7 of us went to Went to the Salmon River in Pulaski NY last week. I set up the trip. 4 days we hooked over 35 King Salmon and some huge steelhead. No matter were you went salmon were everywere. You need to work for them because its big water. Fish were jumping everytwere. Many guys using spey/switch rods. Best fly was chartrouse sucker spawn fly on size 8 hook. Picture is my son on his first salmon trip. No guide needed. Its a very small town. Big water only 3 to 4 feet deep. Spikes needed to fish because its a slate bottom river. Very slippy but you can allways see the bottom when walking. Fishing license is $28. Most motels booked local but we stayed about 10 miles out of town. They stock over 3.5 million king salmon there every year. Huge steelhead there and fishing there in the winter months is super but it to darn cold for me. LOL I used a Scott 11 foot 6 inch 8 weight fly rod. 25 pound leader and 15 pound flurocarbon tippet. One King Salmon i hooked took out 100 yards of my backing and broke it. I lost all my fly line. LOL One salmon my son caught was 44 inches 34 pounds. Huge fly shop there called Fat Nancy's. Also an Orvis shop there. You can fly to Syracuse NY. Its a 35 mile drive to Pulaski NY. Way cheaper trip than flying to BC Canada etc to fish for big king salmon and steelhead. I drove from Pittsburgh, Pa 6 hours. Total cost to fish about $700. YOU GUYS OWE ME ON THIS ONE. LOL Due i get 4 stars for this one?
Don’t eat it all in one sitting. There is a 1 meal per month advisory due to the amount of PCBs, Dioxins and Mercury in these fish. Don’t feed to children or to women expecting children any time soon.
I just threw up a little, keeping spawning fish that are half rotten is a recipe for disease, and worms. Once a fish has absorbed their scales they are well past eatable, those fish have past that stage about a month ago.
The Salmon River is a total $h!t show. Every guide I had an interaction with was a total ass. People fishing right over the top of me. Litter. Im sure a guy can go there and fill his limit quickly but its not my thing. The Douglaston Run is a little more sedate but you have to pay. Thats not my thing either.
Not to mention the guides who will anchor just up stream of you and have their clients run center pin rigs down over the top of you after you have hiked a ways to find a quiet spot and swing on a nice bend. Jackasses. Go to the Delaware system and there is nothing but drift boats manned by gentlemen (and women) go to Pulaski and its the like nothing Ive ever seen.
I have found that if I inform the clients the their guide doesn't value their safety, and that they hired someone that cant find their own fish and have to fish on top of bank anglers to find fish. I then send a cast at the guids head, things will change quickly sometimes.
I fished the DSR. $225 for 4 days. 2 1/2 miles of private water. Its the first area the fish enter the river from the lake. Many fresh salmon. Pay for 3 days get 1 day free. Plenty of room to fish. Well worth it. I seen no center pinners. Most guys using switch/spey rods. I also fished and tried the upper and lower fly fishing only area. You can't keep fish here. Its above the hatchery. Beautiful water and tons of room to fish. This is a public fishing area. This is a huge huge water system. Tons of places to fish. I don't fish were the crowds are. I move around. No matter were you go there are Salmon.
I also fish Oak Orchard river in NY. Now that river is a Zoo/shoulder to shoulder. but it is known for huge brown trout. Also other tribs to fish in the area. If you move around there is allways an area thats not crowded. I hit that the last week of October before the cold weather sets in. November fishing in the oak is awesome if you can handle the cold.
Now if you want to catch a ton of fish until your arms get tired go to the garden river in sue saint marie canada in sept. Its just across the Michigan border. Tons and tons of pink salmon and nice kings salmon. The guy charges $1200 for 5 days and the food is out of this world. Its a spike tent set up with showers. One of the best fly fishing trips i have been on for the money. All private water.
I wasn't going to comment on this because I do not fish that river, nor any of the Great Lakes fisheries for that matter...but I cannot hold back.
Those fish are disgusting. They look like they were on death's door when caught and can't be even close to edible. Just the thought of that makes me gag!!
They are the last thing I would pose for pictures with as "trophies". I'm not even sure if I would use them for garden fertilizer.
I also have to put in my .02 worth in. Please stop outing fishing spots and where and how to get there. let people find it on their own if they want to. Also, fishing spawners on gravel..., keeping zombie salmon... on a yellow plastic rope and posting pictures...
when confronted with situations like these I always ask myself 'is it legal?' and then I make my judgement from there.
and a lot of the time it is... but that doesn't mean it's all high fives and back slaps.
It certainly can be combat fishing up there when the Kings are in...
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