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!