Syracuse.com - Despite warm winter, action remains hot for Salmon River steelhead anglers

[HuntingNY-News]

This past week, with temperatures often breaking the 40s and even rising into the 50s, it;s been nearly T-shirt weather on the Salmon River. Anglers this time of year on the river usually have to wade through snowdrifts and deal with bone-chilling temperatures.

<span class="adv-photo-large">Submitted photoTom Pugh, of Rome, has a steelhead on the line Wednesday on the Salmon River in Altmar.

Thomas Pugh, of Rome, said this winter he’s been making it to the Salmon River at least twice a week.

Wednesday morning, as the temperatures hovered above 40 degrees, Pugh took his fishing bag off and was considering taking off his jacket.

“I keep coming back because of the anticipation of getting that hit by a steelhead,” he said. “It continues to bring me back ... it has for years.”

Kevin Craig, of Washingtonville in Orange County, said he got up at 3:30 a.m. to make the drive to the Salmon River. He had no hat or gloves on as he fished.

“Do you believe this weather? It’s amazing,” he said.

This past week, with temperatures often breaking the 40s and even rising into the 50s, it’s been nearly T-shirt weather on the Salmon River. Anglers this time of year on the river usually have to wade through snowdrifts and deal with bone-chilling temperatures.

Mother Nature has been additionally kind in that the unseasonably warm winter seems to have had little effect on the quality of the fishing. Steelhead range in size from 5 to 15 pounds, anglers said. It’s not unusual to catch one measuring 28-30 inches.

Submitted photoSteelhead on the Salmon River have been running in the range of 5 to 15 pounds. Last weekend, one was caught that measured 39 inches.

Dan Burdick, of Capt. Dan’s Guide Service on the river, said there was a catch-and-release tournament there last weekend. The largest fish caught, he said, measured 39 inches long and had a girth of 21 inches.

“That’s a monster,” he said.

Migell Wedderburn, of Syracuse, casting a spey rod, took the day off from work Wednesday to fish the Salmon River.

“I get up here every Saturday and Sunday,” he said. “I’ve been catching and releasing 10, 20, 30 fish ... I have lots of photos.”

Norman April, who said he left his home in Deposit at 4:30 a.m. to drive to the river, remarked that he’s fished “all day when it was 10 to 12 degrees below zero.

“I usually wear half (finger-less) gloves,” he said. “But you don’t need them in this weather. You can actually fish in a sweatshirt today.”

The nearly two dozen anglers congregated near the bridge at the lower fly fishing area were sporting a variety of rods and flies. Some were using 8-weight fly rods; some were casting lengthy spey rods; others were using spinning outfits.

Those who fish for steelhead this time of year know they are hanging on the bottom, and that means dealing with constant snags. Peter Maher, who ties his own flies, said you never know what the steelhead will hit, so it’s best to bring a lot, and a wide variety.

Michelle Gabel/The Post-StandardOne of Peter Maher's boxes of hand-tied flies. Steelhead this time of year are found near the river's bottom. Because snags are inevitable, the wise angler brings a good number and assortment of flies.

“This year the small flies have been the most effective, size 10-12 hooks,” he said. “The color varies day to day, hour to hour. This morning I caught one with a chartreuse fly and I’ve caught some with black.”

He held out a pink San Juan worm — an artificial fly made of yarn.

“This fly right here, I hooked and landed a fish and it had an identical fly in it’s mouth,” he said. “It obviously broke off from someone else’s line.”

April, who was fishing by himself Wednesday morning in the Trestle Pool, was unsure how long he was going to fish.

“It could be until 2 p.m., or dark — depends on how they’re biting. You have a good cloud cover today,” he said.

Asked if he’d packed a lunch, he smiled and shook his head.

“No, I’ll tough it out,” he said. “I’ll stop and get something on the way home. You can’t eat and fish.”

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog

[CTHunter]

Fishing the Salmon River is really like hunting! Especially for Steelhead!