Salmon River SteelHead

[6wt]

Myself and a friend took advantage of the forecasted warm temps on Sunday and Monday and headed northwest for some salmon river steel. Sunday weather was mild and dry when we arrived in Altmar at 8:30am. Water was low 285 and very clear. We are both primary fly guys but will switch over to bait when fishing gets tough. We fished the upper sections of the river, my friend starting out with egg patterns and I with my woolybuggers. This is no surprise because woolybuggers are the fly I fish with 90% of the time irregardless of time of year, type of fish, etc. It's a habit, can't help it and know I should "match the hatch" but I do have a ton of confidence fishing with it and that might be more important. With the low clear water I started with 5x, my friend 4x. Anyways third cast and I'm on.......great fish, great fight but I was a little to anxious at the end and the fish was gone. Fishing remained consistent and by the end of the day I was 0-10 and my friend went 3-6.
Sunday we woke to pouring rain, windy but very warm. Our guess was that the over night warm rain turned on the fish. Fishing was unbelievable! The water levels went up and clarity down and that was the ticket. We actually lost count of the number of fish we hooked into . Our plans started that we would fish until noon then head home but we ended up fishing until 4:30. Sorry no pictures this time but trust me there are a ton a steelhead in the river. If you got the winter blues there's no need to ;D

[Mark Patenaude]

5X! What?

6wt: I use that size for spring creek dry fly trout in summer. Just go with some #10 or #12 floro is the water is clear. #8 should be your minimum strength at any time. Your hook to loss ratio will be much better. I couldn't imagine strip setting w/5X...

Nice job with the fish. What color WB do you use for Steel?

By the way Steelhead is all one word.

MP

[Mark Patenaude]

Forgot to say...

O.K. fellas, lets here it for 6wt. He got into em' thick.

Woo Hoo!

[6wt]

10 or 12lb?

You'll have a great day casting and not catching ;D

Actually we weren't using tippet material but I converted it . I was using maxima ultra green in 4lb, which on my Orvis chart is about a 5x. On monday I switched over to 5lb, yes they have 5lb. I love the ultra green and stopped using floro 2 years ago.

Honestly 10 or 12 lb is way too heavy a line for the salmon river at 285. These fish have been fished to since they entered the river as far back as the fall. A guide told me that generally flows under 500 4 lb, flows 750 or under 6lb, under 1,000 8lb and over 1,000 10 + lb, depending on clarity. You can easily play them right and do that without killing them.

[Mark Patenaude]

Believe me, I don't doubt you at all. Every river fishes differently. Like I said, here in the Midwest, #8 is the minimum tippet size. In fact, I have what would have qualified as a Catch and Release, World Record for line class but I didn't bother to fill out the paperwork. I landed a 44"/#32 King on an #8 tippet while fishing in Michigan a few years ago. Even for Steelhead, I couldn't imagine going lighter.

I prefer to go heavier to bring the fish to hand quicker, thereby increasing their probability of survival. You know, the whole lactic acid thing...

I may give it a try however, in a few weeks when the ice is off the river and the Spring run begins and see if my productivity goes up at all. When sight fishing for Steelhead, I've always used the heavier tippet and have never witnessed any adverse reaction and have a very high percentage of hook ups with it.

How heavy of a rod are you using with the lighter tippet?

Oh, as a post script to this message, the river(s) where I fish are probably about the size of the South Branch of the Hoosic with very similar water clarity, but without all the freestones.

Mark

[6wt]

......I've been using a Orvis ZG 10' 7wt. Love that rod!

I hear you about over-fighting a fish, I try to get them in quickly and often end up breaking them off in the process. We never take fish so landing is not much of a concern.

Nice work on that king, that's a big fish.During the salmon run in pulaski I use 10 or 12lb tippet but honestly I prefer steelhead fishing. The WB are black marb tail, thin chenille body, a black pearl estaz head, some bead some not. I will also sometimes tied a more traditional WB with the hackle on the body. I'm truly a novice when it comes to tying but having a good time. Can't imagine going back to spin equipment

[Mark Patenaude]

I'll tell you what, if you need some WBs just let me know what size and color and I'll send you a dozen. Also, if you are wanting to try some other pattern like the infamous ESL let me know.

Have you ever tried the STS Bugger. Its black bou' tail with a little pearl CF in it, peacock herl body and brown or furnace saddle hackle, weighted with about 20 turns of .015. That Bugger accounts for the vast majority of Salmon and Steelhead caught on Bear Creek and the Big Manistee (where the recent world record for Brown Trout was broken) in Michigan. Ray Schmidt of Schmidt outfitters developed the pattern and its a killer.

Mark

[6wt]

esl? I looked but didn't find anything. Picture?

[DRYFLYPHIL]

6wt,

thanks for that steelhead invite you extended me the other day. I wish my timing & schedule was more open on my part.

It also sounds like you two guys had a couple banner days on the Pulaski last Sunday & Monday.

The Egg Sucking Leech (ESL) is a great Pattern. I actually bought some for myself, as well as for Doc for his Trip to Alaska a year or so ago. They even work great for trout on the Housi as well.............DRYFLYPHIL

[Mark Patenaude]

Google "Egg Sucking Leech". They can be tied WB style or with crosscut rabbit strips. The egg can be made from hot glue, chenille, dubbing or egg fly material; but I prefer to tie mine with soft rubber "Otter Eggs". I put it on like a bead but what you really do is thread the hook through the rubber and place is right behind the eye, then I pull the egg from the back to crunch it against the hook eye and put a drop of super glue on the hook shank and it stays put. Steelhead will hold onto it longer as it is nice and soft like the real thing. I've caught a bunch of Steelhead on this pattern tied on a #6-TMC 7999 Salmon/Steelhead hook.

I usually weight mine with about 25 wraps of .015 to get it down (but it isn't too heavy because of the use of only .015) and reduce the requirement for putting shot on the line which can spook the fish in really clear and/or shallow water, especially when sight fishing for them.

[6wt]

ESL ......duh

Yes, tons of guys use them on the river.

[DRYFLYPHIL]

Mark,

What size Otters eggs would you use for streamer hook size 8-10? Any preference in color?

I'd like to possibly tie some for trout, so any advise that you can supply would be most helpfull.............Phil

[Mark Patenaude]

I use the large size (the largest size they make) for Steelhead. The color combinations I tie are:

black body/transparent orange egg
purple body/tranparent orange egg
black body/non-transparent orange egg
purple body/transparent pink egg

I've found that the purple and black with the transparent orange egg take the most Steel.

[DRYFLYPHIL]

Mark, thanks!