Syracuse.com - Salmon River winter steelhead scene never too cold for this angler who grew up in Jamaica

[HuntingNY-News]

Migell Wedderburn, 49, of Pennellville, is a regular on the Salmon River, a waterway he has frequented since 1988. This winter, he can be found every weekend on the river, catching and releasing one steelhead after another.

Submitted photoMigell Wedderburn and a nice Salmon River steelie.

Born and raised in sunny and warm Jamaica, Migell Wedderburn grew up not knowing a steelhead from a bluegill.

“Where I grew up, I would go fishing all the time in the salt water for snapper, grouper and sometimes for barracuda,” he said.

Today, Wedderburn, 49, of Pennellville, is a regular on the Salmon River, a waterway he has frequented since 1988. This winter, he can be found every weekend on the river, catching and releasing one steelhead after another.

“Fall is special, but winter in Upstate New York is beautiful,” said Wedderburn, an IT manager at Countryway Insurance Co. in Syracuse. “I don’t care how cold it gets. I’m always there fishing. I pack a sandwich and often I’m there from daylight until dark.”

This fall he learned how to use a spey rod, a longer, heavier rod that enables him to cast his flies farther than he can with a traditional fly rod. He also tied his own flies. His favorite is an olive-colored nymph pattern, which he ties with size 10 and 12 hooks. He calls it “The Death Ray.”

How’d Wedderburn learn about the Salmon River scene?

He said when he first came to the area in the late 1980s, he was driving around and happened to drive through the city of Oswego during the salmon season. He was curious after he saw “all these people lined up fishing” in the downtown area.

“I started asking questions and realized they were all fishing for salmon. However, I was told the Salmon River was even better,” he said.

So he drove over to Pulaski and Altmar and couldn’t believe his eyes, he said.

“I went right out and bought a Walmart-special fly rod and started watching all sorts of videos about fly casting and fly tying,” he said. “Then I went in my backyard day after day and practiced.”

As time went on, he said, he became more and more proficient and bought higher quality equipment.

Does he keep the fish he catches?

“Initially, I kept a few just to see what they tasted like,” he said. “Today I catch and release everything.”

What about the spey rod?

“I was searching online and came across a Scandinavian spey caster, Henrick Mortensen. I watched all his YouTube videos, which teach you how to cast,” he said. “I found it to be very satisfying. It works better than a fly rod.”

He takes pride in the fact he’s taught several youngsters how to fish for steelhead. But for 98 percent of the time, he said, he’s on the river alone, catching fish after fish. I asked him about the bone-chilling weather that every die-hard steelhead angler must endure.

“No problem. I’ve been out when it’s 5 below zero,” he said, adding he just “dresses for the occasion” and uses hand-warming packets to keep his fingers warm.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog