Posted: 5/2/2010 9:18:52 PM EDT
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Having not gone fishing in a few weeks I was itching to get out on the water. My day started off at 0300 when I left to pick up Jeremy. After packing his gear in the car we were on our way by around 0330.
With not much open waters this time of year the choices were limited. I didn’t really feel like making a day trip to the eastern part of the state. Nor did I feel like hitting that brown trout spot in the other direction, as I am bored with that place. So we were off in a completely different direction. As we made our way into the mountains in the early morning snow began to fall. It was pretty nice seeing the trees with a nice fresh dusting of snow. As we climbed in elevation the snow grew a little heavier. Once we started down the other side of the mountains the snow turned to rain then stopped. After a little while we arrived at the first spot we were going to fish that day. 
WE got out of the car and got geared up and made our way to the water. Jeremy started up river about 200 yards or so at the top of the run. I began to fish the bottom of the run. After a little while I thought I felt a small tug. I dismissed it as a snag and went to retrieve my line. Well you see it wasn’t a snag, it was a little dink trout that was about 12”. I thought it funny that it even went after the fly that I was fishing (At the time I was fishing an Alaskabou in chartreuse and white). I removed the hook and resumed fishing. All either of us caught from the first spot were dink bows so we decided to move on. The second spot that we fished well was not great. Hell there weren’t even any dinks to keep things interesting. After a little while we decided to move again. The third spot proved to be an interesting place. 
We both fished for a while catching dinks. However in this spot both of us got a couple of really good tugs. I am not sure what happened with Jeremy’s; but for me I got a bad hook set once and missed the second. Later in the day there were all sorts of bug activity on the water. 
After not much luck other than dinks, I decided to walk up river a ways. 
Up here there was a little more action, however not from the species that I was targeting. More trout came up and then I got this. 
I continued fishing and got what I thought was a solid tug. I set the hook and it felt like a fish. I was pretty happy as this “fish” seemed more active that the little guys and the sucker. Unfortunately when I got it in and it was a nice rectangular piece of wood with my hook buried firmly in the middle. I tell you it felt awesome in the current! As the day was drawing to an end, I noticed an eagle sitting in the tree across the river. Only having a point and shoot I attempted to take a picture. 
We decided to leave shortly afterwards. Although it was a bit early and we technically got skunked as far as the targeted species, we had fun (although 5-12" fish on a 9wt suck  ). It was good to get out, and to go fishing. After I dropped off Jeremy and I was on my way home I got a bit of good news. My wife informed me that she won the Sage SPL auction on eBay. So now I have another SPL in my collection.
I guess I will give it a couple of weeks then head back up there. Hopefully I will be able to catch what I am after. I hope you enjoyed my report. |
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were you able to spot any salmon? I've found that once I find a pot of fish all it usually takes is a decent drift at the right depth to piss them off enough to strike. Granted each water is different than the next.
I fish the salmon river and focus on spotting fish then casting rather than just prospecting the water which can sometimes prove difficult with the dark tea stained waters. There s nothing more exciting than standing in a river with well over 100 salmon filling a run and its all to yourself (which is rare on the salmon river) |
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were you able to spot any salmon? I've found that once I find a pot of fish all it usually takes is a decent drift at the right depth to piss them off enough to strike. Granted each water is different than the next. I fish the salmon river and focus on spotting fish then casting rather than just prospecting the water which can sometimes prove difficult with the dark tea stained waters. There s nothing more exciting than standing in a river with well over 100 salmon filling a run and its all to yourself (which is rare on the salmon river) No the river was off color and at 14,200 CFS. Plus as of 5-2 there were only 16k fish over the dam about 100 mi away so it was a little early. I am going to give it a couple of weeks and go again. Funny that the river I was fishing has the same name. |
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were you able to spot any salmon? I've found that once I find a pot of fish all it usually takes is a decent drift at the right depth to piss them off enough to strike. Granted each water is different than the next. I fish the salmon river and focus on spotting fish then casting rather than just prospecting the water which can sometimes prove difficult with the dark tea stained waters. There s nothing more exciting than standing in a river with well over 100 salmon filling a run and its all to yourself (which is rare on the salmon river) No the river was off color and at 14,200 CFS. Plus as of 5-2 there were only 16k fish over the dam about 100 mi away so it was a little early. I am going to give it a couple of weeks and go again. Funny that the river I was fishing has the same name. have you ever used estaz eggs? I've found them to be one of the best flies to use out here, I'd be interested to know if they work well by you. Orange and blue were the colors that brought many salmon to hand this year. |
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were you able to spot any salmon? I've found that once I find a pot of fish all it usually takes is a decent drift at the right depth to piss them off enough to strike. Granted each water is different than the next. I fish the salmon river and focus on spotting fish then casting rather than just prospecting the water which can sometimes prove difficult with the dark tea stained waters. There s nothing more exciting than standing in a river with well over 100 salmon filling a run and its all to yourself (which is rare on the salmon river) No the river was off color and at 14,200 CFS. Plus as of 5-2 there were only 16k fish over the dam about 100 mi away so it was a little early. I am going to give it a couple of weeks and go again. Funny that the river I was fishing has the same name. have you ever used estaz eggs? I've found them to be one of the best flies to use out here, I'd be interested to know if they work well by you. Orange and blue were the colors that brought many salmon to hand this year. Yes, but not in that color pattern. I am going to try a few different things when I return there in 10 days..... |
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well I look forward to your report, I've got a good 5 months before the kings, coho and atlantics come back to the river.
like I said orange was killer this year in estaz, a blue estaz egg was also a fairly good producer. Have you ever tied sucker spawn? If tied with angora yarn the fibers tend to stick in the teeth of salmon just a little longer giving you a little more time to notice the take. Damn I love salmon fishing |
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Hey Adder, I'll be fishing for springers this Saturday on our home river. There isn't anywhere near 16k yet, but I think we have close to 2k. :) I have a buddy that got a nate last weekend on the swing. He was swinging a black and blue skagit minnow...BIG! Probably got the only bitey fish in the whole system. Either way, I'll be giving it a shot this weekend. Wish me luck, If I get anything, I'll post it up.
And people say you can't catch springers on a fly....pfftt!! |