Salmon River Update 23 April 2016
The Salmon River saw a jump in water flow on April 13th, shooting up to over 1300 cfs. With the jump in flow, the river remained clear with many Steelhead and Brown Trout moving throughout the river system. Over the week it has gradually declined to 700 cfs. The water temperature is gradually increasing due to the extremely beautiful spring we are experiencing. This upcoming week will bring a mix of rain and showers on Tuesday and Wednesday, but the remaining days will be 54 degrees with little chance of rain.
We took a trip to the Hatchery on 16th to see what we would have in store for us the next few weeks on the Salmon River and it looked very promising. There were three full pools of steelhead and many in the raceway making their move up. Many of the Steelhead spotted in the raceway could be mistaken for King Salmon based on their size.
The Douglaston Salmon Run continues to report seeing Drop-Backs. Most clients on the DSR have been reporting at least one Steelhead landed and a few misses throughout their days. The beginning of the week, DSR clients were having better success from the mid to high sections of the river. Most of the anglers having success were sticking to trout beads early in the week. They seemed to be most appetizing for the Steelhead throughout the entire river system. Currently, they are seeing action at the lower end of Douglaston with the opportunities of hooking up with a Lake Run Brown, Small Mouth or a Pike that is making its move upstream to spawn.
With the water warming, Drop-Backs are beginning to make their move from the Upper Fly and hatchery back to the lake. Anglers are still seeing pre-spawn and spawning fish scattered throughout the river. All reports indicate that you have to move and cover water to be successful. As a result, there are many drift boats on the river. With water temps approaching 50 degrees, look for the early run of Landlocked Atlantic Salmon and large smallmouth bass in the lower river. Overall, the fishing conditions should improve as we head into next week. Tight Lines everyone!
