A few inches of snow dropped on the area but failed to cool off steelhead fishing, said Suzanne from All Seasons Sports in Pulaski. Eight- to 12-pounders pounced on pink, white or blue egg sacks and fat wooly bugger flies, and sunny mornings produced well. Two to four fish per angler was an average catch, and the Altmar area, the Ballpark stretch and the Staircase section were places to be. The river ran at 750 CFS after a flow of 1,150 CFS until Sunday.

Mostly steelhead were fought on the river with High Hook Guide Service, but a few brown trout were landed, Bill Ferman said. A trip Monday produced two browns, and another was lost. Fishing will mostly be about steelhead straight through winter, and the only difference will be that the fish can become sluggish in especially cold waters. But they’ll be caught nonetheless, and fewer crowds can be an advantage in the colder months. Rainbow trout, closely related to steelheads, also move into the Salmon and other Lake Ontario tributaries through winter, and were already around here and there. But rainbows are less prominent than steelheads, because fewer are stocked. Brown trout move up the rivers only a short time in fall to spawn, but some stick around all winter. Real salmon eggs are the bait of choice for steelheads and rainbows. That’s unlike the area’s salmon migration that takes place earlier in the season. Artificial salmon eggs work fine for salmon, but steelheads and rainbows first move up the rivers specifically to feed on the eggs that salmon lay, so they get keyed in on the bait. Fly anglers will club the steelhead on a large variety of patterns, including egg imitations, glow bugs, bright-colored patterns and black or brown stoneflies. Snow fell, including 3 or 4 inches at Altmar on Monday and up to 28 inches inland, and a couple of days brought rains earlier this past week. The creeks ran high, putting the focus on the river for fishing. High Hook both wades and drift-boats for salmon, steelheads and trophy brown and rainbow trout with both spinning gear and fly rods.

Fishing was great through the weekend, despite lousy weather, said Paul Auguscinski from SAS Guide Service. On both Saturday and Sunday his anglers fished the middle section of the Salmon, landing more than a dozen fish—steelheads and brown trout—each day, also scoring multiple hook-ups. Beads fished under floats drew strikes, and blue egg sacks were sometimes fished and were successful. The Salmon River was being raised to 1,100 CFS until 9 p.m. Sunday, and run-off will increase the flow. “Be careful wading,” Paul said. The Oswego River put anglers into lots of brown trout with steelheads mixed in. SAS Guide Service spin fishes for salmon, steelheads and trophy trout on wade and drift-boat trips, and enjoys teaching anglers the techniques that will help them learn how to hook up themselves, in hopes that they can return on their own and catch if they want.