Salmon River Fall & Early Winter 07
by Walt Geryk
December 11, 2007
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Sept 20 thru Dec 7: Another good to outstanding season depending on when you were here and where you where. Fantastic runs of feisty cohos beginning the third week of September and continuing into mid October were the high light of the salmon season because these salmon were able to run the entire river system easier than their much larger cousins, the King Salmon. King salmon fly fishing was outstanding from the estuary right up to 2A, with the best opportunities in the Douglaston Salmon Run. Daily runs of nice fish entered this area only to be pushed back down river and lower due to lack of water. A small mix of browns showed up in October with large numbers of steelhead too. So far, the steelhead season is off to one of it's best starts in many years with many trophies mixed in with the great numbers of five to seven pound silver bullets. With all this said, a very promising spring is in the forecast.

Low Water: Poor flow conditions early on wreaked havoc with the salmon runs, with very few making it up river to the fly zones and more important to the hatchery. Needing 3.1 million chinook eggs to continue to provide a great New York Fishery, may have fallen short this season with estimates of approximately 2 million eggs collected. But there may not be a reason to be alarmed due to natural reproduction, only time will tell. This is a great reason to Practice and Promote Catch, Release and Ethical Angling for the future. If the future of 3 years from now does has a small return, there will be much finger pointing as to why. Sure, some will say there should have been a contingency plan for mother natures inability to provide the much needed rain. The old adage of "not to worry, the fish have to come" has now proven not to hold water. But what if most of those salmon were released by fishermen, maybe the egg count would not have been an issue. Remember in three years, for those who come here just kill your limits and more, they themselves may be the cause for their own displeasure. Again let's wait and see!

Hey Walt,
I've been meaning to send you and email in regarding our .salmon trip this past October,  My father and I were very pleased with choosing you as our salmon river guide, the knowledge that you shared with the both of us has made me a .better fly fisherman and has my father hooked on fly fishing. 
My goals for the trip were to learn the proper techniques to catch salmon without using weights and to show my father how to fly fish and experience the thrill of catching a salmon on the fly, you went beyond our expectations and showed us a day of fly fishing that we will never forget.
Looking forward to book with you again next season.
Tight line, Matthew Swett
Shelton, CT

Flies: This fall and into early winter not many changes were made to the old reliables. Large Wooly Buggers for fresh aggressive salmon were effective as well as for steelhead. Soft hackle wet flies produced many fish that were staging and in the holding mode. My flesh flies and egg patterns fooled plenty of steelhead up river while fishing behind salmon redds.

Upper Fly Zone: For the most part early on, this area could be fished in September and early October almost exclusively by yourself because there was just a few fish spread through out. A great time and place to work on traditional fly fishing techniques such as my new Bob B Method, Vertical Tipping and other specialty mends with a few hook ups duringthe day.

Drift Boat and Wade Trips: Wade Trips were the daily routines and were very successful as we did not see good drifting flows until October 30th. November float fishing trips for steelhead have been good for my fly fishing clients, the experienced averaged five to eight daily hook ups and beginners in the three to five per day. Not all were landed, but that's real traditional fly fishing, some days the fish were more active and aggressive and others we found them hugging the bottom, tight lipped and uninterested. Those days were slower then most and luckily for us, we encountered only a few of them.

MoreFall Photos

" Holy Cow "
Traditional Fly Fishing for New York Salmon River salmon and more!

" What a Thrill! Thank you Walt for showing me that I could hook up and land New York salmon without added weights to my leader. It was a real pleasure spending the afternoon with you. "
Bill White, Pennsylvania

Left: After fly fishing other methods, Bill decided it was. time to catch a NY Salmon while Traditional Fly Fishing . After speaking with a friend, Bill was introduced. to Walt for an afternoon of fly fishing without added weights, just a mini-sink tip line and large buggers. Soon after, Bill was doing battle with a few trophy salmon, landing this mean green female.

Right : Patti is showing off a September estuary salmon. Drifting and. pulling buggers resulted numerous viscous pulls and hook ups, some nearly tearing the rod from. her hand.

Reserve Early for Prime Time Days of Fly Fishing Spring Steelheading 2008

Practice and Promote
Catch, Release and Ethical Angling

Learn from Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing, Guide Walt Geryk, tips on becoming a better caster, or just learn how to cast a fly rod, on how to read water for safety and fishing, present a fly and much more.....

Use Orvis Rods and Reels and Walt's own custom made sink-tips.

Enjoy time in the outdoors, while learning from Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing, Guide Walt Geryk, tips on becoming a better caster, or even just learn how to cast a fly rod, how to read water for safety and fishing, present a fly, experience the fight of a fresh water trophy and much more,
without using the chuck and duck method.

"Leave the Water a Better Flyfisher!"

For more information on Walt's services, view his web site and be sure to sign up for Neff-News and refer your friends to do the same so all can stay up dated on what's going on with Northeast Fly Fishing Waters.