Come on up Pemi! There are numerous opportunities along the Lake Ontario and Lake Erie shoreline in NYS. Yes, the Salmon River is one of those options. The interesting thing about the Salmon River is the discharges during the year that will trigger runs of fish. The discharges are a double-edged sword though. Sometimes they are too high and often they are too low.
The other interesting thing about the Salmon River is that you can catch salmon, Steelhead or trout (lake run Browns & Rainbows) 12 months of the year. While certainly some months are much slower than others I can tell you that I have caught them every month except June and that’s only because I have not fished it in June. It gets a decent run of Skamania (Summer Run Steelhead) and some Atlantic Salmon in May and June especially but these fish will be found right into August/Sept and this is when the first Salmon and Steelhead start entering the river.
As far as Steelhead goes, you have the above mentioned Skamania, they you have your fall run Steelhead and domestic Rainbows and your winter/spring run Steelhead. The vast majority of Steelhead will not spawn until spring (March/April) but some will spawn in the fall. We do have a run of fall spawning domestic Rainbows there as well.
Many will tell you that the Salmon River is a mad house and too crowded during the height of the salmon season (Labor Day - Oct. 30) BUT this really is not the case. Yes there are LOTS of folks on the river at that time BUT 80% of them are simply too lazy to walk more than 300 yards (if that) from the access point. If you are willing to walk, you can have a good stretch of water pretty much to yourself that will be holding fish. Forget about fishing the popular spots during the salmon rush.
You can also forget about fishing the fly-fishing sections for the most part, especially the lower fly zone. This is simply a place where ?fly-anglers? line and snag fish. It?s truly sick to stand and watch all the idiots in this section. Rarely are more than 10% fishing legitimately. Most are flossing or lining fish with slinky weights, sink tips and weighted flies. They know exactly what they are doing but will deny it to the end. I just with the DEC would shut this lower section down.
The Douglaston Salmon Run (DSR) is a good spot, especially early in the season. You will get shots at fresh fish that have not been pounded on but you will have to pay to get in. There is a lot of attitude there from the holier than thou folks that run it but I do fish it from time to time as this is often the place to be early in the season.
Besides the Salmon River there are many other tribs to choose from along the lake shores. Many are small and I will not mention on public forums but some are huge like the Niagara River. The Niagara offers a world class fishery for the fly rodder from October right through April from the river bank. The Steelhead runs there are mind-boggling. Big baitfish patterns are crushed with reckless abandon here. The numbers of fish can be high enough not to be believed when you tell your buddies who are not familiar with the fishery. Further south you have the famed Cattaraugus River which flows into Lake Erie about 45 minutes south of Buffalo. This is another amazing fishery and these fish come to flies very well much of the time.
Back toward Rochester you have the Genesee River which I fish quite a bit but it can be very tough for the fly rodder. The river is over 200 miles of clay banks so it runs stained on a good day and cloudy most days. The killer sandstone and shale in the river also eats fly lines for lunch BUT when conditions are right you can do very well here and have shots at some very large fish, including 20+ pounders.
I think this will be my 29th year chasing Steelhead and salmon here in Upstate NY. We?ve got a great fishery here and that?s why I haven?t moved away : )
Here’s a bit of eye candy from a trip this past spring
This is an early Sept Fish. A chrome bright ROCKET!
Jeff - AKA Dr. Fish
If it has fins and swims than I must chase it!
