2011 SALMON RIVER - SALMON AND STEELHEAD Thread

[wiredstone]

You guys got more the us down here. Rained hard here this afternoon. Checked the gauge on the creek . 3' in 2 hrs. That will move the fish around.

[esox v]

You guys got more the us down here. Rained hard here this afternoon. Checked the gauge on the creek . 3' in 2 hrs. That will move the fish around.

Holy flash flood Batman !!

[SNAGGER]

still want to know what would make an atlantic move up stream this time of year?

  Good question.!!

       I grew up on Cayuga Lake and if we got big rains this time of year, they would run Fall Creek in good numbers. We would catch them on all sorts of things, eggs up stream and minnows downstream.. In the 80's we thought they were just feeding on smelt, but after the smelt populations crashed in the early 90's , they still ran the streams, only to leave after it got too warm. They would stay til June if it was a cold spring, we would get them under the falls fishing for smallmouth sometimes.
  
      Last year there was a high water event on the Salmon River around the last week of June and litterally hundreds were present when the River went down in early July. I didn't fish for them , but heard it was insane for about a week... Maybe it's some sort of pre spawn staging thing, not all the fish run in summer, but a good chunk...They spawn in November, so coming in this early would be like Steelhead coming in in September only to spawn in February I guess..
     The River is still at 4,000cfs...grounds saturated and creeks fell slower today then in the past, should be 1500 plus for a few days after they drop this tomorrow I would think.

[SWAMPGOOSE]

thanks snagger.  Thats very interesting.  Wished i lived a little farther north now lol

[cNr1day]

If you ever want to read an awesome history about Atlantic Salmon in NY - check this out:
http://www.fishcreeksalmon.org/History-NY.htm

[SWAMPGOOSE]

thank you read the whole thing, very cool wish it was still like this.  What men have done to this world.  That was when bear were still abundant in our state as well

[SNAGGER]

   A few pic's of the River yesterday..

[cNr1day]

 Good question.!!

       I grew up on Cayuga Lake and if we got big rains this time of year, they would run Fall Creek in good numbers. We would catch them on all sorts of things, eggs up stream and minnows downstream.. In the 80's we thought they were just feeding on smelt, but after the smelt populations crashed in the early 90's , they still ran the streams, only to leave after it got too warm. They would stay til June if it was a cold spring, we would get them under the falls fishing for smallmouth sometimes.
  
      Last year there was a high water event on the Salmon River around the last week of June and litterally hundreds were present when the River went down in early July. I didn't fish for them , but heard it was insane for about a week... Maybe it's some sort of pre spawn staging thing, not all the fish run in summer, but a good chunk...They spawn in November, so coming in this early would be like Steelhead coming in in September only to spawn in February I guess..
     The River is still at 4,000cfs...grounds saturated and creeks fell slower today then in the past, should be 1500 plus for a few days after they drop this tomorrow I would think.

Interesting - looks like they've always come up in early summer at some point:
""In October, 1836, two men took [on the Salmon River at Pulaski] two hundred and thirty Salmon between 8 p.m. and 12, with spears and fire-jacks, and after 12 til morning two other men in the same skiff took two hundred odd, the average weight of the entire lot weigh fourteen and three-quarters pounds. We have had fifteen hundred fresh Salmon in the fish-house at one time.  When a freshet occurred [sic] in June few would always come up, and sometimes a few  early in the spring.  Any time from June till winter when there was a freshet they were sure to come.  The principal time, however was in Fall, during September, October and November.  Twelve skiff in one night have taken an average of three hundred Salmon each" (Goode, 1884:473)."

[cNr1day]

And - what I also always found interesting is the fact that Oneida Lake would get Atlantics in it too...the journals also talk about the parasites on the fish in the gills too (that affect the current population of Steelhead)

Supper that night was at Mrs. Jackson's Tavern at the eastern end of Oneida Lake near the mouth of Fish Creek.

"A number of canoes darting through the lake after fish in a dark night, with lighted flambeax of pine knots fixed on elevated iron frames, make a very picturesque and pleasant exhibition ... Here we met with an Indian canoe, filled with eels, salmon and a monstrous cat-fish ... On returning to the house, we found an excellent supper prepared; the principal dish was salmon, dressed in various ways" (p62).

Note that salmon composed three of the four main meals for these two days.

"The salmon come into this lake in May, and continue til winter.  They are said to eat nothing.  This is the season of their excellence.  They formerly sold for one shilling a piece;  now the  current price is sixpence a pound.  The salmon are annoyed by an insect called a tick, and run into the cold spring brooks for relief" (p 62-3).

The reference here may be to a copepod parasite, Salmonicola (?), but movement into cool water seems likely to have been to avoid high lake-water temperatures.  In a later account, Clinton (1822:169) clarified the matter by stating that the parasites

" ... fix on the gills and fins, and eat the latter so that the fish can hardly swim."

[SNAGGER]

     Hey CNR, I see your very interested in Atlantic's.. Heres a picture from way back of my personal best from Cayuga Lake.. I believe it's still the biggest ever tagged by the DEC or Cornell in Cayuga Lake... I've never heard of one caught bigger than this one, weighed it on a certified wegman's scale.



  Heres a 10.4lber from the old drinking days at the park  .... get loaded and watch your bobbers...

[KingPerch]

NICE FISH SHANE!! Been a long time to hold that Cayuga Lake record!! Congrats man! --KP

[SNAGGER]

  What's happening KP?  Looking out my window right now, waters dropping, it aint in the trees no more!!!!

[KingPerch]

Well, right now I'm cleaning the house, Rockin' to Dokken, checkin' in with my homies and wondering when you were going to post...The river is headed back down.....!! OH, Jr., too!! Soccer started this week and the first games for Josh and Meg are tomorrow!! They are on seperate teams and going to play against each other!! Wish them both luck!! --KP

[drowndin dots]

    Hey CNR, I see your very interested in Atlantic's.. Heres a picture from way back of my personal best from Cayuga Lake.. I believe it's still the biggest ever tagged by the DEC or Cornell in Cayuga Lake... I've never heard of one caught bigger than this one, weighed it on a certified wegman's scale.



  Heres a 10.4lber from the old drinking days at the park  .... get loaded and watch your bobbers...

nice fish snagger !!

[kowboy]

Snagger nice fish. What do u think the water will b this weekend? Im off now till the 8th of May and need some salmon river therapy after dealing with the freaks all week. KP good luck with both at the soccer game, looks like the weather will b good for a game.