Rob: One need not worry about the "do not eat thing," as that is typical to all salmon and steelhead once they enter spawning rivers. Takes, may be due to space invasion, which I think is the response to hardware and plugs, an innate or instinctive reaction to rising or passing flies, or just the chase response to an escaping morsel.
The strip like mad thing, from my past readings, is used mostly on fish holding in dead water pools. I've not seen that used on our western steelhead. Another stunt to wake up stupified pool fish is to "stone the pool" to get them moving and alert.
I've not done Atlantics, but the fishing is about identical to our western summer steelhead according to a deceased friend that spent several years in Maine. One's usually in flowing water with structure or bottom features that let fish hold in a near uniform current with little effort. One seldom finds them in deep boiling pools without a consistent direction or flow.
We cast almost straight across the stream, mend the line belly upstream a couple times to keep the downstream bow out of the line and let the fly/s sink, and then try to get our lines as straight as possible with more mends as they approach 45 degress. At that point, the flys start rising and tracking across the current. The rest is just standing and watching as the cast swings across and straight down stream. Most takes happen between the 45 degree point and the down stream hang. Ocassionally a fish will grab just as a fly hits the water, but it's rare.
Our western steelhead statistics suggest 9 hours of fishing per fish landed. Those truly in the know though can get into fish every 20 to 30 minutes. There are certain locales that are established lies. One can fish 1/2 mile of river, and there may be a 40 yard section in the middle, with no particular character, that will consistently produce fish every morning and evening.
Our party has pounded about 25 miles of one river here in Oregon over about 30 seasons, and can typically tell one within 5 to 6 feet of where he should expect a take. With that knowledge, one begins to skip hundreds of yards of non productive water, and concentrate solely on the hot spots. Extremely efficient.
With some experience, one can get a feel for a variety of obvious holding waters, but again, there are spots with no character, that will always hold fish too. Those are the locales only experienced guides will know about. On crowded streams, it's a race to get to obvious known water in the morning and evening. The more subtle spots or difficult to wade areas can be had with no competition at all.
Rising or cloudy water can generate a total turn off for flies. Hardware folks though can still piss them off and get strikes in those conditions. That being, a short 1 or 2 day trip, can be a hit or miss deal if condtions go off. Our group typically does 7 to 12 day floats. With a window that wide, we may have 2 or 3 zero days, and 7 or 8 killer days. We have had trips though where an extremely cloudy tributary can trash the river for an entire week. In those instances, we entertain ourselves with hiking, photography, watching wildlife, arranging scorpion fights, and rustling up rattle snakes etc.
With a guide or some experienced company, one can get into fish in short order. When I moved to Oregon, I put in about 14 full days of fishing over two seasons for steelhead, and never had a single bite. The wife and I each did a day with a guide, and scoring fish instantly became a cinch.
If you or your friend are not intimately familiar with Atlantic salmon fishing, one will learn volumes and most likely be rewarded by employing a WELL referenced guide. This is one of those deals where a well schooled 5% are responsible for 90% of the season's catch.
Again, good luck and hope it comes together. Sorry for the length here. 1Minute
Last edited by 1minute; 12/07/09.
