Al and I quickly settled in at the lodge and suited up for an afternoon on the river while Gil and Harry were out early with a local guide chasing big browns at the Oswego River, just half hour west. Several of Al’s fishing buddies had been out to this area most of the past week and boasted of some of the best steelhead action they had seen in years. The three of them hooked up more than 120 fish during the course of the week….most of them in a particular section of river that was normally not crowded (primarily because of the difficulties getting to it and knowing how to fish the run successfully). And that is exactly where we headed for! When we arrived at the area, we found only one other angler fishing the run that we wanted to fish and Al quickly made nice-nice with him and we set-up below him in the middle and tail-out of the run. The other angler had been fishing the head of the run with very good success throughout the day hooking up more than a dozen steelies on a variety of fly patterns; mostly egg imitations. He indicated that the non-stop action of the morning hours had quieted down with the mid-day sun and he decided to head out leaving Al and me with the entire run. With the afternoon sun moving lower on the horizon, the steelhead became more aggressive and Al was first to hook up a hard charging 10 pounder that ran and jumped throughout the entire pool before spitting the hook. Steelhead trout are known for their strong and acrobatic fight as well as their uncanny ability to spit a hook. A very experienced steelhead angler will normally land about 30% of the steelhead that are hooked up; and today was no different. By sundown, Al had hooked up 5 fish and landed one; I hooked 3 and landed zip! We both agreed however, that it was super few hours and looked forward to getting into this run well before sun up on Monday. We got back to the lodge and met up with Gil and Harry who had spent an interesting day with their guide landing 6 nice browns and a few domestic rainbows. We told them about our afternoon and that we would all fish together at the “run” in the morning.

Al's alarm clock woke us at 5AM Monday morning and we got our gear together, suited up and headed for our area well before sunrise. The four of us made our way in the darkness (with headlamps and small flashlights) down a (40% grade) slippery slope onto the ankle deep mud grassy flat at the river bank (this is not for everyone!). From there, we forged our way across the swift river to the opposite bank and two of us (Skip and Harry) set up shop in a run above the "favored run" where Al and Gil would fish first. The air temp was in the mid-20’s and as such, the rod guides would ice up after a few retrieves and require dipping in the river water (about 44 degrees) to remove the ice.

Capt'n Al and Gil nymphing the "favored run".

Capt'n Al and Gil nymphing the "favored run".

Tuesday morning broke clear and chilly with temps again down in the 20’s. We had decided to fish the same area as the day before even though by the end of yesterday, the number of steelies that we hooked or saw moving through the area had dropped off quite a bit. Al, Gil and I set up in the “favored run” while Harry fished the run that he had on Monday. The morning started quite well for me at the tailout end of the run with two nice steelies hooked, played and landed. Both Al and Gil had a few takes and hook ups as well. But overall, far fewer fish were present than what was there the past two days. Just upstream, Harry hadn’t had a touch the entire morning, so at about noontime, Al gathered up Harry and headed upstream to another area that just might be where the steelies moved on to. Gil and I would hang in where we were for another hour or so to determine if more steelies might move in. However, none did and I led Gil upstream to where I believed we would find Al and Harry. The upstream pool was about 1/3 of a mile from where we were and it took us a good 15 minutes to get there. We arrived to find the favored pool occupied by four anglers, two of whom were playing fish. Al and Harry were a bit farther upstream and we could see that Harry was on a fish as well. Our guess was correct that the steelies had moved up and were now in this area. Harry landed the steelie and quickly released it while Al described to Gil and me where the fish had taken up a lie across the pool, along a current seam. The distance was about 45 feet or so from where we were standing and it would require a very accurate cast to get the fly into their strike zone. Gil was first up and made a few dozen casts before getting the cast just right and in the strike zone. He was immediately rewarded with a super hard fighting 10 pounder. And for the remainder of the day, we all took turns making the tough cast and we each hooked and landed a few more quality steelies before calling it a day and making our way in the twilight out of the woods and back to the lodge safe and smiling.

Wednesday would be the final ½ day of fishing for Al and me, (Gil and Harry were not leaving until Thursday morning) we decided to show Gil and Harry a new location well upstream at the Altmar Bridge. This area would no doubt be loaded with steelies and for sure, lots of other anglers, but it would offer up a different and somewhat easier area to fish since we would not be with them for the last half of the day. Wednesday morning broke a carbon copy of Tuesday and the four of us headed upstream to Altmar. Sure enough, many anglers were already in the favored runs, except the tailout of the Bridge Pool. However, that pool could only fish two rods, so I set Gil and Harry up in the tailout and headed upstream to the fly-fishing only area. Al traveled downstream a few hundred yards. It turned out to be a darn good few hours of fishing for all us. I hooked up six quality steelies, landing and releasing two at the “Old Farts Pool” and Gil, Harry and Al managed a few hook ups as well below the bridge. We couldn’t have planned a better few a days of fishing on the Salmon River especially with the super weather and abundant trout. Gil and Harry got to experience east coast steelhead fishing at it’s best (fortunately, they did not get to experience the normally crappy, wet, snowy, and cold November weather that Al and I usually experience).All in all we hooked up well over 70 steelies, a few browns and most of all, we enjoyed fishing together. Al and I hope to join Gil and Harry next March at Great Pyramid Lake for giant Lahatan cutthroat trout.

I am hoping to get out to WNY at least one more time before the real WNY weather settles in, Skip

Skip and Al each with a nice 10 pound Steelie

Gil and Harry each with one of several quality Steelies they caught and released.

A few more nice fly caught Steelies