The King of Fish!

My target for today's fishing adventures was the almighty Atlantic salmon.  My first quest was to the Newfound River in Bristol, hoping to find some landlocked salmon washing out from Newfound Lake for the fall spawning run.  I threw around streamers and wooly buggers for about an hour with no results and no sign of fish.  So I decided to head down the road to fish the Pemigewasset for some broodstock Atlantics.  I went to the same spot where I had the small rainbow on a few nights ago.

Before walking down the river bank, I did my best to pick out a pattern that I thought would entice a salmon to strike.  I chose a size 4 Jock Scott which is a classic Atlantic salmon pattern.  Since the salmon aren't actually feeding when they're in the river, there is no way to "match the hatch".  This can make it hard for a salmon newbie like me to choose a fly but it can also make your life a little simpler by just trying different patterns until you find one that works, instead of trying to analyze insects and find a matching pattern.

I started by swinging my fly through a fairly slow moving run that I had no idea if salmon were present or not but it was the only spot that I really knew in the area.  I tried all sorts of different techniques like stripping and dead drifting my fly in the same area with no results.  Right when I was about to give in and start targeting trout, I remembered something that I had read in a report from NH Fish and Game about fishing for broodstock salmon.  The report said that fishing the seams of fast runs is often a successful technique.  I noticed that the same run I was fishing was slightly faster just upstream with a massive bolder interrupting it.  The bolder was long and skinny and created a perfect seam between it and the current.

On my third cast along the seam, it felt like I had hooked into submerged freight train.  The fish went airborne  almost immediately after hooking it and started peeling off yards and yards of line.  After not even landing a trout in weeks, this was one of the greatest feeling I have ever experienced.  After 20 minutes of intense battle (on 2.7 pound tippet) I was able to land it.  It was a salmon!  My first true Atlantic salmon.  I've caught quite a few lanlockeds before but never the sea going type.  It was about 20-22 inches and in the 2-3 pound range.  My hole body was shaking with adrenaline but I somehow managed to snap a quick picture before releasing it immediately.  It readily swam back towards the seam that I pulled it from.  It was an amazing experience that I will never forget!

 This is the Jock Scott:

I wish I had something to compare it to in the picture but I was by myself so I had to make do.  More people should give the broodstock Atlantic salmon fishery a shot!  Can't wait to get back out there!