The Fall Salmon run during the weekend of 11/7-11/9 turned out to be especially productive on the Finger Lakes Tributaries. Every Fall, a mix of Landlocked Atlantic Salmon, Brown Trout, and Rainbow Trout will run up the creeks. The Salmon and Brown Trout spawn, and the Rainbows follow to eat the eggs. The Rainbows then hold over through winter, spawn in the Spring, and then return to the lake. Landlocked Atlantic Salmon have always been a special fish for me, being the state fish of Maine, my home. I was hoping to find some today, but had never fished these creeks before so was not sure it would happen. I came armed with a a selection of nymphs, egg patterns, and some streamers that mainly included variations of wooly buggers, Mickey Finn, and Warden's Worry. I definitely want to start to hone my skills in both tying and fishing class Maine streamers, though the Mickey Finn and Warden's Worry were the only ones I had tied myself so far. I had tried them on trout and even on walleye (why not?) in the past, but had achieved no good results!
I did not know what to expect today, but I went in humble with the mindset of exploring and enjoying time outside. As I approached the stream, I was looking for shadows in the water and rising or fighting fish. I approached slow so as to not disturb any fish. The water was crystal clear, so even deep pools were visible quite far into the water. Using a stealthy approach, I approached a pool that sure looked fishy to me. The water was very cold through my boots - a great sign. I then saw a flash of a fish at the tail end of the pool - I was not sure if the fish saw me or not, but its belly turned up to the sky for one reason or another. I assumed it was a female salmon digging up a redd. Knowing this, I guessed that there would likely be some males in the pool as well, either defending a redd or swimming further upstream. I had a homemade Warden’s Worry streamer tied on my tippet - a pretty classic and not too complicated bucktail streamer tied with a body of silver tinsel and yellow chenille, wings of yellow bucktail, and a tail of a couple brown feathers (species unknown) that I got in a used fly tying kit. I tied this guy up when I first started fly tying, so it is not the most aesthetically pleasing fly. I figured it would get the job done, and I have always tried to catch something on it, but have never been successful. I unhooked the streamer from my rod guide, sighted the pool, and casted in. I received an immediate WHACK and observed a male Landlocked Salmon absolutely slam the streamer. I could not believe it! I had never had a salmon swim so far to attack a streamer. He came up from the bottom al lthe way so that his dorsal fin was almost out of the water! I was not even ready to set the hook since it took me by surprise, and since the fish hit the body of the streamer and not the tail, I missed the hookset by a mile. Wow. I was so happy to see a fish, let alone one of my most sought after species. I was not even mad at myself because simply seeing one made me so happy. One productive cast deserves another, so I sighted the pool again and cast in again, this time ready and waiting for the beast to come back. Sure enough, the big male returned. He looked at the fly, questioned his choices for a moment, suspecting that something was not right, but then gave it a reluctant but surely irritated whack with his jaws before attempting to dart off back to the depths. Well, that little bite was all I needed. The second his jaws came in contact with the fly, I set the hook. He exploded with very fast and violent head shakes. I could see the hook set was great, right in the left side of his mandible, and I hoped it would not come out with the fight he was putting up. He proceed to tail walk down the stream, and I put him on the reel. He peeled a decent amount of drag, but these Landlocked Salmon are small enough that I felt comfortable fighting him with a lot of pressure since I knew I had 6 lb 4x tippet on. Maybe this tippet was overkill, but I felt confident that these angry salmon would hit streamers and not be too line shy. The fish ended up running back upstream on his own, so I was able to get him in front of me, lift the rod up, and net him in the current. Even in the net he was explosive, and he jumped out the net once! I picked him up fast and grabbed my tape measurer. Legal size for keepers on this tributary at this time of year is 18”, and I really did not expect to catch a Landlocked Atlantic Salmon this size. I measured him head to tail and found he was 21”. I was so honored. I was ready to keep fish today, so I dispatched him quickly with my Papa’s knife.
On the next morning, I tried at another section upstream that actually had a lot of anglers. It was honestly reminiscent of Salmon River during the run, and was not really what I was looking for today. I tried to hook into some big aggressive males I could see chasing each other around, and actually did hook into one. However, I was not confident it was a truly legal hook. It just did not feel right, and I think the fish got hooked when swimming by and did not see the streamer. The hook was in the jaw, though. I pulled the fish in quickly and set him free. It was a huge male, probably 25 inches!
I moved downstream for a more peaceful venture. I walked by one angler who had just landed his first salmon of his life! It was a nice female. We briefly chatted. He had already put the fish on a stringer, yet he asked me what size they had to be to keep. I laughed, told him it would be nice to know that before he put a string through it, but kindly measured it for him. 21”, a keeper!I proceeded downstream from him for a decent distance until I was confident there would be fish that had not been pressured much, or at least had had some time to settle down after running the gauntlet of busy sections of streams. I turned upstream and started working my way up. I crept up behind a fallen log and looked for fish. I saw a little seam next to a pool that looked like a prime holding area, so I casted in a smaller yet flashier variation of Warden’s Worry I tied when I had some more fly tying skill. It had yellow bucktail on its dorsal fin and pectoral fin, with additional red bucktail on its tail, and the same yellow chenille and silver tinsel on the body. It was sleek, I was actually proud of this one! I casted into the seam and, on the first cast, received a fairly light yet sure hit. I set the hook and a female Landlocked exploded out of the pool! I quickly netted her, measured her and found her to be 20”. What a beautiful fish. A quick feel of her belly showed me that she was out of eggs at this point, so I dispatched her and creeled her. I moved slightly upstream to another great looking pool. This stream was just full of perfect holding spots for these fish. I saw a couple males scoot past me on their way to spawning grounds. I casted into the head of the pool and was met with another solid strike. After setting the hook, I had yet another female Landlocked on the end of the line. I had never seen female salmon strike so readily. I assumed it must have been in defense of a redd, but I could not be sure. A quick measure revealed her to be 19”, legal again. She was quickly dispatched and put in the creel as well.
For my first time fly fishing the Finger Lakes Tributaries, I was beyond happy and honored to have caught fish. Overall, I probably hooked into 15 Landlocked Salmon and landed the 3 I wrote about here. I can't wait to return and see what the salmon will be up to in a few weeks.
