2011 SALMON RIVER - SALMON AND STEELHEAD Thread

[SNAGGER]

Yeah snag; steelheading used to be full of solitude; I started in 1990 as a young boy; the early/mid 90's definitely spoiled me in many ways...

           It's strange, I started steelheading a year later than salmon, around 1979, I think I was in 7th grade in 1980, that was the start of my regular trips on just about every weekend for salmon and atleast twice a month for steelhead.. I lived in Ithaca, so the drive was only an hour and a half...all through the 80's there was only a handful of guys that did it (steelhead fished), the regulated flows came around 90-91, after that you saw a little bit bigger of an influx of people as lodges popped up like the 1880 house and fish on lodge and eventually the portly..
         I practically lived at mikes place, even worked for him cutting fish in 91-92 because I was up here so much....., have great memories of staying at the 1880 house and drinking wine with I think her name was Dawn...well now I'm babbling..my point was, even after I moved here in 93, the steelhead crowds never really started growing til about 2004, . If you remember there was a big movement between 98-2002 when all the people were lake Erie/oak/maxwell crazy, even the guides went out there for that steelhead boom cycle on Erie like we are going through right now, this river was empty in those years, then came the computer and SC in 2003-04, your steelhead crowds have been growing ever since, and especially fast recently with the advent of mobile internet, fb , twitter and cell phones. I find it fascinating to look back through 5 decades of memory....it's been a fun ride...

[SNAGGER]

Back in the mid 90's I floated from Altmar to P'ville with a buddy a few days before christmas. Saw no driftboats and about 6 folks...

I think the increase in people is because of a bunch of reasons. Obviously steel numbers are up bigtime, SAL-o-mon snaggers figured out they can snag steel to, steelhead with a bobber - "so easy a caveman can do it", most people like to blame the internet but im not so quick to do that...

 I've been running floats since I was a boy for lake run trout, whether up here or finger lakes, I had a good following of the late 90's center pinners at my lodge..early for this area.... So I don't know about the bobber thing DC, but the computer turned huge amounts of people on to the CP in the last 7-8 years, actually the bead in the last 3-4 years has made it so easy a cave man can do it, not the bobber...

The lodges/guides used to have to work the big out of state shows like Harrisburg, now you just post a pic on FB, if I get up at 9am, by 9:04 am I know every fish that every guide has posted a pic of and DSr mutilple mobile internet reports has gotten by looking at FB, then I scan MFF, LOU and SC, then check 3 weather sites and all the gauges on the streams by 912am...is that crazy or what... That would have taken days if not weeks 6 years ago....and alot of gas and time..  it's the computer,,,,,hands down DC..
               In the old days my lodgers, freinds had to come back and tell me about a good run....or the people getting fish cleaned at my place would tell me about secret spots and I would relay it to my lodgers and vice versa..... ...now if a fish farts in Oswego county I know about it..

[Dark Cloud]

Snag - I agree on that part of the computer gig... but... if the fish were not there in the numbers they are, it wouldnt matter...  

Made my first "steel" trip up the river in march of 90. Fished the Trestle with my buddy and one other yahoo, saw one boat come by. Had read some in-fisherman articles about bobber fishing for steelhead. Rigged up my fancy new pinnacle noodle rod with a float and a tapered shot setup with a sack. About mid day after about 2,387 drifts the float dropped and I landed my first. I'll dig up the pict somewhere. Got another in the Sportsmans that afternoon. 2-2 was good back in the day, and real good for a newbie, lol...

[Dark Cloud]

Found it...

[SNAGGER]

Snag - I agree on that part of the computer gig... but... if the fish were not there in the numbers they are, it wouldnt matter...  

Made my first "steel" trip up the river in march of 90. Fished the Trestle with my buddy and one other yahoo, saw one boat come by. Had read some in-fisherman articles about bobber fishing for steelhead. Rigged up my fancy new pinnacle noodle rod with a float and a tapered shot setup with a sack. About mid day after about 2,387 drifts the float dropped and I landed my first. I'll dig up the pict somewhere. Got another in the Sportsmans that afternoon. 2-2 was good back in the day, and real good for a newbie, lol...

