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Welcome back to the new NEFF. Take a break from Twitter and Facebook. You don't go to Dicks for your fly fishing gear, you go to your local fly fishing store. Enjoy!

Salmon River Report 2014

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.

Yeah. They sure are glutins up here.

I don't think fish on the SR have quite the appetite they do here since they basically only have a small window to really chow down and get fat.

The only dry flies I fish up here are mouse patterns. :)
 
I run my line through twice and then toothpick it... Never slips...

When changing, the only thing that sucks is I need to put my beads in a small container to dry so the toothpick pops out... But its worth it...As you said, no slippage = less dropped fish.
 
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my simple camp

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A huge push of fresh chromers came through at around 10am. The AM fishing was slow so I took a walk and a hit from the pipe and returned to my spots filled with huge fish. Kinda cool. This was the only 1 I landed of the 7 I hooked that late morning. They were very graciously displaying their acrobatic skills. I could not get this beast to cooperate for the damn photo. Leaves were tolerable day 1 but winds overnight made the leaves a much bigger factor on day 2. All fish caught with honor, with my own FLIES.
 
I run my line through twice and then toothpick it... Never slips...

When changing, the only thing that sucks is I need to put my beads in a small container to dry so the toothpick pops out... But its worth it...As you said, no slippage = less dropped fish.

i rigged beads for the first time this weekend and used a (3 turn) Duncan's loop. With the bead hanging from the loop slide the knot down to the bead and pass the tag through the bead. In-line, clean, cannot move and will not break.

 
Not gorged. Full of eggs for spawning

I thought gorged because the lump was well ahead of its pelvic fins much closer to its pectoral fins. If I figured it were eggs, I'd have raked my boot cleats along the sides of the brown to get the eggs out before releasing it.
 
I thought gorged because the lump was well ahead of its pelvic fins much closer to its pectoral fins. If I figured it were eggs, I'd have raked my boot cleats along the sides of the brown to get the eggs out before releasing it.

I don't know why you didn't squeeze her belly!! That's some good bait right there.

She may have still been tight to the skein, which is why she looks so funny.
 
Hit the SR this past Fri, Sat, Sun, and a couple hrs Mon morning.


Cerise, Oregon cheese and a nuke egg in the upper fly all came through me.


Friends hooked up on glow bugs, sucker spawn and stoneflies.


We never really got into them good. Two fish each day was all I managed, a friend netted nothing and the other guy we were with landed two Mon morning to avoid a long weekend skunking.


Sat was the best day with torrential downpours and dime sized hail clearing everyone out for us in the evening. Landing one and loosing one had the rod bent till dark. Fucking awsome!


We fucked up huge not going to the DSR Sun after heavy rains the night before. Amateur move. They had a huge push we missed out on trying find Sat evenings fish. Dumb.


Still new at this shit, picking things up each time out. A guy from work had a 25 fish day on Fri. I cannot wait to experience a day like that...
 
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It can be a frustrating river to fish when water is low and clear. This is the lowest it's been in years. Space is limited as fish are concentrated in the deep shoots and the guys who sit on those slots all day are having the 25 fish days in these conditions. Things get much easier in higher flows on that river. One thing you may eventually realize is that Steelheading, particularly in the fall, on the SR it's usually totally on fire or it's not. Just my experience. There have been many times in lower end during a blitz in 1200+ cfs choc milk and downpours when every cast is a fish. It can be exhilarating.

We need rain and weather to effectively play the numbers game.

Hopefully we get some for BASH!
 
Got up there this weekend w/my boys. They had one hell of an intro to the SR.


We were hooked up all morning on Sat. 5 steelhead on, some fun w/a big king and a nice brown we actually managed to land.


Sat evening and Sun morn provided some SR reality with a thorough skunking to balance things out. After that first morning though they are definitely tug addicts for life.
 
HAHAH FUCK that tree in the UFZ. WHen theres hot steelhead, plan on losing them right there hahha

Nice fish man!!

Ps. Were you boys afraid of hunters along the banks of the SR? :)
 
HAHAH FUCK that tree in the UFZ. WHen theres hot steelhead, plan on losing them right there hahha

Nice fish man!!

Ps. Were you boys afraid of hunters along the banks of the SR? :)

HAAAAAAAAAHAAA! I had no doubt those hats would get a comment from you.


Picked em up some new hats at tightlines after we got home.

And yes, the tree of death sucks balls.
 
Here's a brief report, granted a couple weeks late. From October 18th weekend. The pigs were rolling into the DSR that Sunday. Here's a few of the pics.











 
sunsignarcher, I saw your orange hat crew last weekend as I crossed above you. Glad to see you got some (and hear you got new hats). I know lynch posted that the size of fish is good this year with less numbers but I would say numbers are just as good as most average years. The runs arent stuffed with fish but if you know where to look they are where they should be.

I could post some pics but you all know what a big ass steelie looks like :give-the-finger: Or you can all creep on GST :rofl:
 
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Fatty with my switch rod in the pic and hares ear in jaw. Switch rod and long belly floating line is a nymph drifters dream

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Some nicely colored fish

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But mostly big bright chromers that weren't happy to be hooked

flows still low, so some storms for ny state should really be for the better of what has been incredible fishing

highlight of this trip was finally getting around to checking out a new run I've been wanting to fish for years and landed the first of a large running pair on my first drift through
 
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Fatty with my switch rod in the pic and hares ear in jaw. Switch rod and long belly floating line is a nymph drifters dream

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Some nicely colored fish

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highlight of this trip was finally getting around to checking out a new run I've been wanting to fish for years and landed the first of a large running pair on my first drift through

Did you have to "hit the pipe" to read the new water correctly?
 
flyI4 do you use an octopus style hook? I use the Owner SSV in a size 8 or 6 for my Erie guide trips, and it works well. My guys used to lose WAY more fish with any egg or straight shank hook. Just something I've found.
 
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