With rain forecasted and the day off on Monday, we drove to the Salmon River to chase early season cohos and kings. We knew that on Wednesday, prior to our arrival, the Salmon River experienced its’ first strong push of cohos. Fortunately, our late weekend timing was superb. The cooler nights and light rain brought in even more fresh salmon. Most of the moving fish pushed through the lower stretches of the river. The typical hustle and bustle of salmon mania in Pulaski was in full swing. Hotel rooms were scarce, plenty of out of town license plates, fish cleaning stations open for business, tackle shops hopping and plenty of crowds in the popular stretches.
We spent the majority of our time fishing the Upper Fly Zone. The fish were harder to catch and we only hooked one steelhead. Yet, the serenity, Fall foliage and wild red rasberry picking made the trip memorable. Even better, we managed to hook a number of salmon. Plus, there are plenty of 5″ to 10″ trout/salmonid fingerlings all over each hole, ready to jump on your fly. Neat to see a small trout feed on a caddisfly, feet away from a larger salmon. The fish were not aggressive and we didn’t see any evidence of eggs/spawn in the system. That said, it was very cool to watch so many fish move up the river and to tangle with fresh salmon. Can’t wait to get some eggs in the river and bring in those steelhead!
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I took my brother and nephew fly fishing for local smallmouth in Honeoye Outlet. It ’s a treat to fish w/ them, as they enjoy angling and are eager to catch fish. We decided to wet wade and take turns at the most promising holes. I rigged up one rod w/ a topwater deer hair slider and the other w/ a root beer crystal bugger. At our first stop, Alex easily hooked several small bass. This twelve year old mastered the strip/retrieve and soon hooked into a decent bass. After half a dozen superb jumps and plenty of coaching from his excited Dad, Alex lipped a 15″ bronzeback. Great to see the smile on his face w/ that nice fish.
We hopped our way downstream, catching crayfish and saving our casts for the deeper holes. The smallmouth were not the same aggressive topwater feeders of a week ago, but we still managed to stick a few on the surface. Plenty of bait still around (crayfish/minnows/chubs/suckers). I managed to strip set on a strike and sent a small pike flying across the water. This 10″ pike was all heart and no size! Fun to cap the trip off w/ a tiny pike and to spend quality time with fellow family anglers. Go take a kid fishing this Fall!
Not having time to travel to the Delaware System or to chase early run kings on the Salmon River, I opted to explore local water. A few leisurely hours chasing smallmouth or a possible pike within a 20 minute drive was a perfect plan for Labor Day. I grabbed my 6 wt line and started fishing Honeoye Outlet in Rush, NY. As I walked the banks, I noticed dusty brown crayfish fleeing every few steps. The number of crayfish, creek chubs, suckers and general baitfish surprised me.
So, I tied on a Root Beer Crystal Bugger and on my fifth cast was rewarded w/ a jumping 10″ smallmouth. Every hole w/ decent depth held a scrappy smallmouth. They pounced on my fly, especially in still water. After numerous fish and more exploration of Honeoye Outlet, I decided to try my hand at topwater. First cast, a smallie busted on my deer hair diver. The topwater fishing was superb. Letting it sit, twitching it, active retrieving, or any manner of presentation and any color combination caught fish. Some holes produced 5-6 smallmouth, anywhere from 6″ to 12″. It was a blast to watch fish attack my topwater flies, some nearly the same size as the fly. Never would I have guessed a mid day, local excursion to yield several dozen smallmouth. I’ll need to keep in mind more of our local options next time I go fishing.
For a final summer hurrah, I headed to Maine with hopes of catching larger striped bass. Ignoring the less than ideal tides and the developing hurricane off our Southeastern Coast, I drove the 7.5 hours to Hills Beach/Biddeford Pool. The weather didn’t cooperate and angling was tough. It blew hard the first three days and kayaking was dangerous/challenging. Heavy rain and large swells kept me off the water for two days. I did manage to find a fish or two, but nothing spectacular. There wasn’t bait (sand eels, pogies or herring) around and I only spooked one fish on the flats.
To end the trip, I contacted Tom at Eldredge Brothers Fly Shop. http://www.eldredgeflyshop.com/ It is a first rate freshwater/saltwater fly shop w/ great service, an outstanding fly tying selection and honest local reports. Eldgredge Brothers also offers a guide service, so I asked Tom for a recommendation. Within two hours, Capt. Mark Drummond-http://www.fishlikemad.com called me and we agreed upon a location and time to fish.
I met Capt. Mark nice and early 5:20 am in Pepperall Cove and we fished for stripers in the Pascatagua River and outer ocean rocks. Early on there were some stripers busting on herring and terns diving. Nice to see surface activity and we soon hooked up w/ a 22″ fish. After chasing a few more pods of scattered bait/fish, we decided to pursue bigger bass on the outside. Capt. Mark operates a very smooth, easy to cast from 24′ custom boat that is ideal for fishing bays, rips or rocks. He expertly manuvered the boat, angling me w/ the wind to make long casts to the rocks/swash/troughs. We managed another decent bass, but the fish just weren’t there. I sure would like to fish those rocks under better conditions. Our best guess is that the recent storm activities put off these fish. Our decision to chase cow bass outside limited our total fish count, as we likely could have located more schoolie sized fish within the harbor. Nonetheless, it was a pleasure to fish w/ Capt. Mark. He has an easy temperament, knows the water, ties quality flies, communicates well as a guide and has a very fishy boat. I would recommend Capt. Mark to any of my friends looking to fish the Portsmouth/Kittery/York waters for bluefish/mackerel/pollock/shad/stripers.
