Pulaski New York steelhead

[chris from canada]

I have some time off in mid december, and would like to try my hand at steelhead, or browns.

Seeing as I have zero experience in this field, any advice would be appreciated;

-Is the fishing good at this time of year

- What flies to use

-How to fish them

-Good places to stay overnight

-Would a 5 or 6 wt do for this tpye of fishing.

- Any good fly shops arround; I like to encourage local shops.

It's all catch and release for me.

Do any of you guys or gals live near by, maybe we could fing some flies together.

Have a great weekend,
chris

[Catch 22]

Is the fishing good at this time of year

It varies from day to day. Weather plays a big factor
From Today's report at http://douglastonsalmonrun.com/

12/8/07.
A good day with plenty of steelhead action.

What flies to use

From http://www.whitakers.com/ : Glo-bugs in blue, pink or chart. Rusher nymphs in blue, black, chart or purple. Chart. estaz eggs, Sucker Spawn, Woolly buggers in black, olive or brown. Black stoneflies.

How to fish them

http://www.fishusa.com/FishErie/StreamFishing.asp

-Good places to stay overnight

http://www.salmoncrazy.com/resources/

-Would a 5 or 6 wt do for this tpye of fishing.

A 6 weight would be OK. I prefer a 7 weight. A 5 might be pushing it, especially if you got into a big one, and the fact that the water is now running at 750 cfs

- Any good fly shops arround; I like to encourage local shops.

http://www.salmoncrazy.com/resources/


That should be a good start.

Jeff

[Flyguy5910]

5 or 6wt no way in the SR or big rivers like that, and i dont care if its in the hands of the worlds best fly fisherman, you are only killing the fish. please dont answer with i have done this or my buddy has

[chris from canada]

Thanks for the info catch!!

I am really looking forward to going, and trying this new fishery out.

If anybody has any more info, please feel free to comment, or send me the info.

Have a great week,
chris

[PAangler]

5 or 6wt no way in the SR or big rivers like that, and i dont care if its in the hands of the worlds best fly fisherman, you are only killing the fish. please dont answer with i have done this or my buddy has

I agree with Jim too, besides a heavier rod, you should also have a reel with a stout enough drag system to handle 15 lb fish in high water. Make sure you check the weather before venturing out, Oswego Co. has world class snow storms...generally the rule, not the exception!

[John Rhoades]

5 or 6wt no way in the SR or big rivers like that, and i dont care if its in the hands of the worlds best fly fisherman, you are only killing the fish. please dont answer with i have done this or my buddy has

Sorry to disagree with your assessment, but I think you are full of yourself!

In the hands of a skilled fisherman, it is not mandatory that one have a heavier rod.

I could answer with I have done this or my buddy has, but you've heard this before, obviously.

[flybinder]

John;
We're of course not "buddies", in the true sense, since we've never met, but I'd be happy to be your "buddy" to reply to this particular post!
Where I fish for Steelhead, (REAL steelhead country), it's not uncommon to hook one in fresh and have them run you BACK into the salt. We worry as much about "how much backing we have", as we do our actual fly lines. I've used a 10' Thomas and Thomas 6wt. lined with a 7wt. for these fish for 27 years and just checking my fishing logs, that comes to 412 landed fish in that time. Ranging in weight from "THAT'S supposed to be a STEELHEAD?", up to 27lbs. and a few ounces.

"Skilled fisherman"? Well, like JC says in his signature....... "No one knows how long, if ever, it takes to learn this sport", (more or less), but I do tend to net my steelies long before most of those I've witnessed when out and about, with much heavier equipment, including my own, fishing friends.
No, I don't play ANY FISH until it's "so tired, it falls into my net", I love our resource too much to do that. In fact, I usually also have a much shorter recovery time for my own landed fish too. (in comparison).

I do not, advocate fishing steelies with a 9' 5 wt. unless your fish run awfully small, or you're just "tag fishing" for them. But, properly played, knowing what you're doing on your end of the rod, a good, stiff backed 6wt. preferably a 9'6 to 10'-6 should be adequate.

One more thing................. there are MORE than enough "EXPERTS" in this fun and lovable sport, in fact, when I counted them up, last time, there were NONE.....so please do not TELL ME what; "We can post and NOT post", as answers to our fellow FAOLers..according to your own, given fishing skill. All of us post our OWN experiences, observations and opinions, just like the next person.
Thank you.

Paul

[John Rhoades]

John;
We're of course not "buddies", in the true sense, since we've never met, but I'd be happy to be your "buddy" to reply to this particular post!
Where I fish for Steelhead, (REAL steelhead country), it's not uncommon to hook one in fresh and have them run you BACK into the salt. We worry as much about "how much backing we have", as we do our actual fly lines. I've used a 10' Thomas and Thomas 6wt. lined with a 7wt. for these fish for 27 years and just checking my fishing logs, that comes to 412 landed fish in that time. Ranging in weight from "THAT'S supposed to be a STEELHEAD?", up to 27lbs. and a few ounces.

"Skilled fisherman"? Well, like JC says in his signature....... "No one knows how long, if ever, it takes to learn this sport", (more or less), but I do tend to net my steelies long before most of those I've witnessed when out and about, with much heavier equipment, including my own, fishing friends.
No, I don't play ANY FISH until it's "so tired, it falls into my net", I love our resource too much to do that. In fact, I usually also have a much shorter recovery time for my own landed fish too. (in comparison).

I do not, advocate fishing steelies with a 9' 5 wt. unless your fish run awfully small, or you're just "tag fishing" for them. But, properly played, knowing what you're doing on your end of the rod, a good, stiff backed 6wt. preferably a 9'6 to 10'-6 should be adequate.

One more thing................. there are MORE than enough "EXPERTS" in this fun and lovable sport, in fact, when I counted them up, last time, there were NONE.....so please do not TELL ME what; "We can post and NOT post", as answers to our fellow FAOLers..according to your own, given fishing skill. All of us post our OWN experiences, observations and opinions, just like the next person.
Thank you.

Paul

Wow, Paul, that's a lot of "Real" steelhead!

I favor a 10' 7wt Sage RPL for most of my "Artificial" Great Lake's Steelhead fishing, and hadn't given a thought to using a 6wt rod with a 7wt line, but I'm sure that's sweet rig.

John

[flybinder]

John;
If you ever want to try this set up,........ I tried a WF/7/F Bass Taper on my 10' T & T.(6wt.) once, a long time ago, just to see how it would work. It worked so well, it's now all I use for Steelies!!

The extra nose and weight, of the Bass Taper, proved just exactly enough to load the T & T perfectly with the leader/tippet/fly combos I like using. It not only, handles the heavier Steelhead flies, as far as shooting across our coastal rivers, it also is great for "typical Steelhead fishing weather" out here............ rain, wind and more rain"!!
Paul

[Flyguy5910]

Sorry John Rhoades that you feel that iam full of myself but the facts are the facts, with the heavy flows and the size of the river and the fish, you are not doing the fish or the other fisherman any good by down sizing your rig. Fish with the equipment that will do the best job for both fish and fisherman.