On September 29th the Salmon River saw the best run of salmon so far this season. The Douglaston Salmon Run (“DSR”) was reporting large numbers of fish clogging the river entrance in their morning report and the afternoon report mentioned a client hooking 100 fish and landing 20. While the fishing slowed on Friday, I was still anxious to get on the water Saturday morning. Access to the DSR for the weekend had been sold-out for weeks. The first weekend in October is a common time that many anglers who do an annual trip to Pulaski make their trek. With the DSR out of the equation, I decided I was going to target the public water in the Upper Fly Zone just above the Salmon River Fish Hatchery. I knew this area was not going to hold the volume of fish that were in the lower river, but for what it lacked in fish, it would make up for in limited fishing pressure.
Read moreSecond Chances On The Salmon River
Last Thursday night I finished up work around 5:00pm and headed to Pulaski for the third weekend in a row. To say I had high expectations would be an understatement. On Thursday afternoon the Douglaston Salmon Run (“DSR”) posted a report that their river patrol had spotted hundreds of salmon making their way toward the river at the lower property line. I figured this was finally it, the epic run that was going to see all the Chinook and Coho salmon stacked in the estuary move through the Lower Clay and head upriver.
Read morePatience, Persistence, And The First 2016 Salmon
This past week I was checking the salmon reports out of Pulaski at least three times a day. On Thursday and Friday the reports were the best they’ve been this season, with talk of over 500 salmon in the North channel of the estuary. That was enough talk to get me in my truck very early Saturday morning and back on the road to Pulaski. Once you get the salmon bug, it’s hard to get rid of it.
Read moreWaiting Salmon And Cleared Heads
This past week was a strange one. By Friday I really felt the need to get out of town and clear my head. I was checking the Douglaston Salmon Run (“DSR”) report all week hoping for mass salmon migration from the estuary, but it wasn’t happening. On Friday, one of the DSR attendants reported seeing small pods of fish at a couple locations on the middle and lower sections of the run. This was enough encouragement for me to get up at 1:30am on Saturday morning and make the drive up I-81 N to Pulaski. I knew the chance of seeing a lot of fish was slim, but the reports from the lake have been that there are a lot of marked salmon waiting to run.
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