Maine Fishing Adventures

Salmon River,NY and Beyond

Journal Date: January 11th, 2009 | Filed Under: Destinations

I am far from being an expert on fishing the Salmon River or any steelhead river, but I have caught steelhead on every attempt I have made to fish the Great Lakes and rivers in parts of Canada. The very first time was in 2002 when I hired a guide and fished the Salmon River. I caught a 7 pounder on a small black stone and lost two pigs and have returned several times since then. I also have fished a couple of rivers in Ontario. There is nothing like a 7 to 15 pound silver bullet ripping line off your reel.

I am just going to give you some basics that have worked for me. The flies below are right out of my fly box and are the only flies I have caught fish on, obviously there are more flies out there that catch fish, these are just the ones that have worked for me.

I use a 10 foot 7 weight rod with steelhead line. I also use a steelhead 8 lb leader with 3x flouro attached to the end. The length that you use depends on the depth of the river. The standard is one and a half times the depth. I think most of the time I end up with an 8 or 9 foot leader. I use two to three bb split shots about 18 inches from the fly but you need to check the law for the body of water you are fishing. I always use a thill indicator and dead drift my flies but a lot of people like to swing their flies, which I do at the end of the drift. I fish for steelhead like I do river in Maine, almost the exact same set up.

The book, The Complete Guide to the Salmon River, by George Douglas, will break down every pool on the river and will tell you how to fish them. It also gives you a brief history of the river and its fishery. It is a great reference book for the Salmon River in NY.