Syracuse.com - Oneida Indian Nation continues to spruce up its private fishing stretch along the Salmon River

[HuntingNY-News]

This fall, one visitor at Salmon Acres landed a 38-pound chinook salmon.

MIchelle Gabel/The Post-StandardSalmon Acres caretaker Thomas VanRiper holds a nice steelhead that he caught Wednesday along the Oneida Nation's private stretch on the south side of the Salmon River. The fish was released after the photo was taken.

Five years ago, the Oneida Indian Nation expanded its offerings to visitors at the Turning Stone Casino to include fishing on the Salmon River along a privately owned stretch purchased by the tribe.

Quietly and steadily, the tribe has renovated Salmon Acres, a rustic, six-cabin lodge along a 1,500-foot stretch on the south side of the river. The result is a groomed, park-like setting that gives visitors an alternative to the crowded “combat fishing” that goes on each fall along public stretches of the river.

Since Salmon Acres was established, casino guests have been taken there by limousine or van. In 2007, Turning Stone used a helicopter to transport several fishing-minded golf pros who were playing in its PGA tournament. The idea was to augment the casino as a destination resort.

“We wanted to give our visitors a different venue,” said Mike West, director of OIN (Oneida Indian Nation) Outfitters. “We wanted to offer something else besides the golf and gaming. With world-class salmon fishing so close, we decided to bring it in the fold.”

Salmon Acres is open from Aug. 15 to Nov. 30 to take advantage of the river’s salmon and steelhead run. It’s also available year-round for special events, or for outside groups that want to use the entire facility.

The place has grown in popularity due in part to the Nation’s decision to open it to the public, offering $25 day passes and the use of its cabins. No more than 50 passes are issued each day. Salmon Acres cabins are already booked for next fall, with the exception of one week, West said.

Salmon Acres, which is not on reservation land and pays taxes, makes no mention of the Oneida Indian Nation on its sign. It is located on Route 13, just east of the Pulaski exit off Interstate 81. The one-time house in front now serves as an office, where Thomas VanRiper, the new caretaker, runs things.

Close by are six cabins that offer two to six beds. This year, a stone driveway was put in to allow anglers to drive down close to the river. There is also a new stone parking lot.

“We just had a great salmon season,” West said, noting that one visitor, Richard McGuire of Washington, N.J., landed a 38-pound chinook. Another client, he added, caught a brown trout that may have challenged the state record, but it was not properly weighed and measured.

Submitted photoRichard McGuire, of Washington, N.J,. holds up his 38-pound chinook salmon he landed this fall on the tribe's private stretch of river. The salmon run has ebbed, but the river is now full of steelhead. VanRiper proved that point by catching a nice one Wednesday morning on a salmon egg in the deep pool at Clarke’s Falls, which is on the stretch.

In addition to the day passes, Salmon Acres offers a complete setup (rod, reel, waders with corkers and a box of flies, jigs and sinkers) for the novice for $50. Guide services are also available.

There are a number of posted signs on the north side directly across from Salmon Acres, but that’s misleading, according to state Department of Environmental Conservation officials.

Glenn Wolford, regional supervisor of real property for the DEC’s Region 7, confirmed Thursday that the “opposite side is open for public fishing.

“I don’t know what the signs say, but the land on the northern side is a strip of National Grid property, and the state owns the fishing rights to it. It doesn’t show on the tax map, but we have the records to support it.”

Meanwhile, West said the Nation’s presence on the river hasn’t generated negative local reaction. He said Salmon Acres has good relations with drift-boat outfitters. It also makes referrals to, and gets referrals from, the All Seasons Sports and Fat Nancy’s bait and tackle stores — a fact confirmed by both places. The nation’s clients are directed to use a fish-cleaning station across the street, he added.

“At first it was thought we were going to put in a grandiose lodge and have some kind of scheme,” West said. “What we’ve done is to leave much of it as it was — and just made it better.”

Michelle Gabel/The Post-StandardOne of the cabins at Salmon Acres. The Oneidas plan to convert this building into two units, holding four beds apiece this winter.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog

[5.9cummins]

Cute

enough said.