Preserving the Spawn

Saturday I had to work in the morning but around 11:30. I decided to head for Penfield for a little hard luck fishing. I wanted to stop at Home depot on the way. As I made my way to the mall, I pasted through Fishers south of Victor. I pulled into the park there and found several redds in the stream bed. I walked the trail and found 3 dead salmon about 35 inches in length. then spotted one lone salmon in shallow water. So I went back to my truck and put on my waders. Hip boots would have worked, for the water was high but still only 2 feet deep. The main pools were 3-4 feet.

I went back down the trail and came upon a spooked salmon. I had several drifts to it but never hooked it. The technique is different at Fishers, cause from the trail you have to navigate the trees, overhanging brush and nasty rose bush thorns which really have grown up around the stream edge. I left that one and went further downstream, only to find a small king about 20 inches long. It was holding in a 3 ft deep pool in clear ice cold water. So I fished to it as if it were a small trout with an egg pattern. I hooked it's tail for a moment, then a few more drifts and hooked its mouth. It was a fun little fight. The fish gave up too quickly.

Next I went to where the water runs deeper and faster. I spotted a nice size salmon under a bush on the opposite side of the stream. I cast into and under the bush from shore and he moved out into the center of the stream and held in the riffle current. This gave me a better swing drift and hooked up after a few casts. this fish fought much harder and I stepped into the stream to land it. The stream is so fragile I never walk it. I checked out a few other spots and did see a pair of salmon but left them alone. I never did go to Penfield or home depot. No photos.

I am so lucky to have a trib only fifteen minutes from my house. It is hard to imagine the trip salmon must take to get so far south of the thruway. All the fish seamed to have strong tails and not really scared up to badly. One had bone showing on its jaw and gills. I could not think that even the small jacks would be returning to the lake. Seeing salmon in such a remote area made me think of Indians, who once used that same stream as their main hunting ground.

We must always remember to preserve some portion of the spawn for future generations. Be mindful of redds and spawning pairs. Make the most of your fishing by improving techniques for drifting and casting. Take notice of your surroundings and watch for creatures underfoot not involved with your fishing. Don't tread on stream bank securing plants.