12/8/14 frostbite river fishing updated 10/31/2017

[fishy1]

the fish and wildlife told me this is rare on fish and mostly males. im thinking it cant be that rare if everyone is seeing them.

If you are seeing Saprolegnia fungus, a white cotton looking fungus, it is a common disease to see during salmonid spawning activity. Generally males tend to get it often during the spawn, although females tend to get it on the tail, probably due to digging the spawning redd. Males are definately fungus magnets, they become aggressive, fighting with each other and also chasing females around as well. This subjects them to more injuries and stress during this time which leads to bacterial, parasitic and fungal infections. Once the females have dropped their eggs and spawning time is over, the surviving males should be able to recover as long as the infection isn't severe.

thanks so much for that added info so what the fish and wildlife told me holds true. one last thing why are we seeing this on other fish also such as a laker is this the same reason.

[fishfarmer]

Lakers are going through the same stressers during spawning, although I rarely see any fungus on our domestic lakers which are the same fish used for Lake Champlain...they don't fight with each other like the salmon, browns, rainbows and brookies do.

I did notice some older lakers with fresh lamprey wounds during the Frostbite Shootout, fungus will easily grow on fresh wounds and rarely causes issues on a healthy fish.

[troutcrazy]

Thanks for demystifying that, fishfarmer!

[EagleCrag]

Hit one of the tribs today to try my luck with the salmon and had a great day. Met Wayne and it was nice to finally meet him after reading so many of his posts. Also had this guy run into one of my streamers today.

[fishy1]

very nice lou glad you met wayne and sorry we couldnt hook up but from what mike told me you had a great day and are now hooked. thanks for posting your catch also i like the pic. tight lines.

[EagleCrag]

I caught a brown yesterday that had a yellow tag by the dorsal fin. Anyone know what you're supposed to do with them? I released the fish but had never caught a fish with a tag before. Hope I didn't release a million dollar fish! Not sure what info was on the tag as I didn't want to disturb its attachment to the fish.

[Z.G]

Call in the tag number with info on where/when/fish info.

[fishy1]

11/30/2016 hit a river this morning for some salmon and brown action. last day of november and december ist thursday and the frostbite river fishing normally heats up. i was solo at daylight with streamer (mike) joining me at 9 am or so and wayne at 10 or so. i was drinking a coffee as i got to the river and still darkness so i had to wait for the fishing hours as there is no night fishing on the rivers. i noticed some movement in the water near shore and sneaked a little closer i saw 9 salmon just laying there with there backs out of the water. took a pic and a video but nothing come out as the salmon were dark and it wasnt quite light yet. then on to fishing with my bobber set up and dillies. 6:45 am to 9:00 am 0 hits and saw lots of salmon surface. then at 9:05 am a bobber stop and down and a miss. 5 minutes later at the end of my drift bobber stopped and fish on i land a nice 17 or 18 inch salmon. mike then showed up and started fly fishing with no results and had to leave shortly with a sick dog at home. then wayne shows and i have another bobber down and a miss. then wayne gets a bobber stop and a miss. then about 10 minutes later wayne is talking to mike an d i and he tugs on the line and thinking he is stuck pulls hard on the rod and to his amazement and out wayne had a beast of a brown on. a big long fat one. wayne says that one was for the scales. then a little while later his bobber stops and heads up stream a little and fish on wayne lands a nice salmon that he kept for a freind to eat. i had to leave shortly and make my way home and wayne stayed. no contact with him tonight since i think his phone is not working so i dont know how he made out. after a slow start for me the morning ended up on the bright side.image hosting
waynes salmon.

[fishy1]

12/1/2016 hit a river again today solo since wayne had some errands to do. got to the river at 6:30 am with my coffee. my set up once again is a bobber and a dillie since its only natural baits no weights and flys only. a fisherman was already there when i walked down to the river and he was some excited as when he got there a salmon came fan tailing across the river towards him and landed up on the bank of the shore. he grabbed it by the tail and returned it to the river. this is the 2nd time i have heard this happening in 2 weeks. my 4th or 5th drift had a bobber stopper and a miss. threw it back out and bobber down heading up stream and fish on only to shake loose a nice one to. then for 1/2 hour nothing then another bobber stopper and a miss. a short while later bobber down and fish on and it shook loose in the fast water then my rod began pounding wildly again and fish on then off. got to thing it was 2 different fish and when the ist one shook loose i might have foul hooked one. dont know but it was wild for a few seconds. then a couple more hits and the sun came out and then nothing. wayne showed up about 11:30 am and i left at 12:30 pm with one hit. wayne had 0 hits and fished until 1 pm. nice day to be on the river 44 degrees at 6am this morning. no wind until around 10 am and wow did it blow.

[fishy1]

12/9/2016 hit a river today and met up with wayne and jeremy waynes son. got there at 7 am and ist thing walking to the river a deer walked walked right by us. started out with bobbers and dillies. jeremy had several salmon surface near him but wouldnt hit only his bobber several times it hit his bobber. temperature was 28 degrees and a stiff wind made it 15 easily with our guides freezing up. around 8:40 am i had a bobber stop and a miss and lost a dillie. then a little while later we hit another spot and i put on a trout pattern honeybee and wayne a spoon and jeremy a lure. approx 15 minutes or so into fishing i casted out in the fast water and had a good hit and fish on just for a second. got a text from windknot (nathan) and asked about the river fishing. i said it wasnt great so he headed for the lake and asked me to join him . wayne stayed put and i had a couple of errands to do so i texted him back and said ill meet him around 11:30 am for an hour or so. got my errands done had lunch and headed for the lake. will post later on frostbite shore fishing for lakers when i hear from wayne and nathan. it was certainly frostbite time today.

[troutcrazy]

Good idea to fish the river today, fishy1. I tried the lake a little but that wind was too much. I ended up driving inland and scouting small ponds for ice.

Do the salmon taken from rivers taste different from those taken in the lake?

[fishy1]

Good idea to fish the river today, fishy1. I tried the lake a little but that wind was too much. I ended up driving inland and scouting small ponds for ice.

Do the salmon taken from rivers taste different from those taken in the lake?

dont know how to answer your question on tastes of salmon from the rivers to the lake. i dont eat salmon but by hearsay some say there is difference. maybe another forum member can help us with this . i have had some salmon smoked from a river that i liked.

[Windknot]

Good idea to fish the river today, fishy1. I tried the lake a little but that wind was too much. I ended up driving inland and scouting small ponds for ice.

Do the salmon taken from rivers taste different from those taken in the lake?

I've tried both and if you're looking for fish you can make filet's and try some nice recipes with I suggest you stick to 'chrome' salmon (from the lake or in the river fresh from the lake). For example:

Spring-run landlocks are some of the tastiest fish I've ever caught. Once the salmon have been in the river and get colored up the taste is just not the same, though I hear they're still good for the smoker. Just my two cents.

[EagleCrag]

Windknot I second your comment. I kept one salmon from the river (see pic above) that was fairly dark as I'd never eaten a LL before. As table fare I'd rate it mediocre--not great.

[fishfarmer]

Spawning salmonids, especially after the spawn, are generally going to be best smoked or released. All their fats and nutrients have been utilized for egg/sperm production and the flesh will be pretty washed out of color and taste.

Once I kept an April steelhead out of Lewis Creek and had a couple of lake salmon, I put both on the grill for smoking. The lake salmon were firm fleshed with good color, flaked easily. The steelhead flesh turned dry and rubbery.