Fly Fishing for Salmon- Video
Fly fishing for Atlantic Salmon in America is now pretty much restricted to a very few streams in Maine, and to the rivers of the Maritime Provinces of Eastern Canada and Newfoundland. Only a very small percentage of American anglers have a chance to cast a fly for this great game fish; but for those who do it, it is an experience they will never forget. The utterly wild northern forest land through which the salmon rivers run, the romantic fishing from a canoe on clear, rushing, white-water streams, and the interesting woodsmen who act as guides, a)) combine to give a romantic setting to this sport that sets it rather apart from any other fishing in the world. Then, too, the leaping, slashing fight put up by this sleek, silvery king of the Northern Atlantic streams is something not paralleled by any other fly fishing except that for Steelhead on the Pacific Coast.
In spite of the tremendous amount of tradition surrounding Atlantic salmon fishing, the technique of casting, stream tactics, and the playing and landing of the fish is very much like that used for Steelliead. Atlantic salmon run larger in some rivers, and the fishing is usually done from a canoe; other than that, the methods used for Steelheads, and also very many of the standard trout tactics, apply to fishing for Atlantic salmon.
Dry Fly Atlantic Salmon Fishing
DRY AND WET FLIES FOR SALMON
Dry fly fishing for salmon is extremely interesting and will take fish under the right conditions—when the water is clear, the temperature is over 55° F. and the fish are not lying too deep. Except for the flies being larger and the fact that you fish the water rather than fishing the rise, dry fly fishing for salmon is done much as you do it for trout. The salmon stay in the pools and main current more than trout do, but just about the same as Steelheads.
As with their Pacific cousins, wet flies, bucktails and streamer flies, fished down-stream and across by the action method, is the way most Atlantic salmon are taken. The natural drift method with an underwater fly, however, is just as liable to solve your problems with salmon as with trout. The hand twist retrieve and the rhythmic jerk retrieve are both useful. Because of the deeper water, it is a good thing to let the wet fly sink for a few counts before starting the action retrieve. If you are using the natural drift method with a wet fly in deeper water, cast so that the fly can have a chance to sink well before it reaches the spot where you think the salmon are. When fishing a wet fly for Atlantic salmon, don’t strike as fast as you would with trout. A salmon takes a wet fly more deliberately and goes to the bottom with it. All you need to do is tighten up the line firmly and the salmon hooks himself.
SALMON LEADERS
Salmon leaders run from 7 ft. all the way up to 20 ft. X like a Steelhead leader tapered from .020 to .010 for Atlantic salmon, varying the length according to the water. The clearer and more quiet the pool the longer the leader should be. For murky or fast water, a shorter leader is better.
Salmon fly sizes run all the way from 2/0 to No. 12. For most purposes No. 4 and No. 6 are good sizes to use, just as for Steelhead.
A good variation in standard fly fishing practice for salmon is to use a bass bug. Fish it just as you would for bass. In some circumstances the salmon take a bass bug better than any other fly. Grilse go for bass bugs especially well.
All your trout lore will come in handy on some occasions. Skittering a dry fly, especially a bivisible, across fast current sometimes work; as do many other strategems that have been proved on trout. After all, a salmon is much like a mammoth sea run trout, so why shouldn’t trout lore pay off?
