Survey

[tossing iron]

Thought this might help pass the time till the rains arrive.
Simple
State your years experience fishing the rivers.
And your personal most effective baits on opener steel and fall run Salmon.
Late fall steel.

 

[tossing iron]

4 plus decades. My god I'm old. Lol
My most successful spring opener baits.
Sponge ,usually Orange or yellow.
More double digit days than I can count and second would be single egg.
Fall salmon.
Again sponge . Second choice , the more recent pinkie.
Fall steel .
FLIES

 

[Paul1913]

Fishing salmon 20+ years started with my father but took a break in there so many 10 in total.

Best bait for opener, fresh roe bags. Recently adding beads which help under right conditions

Salmon well.. fire tiger style spoon / rapala

 

[Paul1913]

TI how do you rig the sponge. I’m curious. Do you trim it to make it look like egg?

 

[Huronfly]

Been river fishing 6 years now.

Bait? never used any. Opener steel- black stoneflies, pheasant tail nymphs, san juan worms
Fall salmon-I'm still chasing resi's... then straight into ---> fall steel.

Fall steel-marabou spey flies, has to have some black in it.

 

[tossing iron]

TI how do you rig the sponge. I’m curious. Do you trim it to make it look like egg?

Just simply pull a piece off Paul.
Roughly the size of a single egg.
Shape it with your fingers or if you carry scissors a quick trim.
Penetrate with hook.
Drift

 

[rich_ace_G]

I've been salt water fishing since I was 7....started fresh water 8 years ago....salmon, stripping streamers. trout, night crawler.
steel, flies, roe bags beads...centerpin or fly fishing.
I can't say there's one particular offering that stands out, under right circumstance and time in the water. all of them work.
confidence is key.

 

[[email protected]]

Been fishing for almost 30 years, river fishing for 10 years.
I use nymphs for steelhead
Big streamers for salmon

 

[IR4Jflyfishing]

This year will mark 15 years fishing fishing the anadromous species..

Spring my favorite fly is this dumb looking black and gold nymph I found in a river 12 or 13 years ago that seemed easy enough to tie. It has become my best producing fly and those of you that fish with me know I have one box full of these dumb things.

Fall run salmon; skein, end of story.

Late fall steelhead, if im on the pin you cant beat roe. If im on the fly I tend to be confident in a black and blue hobo spey.

 

[fisherman2280]

30 years now but I don't look it eh , I grew up at a home that backed right onto a nice stretch of river that had decent runs every year so my brother and I were always out there.

I started by fly fishing when I was a kid but then grew up got old and got a boat so I rarely fly fish anymore.

Ultimate lure was the panther martin in orange it just caught everything. But like anything else knowing how to read a river was key.

 

[johnprov]

Mostly Float fishing for me, been out of the game for about a decade. Use everything for bait and when nothing works or to lazy to tie flies or roe, use worms , worms have never failed me. I recall a magical time in the early 90's when the streams of Lake Ontario's northern Shores would fill with Brown Trout after the Salmon runs and before the Steelhead Runs. Like you I await the rains, wish everyone good luck and good Karma, stay safe.

 

[Trev]

I started fly fishing first, in the mid-eighties, then float fishing later, in the early nineties.
I think my best pattern for the spring opener was a hares ear, with or without bead head, depending on the flow.
In the fall, my favourite pattern by far was the glow bug. Deadly.
On the occasion that I float fish, I will use a spawn bag or small worm and a stonefly dropper.

 

[tossing iron]

Some great insight here for new and veteran river guys.
Take advantage of these tips and we'll all be rewarded.
Have a great fall season guys.

 

[fishermandan420]

Michigan Cricket is my top salmon fly

 

[tossing iron]

Michigan Cricket is my top salmon fly

Ha ha
Old school swing.
Heads up. That'll work.