going on. Heres a summary of my thoughts on pulaski after fishing it and doing pretty well there in the end.

1. There is a lot of junk info out there on steelhead fishing that river. Try to pick one style of fishing and focus on that until you start hammering fish. For me I focused on the noodle rod. All you need are some egg sacks, beads, a handful of different size and color nymphs in size 10-12. Def. test out the noodle rod to get a feel for how much pressure you can put on a fish and not break 5 lb test tippet - it suprised me. You can land fish to 15 pounds without moving from where you are standing except to land the fish onshore - thats how much pressure you can put on them.
2. Pick 2-3 small areas and try to learn them. A pool might be 500 ft long and only have a handful of sweetspots where you can readily trigger strikes. Keep changing it up, move a bit and try different weights and depths until you find a pattern. Watch what others are doing around you, there might be someone who is hooking up 10:1 and has a good handle on things.
3. I noticed the stlye fishing is identical to american shad fishing at times, if you have experience with that, you can do some serious damage there. Its very typical to trout fishing. Swinging and dead drifting are the basics. Play around with diff. presentations, be mindful of the 3-dimensional world underwater.
4. Come up with a game plan for each day and stick with it. You gotta figure day 1 you're just learning areas and depths and cant get too discouraged. Gameplan for day 2 is based on day 1, ect.
5. Dress warm!

[justplugit]

Good advice above. One more thing get Slinkies so you can
change your shot more easily and won't hang up as much if spinning.

[tynan19]

Unless your friends are going to be fishing the LFZ I would stick with a noodle. Just way more control for your first time up there. Go with a 6 lb fluro leader to a microswivel. Put a small shot just above the swivel. Drift Fly, egg sack, bead just off the bottom. Cast to 10 or 11 and your good to go. You can pick up a Browning Steelhead Noodle at Bass Pro for around 60-70 and it is a great rod. TO will put a spinning on the fly stick to keep mobile and not carry two setups and it works just fine.

[Poncho]

This is an email from my buddy Dan who is a full time guide up there, he is one of the better fisherman in the area. Hope it helps

As of today the weather has been decent with temps in the low to mid 30s for a high with light and variable winds that makes for great conditions on the Salmon River! We fished yesterday from Pineville to 2a with no other boat traffic and only ran into 2 other anglers that reported a decent bite that we were well aware of!!! After a full day on the water we ended up boating 9 fish with one being a fiesty brown trout and as far as the steelhead went they were of average size but did run into some fresh chrome fish towards the end of the day! The fish were biting mostly on beads in glo roe and natural roe, though we did try other baits we didnt find anything they wanted. Water levels are low, the pineville gauge is reporting around 385 cfs and the clarity is super clear so if you are headed up to tackle the river run light leaders in the 4 to 6 pound range and small baits!

[JackK]

Thanks all. Sounds like the rivers pretty iced up, so spots will be limited. Supposed to be nice and warm, around 31°. We will be in the FF only area (as far as I know), so I'll mess around with the long wand and get the hang of the technique. Won't take me too long, just gotta break the learning curve. Sounds like the fish are in close. Great advice to spend the first day just learning...

We leave late tomorrow night. Will return with pics.

[Nebe]

Originally Posted by JackK

Thanks all. Sounds like the rivers pretty iced up, so spots will be limited. Supposed to be nice and warm, around 31°. We will be in the FF only area (as far as I know), so I'll mess around with the long wand and get the hang of the technique. Won't take me too long, just gotta break the learning curve. Sounds like the fish are in close. Great advice to spend the first day just learning...

We leave late tomorrow night. Will return with pics.

Looks like I'm going cod feeshen buy mee self.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[JackK]

You need to get RR to plow a path first!

[DZ]

Jack,
Bring the spinning setup also. The FF only area is just upstream of the Altmar bridge (which is probably where you'll be parked). Below the Altmar bridge spinning can be used - it also offers some of the most productive water - Schoolhouse Pool, Wire Hole. While your friends are fishing the FF area you can be fishing an area with spinning or fly less than a few 100 yards away.

Good luck - looks like you'll have a good window of weather.

DZ

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by JackK

Thanks all. Sounds like the rivers pretty iced up, so spots will be limited.

Don't forget your Korkers, just for the snow and ice on the banks
let alone wading.

[JackK]

Slammed the chrome. All on the fly. Everyone had 2-3 fish landed the first day, second day was high single digits/low double. Biggest around 9-10. Some monster browns caught as well, 26" was tops. Overall an awesome experience (even with the hair raising drive home last night) and will be doing it again.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Rob Rockcrawler]

Awesome.

[rizzo]

Can't complain about that at all! Congrats!

Now that you've been there - have any opinions or anything to share that worked/didn't work?

[JamesJet]

Thats good stiff - nice job. Any idea how long the bite lasts? I got schooled by that place in the fall my first time there this year. Addicting though.

[JackK]

Not sure how long the bite will last. Everyone said it was very odd considering the water clarity, level, and temperatures in the morning. I'll be writing up a blog post on the trip once I pool together photos and have time for the text, I'll link it here once it's all done.

[saltydog]

PONCIO, have you ever fished GRINDSTONE CREEK.
SteelHead use to stack up in there like CORD WOOD, havent been back there in years
GOOD LUCK GOOD FISHIN