I received a call Sunday morning February 11th from a close friend Alex Quayle. Alex had taken a few friends to experience Steelhead fishing on the Salmon River, Pulaski NY. Alex called me around 9:00 AM informing me they were having a great morning, and already hooked into double digit numbers of fish.
What makes this special is, I have been fishing with Alex since he was 14 and am grateful to have been part of his path to becoming an excellent fly fisherman. It is always humbling when the time you invest in others pays dividends.
After pacing around the house for 30 minutes, I decided it was time to take the 45 minute drive and join Alex for an afternoon of Steelhead fishing on the Salmon River.
Temperature was mild for a February morning in NY at 42 degrees with a fair amount of overcast and a slight drizzle, which I was not too fond of. However, I jumped into the car and started heading north.
I arrived at the DSR (Douglaston Salmon Run) around 10:30 AM and was greeted in the parking lot by Alex, smiling from ear to ear. This is the universal expression when the Steelhead bite is on. I quickly strung up my rod, and we headed down the path to the river. Alex filling my ear of the morning action.
We decided to take a couple casts in one of our favorite spots. After casting for about 30 minutes I worked downstream. Alex worked into were I was fishing, like an expression of how the student has exceeded the master, he quickly landed a beautiful Steelhead, followed by a beautiful domestic Rainbow Trout.
We each proceeded with several “fish on!”, “fish off!” hookups. Those of which Steelhead are quite well known for. As the afternoon progressed, we worked our way upstream to fish a couple of other spots. It did not take long to bang a couple more beautiful Steelhead.
The 2017-18 Steelhead season has been nothing short of something very special. It has been a few years since we have seen Steelhead numbers like this in the Salmon River, Pulaski NY. I am grateful for the fisheries we have, friendships I have made on the water, and for every day god blesses me with time on the water. As always, I would love to get you out there!
