Quick hit

Got out a couple of hrs--landed 1 small king and a skipper--only pulls I had--plenty of steel around but the 10 guys w/o passes put a damper on where I could fish---both came on pink estaz---switched to pink cause there was plenty of leaves in the water.

Yeah metal there was a lot a color in the water when I was there over the weekend. That always slows down the bite...

Hey kudos to you for taking out 10 people fishing... hopefully they some what knew what they were doingthat for your sake...

aaa

Our time will come HT,our time will come.....patience!

Maybe an expert can correct me if im wrong; but id venture to say that is a skamania you got there lacrosse... one more round of applause from me... way to go...

aaa

ORIGINAL: draketrutta

you should have used your Gold's Gym/Creatine based muscle mass to chase the trespassers away from your pay-to-play water chute...

Wouldn't have been so bad if the jackwads weren't crossing where I was fishing.

For once in my life I wasn't feeling that aggressive today---btw the leaf hatch looks to b about 60% done as of this am--wind has been blowin pretty good today(or I'd b back up for the night bite--lol).

Funny thing happened b4 I switched to pink and the invaders came in---finished my drift w/ 1 of WB's famous "stop and go" flies---it was a lil past below me and I went to water load the rod for the next cast and about a 10lb chromer came flying out of the water chasing the fly as it went into the next cast.

aaa

That's a beautiful Skam, Lacrosse...what did you estimate weight at, looks like solid 15lbs to me...pretty color nice shape..what'd she take?

Sharp pic, love it when they behave so well for the camera

Beautiful !!!

Tight lInes

Hey metal,

How were the leaves this past week, peak hatch right now ?

What makes that fish a Skamania?
It looks like all the fins are there.
As fat as she is it looks Chambers Creek to me.
A beautiful fish either way.
Am I missing something?

The stocked skams originally had a double clip, one pectoral clip and adipose, that was changed about a year ago to an adipose clip. According to DEC they've had successful natural reproduction recently hence many being wild and not clipped. Sometime's it is hard to tell especially when the Chamber's Creek(Washington strain) get colored up after they are in the river a bit. Fresh fish seem to be easier to identify, with the Skamania having the pinkish gill plates and a slight rose colored lateral line/body. The Chambers Creek fish have the distinct iron colored backs and dime bright bodies, usually no coloring or very little on fresh fish.

The heads of the two species seem different with the Skamania being more elongated vs Chambers Creek fish have that bullet shape head, hence silver bullet's. The Skamania was actually stocked thru eggs from Lake Michigan steelhead.

Also, most if not all, early fish(steelhead) are the Skamania strain, as the Washington strain(winter run) usually enter the river late October onwards.

My observations over the years as well as what I've read and discussed with DEC and hatchery personal. It's all good,even the target weight over the years has been an unbelievable 12-15 lbs.


Tight Lines

Outdoor Activities » Fishing » Places to Fish » Great Lakes/Niagara River/St. Lawrence River Fishing » Steelhead Fishing in Lake Ontario Tributaries






Steelhead Fishing in Lake Ontario Tributaries

Two distinct strains of migratory rainbow trout called "steelhead" are stocked into Lake Ontario. These are Washington (a winter run strain) and Skamania (a summer run strain); both originally came from the State of Washington. All rainbow trout strains are native to Pacific coast watersheds of North America and Asia.

Washington Steelhead



Mature Washington steelhead begin to enter Lake Ontario tributaries in small numbers as early as mid-September. By mid-October the run has intensified as the water temperatures of the streams drop to the optimum range of 45-58 degrees F for migration. The late October thru November period, before water temperatures get cooler than 40 degrees F, is typically one of the best times to fish for Washington steelhead in the tributaries as they are aggressively feeding. As water temperatures drop into the 30's, the run will slow considerably; however brief warming periods will bring new fish into the tributaries throughout the winter months of January and February. Spawning usually begins in Mid-March and continues through late April. After spawning, the fish begin to drop back downstream to the lake. Hungry and no longer distracted by the spawning ritual, these "drop-back" fish begin to feed heavily and can provide excellent fishing on some tributaries into mid-May.

Skamania Steelhead

Skamania are a summer run/spring spawning strain of steelhead which was developed by the State of Washington from wild stocks on the Washougal River. Currently Skamania strain steelhead are only stocked in the Salmon and Little Salmon River's. These fish can enter the river as early as May with the bulk of the run coming in the June - September period. Skamania fishing tends to be "hit or miss" and is very dependent on the river condition. Conditions which can stimulate a run on the Salmon River are special recreational water releases or rising water levels caused by heavy rain showers. Skamania tend to race up the river quickly, so timing is critical. Your best chance of catching one of these powerful fish is during and immediately following one of these periods of increased flow. Even though Skamania enter the river during the summer, they will not be sexually mature and ready to spawn until late February through early April.