The Newbie Meets the Steelie

Recently, my cousin Jon came up from Florida with his buddies Bill and Chadwick.  Jon grew up spending a lot of time on the shores of Lake Ontario, but he is fully Floridian these days.  He is more acclimated to fishing for tarpon, snook and redfish.  The guys came up with the hopes butting heads with some big steelhead.

This most recent outing was a great reminder for me on how exciting it can be seeing a newbie steelhead fisherman get out on the water.  It seems like it is nearly impossible for an angler to experience the beauty of the area and the magnitude of the fishery and not already be planning a return trip before they even leave.  In the case of Jon, Bill and Chadwick, they have began talking about coming up in the fall and again next spring to fish in Pulaski. 

On Fiday 3/25, Bill had a great day with Tony Gugino of Tony's Salmon Country Guide Service.  He landed 10 fish, not bad for his first trip to Pulaski!  You can read about it and see the photos on Tony's website here.  When Jon spoke to Bill on the phone that afternoon, he told me he could hear Bill smiling through the phone.  Not an uncommon reaction!

While Jon didn't get on as many fish as Bill, he still had a great day.  Jon and I went out with Skeeter Scoville on the Sandys and had some pretty consistent action.  Most importantly, Jon was able to land his first North Sandy steelhead!  I think Skeeter's excitement to landing this fish may have rivaled Jon's!

One of the fondest memories of a newbie introduction to the Salmon River was helping Kris Perritt catch his first salmon in the fall of 2009.  It was a nice little coho taken on the Salmon River.  Kris was ecstatic and it is certainly a moment I won't soon forget.  One of the best outcomes of that day was the fact that I have gotten a new fishing buddy out of the deal. 

Sometimes it seems that secrecy abounds in the angling world.  Locations and methods may be kept locked up in the mental vault in order to keep your honey hole safe.  I don't necessarily disagree with this, you won't see me telling the world which particular hole I did well in when I write a report from a day on the water.  Some things need to be learned by trying it on your own.  However, I will gladly take a newbie steelhead fisherman out on the river and show them everything I can in the hopes of getting them on some fish.  It is pretty easy to turn a first timer into a lifelong steelhead junkie.  It happened to me, it can happen to you!