Dave lands a Winter steelhead. Congrats!

Salmon River NY Steelhead Fishing Report's, Forecast's, Tips, Ramblings, Articles, Enjoy!

Best fishing in many years and it's not over yet!

(I'll be guiding into May. Still have a couple of dates open, if intrested)

All of those fish that had to run by us this past Fall and Winter are all sitting above us. Some have already started to drop back down the river. Those Steelhead have to pass all of us once again, giving us all another opportunity to play with these magnificent memorable fish.

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3/31 - A good percentage of the fish in the river are actively spawning. A lot are all finding mates or have found their mates and are now edging closer to their spawning grounds as we speak. These are still holding in the normal current breaks for this water flow. The balance of the fish in the river are the drop backs. We are starting to see these now. They will be in their normal current breaks for this flow of water. Eating everything in sight to rebuild their strength back.

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Almost every piece of water running into the lake or the Salmon River is with fish, in our area. Ye-haa! This is a great time of the year to either walk all of the surrounding creeks, river or streams. Or, fish all of your normal spot's on the Salmon River. We all have SOOOOOOOO many incredible options to choose from presently. You could pretty much just flip a coin on where to fish. They are EVERYWHERE!

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Presently, you pretty much have Steelhead that are in all stages (start to finish) of the spawn. (Entering the river, finding mates, pairing up, thinking about building a red, locating themselves to different area's, males fighting over the females, etc....) Each stage is unique. Each stage normally puts different requirements on the fish and causes the angler to adjust. (In my opinion, but what the heck do I know. :)

I heard a rumor that it might start to warm up in August? (he-he) Time to check the weather. I hope your enjoying the fishing as much as my guest's and myself have been and I hope to see you on the water with your rod doubled over!

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Lot's of water saturated snow all around and especially up on the tug. Today, 3/31, we have a lot of rain, thunderstorms, very high and gusty winds and finally warmer air temp's forecast over the next several days.

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Things can and often do change around here in a day. Expect a lot more water in the river and all of our local tribs with the balance of some fresh steelhead running in. With the ground being 100% saturated with water this will cause additional run-off. This is all very normal and to be expected. Not an issue related to the fishing. Once again, no matter the flow, ton's of options. As the water levels fluctuate, we simply adjust, just like the fish do. :)

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The drift boat - wade fishing for steelhead continues to remain excellent for some, ok for others and slooooow for smoothers. This is normal and I dont foresee any changes. All fishing techniques are working, all with different success rates, which again is normal.

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A Sampling of Fishing Reports from some of March's Steelhead Trip's on the Salmon River NY:

Where the land ends LIFE begins

May devoted anglers read these words and relive the simple pleasures of finding - and landing - the big one.(The fisherman's book of wisdom )

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My 1 guest and I had a great day! He played with over 8 Steelhead by himself! Ye-haa. Beautiful day and hardly a sole on the water?

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Just when I thought yesterday would be a hard day to match, todays guest's did. My 2 guest's pounded out about 14-15 Steelhead. Carl had never landed a steelhead before. Today he lost his cherry by landing one.

He also played with more Steelhead in a day than ever before. He was ecstatic along with myself!

We had a number of highlight's for the day.

On almost the first cast into the hole and almost at the exact same time both of my guest's hooked up. Doubles! Talk about a Chinese fire drill with lines crossing, up - down. Exciting to say the least!

T.M. could not believe what happened in the next pool. On 3 cast's, he hooked up on all in a row. One after the other.

We batted 100% on spot's and played with fish in all. A grand day all around. Succeeding in all aspect's of my guest's goals. Dam, I love this job! :)

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Today we hit 5 Steelhead with 2 new Salmon River anglers while landing 1 of them. Great day all around.

Randy

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My one angler who was brand new to the river used a fly rod and got to tangle with an amazing 10 Steelhead for the day! Wow.

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Another amazing day with 9-10 Steelies. Hit them in 4 out of 6 places. Dont gwet much but'a!

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Sounds like a broken record but another 9-10 Steelies with my two anglers.

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In another days fishing we tangled with 5-6 Steelies in under 4 hours fishing time. Im finding fish in every spot! Ye-haa! Come get'm. Fishing has been hot and looks to continue. Still a few open dates for April - May. :)

Some anglers having a slow time of it while others doing ok to great! Very normal. All the creeks are with fish. (Hint:) Such a nice guide to share. Hope it helps you to hook-up.

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Another fun day with my 2 guest's playing with 7-8 Steelies! Everything working. Have fun, Randy

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By reading the above sampling of March's Fishing Reports. You can see why I'm recommending you make the trip up here. Also, you can tell that the fish are pretty much spread out evenly in just about every single current break that fish's at its optimum with the correct water level.

No matter whether it's 400 cfs or 3,000cfs. (Please see the below article on Habitat and Reading the Water if you want to learn more about this.)

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Another way to say it and or report what Im seeing:

I have sooooo many fishing options presently. Im not sure whether Ill fish the UDL, Norwell, Snout, Salmon River, diversions, branch's of some of these trib's., Candies, Lil, Pucker Brush, wade, drift boat, fly-spin, etc, etc...or a lil of all.

The life of a guide. he-he

There are soooo many good options presently, I may just flip a coin in the morning.

Im finding fish in almost every hole on the Salmon River. Also, we still have fresh fish coming into the river and also starting to see drop backs. On top of this we have fish in all the normal places that have not gone to the gravel yet.

**** So, if they are running in fresh, been in the river for awhile and have not gone to the gravel yet, are spawning and seeking shelter during the day in the closest deep water or are dropping back, this puts them all in the normal places you would fish the Salmon River in this flow. (Heads, seams, tails and sometimes the gut or hole within the hole - just another name or example of a current break)

I hope this makes it all a lil easier to understand. :)

Best Fish's,

Randy

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Countless people have been guided by me and most have gone on to live normal lives :)

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April and May will be some great fishing if you have the time. Lot's of fish around. I'd recommend coming up.

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I sincerely hope that what Ive been able to share with you over these past 30 or more years has helped you along the road to becoming a better, more informed, experienced angler.

Thanks for stopping in and spending your valuable internet fishing time here. :)

Go get'm!

Best Fish's,

Randy

Done