LyNcH
Dries, wets, nymphs and streamers...it's all good!
I was able to get out this past Saturday one last time to the Salmon River in an attempt to get some dropback steelhead action. I was there at sun-up, started off swinging tube flies through the at the Paradise pool with one other rotating angler named Bernie (great guy). After an hour or so of swinging, no pulls or tugs, so I decided I was going to move on.
My ultimate goal for the day was to hit the Douglaston one last time and take advantage of the extra weekend allowed for season pass holders, and am I glad I did. My spey guru guide buddy Pat Muira and I headed on down, started off at the midway on the run and moved our way down. When we were at one spot, we could see downriver to our ultimate desired location and it had had 4 people on it fishing the South side. Luckily, they all moved out by time we eventually made it there. When we arrived, 2 other guys were there, both fly fishers, one swinging and the other just chilling, so it was perfect. The guy swinging with the spey said there was a fair number of pinners in the run earlier and it was slow. Since they moved on, he had 2 hookups! So the 3 of us agreed to rotate the pool. Well the Salmon River god blessed us in return.
I was partway down the run, on my first rotation, swinging a green tube fly and WHACK!!!!! line started ripping off my reel, then the aerial explosion! Pat yells out "It's an Atlantic!! and it's huge!!" What a fight. These fish are so darn strong. Several times did I get it close to shore and then it would explode again. One time it was like a a sportbike pulling a wheelie down the road.........it tailwalked out of 6" water for a good 10-15 feet. The next time it came close to shore, and I kid you not, the fish exploded, and shot itself right out of the water onto the shore, and that's how I landed the fish. What an amazing fish. We took a few photos, spent the needed time reviving it, and off it went.
We continued fishing, don't you know it, some Center Pin unsportsman walk quietly by and lowhole us, planting themselves solid. So now we start to share the top of the run, which had plenty of room for the 3 of us. You know what? The action was consistant, for those swinging. The beadheads were not getting jack, these fish wanted to chase. Soon after, I have 2 more fish on (both steelhead) & land one. The other guy, gets a steelhead & a brown. The Beadheads? one small 18" something. The beadheads take a break, we continue to fish the entire run. Right where they were fishing, my guide buddy gets 2 steelhead in 10 minutes. The pinners now decide to goto the top of the run, nothing for them. We then get a few more grabs, I land another steelie and Pat hooks into an Atlantic, yes, 2 Atlantics in one day! Another beauty! Oh yeah, we even had a couple smallmouth bass in the mix.
What a day. The icing on the cake was when I walked to the top of the run with Pat to grab my bag and a beadhead gets a fish on. He says "that strange, the fish has an orange body". I told him it was probably a carp....low and behold it was, and it was not fairly hooked, go figure.
So where are the pictures? I can't access photobucket from work, so check back at a later time. My Atlantic was about 12-13lbs, Pat's was probably 5-6lbs, both awesome fish. They do exist, I'm only posting the story and photos here. I would not want it popping up on other Salmon River websites that do not cater to fly anglers and certainly do not support catch and release, so please keep that in mind as you finish reading this post.
Thanks,
The LyNcH
My ultimate goal for the day was to hit the Douglaston one last time and take advantage of the extra weekend allowed for season pass holders, and am I glad I did. My spey guru guide buddy Pat Muira and I headed on down, started off at the midway on the run and moved our way down. When we were at one spot, we could see downriver to our ultimate desired location and it had had 4 people on it fishing the South side. Luckily, they all moved out by time we eventually made it there. When we arrived, 2 other guys were there, both fly fishers, one swinging and the other just chilling, so it was perfect. The guy swinging with the spey said there was a fair number of pinners in the run earlier and it was slow. Since they moved on, he had 2 hookups! So the 3 of us agreed to rotate the pool. Well the Salmon River god blessed us in return.
I was partway down the run, on my first rotation, swinging a green tube fly and WHACK!!!!! line started ripping off my reel, then the aerial explosion! Pat yells out "It's an Atlantic!! and it's huge!!" What a fight. These fish are so darn strong. Several times did I get it close to shore and then it would explode again. One time it was like a a sportbike pulling a wheelie down the road.........it tailwalked out of 6" water for a good 10-15 feet. The next time it came close to shore, and I kid you not, the fish exploded, and shot itself right out of the water onto the shore, and that's how I landed the fish. What an amazing fish. We took a few photos, spent the needed time reviving it, and off it went.
We continued fishing, don't you know it, some Center Pin unsportsman walk quietly by and lowhole us, planting themselves solid. So now we start to share the top of the run, which had plenty of room for the 3 of us. You know what? The action was consistant, for those swinging. The beadheads were not getting jack, these fish wanted to chase. Soon after, I have 2 more fish on (both steelhead) & land one. The other guy, gets a steelhead & a brown. The Beadheads? one small 18" something. The beadheads take a break, we continue to fish the entire run. Right where they were fishing, my guide buddy gets 2 steelhead in 10 minutes. The pinners now decide to goto the top of the run, nothing for them. We then get a few more grabs, I land another steelie and Pat hooks into an Atlantic, yes, 2 Atlantics in one day! Another beauty! Oh yeah, we even had a couple smallmouth bass in the mix.
What a day. The icing on the cake was when I walked to the top of the run with Pat to grab my bag and a beadhead gets a fish on. He says "that strange, the fish has an orange body". I told him it was probably a carp....low and behold it was, and it was not fairly hooked, go figure.
So where are the pictures? I can't access photobucket from work, so check back at a later time. My Atlantic was about 12-13lbs, Pat's was probably 5-6lbs, both awesome fish. They do exist, I'm only posting the story and photos here. I would not want it popping up on other Salmon River websites that do not cater to fly anglers and certainly do not support catch and release, so please keep that in mind as you finish reading this post.
Thanks,
The LyNcH
