Tom and I set up about 50 yards downstream of the bridge at the tail-out of the bridge pool. There were a few guys fishing across the pool from us as we began fishing. After about an hour without any hits (for us or the guys across from us) we decided to walk upstream of the bridge into the fly-fishing catch and release area. We set up in what’s affectionately called the “Old Farts Pool”, so called for the easy access and fish-ability. The Old Farts pool is long and somewhat wide. Tom started at near the top end of the pool while I began at the tail-out. The water was running hard and it took awhile to get the right amount of lead to make good deep drifts without hanging bottom. The Salmon is well known for its gear grabbing rocks and other submerged obstacles. A good strategy for fishing the Salmon, or for that matter, any stream, is to make several casts with a specific fly pattern and then change it out to something very different. I started with a bright cluster egg before changing to a green halfback stonefly. On my second cast with the stonefly I hooked a very nice steelie that after a few jumps, threw the hook in short order. No problem! I was happy to have hooked a fish. I moved up 10 feet from where I was standing and immediately hooked another steelie and this time, with Tom at the net, I was able to land it. The fish was about 5 or 6 pounds and colored up dark indicating that it had been in the river for sometime. Tom asked if I had any other green halfbacks that I could spare, and I gave him a couple. Tom headed back to the very top of the pool and tied on the green halfback and on his first cast hooked up a steelie. I was happy to return the favor and net Tom’s fish. The afternoon fished well, both of us had hooked up several fish and landed 5 between us. As the early afternoon faded into a darker, wetter late afternoon we decided to call it a day and headed for the Double Eagle. Later that evening we made the decision to head west Tuesday and fish the Oak.

The weather forecast called for dropping temperatures, strong wind and snow showers for Tuesday….again typical late fall W NY weather! We were on the road at 4:30 am and completed the 2+ hour drive west without issue and arrived at the Oak just before 7 am. To our pleasant surprise, the parking area was not particularly crowded. The weather report was right on the mark; chilly and windy. We got our waders on and headed down the access path. The water level was lower than I had expected it to be. The reports I had read a few days ago claimed the creek level was up at medium flow, but what I observed was much lower than medium, in fact lower than it was two weeks ago. Didn’t matter we were here to fish and catch fish! Most of the small crowd were up stream at the Archer Pool or downstream in the "frog water", so Tom and I took the opportunity and set up in the long access pool. The sun wasn’t fully up yet so we both started with bright cluster eggs. It wasn’t long before I hooked up and landed a 5 pound steelie. Following that, Tom hooked and landed a 3 pound male brown. Great start to the morning! Over the next few hours, we enjoyed a few more hits and hook ups before the morning bite ended. After getting some food and warming up, we headed back to the stream. Tom stayed at the access pool and I headed upstream to fish the Archer Flats pool. I quickly noticed a pair of browns setting up in the gravel near the opposite bank. I positioned myself upstream and made several casts with my favorite afternoon blue egg cluster fly. The male brown was first to jump on it! Nice fish, about 6 pounds. I got my camera out and made a short video clip of the action and a picture before releasing him back to the gravel bed (where he made a bee-line for the female). I waited for things on the bed to settle down before making another cast. A few casts later, the female struck the fly. Another nice fish about 4 pounds. I quickly released her back to the gravel bed and let them be. I continued upstream to the upper Archers pool where several other anglers were set up. I fished there for awhile hooking one more brown. Tom finally left the access pool and met up with me. A few more anglers squeezed in and it quickly became crowded at the Archer pool so Tom and I headed back downstream to the access pool. By this time the weather was turning for the worse, the temp was dropping fast, the wind was coming up hard and the sky darkened up dramatically. Time to call it a day!!!!. The weather forecast was calling for colder temps and lake effect snows for Wednesday so we decided to head back east to Pulaski.

Wednesday morning broke mostly cloudy with cold temps in the mid 20’s. We decided to head up to Altmar and fish for couple hours before heading home. The water flow was up even more than it was on Sunday (more runoff), and was probably running about a 1000 cfs when we set up at the Old Farts pool. The fishing was difficult at best, with icing up guides, cold hands and a strong water flow. After a few hours and a few hook ups each, we decided to call it a trip and headed for home. Neither of us complained the whole way home, we enjoyed two days of fishing, each others company and reminiscing about previous seasons. Tom is already getting ready for next season!