Steelhead and Salmon on the Fly

This past weekend I fished the Salmon River in Altmar, NY (west of Pulaski) with my brother Doug and his friend John. We again stayed at the Tinker Tavern Lodge with guide Scott Glazier. Scott is a full time resident of Altmar and year round guide who has been featured in episodes of OTW, so he has the detailed local knowledge to put you on the fish. I really enjoy fishing with him and highly recommend his service. This was my first trip to target big salmon, as Scott had recommended late October as the salmon are still in the upper sections of the river, and a large population of fresh steelies would be working their way up as well. I made the 5 hour drive up Thursday evening, fished on my own Friday, and managing to hook into some salmon and do a bit of exploring. Fish were stacked in several locations. My knowledge of both the area and fishing methods is still pretty basic, so I quickly found myself running out of what the fish were hitting on, and carrying lots of useless gear. Oh well. The next morning we were all on the water at 4:45am to get to our first location. Fishing doesn't begin until dawn. After a short drift we reached our spot. One advantage of drift fishing is getting to spots ahead of walk-ins. We were ready when dawn broke, and so were the fish. Doug and John landed their first salmon, while I lost my first few hookups. Steelhead were mixed in among the spawning salmon, and I ripped my egg out of ones mouth. I cast back and line shout out through my fingers. As I came tight, a big chrome steelhead exploded. I rarely fly fish, and to say I'm a novice is pretty accurate. Now I'm hooked up with the ultimate freshwater target. To say I was pumped to land this fish was an understatement. Over thus course of the day I managed to hook and lose numerous fish, proving the "on and gone" is no myth. I'd definitely have to put my fist steelhead on a fly rod right up there with my first tarpon and marlin.

Montauk is going' off!

Got a call from Jack last night that Montauk was lit up with acres of bass and blues puttin' on the feedbag for the run south. Put 8 keepers in the box in 45 minutes and then it was all catch and release. Called him back this morning and he was back out there with the same results. I could hear guys calling "fish on" in the background. Either it's really good fishing, or he's trained his clients to start yelling "fish on" whenever he answers the phone. Wind is supposed to shift to the east Wednesday, which will probably put a damper on things for guys running from CT.

Watch Hill to Race Point 9/29

Fisher's Island NY
9/29/2011

Thursday 9/29
A day late (or hour) and a dollar short! Kinda sums up my trip Thursday. One of the downsides of chartering is that sometimes you just have to roll the dice with dates. Can't say that we came up snake eyes, but I have fished better days. Fished with my "baby" brother Doug (in video) and Capt. Steve on the Lauren B., a veteran of these waters who will go above and beyond to try and put you on fish. We started out at Watch Hill at 6:30 in heavy fog, encountering some leftover messy swells and no signs of fish. We worked in to Sugar Reef and Wiccopesset Passage. Nada. Visibility was no more than a few hundred feet. Rather than bounce around blind, we decided to work the north side of Fishers Island so at least we would be sheltered. We worked the ENTIRE side of Fishers all the way to Race Point, picking up a few blues and getting a few bass to hit. Nothing big. Decided to stop back by Napatree and Watch Hill before heading in. Weather was clearing and the tide was beginning to go slack, but the albies were in. A guy was hooked up on a fly outfit and a second boat was hooked up as well. I missed a strike and the school was gone. Another popped up a few hundred yards away and was moving towards us. The boat next to us doubled up and then I hooked into a fish. It took two hard runs zigzagging away, and then a hard turn to the boat. I lost the fish. The tide seemed to go completely slack, and that was it. We moved over to Watch Hill where lots of birds were chasing numerous schools, but the fish weren't really hitting. I hooked and lost a second, and that was it. We were an hour past our charter time and had to head back. I'm pretty sure the boats out there would killed them as the tide picked up again.

Sunday 10/2
Went out in the little Gemma Rose hoping to catch some albies and worked from Goshen Point down to Brothers. No albies, just schools of small blues here and there, but still lots of fun.

Fall Trout Fishing Picks Up as Water Settles Down

Albies Show, But All I Got Was The Blues!

My fishing schedule has sucked as people expect me to go to work! Got out today (as did half of CT, RI and NY) to try and chase some stripers and albies. Ended up with the blues. Went with Capt. Jack and my good friend and Anglers' Pledge recruit Dave. He's now been out four times this year (beginning w/ one of 'Lungs cod trips) and loves it! Big lone choppers were roaming Watch Hill early as the tide was coming in, and for the first hour or so it was steady hookups with lots of break offs as they sawed through 80lb. test leaders. The fish were in the low teens. As the bass, which had been off and on here all through August, never showed, we made a move along the south side of Fisher's to Race Point. The blues continued for another hour or so as the tide began to slack. We were fairly close to what is left of the grounded tug and I had just released a long cast. A school of albies broke thirty feet to my side of the boat. Dave had a line out the other side. I ditched my rod and grabbed for a ready rod to throw a Zoom Super Fluke, but it was too late. School broke again 50 yards farther out. Ten minutes later, a school broke off our stern heading away. I was finishing a retrieve and snapped off a quick cast but came up short. That was it. No albies today. The tide was completely slack, and of the 40-50 boats that were out at Valiant Rock, at least half were motoring in our direction. If there were any more fish in the area, they weren't coming up with a boat idling every 30 yards. As the outgoing tide began to pick up, the fishing did not. We had boats from Orient Point and Montauk over in our neck of the woods, so their fishing must have really sucked. Wanting to get away from the bulk of the traffic, we moved back to Watch Hill, were Dave went off on big blues and a bass which flattened the hook as Dave got over-excited when he drew it up to the boat. I got nada. One hit as I dropped my jig off the backside of a flat-top rock that I know usually has a bass or two waiting. SO in the end, lots of blues, some lost bass, and we at least saw some albies. All in all, a fun day.