            Your right.....  I got off subject, if the fish weren't here by the thousands like they are now, yes ... MUCH less people would be here..Like any great cycle, we are due for an off one and that season is coming.  Man will Oswego river be crowded if this river went back to being difficult...after reading the stocking numbers though , this is more than just a great cycle, they litterally stock 100-150% more steelhead as they used tojust 10 years ago , add in a one fish limit and few wild ones and it should stay good even on off cycle years barring something bad happening to the lake ecosystem.

[SNAGGER]

Found it...

  Great shot DC, man look at that bank, it's all grown in with beech and hemlocks now.

[Dark Cloud]

           Your right.....  I got off subject, if the fish weren't here by the thousands like they are now, yes ... MUCH less people would be here..Like any great cycle, we are due for an off one and that season is coming.  Man will Oswego river be crowded if this river went back to being difficult...after reading the stocking numbers though , this is more than just a great cycle, they litterally stock 100-150% more steelhead as they used tojust 10 years ago , add in a one fish limit and few wild ones and it should stay good even on off cycle years barring something bad happening to the lake ecosystem.

I agree buddy, even a down cycle, things will be good.
After catching my first two on that first trip, steelhead became a mythological creature that were hard to come by. Fished milliken for numbers and the SR for the unicorns... 

[SNAGGER]

I agree buddy, even a down cycle, things will be good.
After catching my first two on that first trip, steelhead became a mythological creature that were hard to come by. Fished milliken for numbers and the SR for the unicorns...  

 I made reservations at a motel near Elk creek in Pa on Erie, I'm thinking  it was 1999 or so.... watched the weather, timed a perfect flooding dirty creek, woke to a perfect green drop...I caught like 70-80 steelhead, I mean landed ....... all cookies between 2 1/2-7lbs....on egg sacs and bobber. looked at my buddy Dave, are you thinking what I'm thinking?, yep he said.... too easy and too small , we left after only one day and came back to work for them at south sandy and this river.

[Special Ed]

Found it...

Hey Dark Cloud.   You look familiar.    I think I remember you from back then when I was working the food shack at the River St Lodge.  We had the best sausage sandwiches in the area 

[SNAGGER]

Hey Dark Cloud.   You look familiar.    I think I remember you from back then when I was working the food shack at the River St Lodge.  We had the best sausage sandwiches in the area 

  River street lodge/  you remember Jason wilson?..I used to go drinking with the girls that worked at that place...busters , some place else and up from mike's at the cedar post...old memories tonight.....   remember frick n fracks?

[Dark Cloud]

Hey Dark Cloud.   You look familiar.    I think I remember you from back then when I was working the food shack at the River St Lodge.  We had the best sausage sandwiches in the area 

Well, I like food and may or may not have eaten some food from there... 

Heres another old one Snag that rings true about the computer, reports, and flow. Went up "blind" like we did back then and arrived to i'd guess a flow of 2000+. Fished the Bend by your place and actually hooked one in the am. Then went down to the Sportsmans. First drift the bobber got hung up. Adjusted it and got this one on the next drift. And that was it...

[SNAGGER]

There was a number back then to call nine mo ..., it's still in my moms phone number book...1/2 gate..full gate, no power production or flood stage..looks like flood stage.

  Great older pic's DC, I wish I took more..only have a few kicking around..most got lost over the years....

[lpv89]

need a cheap place to stay friday night. any suggestions?

[adam2000]

I started really stealhead fishing in 93. I was in 9th grade. It took me until I was a senior in highschool before I landed one. It took me a yr to hook into one. Gueewhat it was on a sac under a bobber. Did it just cause I got sick of tying hooks on. In my mind back then steelhead were like a atlantic. You had to be really lucky.I had got them in oswego before that while salmon fishing but in the sr I really put in some time and fished alot of useless water before I got one. Internet makes things very easy. Not bad mouthing anyone but all these newbies you see now having double digit days owe about 60 percent of that to the internet and 40I to the stocking. Back in the mid 90's I never saw anyone except at the schoolhouse in feb. Id bet my last nickle they came from shanes

[adam2000]

There was a number back then to call nine mo ..., it's still in my moms phone number book...1/2 gate..full gate, no power production or flood stage..looks like flood stage.

  Great older pic's DC, I wish I took more..only have a few kicking around..most got lost over the years....

oh yeah.d**n I used to have that memorized. Boy things have changed