Salmon River - Might be in Trouble

Well the past few trips on the Salmon River have been very tough. Most fisherman and guides that I have talked to said the same thing, one or no fish. A few guides that fished egg sacks and soft plastics reported that they are getting into a couple fish, but all in all its been very slow. So there will not be any fish pictures in this post, only fishing and hot lunch photos.

The main reason that I am writing this post however, is to spread the word about the dying steelhead in the river. Yes dying fish have been floating upside down, and gasping for air. When anglers first started seeing these fish, it was just thought that some jerk upstream had released the fish without reviving it, many people have tried to revive them and some actually swim away. However, later down the river they flip back over and continue to suffer as they die, and end up in the back eddies with the salmon skeletons. This past weekend two DEC boats with biologist in them were floating the river collecting fish for testing. No one know exactly what is going on, but please keep your eyes open for these dying fish, as much as you might want to revive them, I would just let them go by. Hopefully I will have more information for you soon. In the mean time keep fishing, and enjoy the winter weather!!!