Oops

Here's HT trying to squeeze in amongst the crowds ripping the redds on the UFZ last week.

hot tuna


Twobob:
It was very crowded in the UFZ last week as it always is.
My advice to all is don't bother going to them there are many other better spots to stand shoulder to shoulder chucking as much lead as your rod can handle.

so i guess this was sarcasm.
hard to tell in black and white.
if you read carefully i said i hadn't been there.
 
my pics were to point out that there was plenty of open water outside of the zones.

It was sarcasm . Just because you found some open water outta the zone does that mean I was fishing the wrong place ?

There are spots to cross at 750 but why ??

What's funny is how a thread about a regulation change can develope into where is right to fish and where is not.
Last I checked it was free ( sometimes) fishing in open public water.
Man I so want to spend a months wages now to fish real waters instead of this artificial nonsense here in new york

hot tuna

It was sarcasm . Just because you found some open water outta the zone does that mean I was fishing the wrong place ?

There are spots to cross at 750 but why ??

 
did i somewhere say that it was wrong to fish the zones.

fichy

Many choices depending on flow. Only a couple I would use at 500. Bottom of Paradise,  and  the shallow break before the last bend. At 750  I'd just stay fishing the fast water along the bank. At the current flow there are numerous if you are a strong wader.  But what do I know? I don't fish it that often, but it has its moments. Of course, it's for  flyfishermen who only fish shoulder to shoulder and don't know no better, or was that sarcastic?   By the way, you can see HT is fishing good  water for redds. A deep seam with large rocks and no gravel. Perfect.   That was being  sarcastic. 

why yes it was sarcasm.
 
reality is that the zones are usually crowded.
or is my memory wrong on that.
i will have to try and go up when the lfz opens and find all this open water i have overlooked.
also sarcasm.
truth is while sarcastic the zones take a lot of pressure off the rest of the river.
 
if i am right the place he is fishing would under normal flow have a heavy gravel riffle dumpling in to it  and with from what i read in your post one would not want to cross the river to reach.
from the giant stone staircase wall on the south side it looks like a vary nice  piece of water but not from the south side.
how else do you reach that side under any kind of regular flows rate.

I like the south side.

hot tuna

Yea we didn't see any open stretches like that up there at all, never do in the fly zones. I'm sure it was because the lfz was closed. Man if it was open though I sure would have been there at o'dark thirty to get my spot.

Your right about fish water up there in these flows. Screw all that In between deep runs , the shallow gravel was where it's at. Nothing like raking the redds for fish as that's the place to do it. No other place on the river with spawning grounds like that.
Shucks , now how can we duplicate 2 # 5's with regs like these. Glad I got my kicks before 10-1 came around.
Guess we'll keep lots of 30 lead wire handy to bulk those flies up a bit.
Really , how many wraps does it take to equal 1/2 oz ? Gotta have enough to get in the zone..

P.s.
When does one fish for these atlantics ? February ? Shouldn't need weight at all , the water is usually low and clear at that time. Sinkers would only spook them and they wouldn't want to chase your fly down.

i've always thought it was a may thru nov fishery.
never enjoyed the funds to partake so i am certainly no expert on it.
have you seen pics of the matapedia, cascapedia or the alta rivers.
they seem to hold a goodly amount of water even during the salmon season.

Lol tuna...

Honestly, for the past fifteen years or so ive often thought that id like this fishery a whole lot more if it was cohoes, rainbows, browns and atlantics... i could do with out the chinook in all honesty

dimebrite

Twobob, for traditional rivers like restigouche, matapedia, marimichi...etc.... may thru november is definitely the window. The restigouche in particular has its largest mature salmon running in early june through early july but late in june it starts to mix with griltz... as far as ive always known the atlantics do winter over and run back to the ocean in the high waters of spring run off... i believe they are commonly referred to as black salmon at this period in time... i also believe the few anglers that target these fish are local types as it is hard to time when they will be hot...

Bottom line here... lets just fish and be happy...

 
i've heard the term kelts used for them.
similar to what are referred to as drop backs here.
skinny remnents of the fish that started the spawning run, hungry as a lumberjack
after clearing a stand of redwoods, eager to feed with minimal reserves of strength.

Man if it was open though I sure would have been there at o'dark thirty to get my spot.
HT

Fishing Hours, Season Dates & Boundaries

Angling permitted: from 1/2 hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. Trespassing prohibited at night.  -Fly zone regs on DEC website
 
I have a friend in Western NY who bought the house and land with the first set off riffs up from the Lake on one of the better Salmon and Steelehad streams. He owns both sides of the stream, so there is no chance of an Oak Orchard move on his land, the bottom clearly belongs to him in the deeds and titles.  For the first couple of years he left it unposted, but after cleaning up poop in his front yard, having to hunt down unannounced visitors so he could get out of his driveway, and general verbal abuse, often when he went down to his stream to fish and found it crowded with people, he hung up the posters.  Now it is open to invited friends, and they are numerous, and a few guides (you know who you are!).  But even with the restrictions, the run, which will accomodate about 4 anglers comfortably,  is often crowded.  His solution was to install a bench.  If the number of fishers is handled by the run, everyone fishes. But if new people arrive, they sit down on the bench, and those fishing are expected to cast, swing and move downstream, and when the top of the run opens, the person on the bench the longest starts at the top, while everyone else shifts over one spot. This way, everyone who wants gets a crack at the fish.  This practise, which is common in the Pacific NW, Canada on public salmon water, and the salmon streams of Maine at popular pools, is called rotation, and it helps to eliminate some of the stress of territoriality, and the O'dark 30 race, which could get you a ticket if DEC decides to enforce the hours.  While it my be too utopian for New Jersey on the Big Lake, especially during king season, it would go a long way to making the zones less of a real estate war zone and more of a fraternal angling spot.
 
L13 

Since you mentioned it lucky, im sure many wish they were at the lfz right now as it is PACKED with salmon!!!

The rotation deal is a descent idea, but in reality who's gonna monitor it??? You know there will always be that azzhole or azzholes that would ruin it for all... i dont really see that working

The whole river is a joke right now though... as usual i caught the salmon i wanted and have been done for quite some time now. I dont see any fun in catching tired over pressured salmon amongst many people in sight...
Although the cohoes and trout down low may bring me back out sometime soon...and of course im gpnna meet up with pafisher to wet a line for a few ;)

Hey Tuna- you guys are still early birds- I dont generally get to the river till mid morning at best. Just dont care about numbers and like to sleep in when on Vacation. lol. I know it makes me miss the usual early movement but hey- there is always PM.
 The comments bout the Zombies kinda hit home- not me personally- Hope-last week there were many around upper river and this week in mid river there were practically none at all. -new fishes. Not even many deads mid river. and  hens that were fresh dead looked spawned out.
  The LFZ gotta have a thousand fish in it and none are sporting white coats as yet and perhaps only a couple of deads seen.
  Looks like a whole new batch of fish  had moved up and DSR continues to report more on the way.
  A great, memorable, stretched out King run for sure.

Rt . See I have no stake in Oswego county except fishing in NY and its fishery.
It's not by far the only fishing in NY I do.
So for me to devote miles from nowhere , here , it's about fishing.
It's not always about a tug or harvest but it's about being in the game.
I'm good with a days effort put in .
O'dark thirty gets old , real fast and it's going to get cold up a tree soon but I'll still be trying to maxamize my best opportunity .

I like to support all regions here and to maxamize my dollars and cents as well.
Some day I hope to retire..