Salmon River Tribs

mcneishm

mcneishm

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In the midst of a marathon tying session for an expedition next week to the Salmon River comes news of lots of rain there such that the river is currently unfishable (in my opinion) and may be unfishable when we get there on Tuesday. As long as I've fished the river, I've never tried the major tributaries, Trout and Orwell Brooks, as well as the Little Sandy (not an SR trib). These streams are reputed to have steelhead in them this time of year but are highly flow dependent. With the amount of rain they've had, there ought to be plenty of water in them. So, can anyone provide some info about them and/or point me to a site where I can find info.

Thanks.
 
Your best bet is to fish the upper river i.e. altmar area. That area is not unfishable from shore at the current water level. Certainly not ideal flow but you should still catch fish.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/44864.html

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/44869.html
 
Yes if the water isn't mud and I don't think it is. Not ideal for sure, but fishable, especially the lfz.

 
BradFromPotter wrote:
moon1284 wrote:
Your best bet is to fish the upper river i.e. altmar area. That area is not unfishable from shore at the current water level. Certainly not ideal flow but you should still catch fish.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/44864.html

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/44869.html
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Fishable at 2300 ?
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How 'bout @ 4200?! :-o

Here is the report from Whitakers:

DAILY REPORT
November 05 2017

Please check the waterline for the latest update, the water level has been increased again. With more rain in the forecast it's no surprise with the change in water level. Please check the water conditions before making the trip.

I would cancel my trip if possible. If you can't, you have the right idea to give the tribs a try.

Put up a report if you do get up there fishing.

Good luck

 

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If you do go up there and find the Salmon to be too high to fish you might consider heading over to the vicinity of Oak Orchard Creek(I'd certainly call ahead first to check on conditions!). Although it's sure to be crowded, I've seen times where it was less affected by the rains than some of the other tribs...
 
4,200 is not worth more than a half hour ride.
 
Unfortunately, this trip is unavoidable. We have to close down my friend's camper for the winter. This will give us an opportunity to explore that we generally don't take when the SR is fishable and full of fish.

Thanks everyone for the tips and info.
 
Burts dam period. Go have fun post lots of pictures of fish you caught..
 
Burts dam period. Go have fun post lots of pictures of fish you caught..
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I see a little space on the right! :p
 

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....wow, doesn't that look fun..
 
The tribs are an option, especially after rain that can bring fresh fish in. However, in my opinion they are still more hit or miss than the bigger rivers, but they are another option. Plus I like the change of pace and when I head up if the water levels are up I like to spend a day or two in the tribs. I like South Sandy towards the lower end which is a gravel bottom stream, but North Sandy and others have pools in ledges which are something different. At real high levels some trickles (which will remain nameless) may even hold fish. Trout and Orwell are fun if the fish are in; catching steelhead in streams that one would associate more with brookies can be a trip. But they all have a learning curve. The crowds will be less and if you find a pod of fish all is right with the world. But if you don't figure it out you may be in for a skunking. I you like exploring you will like the tribs; if you want to be sure fish are there and don't like experimenting the Salmon R is good.

In the main river I have had the best luck on gravel bars at the inside of bends or in the braids when the river is high. The classic inside bend gravel bar spot is the north side of Church Pool in the Lower Fly Zone. When fishing gravel bars at high water fish first without getting into the water. The steelies are often pushed right against shore and wading in can scatter them. Plus, wading at high levels can be dangerous so if I don't have to wade I feel safer.

I have also fished the braids at levels to 2500 cfs. You can try the north side of the Upper Fly Zone (a long walk across the cornfields).
The other big areas of braids are on the south side from Ellis Cove down to Trestle Pool and up from Sportsmans Pool. Fishing the little braids is like fishing smaller creeks and can be a lot of fun when high water pushes the fish in. There will be dozens of small pockets to explore and this usually requires a lot of hiking and spotting - which few people commit to.

Stay safe and don't take chance wading.
 
Here is a tip I've used during high water events:
Fish the slack water areas. The fish will be there.
Find water that is moving at a walking speed and fish the waters at a walking speed..
Use bigger flies than what you would normally use.
 
Pineville is under 3k right now. I still think the SR is still your best bet. You can line lots of fish in the tribs I'm sure but at this level the SR won't have a lot of people fishing and you have a good chance of getting a steelhead to actually hit a swung fly. At these levels, I'd stick to the fly zones.

I've probably fished over 80% of the lake ontario tribs. I'm not an Oak Orchard or Burt Dam guy (or an Ontario trib guy in general). I live within an hour of both of these places and do not fish them. They are total zoos. I stopped fishing them when I was in high school. This time of year, after this rain event, any stream flowing into lake ontario will have fish in them. A decent creek you might want to try would be Maxwell Creek.

When I lived in Syracuse, after a while I would drive 2.5 hours to fish the Niagara River or the Catt rather than drive 45 mins to the SR. I did fish the SR very often and caught quite a few fish, I just got tired of it.

This weekend I will be either fishing a NY erie trib or the Niagara River (or both).

 
Moose and I fished Johnson Creek last week. loads of salmon. some browns,. I did get a hook in a nice brown. One roll and he was history. I did see the fish and it was a good one. Didn't fish the Oak. talked with quite a few who were fishing and the water was shut off which shut the fishing down. The salmon were all ? at the Dam. browns in the creek. Sandy was clearing ,but lots of parking spots were gone due to new guard rails. Canal was due to to drained starting the middle of the month?
Fished Chautauqua Creek on our way through. Better water than Pa. Saw nice steelies taken. Guy using pegged eggs on a pinnerer rig. Cattaragus looked stirred up, but was fishing well on the reservation per the reports . GG
 
SR is now at 2,300. For a point of reference, when I fished the SR, my preferred range was 1,500cfs-2,000cfs. After a while, 3,000CFS was my cutoff where I didn't fish.

I wouldn't hesitate to fish the fly zones at 2,300cfs. It's a little intimidating at first but once you get over that you should get into fish and crowds will be much less than at 500cfs. No rain in the forecast, I'd expect brookfield to cut the dam release down over the next couple of days. They have the release at 1,650cfs now according to the brookfield website. 1,650 is extremely fishable.
The small tribs will have plenty of fish but small streams really aren't my thing for steelhead.

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?04250200

http://www.h2oline.com/default.aspx?pg=si&op=365123
 
1500-2000 cfs is a very high preferred range. I prefer 750-1000 cfs for a nice moderate flow that is perfect for swinging flies for steelhead.

I have fished the UFZ at near 2000 cfs and it is fishable, Just don't think about wading much. Fish the pocket water and edges.

 
Part of the reason for the 1,500+ range is that fishing pressure seems to drop significantly when its above 1,500. The SR is a pretty predictable place and there are tons of fish. It doesn't take very long to crack it. Similar conditions will yield similar results. The fish don't leave the river when the water gets high, they just move to slightly different areas.
 
FYI:
Weather will be the factor later this week a a cold front crosses the lakes. Snow is in the forecast and it could be heavy.
Just saying.
 
Perfect steelhead weather!
 
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