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Salmon River Report 2014
- Thread starter CTobias
- Start date
Philthy Phil
more fish than posts
Stopped by on my way home from Canada Labor Day weekend. Wanted to see if the circus had really started. Wasn't too crowded but I did see a real winner in pajama pants and no shirt at town pool
Trout Guy
Brookie's or Bust!
Thats the true essence of Pulaski right there..
CTobias
Professional BS'r
It's the water I grew up on. Of course I miss it. Now if we could only get the salmon and steelhead to make their way to the Atlantic Ocean to become big and strong.
Trout Guy
Brookie's or Bust!
Hah.. Thats all we need, another species to out compete the Atlantic Salmon. Lol
CTobias
Professional BS'r
The Atlantics in the SR need to find their way to the ocean as well. I can only imagine how big they would get and how much better the fight would be.
flyI4
Fishizzle, I use worms but I'm looking to upgrade!
Hit the salmon river this weekend and found good amounts of steel around fishing the DSR Friday through Sunday. The bite was early and late with long slow periods from noon to 5pm. The pods of steel that came through were some of the biggest I've ever seen- with several 15lb+ steelhead landed near me, and one measuring 39'' on the tape and fat with a huge kype. All great looking full chromed up fish. As for myself, I landed 4 nice 6-10lb steelhead and lost probably another 8-10 fish that smoked me in the faster sections of the DSR. One thing that drove me nuts was fishing with the beads-which undeniably work well- but there is no arguing that the hookup and land rate is lower on them, even when using a large 4-6 hook as I was this weekend. Other than that- fish were taking everything from estaz flies to stonefly nymphs.
sneelhead
New member
yep steelhead definitely coming in nicely now. avg size of fish is definitely up this year! also got reports of lots of LARGE late run kings coming in with tight skein - so i think were in for the huge push of fresh salmon that people have been waiting for. the next few weeks and november will be very interesting up there. cant wait to get back up.
flyI4
Fishizzle, I use worms but I'm looking to upgrade!
Didn't see many kings- but what is strange is despite the poor reports this year the hatchery is stacked full with kings. This supports the theory that many have been moving at night- though I don't know how that many fish make it from bottom to top without being detected. A wacky year to say the least- but end of the day the kings are not really why I and many fly fisherman go up there so its a moot point to many who prefer the steelhead. That said- the lack of salmon have resulted in a lot of steelhead getting put on the stringer and I saw some beautiful fish killed up river when I was looking around mid day. Hate to see it.
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Simms
New member
J,
I sure do. Using a snell knot has increased hook up considerably, however. It keeps the hook in a more rigid position for a direct shot right into the top of the mouth. More time than not, your hook never even penetrates the fishes mouth, what is happening in the bead is jammed in the corner of the fishes mouth for a bit t...then once he spins for the first time, bink. It never finds meat because the hook is twirling around in the fucking wind like a loose vagina.
Need to get that hook embedded upon hook set. None of that tarpon tactic shit...
I also found using a tippet that doesn't stretch (most flouros) helps as well.
And trust me, I know you don't have a problem setting the hook, ive seen chrome fly near 5 feet outta the water following you down the UFZ
As barbaric as it sounds, as there really isn't anything pretty about bead fishing, I like drenin. I can get away with 6lb on most occasions as it acts like fucking 14lb...
Again, much like when youre going to thrown tandem rigs or hopper dropper set ups, I like the stiffer line. Stuff like Orvis & Seagur and Maxima green doesn't float my boat...
Drenin and Chameleon are always fully spooled in my packs...
I sure do. Using a snell knot has increased hook up considerably, however. It keeps the hook in a more rigid position for a direct shot right into the top of the mouth. More time than not, your hook never even penetrates the fishes mouth, what is happening in the bead is jammed in the corner of the fishes mouth for a bit t...then once he spins for the first time, bink. It never finds meat because the hook is twirling around in the fucking wind like a loose vagina.
