7/01/08 - For Brenda and I June marks the end of our year and July the beginning of the next year and for the first time since we can remember (6 years!?) Brenda and I got away for a little R&R. It has been a great year at SRO and Salmon Heaven. We look forward to the following year. Despite the low water during Salmon season, the fishing has been as good as it ever has been especially the Steelhead fishing! We look forward to having Captain Dan helping me out at the tackle shop and the Pirate's pub which Dan reports to me is getting close to completion! I am excited about things Bart and I are planning for the new year including custom rods that Bart is working on that will be affordable even for the novice fisherman (under $100!). Zeke and Mark are also replenishing their fishing mojo and getting ready for a great year. Brenda and I are currently in the Florida Keys visiting friends and "hangin' out." We have been enjoying great Cuban food and touring around Key West at some of the less common sites on our bikes. We visited Tina at the Turtle Kraals, had a great chat with new friend Tom at the Reef Relief, and investigated the possibilities of running some charters in the future down here in the Keys. I'll include some pictures on the photo page! We'll be back tonight and get back to the fishing tomorrow! See ya-al then!

6/8/08 - Another great weekend in upstate NY. On Saturday we had the 2nd annual Walleye tournament. It was all about being in the right spot. It was Hot Hot Hot! Most people got into Walleye at some point during the day. Our activity came right at the end of the day but we did get into the Walleye and Bass! Scott and his bout got the biggest fish and came in first for the biggest 6, Chris M. came in second and Tom came in 3rd. Congratulations to everyone! On Saturday Dave and son Justin and friend Bill went out with me on a 6 hour Brown trip. We got a limit of fish in just over 4 hours. All of the fish were nice size. We spent the end of the trip looking for Kings and hit one for a short time before it shook off.

6/30/08 - This is Brown Trout fishing! Mark and I had Josh, Justin and Lucas out with us on a trip today and it was non-stop action from the go! We landed around 30 fish and lost a bunch more. We trolled north and never had to make a turn. We had several doubles and triples and enjoyed another quintuple! A great group of guys and a great day fishing!

5/26/08 - WE FOUND THEM! After working hard on Sunday to find fish with Andy and the gang (we managed to land three Browns and fortunately they were really nice fish) and working hard to land a few fish Monday AM, we went in serious search mode. At around noon I got the call that Zeke had found them. We pulled lines and headed 15 MILES to the spot. By the time we got there Zeke was pulling lines and heading home with his limit. Jim set lines and bang, three fish on! We landed one set the rods and bang five fish on!!! What wonderful confusion. Everybody had a fish and I was holding a rod while Jim was netting. I could not tell you how many fish we had on and lost, but we had our limit in less then an hour. That will be an hour that Dave, Jamie, Justin and Matt never forget! On Oneida, our guys did ok but they had to work hard as well. Greg and the boys worked hard hard but ended up with 8 nice keepers each day plus some perch, bass, and shorts.

5/18/08 - On Saturday we had to work hard to get a couple of Brown trout but on Sunday the west winds started to pile up the warmer water and the fishing in the southeast basin started to heat up. We took Mike and his wife Michelle and two boys Kirk and John went fishing for 4 hours on Sunday and landed 3 really nice fish and then the guys that went out in the PM land anded 7 nice fish. 

5/14/08 - We have had to work hard but have managed to get some nice fish this week. On Sunday Zeke and I took Ron and Milly out and managed to bring home three nice Browns. On Monday Jim and Fred fished with Zeke and Mark and worked hard but came home with 5 nice Browns. Bart and I took Jim and Fred out Tuesday afternoon and we landed a Brown trout that weighed out at just over 16 pounds and two very nice lake

5/10/08 - We go from unbelievable steelhead season to the lakes and we find limits of Brown trout and Walleye! Today Bart and I brought Dave and his two terrific daughters out for Brown trout and they had their limit by 9:30 am! Mark and Zeke took our guests out for Walleye and they limited of with some nice big fish. We also caught bass, pike and steelhead! Just another terrific day at SRO!

5/5/08 - Mario and came up for a bvlast and cast on Sunday and in the AM they saw and heard a lot of turkey and maybe had a couple in range but chose not to take a chance. Still it was an exciting day getting to call a bunch of birds. In the PM Dan and I took them down the river and they landed 6 Steelhead and had a few others that we did not get in. We caught fish plugging and on pink egg sacks. I can't imagine a greater then day! Good news! Bart's walleye from our trip on Saturday came in 9th place out of 1,500 entries! 

5/03/08 - Steelhead, Walleye and Brow trout! On Friday I ha a trip with Cecil and Greg after-school. We plugged from Altmar to Pineville and landed 5 for 9. Nice big angry fish! On Saturday Bart and I went down to Oneida for opening day Walleye. As of this minute Bart has a fish that is in 3rd place of the Gander Mountain walleye tournament. We took a nice limit of fish and returned several more. Mark did well on Lake Ontario Friday but had to work hard for them today.

4/29/08 - What agreat time Bart and I had after school! We put the boat in around 4:00 pm and decided we would plug down to Pineville. We set up in the barrel and promptly landed one and lost one. From that point on we never went more then ten minutes with out a fish. We landed 8 steelhead out of many and one 4 pound smallmouth bass! This week turkey season and pike/ walleye season open up and everything and all should be excellent.

4/26 - the fishing this week has been unbelievable. If fished everyday this week and we have hit a LOT of fish everyday. There are drop backs, fresh fish, tight fish and loose fish! They are spread throughout the river. We have been getting them on plugs, centerpin, and spin. It is awesome is all I can say!

