Salmon River VideoHi Speed Only

Dave flies in from Florida and I pick him up in Syracuse, NY. We show up to The Yankee Fly & Tackle Outfitters & Lodge. We talk with John for a while (John owns Yankee Fly and Tackle with his wife Dawn and has been guiding on the Salmon River for 20 years). John looks at his schedule and asks us if we want to fish with him in the morning. Of course, we say yes. We wake up before the sun and Dave gets a real Salmon River welcome. 40 degree temps, gray skies and rain. He realizes that this is not going to be a day on the sunny flats of Florida. We put the boat in and drift down to one of John’s secret runs. I start to fish the upper section of the run, Dave takes the middle and John takes the tale. After a little time we start rotating positions. Dave’s frustration is building as the River starts to take one fly after another. Hang ups are part of Steelie fishing. Dave was finding out the hard way how important it is to find the perfect amount of weight. Too little weight and your not getting to the bottom (where the fish are), too much weight and your getting hung up all the time. We fished the run for an hour or so and nothing was happening. Then, WHAM! A beautiful Steelhead leaps out of the water. Once, twice, three times. John’s line is screaming off his reel. John battles the fish and brings it to shore. Just as he was backing it up on the shore, the fish shook the hook. Either way, Dave got a taste of why so many guys are Steelhead addicts. Throughout the weekend John took us to some unbelievable locations. He brought us to a crystal clear tributary that was very kind to Dave and John. Dave was fishing a tiny little section of pocket water. It was so small, it seemed impossible that a fish could be there. Then Dave’s rod doubles over and he’s got a fish on. Not just any fish. A flawless 12 pound native Rainbow. The Rainbow took a chartruse egg pattern and Dave really got a taste of what the Salmon River and its tributaries has to offer. John hooked into another Steelhead. The fish jumped several times in the crystal clear water and then ran wild downstream. John ran after the fish while holding his flyrod high in the air and maneuvering around all sorts of rocks and obstructions. It was a great battle to watch and John finally landed the fish. The Steelhead took a pink flesh pattern. At this point, still nothing for me but that was ok. I was just glad that we were getting fish. We hit a few more spots that produced some small rainbows and then John took us to the hottest spot ever. We showed up and it was obvious that the fish were there. We saw a few other guys who had fish on. John hooked into a huge steelhead, but was not able to land the fish. Then it was my turn. My luck took a turn for the better. I tied on an orange egg pattern. I found a seam that was made for me. I dialed right into the way it needed to be fished. I felt my weights ticking along the bottom and then my drift came to a dead stand still. I set the hook and the fish took off into the current. I battled the fish for a bit and it rolled a few times. I noticed that it was a big brown. 8-10 pounds. Dave was right next to me and we brought the fish right into the shallows. We were trying to figure out a way to land the fish and as we were doing so the fish shook the hook. I moved into a slot downstream. Started to drift my orange egg pattern and half way through the drift a huge Steelhead shot all the way across the river and then jumped out of the water. This fish was so strong. Line screamed off my real and I was way into the backing. The fish just kept going and going and going. It got to a point that there was just too much line between me and that Steelie and he was in the fast deep current. I enjoyed the remaining few seconds that the fish was on my line and then the fish was gone. What a thrill! Definately the biggest Steelhead I have ever had on my line. Then I move upstream and a relatively fresh King took my fly. I was able to land this fish. We then headed West to Brown Trout country. The Browns were coming up the creeks in droves. Dave and I watched hundreds of Brown Trout and a mix of Steelhead make their way upstream. The water level was low but we were able to get a couple good drifts and hook into a couple Brown Trout. So, as always, it was a great Salmon River trip. Lost a lot of flies, got cold, got wet, got frustrated, laughed alot, was exhausted at night, walked many miles, slipped a few times, lost some fish and caught some fish. God, I love Steelhead fishing! Can’t wait to go again.