Spring Steelheading The Salmon River

    


        John K.,Rich ,Joe s. and myself headed to the Salmon River last weekend to get into some spring steelhead before the regular trout season begins . Rich was super excited as the last we fished he picked up my spey rod to cast and discovered he liked it a lot. So much that when he returned home from the trip he purchased a blank and built himself a beautiful spey rod.

       We all met at my house on Friday evening and departed from here . When Rich pulled in we loaded up all our gear and hit the road and arrived in Pulaski at 2:30am.We moved our gear into the room and set up our rods so we were ready to hit the water in the morning.As you can imagine 6am came rather quick , no sooner my head hit the pillow the alarm went off.


      After everyone was finished with the morning duties we got our waders on and headed out. It was a beautiful crisp morning with lots of sunshine and a distinct chill in the air.We walked across the field and down to the first spot of the day located in the upper fly zone.When we got to the water I was surprised to see no one was fishing the tail out so we set up shop here.


     Rich was itching to cast his spey rod so we let him step in first on the hole this would allow him first shot on any players in this spot. After making two or three cast Rich was hooked up with a beautiful male steelhead in full spawning color. It took him a few minutes to land and was well worth the wait! He was so stoked breaking in his new rod in this quick on such a gorgeous fish.It came to a black and chartreuse marabou spey .And as you can see in the picture the smile says it all.. He's hooked on spey fishing !!

      Joe was next up to bat and caught several nice steelhead swinging olive woolly buggers . He is relatively new to the spey game and is doing quite well with it. He is making beautiful cast and hitting all the productive water resulting in a number of hook ups and landed fish.Below are some pictures of the steelhead he took on the trip .Way to go Joe !

        We all watched as John methodically worked his way through all the pocket water which he enjoys doing . But I think he will soon be picking up a spey rod upon seeing how productive it can be.John hooked into numerous fish but all came unbuttoned before coming to hand. As he said it was still a great time and this is why they call it fishing not catching..... Can't wait to do it again as I know John will be holding more than his share of fresh caught steelhead, this guy is a fish magnet

        I managed a few hook ups and landed one fresh hen steelhead for the trip . I for one wasn't expecting a lot because the spawn was beginning and the fishing gets tougher as it progresses.The fish are just not that interested in feeding so you have to fish hard to find the aggressive ones, or some fresh fish that moved in to spawn that haven't gone into full mode yet.

           What a great time we all had with the jokes, friendly banter and a beer or two cases. Throw in some sweet water a few fish  and you've got the makings of a well spent weekend! It surely doesn't get any better!!

                               For the win Jim Beam and Yuengling Black and Tan!