Need to get that hook embedded upon hook set. None of that tarpon tactic shit...
I also found using a tippet that doesn't stretch (most flouros) helps as well.
And trust me, I know you don't have a problem setting the hook, ive seen chrome fly near 5 feet outta the water following you down the UFZ
As barbaric as it sounds, as there really isn't anything pretty about bead fishing, I like drenin. I can get away with 6lb on most occasions as it acts like fucking 14lb...
Again, much like when youre going to thrown tandem rigs or hopper dropper set ups, I like the stiffer line. Stuff like Orvis & Seagur and Maxima green doesn't float my boat...
Drenin and Chameleon are always fully spooled in my packs...
iflifish
I flyfish
Instead of pegging the bead, try melting it onto the hook. Take a hook and put it in a vise, heat it with a lighter, and press the bead down onto the hook. Let it melt in just a little bit and then let it cool. If you push it down too far the diameter of the bead can interfere with the hook gap. I like the Mustad 37132 which can be found in any of the shops in Pulaski, in size 10-14 depending on the size of the bead, usually size 12 is about right. It was designed for the great lakes steelhead fishery and it holds really well. It's not super sharp out of the box though so hit it with a hook sharpener.
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iflifish
I flyfish
Trout Guy
Brookie's or Bust!
I like this idea, but won't heating the hook harden it and make it brittle?
iflifish
I flyfish
Here are some of my melted-on beads, the hooks shown are the 37132 in size 8 through 14. They're not really sized the same as most other hooks. The 8s are big and I would only use them for salmon in high, off colored water. For normal water conditions a size 10 is a better choice and still holds kings with no problem. The 14s work well with the small 6mm beads, I still usually peg them if I'm fishing for smaller trout. The size 10 and 12 hooks in the middle are what I use for steelhead. I melt up a couple dozen in advance and save time not having to deal with pegging beads or readjusting them after they've slipped, plus I think rigging them this way results in more solid hookups.
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moosekid
Handsomest Neff Member
That melted bead trick looks pretty cool. If you're worried about the heat causing the hook to get brittle, maybe just tin the section of hook you're going to push the bead onto with some solder. Crank the iron above 750 and the solder will heat up instantly and melt the bead.
When's the bash again?? I'll be up on the SR this Sunday afternoon through Monday night or Tuesday morning.. If anyone wants to fish hit me with a PM.
When's the bash again?? I'll be up on the SR this Sunday afternoon through Monday night or Tuesday morning.. If anyone wants to fish hit me with a PM.
Philthy Phil
more fish than posts
Believe it or not I spent some time with a guy that's probably a bigger bead head than Simms...
One of the biggest things he stressed was working to prevent the bead from slipping at all. I used those rubber stopper things which slip easily and hook up (and quickly off) rates were high, so avoid those at all cost (maybe to peg your bobber). I went back to toothpicks and it helped a lot. This guy (admittedly OCD) used weed wacker cord of specific diameter, it looked like a bitch to rig on but it was "worth it"...he dropped less than 25% of fish hooked
One of the biggest things he stressed was working to prevent the bead from slipping at all. I used those rubber stopper things which slip easily and hook up (and quickly off) rates were high, so avoid those at all cost (maybe to peg your bobber). I went back to toothpicks and it helped a lot. This guy (admittedly OCD) used weed wacker cord of specific diameter, it looked like a bitch to rig on but it was "worth it"...he dropped less than 25% of fish hooked
iflifish
I flyfish
Very true and I still peg the bead if fishing in Alaska for rainbows or dollies - those greedy bastards chow down on beads like nothing I've ever seen. But in 27 years (damn, I'm getting old) of fishing for steelhead in and around the Salmon River I can only recall one time when I hooked a fish deeply, and that was on an egg sac a long time ago. I don't bead fish anywhere else, I'm otherwise basically a dry fly snob when it comes to trout fishing. Your mileage may vary.
