River Salmon?

[pikeattack]

i don't consider fish "fresh" unless they are chrome in colour, old boots, even if you do see them coming in, its not their first time coming in, the dark fish have been coming in and out, the chrome fish come up from the depths and shoot in, that's what i call a fresh fish, anything dark isn't fresh to me.

[BlackandTan]

i don't consider fish "fresh" unless they are chrome in colour, old boots, even if you do see them coming in, its not their first time coming in, the dark fish have been coming in and out, the chrome fish come up from the depths and shoot in, that's what i call a fresh fish, anything dark isn't fresh to me.

Chinooks get dark because they stop eating, it has nothing to do with them coming in and out. The colour of the fish depends on how long its been since its stopped eating. Hence why some salmon are jet black in october and november.


Rich.

[MarkB]

Good timing. Must have been pouring.
From your earlier pics it didn't look like you guys were anywhere close to that low in the system

Habs,

The first picture was taken 3 years ago (2011 run). It rained that morning, and as dusk set in, there was a run of salmon that came in.
We started close to the mouth of the river and walked up a few km's from around 5 or 6 pm. Fish were clearly running up. You can see the photo was taken at night. We had fish literally running up in between our boots.

Second photo (of my son) was taken the day after a rain, in the late afternoon, during the 2012 run. We started fishing close to the mouth, and could see them coming up into the river, but it was way to crowded, so we got in our car and drove further north (about 1 km) to a quieter spot. It was clear at that spot that fish were coming up steady and moving up, not falling back.

Anyhow, yes in both cases the timing was VERY good. We tried going last year and didn't catch it right after a few attempts, so no good pictures to show for out of our creek. We went to Bowmanville instead and caught a few nice fish. And it wasn't pouring at the time we did catch those fish in the pictures, so I'm not sure if you are saying it needs to be raining for fish to run. That isn't correct. Rain does need to feature, but as long as that fresh water is coming out of the river (even days later), the fish will run. If that isn't correct, I have to get a new set of eyes, because they would be lying to me. LOL.

Pikeattack,

I disagree that dark fish have come in and out of the river. We fish via boat in Lake O, and we catch dark fish in 140 feet of water. In fact most fish that are caught from early August to September out of Lake O are dark, unless you are talking about shakers or immature 2 year olds. There's no way these fish would have entered the streams, otherwise they would be dead from the high temperatures, they wouldn't last 1 day.

[MarkB]

BlackandTan is 100% right about that.

Anyhow, it doesn't matter what you believe pikeattack. I'm going to be clear on my facts, those fish were jumping out of the water when hooked, it took 20 minutes to land them, it was not easy, it was not like pulling on deadwood, we had great equipment which I credit to landing the fish, I saw them running from the lake (yes not that fish, but I did see those fish coming up several hundred feet and believe they were part of the run).

My conclusion, fresh salmon out of the lake can be caught on 5 to 6 lb test line, even by 10 year olds.

[Habs]

I'm not sure if you are saying it needs to be raining for fish to run.

I didn't say that. It was in response to your statement


"they are coming from the lake into the river by the dozens per minute".



Don't see that often on a sunny afternoon. Perhaps you mean the Niagara.

[fishfreek]

BlackandTan is 100% right about that.

Anyhow, it doesn't matter what you believe pikeattack. I'm going to be clear on my facts, those fish were jumping out of the water when hooked, it took 20 minutes to land them, it was not easy, it was not like pulling on deadwood, we had great equipment which I credit to landing the fish, I saw them running from the lake (yes not that fish, but I did see those fish coming up several hundred feet and believe they were part of the run).

My conclusion, fresh salmon out of the lake can be caught on 5 to 6 lb test line, even by 10 year olds.

Forgive the lad, he is only 15 and a hard head.

[MarkB]

I didn't say that. It was in response to your statement


"they are coming from the lake into the river by the dozens per minute".



Don't see that often on a sunny afternoon. Perhaps you mean the Niagara.

Oh, OK I understand. The dozens per minute was actually in that first photo, they started coming in like that at around 5 or 6 pm at night, if I remember correctly. It was overcast that day. This was actually in early October (very late run) so the days were becoming short, and by 6 pm it was starting to get a bit dark already.

In the photo with my son, it might look bright, but it wasn't, it was also overcast. Taken I believe end of September-ish. My guess is it was about 4 or 5 pm.

I absolutely agree with you, and have never seen salmon run in full daylight. From what I have seen, they wait until it (a) rains or (b) it has recently rain and their is some good flow and dusk is about to set in. There could also be an early morning run, but I've never seen that myself.

[intothedeep]

Wow, those salmon have serious power! Much stronger than a Muskie or Laker of similar size. They either spool you or snap the line... I've gotten two to hit so far not snagged today, but they got me beat... Lol. They are nice and fresh too. A few more hours left, but not too optimistic. Still a nice sight to see them.

[MarkB]

intothedeep - what rod are you using. For me that is the key between landing a salmon in the river and not. I have a 14.5 ft Raven. It really is a superstar rod. For big jumps it still keeps the tension on the line, for runs it knows when to give.

I wouldn't want to pull in a salmon with anything less than a 10ft rod. I'm sure others have managed, but it gets really difficult below that (unless the fish is snagged with 15 lb line).

You have to admit one thing, even though you lost those fish, it is a pure adrenaline rush eh?

[Pondo]

intothedeep - what rod are you using. For me that is the key between landing a salmon in the river and not. I have a 14.5 ft Raven. It really is a superstar rod. For big jumps it still keeps the tension on the line, for runs it knows when to give.

I wouldn't want to pull in a salmon with anything less than a 10ft rod. I'm sure others have managed, but it gets really difficult below that (unless the fish is snagged with 15 lb line).

You have to admit one thing, even though you lost those fish, it is a pure adrenaline rush eh?

Long rods make all the difference in the world. The rod does the work far more than the line and thus allows for lower test to be used. Looking forward to some of that rush myself this Friday. markbellino, do you fish Oakville?