Every fall, I arrange a weekend outing for my son, Nathaniel, and his friends to the Salmon River in Pulaski, New York. The tradition started when Nathaniel was 9 years old. Now, 12 years later, he is just as eager to battle Chinook and Coho salmon on his fly rod as he was on the first day he stepped into the waters of the Salmon River. The trip is always a highlight of fall before deer hunting becomes the primary objective.
This year, things are different, and our annual trip to the Salmon River seemed doomed. Nathaniel is currently in his senior year at Washington College, and he has been attending virtually from home this semester as a result of precautions instituted by the college. In addition to restricting on-campus housing, the college adjusted its academic calendar, including the cancellation of the mid-term break in October. Unfortunately, that weekend was the timing of our fall fishing trip to the Salmon River.
On top of that, New York State was banning travel from Maryland and most of the states on the East Coast south of Pennsylvania. It was impossible to predict whether the travel ban would be lifted before the end of the annual salmon run that usually ends in mid-to late October.
The opportunity to fish for salmon this fall seemed unlikely until I recently noticed that Maryland was no longer listed as a restricted travel state on the NYS COVID website. Nathaniel asked about the possibility of a quick trip to fish the Douglaston Salmon Run. The DSR is a private, pay-to-fish section of the Salmon River that limits the number of daily anglers by selling a limited number of online passes. The DSR is a very popular area to fish, located just above the river estuary, and weekend dates are sometimes sold-out months in advance. Fortunately, I was able to purchase DSR passes for myself, Nathaniel and his college buddy, Sean Scott.
Fish and run weekend
So, just last weekend, we drove to New York for one day of fishing on the DSR. I wasn’t sure what to expect as the Salmon River was experiencing very low water levels with little rainfall. In fact, the month of September was one of the driest in history for that region of NYS. Fishing reports indicated that anglers on the DSR were catching fish despite the low water levels.
We were hoping for a cloudy, rainy day. Fish are much more active on days with low-light conditions. Any rain would almost ensure any salmon lingering in the estuary would begin to make their way upriver. Unfortunately, it was a gorgeous day. It was a frosty start to the morning as overnight temperatures had dropped into the upper 30s. On the positive end, the sunny skies brought temperatures to a comfortable level quickly and the fall colors were just spectacular.
The salmon do most of their movement at night under these bright conditions, so I wasn’t surprised not to be overrun with fish as we waded downriver. I spent the first half of the day spotting salmon for the boys to target, and they were enjoying some action. Most anglers were gathered more tightly around the deeper runs where the fish will stage for periods of time before progressing on their upstream mission.
The salmon fishing was slow but I was really hoping we would catch some steelhead. A positive aspect of a late outing to the Salmon River is the opportunity to catch a variety of species that are lured into the Lake Ontario tributaries by the scent of salmon eggs being released upstream. Steelhead top that list, followed by brown trout and the elusive, Atlantic salmon. Atlantics were, at one time, the dominant species in the Salmon River. They all disappeared due to poor environmental practices this past century, but efforts have been underway to rebuild their numbers in Lake Ontario now for a number of years.
Afternoon success
Fortunately, the skies began to cloud up in the afternoon and as we anticipated, the fishing pressure began to dissipate as tired anglers left the river. The improved fish movement was noticeable. The gaggle of anglers that surrounded the deeper run below us had cleared out, so we worked our way downstream to that run.
Starting at the head of the run, I began to cast across and down, allowing the orange estaz egg fly pattern to bounce along the bottom through the run. On the first drift, a steelie grabbed the fly just as I was lifting the line to make another cast. The fish splashed on the surface and instantly spit the fly before I could set the hook. I felt another quick hit on my second drift. On my third cast into the run, I hooked the big steelie.
The fish violently thrashed at the surface and immediately ran downstream. As the line peeled from my reel, I had to remind myself to move with the fish to keep as much line out of the water as possible. A fast-moving fish can drag the line between and over sharp rocks and make short work of the leader.
Nathaniel came to help net the steelie as I moved down river trying to control the fish. I said, “Let me do this, you need to hit that run.” As much as I appreciated his efforts to help me, I really wanted him to keep fishing.
A few casts later, Nathaniel was fast into a steelhead!
I finally beached my steelie and Nathaniel was coming downstream fighting his fish. I was able to quickly net his fish next to my beached fish a moment later. A double on steelies … very exciting!
I thought it really couldn’t get much better than that, but it did. As evening approached and more fish were active, Sean and Nathaniel were both able to land more kings, some of the biggest of the day. The prize of the day was a beautiful Atlantic salmon, Nathaniel’s first Atlantic ever landed. It was just one day of fishing but a day that will stay alive in your minds for some time … at least until next year.
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