 Salmon River NY Fly Fishing: It's Whatever You Want It To Be
Posted by jeremy on January 11, 2006
(3608 reads)
Business brought me to New York and visions of steelhead brought me to the Salmon River. Yesterday was all work and today was mix of both work and fly fishing. At certain points of the day I was obligated to be on the computer or the phone. However, there were windows of time when I could throw on my waders and make a few drifts. Tomorrow is all fly fishing. Kranefly, Waterwhippa and myself are gonna pound the river and tribs hard tomorrow. Oh yeah, I forgot one thing. The air temperature is almost 50 degrees. That is rare for January and that is why I had to morph a business trip into a steelhead trip. Anyway, sorry to go off on a tangent. So, today I could not really go too far from my hotel and to be honest I did not really want to. I was by myself, I had work to do and tomorrow is really the day I had set aside for fly fishing. So, a window of fly fishing opportunity presented itself at about 10am. Coincidentally, that is a very productive time of day during the winter steelhead season. I said to myself, "hmmm..where should I go?" Then it came to me. "Atlmar!" Altmar was perfect because I could park the car in the
parking lot, fly fish a mere 20 yards from the car, relax, have a cup of coffee, shoot the breeze with some other fly fishermen and be back in my hotel in a heart beat. This was gonna be great and I was so excited. I grabbed a coffee at Dunkin Donuts and headed up to Altmar. There were a fair amount of people standing in the usual holding spots but not too many and plenty of room for me. So, I made my way to my favorite drift. Slow, slow, slow water. Many of the fly fishermen were using the bottom bouncing technique and it would have been tough for them to get a drift in that slow water. I was hoping there might be a steelhead or two in that drift that had not seen a fly. So, I went with my usual setup. Indicator, a little bit of tin and a light pink glo bug egg pattern. I cast my rig into the river and waited patiently. It seemed as though my indicator was barely drifting. Then it moved and moved fast. It ripped! A giant steelhead had taken my fly. I thought to myself, "Wow! This is a good steelhead. I certainly was not expecting a fish like this today. The steelhead put up a nice battle and made a few blistering runs that covered the entire width of the river. Actually the steelhead almost bumped into the guy’s leg across the river from me. I managed to land the fish and another fly fisherman was kind enough to take a quick photo and we released him back into the pool. A few minutes later, the guy who almost got bumped by my steelhead had a fish on. A nice fish too. Big and bright. I kept my line out of the water as he battled his steelhead. He landed it and I could see that it was a beautiful fish. I looked at the time and headed back to my car. I had my fill and had some things to get done back at the hotel. As I was putting my rod in my car I heard someone say, "Hey, I recognize you from the Flies And Fins website." I looked and it was the guy who almost got tackled by my steelhead. We shot the breeze for a bit. I complimented him on his steelhead and he did the same. We talked about salt water fly fishing from a kayak, Maine, the Delaware River and agreed that it had been a phenomenal year for steelhead on the Salmon River. Truly, proof that the internet has made this a small connected world. Here is the embarrassing part. I am terrible with names and I think his name was Steve? Whatever, I am sure we will cross paths again on the river or online. "Steve" if you are reading this, please forgive my memory lapse and correct me if I am wrong. Anyway, my point to this article is this. Today, I had a great time in Altmar and my perception was changed forever. That is not say that I will fly fish there all of the time or even more often. I am simply saying that it is fun and today I would not have wanted to be anywhere else. I was not interested in trekking through remote tribs, or scaling cliff walls or covering miles and miles of river. And, I realized something else today. As I get older, and that is an absolute certainty, I may come to enjoy places like Altmar more so than the places I enjoyed two years ago. People, preferences and perceptions are always subject to change. And, that is what makes life fun for me. If our preferences and perceptions always stayed the same, it would get ruthlessly boring. The truth of the matter is this. I had a great time and really enjoyed fly fishing with other fly fishermen. Sometimes, solitude is a little too solitary. Other times its not. Whatever the case, as of today I have an entirely new perception of Altmar. It is just as much fun and rewarding as fly fishing anywhere else in the world. Believe me, the steelhead in this picture fought just like any other steelhead of his size would and I was just as thrilled as I always am when I won the battle. I am always learning more and seeing things in a new way each and every time I visit the Salmon River. The Salmon River is much older than me. The Salmon River was here long before me and will be here long after I am gone. Imagine all of the footsteps that have walked its banks. Imagine all of the Steelhead, Salmon and Trout that have entered and exited. Imagine the stories that the Salmon River could tell. The Salmon river is not just, "The Salmon River." The Salmon River is a legend and if you have ever stepped foot in the Salmon River than you are a piece of that legend. The Salmon River and everything about the Salmon River is meaningful to me. I do not just see the water and hear the wind. I see the fishermens footsteps from today and times past and I hear the immortal "Fish On!" echoes that reverberate off the canyon walls. This trip, I have learned that the Salmon River can be whatever you want it to be.
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Re: Salmon River NY: It Can Be Whatever You Want It To Be
by Shaq on January 11, 2006 http://www.theanglersnet.com | | Yea!!!! As much as I don't like fishing in ALtmar, it has saved many many trips. Great job, I'll be pulling into town Thursday at 7am |
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Re: Salmon River NY: It Can Be Whatever You Want It To Be
by greg on January 11, 2006 http://www.fliesandfins.com | | I will be out there next week and hope to have the luck you had. I need a good pull on my line and am ready to sacrifice whatever to get a Steely. Chrome will getyou home. |
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Re: Salmon River NY: It Can Be Whatever You Want It To Be
by waterwhippa on January 11, 2006 | | Great read. That last paragraph is a phenomenal piece of writing. Often it is all a matter of perception and yours is right on the money when you refer to the Salmon as legendary. VIVA LA RIVER SALMON |
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Re: Salmon River NY: It Can Be Whatever You Want It To Be
by RickW on January 12, 2006 | | Well said Jeremy, there are parts of the SR to suit all your moods. |
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Re: Salmon River NY: It Can Be Whatever You Want It To Be
by baneser on January 12, 2006 | Jeremy,
My name is Davis, I was the one you spoke to in the lot on Wed., sorry I wasn't able to get to the DSR today, would have loved to watch you fish some more. It was very impressive to see you pull a fish like that out of the water you were fishing. Using an indicator well is a thing of beauty, and is a mystery to watch. Hope to see you again up there, or maybe on the coast somewhere.
Davis |
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Re: Salmon River NY: It Can Be Whatever You Want It To Be
by uncledan on January 12, 2006 | | how was the fishing today? you are a fisherman first class. uncle dan |
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Re: Salmon River NY: It Can Be Whatever You Want It To Be
by patm on January 12, 2006 http://www.yankeeford.com | | great looking fish. you sure lucked out on the weather on this trip. wish i was out there. |
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