Troutsource
11-01-2014, 05:13 PM
Fished the American from about 6:45 to 11:00 this morning. Not a lot of half-pounder action, but I was blown away by the number of salmon moving upstream when I arrived. In a 30-foot wide riffle/rapid there must have been 7-8 fish moving up simultaneously, non-stop for the few minutes that I stood and watched. I was in a state of disbelief. When I first heard the racket as I started down the bank I thought there must be a few deer crossing the river. (Last week I saw maybe 1 fish in the same area, but I did arrive about 45 minutes later last week).
About two hours later after I worked my usual route downstream, I came upon the gear crowd at a popular slot and they were having an absolute field day -- out of a dozen guys fishing, probably 3-4 at a time were hooked up. It was ridiculous. The only other place I've seen this kind of action was in Alaska or in a party boat. Of course, I feebly tried to participate but didn't really know what the hell I was doing and didn't even get a hit. Some other fly fishermen came in below me and one hooked up while indicator fishing. When I finally returned to the original riffle/rapids, I saw no fish moving. I assume the rain and cover of darkness liberated them from their holding positions and the daylight slowed them down again. Amazing day despite not landing a single fish.
About two hours later after I worked my usual route downstream, I came upon the gear crowd at a popular slot and they were having an absolute field day -- out of a dozen guys fishing, probably 3-4 at a time were hooked up. It was ridiculous. The only other place I've seen this kind of action was in Alaska or in a party boat. Of course, I feebly tried to participate but didn't really know what the hell I was doing and didn't even get a hit. Some other fly fishermen came in below me and one hooked up while indicator fishing. When I finally returned to the original riffle/rapids, I saw no fish moving. I assume the rain and cover of darkness liberated them from their holding positions and the daylight slowed them down again. Amazing day despite not landing a single fish.