Lots and lots and lots of blues.....

The wind was supposed to pick up today, so I went out on the Blackhawk this morning. Great action. 2-3 hookups per drift and 30-40 blues (most released) made for a busy day on the water. My arms could barely lift a beer when I got home (but I managed). Steve, Sal and Matt kept the front of the boat humming right along. Can't wait to go fiahing w/ Capt. Greg and the Blackhawk guys again. THANKS!

World Record Striped Bass Scale "Dead-On"

Last week I heard from a reliable source that the scales used to weigh Greg Meyerson's record breaking stripper had not recently been certified. Though numerous rumors were rampant, I had yet to hear this one, so I decided to check it out. As Jack's Shoreline Bait and Tackle has be inundated, and I didn't think likely to confirm or deny another story, I went to Chris Megan, publisher of On The Water, to try to get to the bottom of this. If anyone in the area had an inside line, it's OTW. Following is the reply I received today:
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Brian,
Most digital scales of the magnitude at Jack’s are pretty dead on, but that being said the scale had not been certified in the last year. The IGFA only requires that the scale be recertified as soon as possible and then they review any differences if the scale was off.
As I understand it, the scale was recertified and came out to dead on with NO need for recalibration so my understanding is that the scale will not be an issue with the IGFA.
Either way, this will all play out during the IGFA investigation of this pending world record, but I don’t believe the scale was a problem based.
Hope that helps explain at least the scale issue?

Chris Megan
Publisher
On The Water Media
Television-Internet-Magazine
508-548-4705 ext 205
800-614-3000
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Thanks to CHris and OTW, looks like this one is put to rest. This is certainly the biggest story in NE Salt Water angling this year, and I am pulling for Greg to receive the IGFA record.

Tight Lines,
RedneckAngler

The Eastern CT LIS Report 8/18/2011

Had a great day out on the water today. Fishing w/ Jack Balint and my friend Dave. Left Stonington at 7:00. A bit late but the tide was changing earlier and I wasn't doing a night trip. Ran straight out to Watch Hill reef and picked up a half dozen stripers on Zoom Flukes. Only one keeper size around "30. As that died off by about 8:00, we ran up to Race Point and the tide was changing, but the bluefish bite was slow. Headed to Little Gull, fishing the Race side and then the sluice between LG and Big Gull. Bite was picking up, but as the tide got going, the water got really murky. Last real move was down the race where the bigger blues were just lit up. As you can see from Dave, we were fishing light w/ soft plastics, making the catching fun. Caught a lot! Dave's been out three times with me, and all three were good days. Once on a cod trip 'Lung set up, a ridiculous striper fest before a major storm, and yesterday. HE'S HOOKED!

ON THE BONITO QUESTION
Have not heard one credible source saying they were in as of yesterday. One nameless charter captain was claiming he was catching a few days ago, but my source says his boat was in that whole day in question. Sounds like he was looking to drum up business. ANY TIME NOW. Albies should follow.

The Niantic Report 8/3/2011

OK. Here's the shoreline report for 8/3/2011. On the water for the "magic hour" before sunrise with a few quick hookups right out the gate in Niantic. Lot's of schoolies feeding on small bait. Hung out at the top of Niantic Bay until the tide began to slack, and then headed over to Goshen Beach/Harkness. Tide was just beginning to turn and I quickly hooked a small schoolie followed by a 32" striper on tube and worm. That seems to be the ticket as far as artificials go right now. Overall, I had a half dozen stripers in Niantic and Goshen, but only the one keeper. By 7:30, the stripers had disappeared and some blues were starting to show off of Little Goshen Reef. As the tide and rip was building, I stayed in. Outer Bartlett's was filled with birds and bait as the tide got going, but again, I was left on the sidelines in my little boat. Ran back to the outflow and hooked a few blues, and tried Black Point before heading in. Day was pretty much over for me by 10:00am. Not a bad morning!

Black Point, Bartlett's and Goshen/Harkness 7/26

STRIPERS, STRIPERS AND MORE (SMALL) STRIPERS!

Out of Niantic early (by 4:30) heading towards Harkness. Lots of bait but no luck casting a variety of soft plastics near the entrance to Goshen Cove. Switched to tube and worm and quickly caught a 30" and several short stripers. The trend was looking like schoolies, so I headed back to Bartlett's and Two Tree, which had been producing bigger fish last week. Nada. Not even a blue to bite off my soft plastics! Over to the outflow where I hooked a decent striper that sent me ducking and diving to avoid the hook it spit. 15 minutes of blanks casting and I decided to move again. This time, across the bay to Black Point. By this time it was approaching mid-morning, the day was beautiful, and I anticipated scup and blues would soon be shredding my Fin-S baits. Hadn't seen any fish on top all morning, so I threw out a tube and worm as I approached Black Point and wham, fish on! Schoolie. Re-baited and set my line. Another fish. Followed by another and so on. Cool. Lot's of schoolies. I can switch to casting. No luck. Tube and worm was the ticket, but there comes a point when even a light setup becomes pretty boring with schoolie after schoolie. After a dozen of these, I decided to head back in. While catching a lot of schoolies is not unusual, the total lack of scup an blues was a rarity. Overall, a nice trip. I'm taking a friend out on his new boat Saturday. Only hope I can find him some fish!