This was my first trip out to the famous Salmon River in Pulaski, NY and it was a GOOD trip! I'm screwed now.... I have the steelhead bug. Me and a buddy arrived about mid day on Friday and got settled in to our place and were on the water by 1pm. It was snowy and the roads were slick so we went down the road @ 1/4 of a mile to the fly zone. I didn't feel like getting back in the car and driving more at that point. There was @15 miles of fishable river below where we were. My buddies transmission was also having issues and wouldn't go into 4 wheel drive so we decided to stay close. We fished all up and down the fly section and saw many people hooking up thru the afternoon but not us. It was crowded and the very good runs were taken so we decided to wait for a spot to open. I got impatient and decided to fish the opposite side of the parking lot where I saw a deep cut under a dead log. Looked like a good place and no one was in there. Wasn't very long before I was hooked up. It was a big bastard because he took off for Lake Ontario like a bullet under the bridge and broke me off. It was enough to get my heart pumping. Once my buddy saw that he came over and I moved down a little so we could fish the run together. Shortly after he hooked up and lost that fish too. We both had a couple more hook ups and lost the fish before it got too dark to see. The tippet wasn't breaking the knots were failing. We both were running 8lb flouro so we decided to use mono the next day. I think it was just too cold for the floro to hold a decent knot. We knew there were fish at the bridge so we went back on Saturday. I got my self right back in the same run by the dead tree before anyone else moved in there and hooked up 10 more times thru the day. The knots held this time. However I could not land a fish in that spot by my self with out a net. Had great hook sets almost every time. The bank was very steep with rocks and bushes and the water was over my head in places up above. There was a reason why no one was over there. After about the 3rd hook up I said the H#@* with it I've spend two weeks tying flies and drove a long ways to get here, I want to touch one of these bad boys and I'll do what ever is necessary to beach one. Wish someone had a camera it's a wonder I didn't break my neck or worse fall in the water, but I did it!!!! I had to weave my rod around thru a couple bushes, slide up and down the bank a few times but was able to get him up against the bridge and between a log. Wasn't a monster maybe 6-7 lbs but it was my first steelhead on a fly! It was a dark male with a bright red stripe and that's what I wanted. It was just too cold and not easy to get a picture. Tough to do everything quickly by your self with a big fish flopping around. Next time! My buddy got a nice fresh chromer on the opposite side of me latter on. Someone helped him net it and the same guy had a bogga grip. He went a little over 12lbs. He was VERY happy he's been up there 5 times and never landed one. He told me I sucked across the river (in fun) cause I got one on my first trip. Of couse everyone heard it in our area and a little banter started up. All in fun. We had intensions of going down river to the all the famous spots but with my buddy's blazer acting up we stayed in the fly zone. The fly zone WAS crowded but I was having a blast just hooking up where we were. It was great practice, feeling the take, setting the hook and getting the rhythm down. These guys are nothing like the brookeis and salmon I'm used to. Never LFTFF is a little saying we have " Never Leave fish to find fish" and we stuck with it. From the people we spoke with thru the weekend it seemed the fish were all up in the upper sections of the river anyways. Not much was happening down river from where we were. I WILL be going back...... and bringing a big landing net!!! Maybe a little earlier in November next time not turkey day weekend. Holiday traffic was bad on the way home and the day off on Friday for some didn't help with crowds on the water. I've heard all kinds of bad stories of people getting into fights, slashing tires, etc. just general bad behavior at the SR under crowded conditions. We never saw it in fact people were friendly, sharing techniques and if someone had a net they'd drop their rod and help the guys out that were hooked up.

BTW big stones with a little bit of green peacock flash in the thorax was thee FLY. I figured the fish had seen a 1000 egg patterns by the time they got to my spot.

Nice story Paul. No pictures I would love to try that kind of fishing one day as Lee say's before I get to old to do it. Maybe they will come up with a viagra for fishing. That way the old man north of the border still could go. Good story glad you had a good time. Now that you have the bug I am sure you will get some pictures for us. Dave V