4/23/08 - right now we are experiencing the best steelhead fishing we have ever had, without a doubt! Mark, Dan and I went out after school with video producer Captain Ryan to film a dvd on center pinning and LANDED 45 fish! After-school! We had someone cancel for this weekend, are YOU NUTS!!! If you want the steelhead trip of a lifetime, get up here in the next week! For the non-believers, it is all on film!

4/22 - I had a four trip after school and bot did we hit the fish!! Rick and Seth got into about 17 fish! Landing them was tough but what a riot! We hit them on plugs, flies and pink egg sacks. A trip to remember!

4/12/08 - High water forced on to the Lake. The Browns were there but the strong front that came through made us work for them. The guys Dan and I had fishing with landed 6 as did Zeke's guys and Scott's guys landed 4. Fish were caught on just about anything with smithwicks and tuxedo colored spoons producing the most. As far as steelhead, the river was not fishable but the creeks were loaded! I took some time and walked up a local creek and got some nice Brookies while fly fishing. The river is down and the fishing should be on fire! Check out the photo galleries on SRO for updated pictures including some nice steel that Fran, Eric and John got into while on a recent visit to our lodge!

4/4/08 Dan and Zeke out, cold rain in the air, the school house was good mid day hit some holes on the way down. Fish were there but the flurocarbon wasnt enough to hold them on, all in all good day. 

4/1/08 After school Harry, Tim, and Dan plugged the upper holes the lower wire produced as well the bovines short trip but there were fish in the area.

3/24/08 - it sure did not feel like spring this weekend with high's in the low 20's and low's just above zero and 50 mph winds! Even with the cold temps everybody had a great time this weekend. On Saturday Brian & George fought several fish before landing a nice one plugging. Jim & Sam had a good day with Dan a found a school of hungry fish in Dan's "secret hole" ending up with 5 fish landed. Zeke also had a good day. On Sunday Dan, Zeke and I took Chuck and his buddies from Maryland out had a great fishing day. Things started out slow but the fish went on the bite around 10:00 AM and starting eating white egg sacks under floats. Everybody fought and landed fish. All of the fish were nice size and were a mix of fresh fish and dark fish. In the middle of the day we got them bouncing bottom with eggs and then finished up the day getting them on plugs. Picture below is Brian and the boys from Maryland.

3/20/08 - with trade shows and everything else I have been struggling to keep up but, I am finally seeing the light! Sorry it took so long but, below are some pictures of great days on the SR with Zeke I finally down loaded. We did not get a lot of rain as expected and the river is fishing great!

3/14/08 - Mike Sr. landed this really nice 10 pound Steelhead. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIKE!!!Great job.

3/13/08 - Chris had a great day on the SR landing several fish. Right now, we have fish spawning, drop backs, fresh fish, and fish getting ready to spawn as well as a good number of Brown Trout. Chris proved this by landing at least one of each! Thanks for the slide show! The guys have been getting most of their fish bottom bouncing with flies (stones, hare's ear, caddis & the SRO special fly!). However, people are getting them under a float, DJ and his bud. landed 21 fish on Monday!!!

3/09/08 - today captains Zeke and Lou took Woody and Bill and Howard and his son Grey fishing. All had great days on the SR despite the bitter cold. The fish were in the deep holes and not real active today but certainly plentiful. The guys fought a bunch of fish and landed about six altogether. The best technique today was bouncing bottom with flies. Grey is pictured below with a fresh hen. There are more and more reds around and it will only be days before the fish are on them!

3/08/08 - The Steelhead are in their transition period getting ready to spawn, every day there are new reds throughout the river. Never the less, there are a lot of fish in the river and every caught fish this weekend and we had a full house! Flies are working well especially San Jaun worms, caddis larvae, and black stone flies. Most of the fish we caught were in the 6 - 8 pound range with some big fish over ten. Mike fishing with Zeke and Bill fishing with Dan both caught fish around 13 pounds. Mark's guys caught a fish which Mark said was pushing 16 pounds!

3/02/08 - Another great weekend on the SR! We had a full house this weekend and we all had a great time! I got to spend a lot of time with Chris, Chris, Young Chris and Bob fishing and had a great time. On Saturday was cold, snowy and windy but we managed to hook a bunch of fish and land a couple of Atlantics! After around 11:00 AM things seemed to really shut down for us but the guys managed to have a good time huddling around the heaters. On Sunday it was a lot nicer out and the fellows landed several fish. The all-star was young Chris! He put on a clinic. Chirs' first Steelhead ever was a 29 inch hog! Great times!

2/28/08 - fishing continues to be excellent. Dan and Zeke continue to de well with the centerpins. The baits of choice have been blue egg sacks, blood dot 10mm troutbeads and today - pink worms. Dan will download some pictures tomorrow! We have booked a ton of trips and lodging for the next two months but have a few days still open. Give us a call, it looks like it will be one of the best springs in years!

2/19/08 - On Monday Zeke and I got a rare day to go out and play! We had a blast. We probably fought 15 fish including two nice Brown trout. In the AM, we fished with Fred and the boys, George and his clients and Capt. Dan and his clients. We saw everybody catch and land fish! Pictured above is Zeke fighting a nice chromer on the center pin and Fred releasing and average SR steelhead. Fred hammered fish under a float this weekend, it won't be long before he has a centerpin!

2/16/08 - Fishing is still very good on the SR. The Steelhead tournament was a huge success (check out the Steelhead Tournament page). On Friday Dan and I literally had a couple of hours before the tournament diner, so we hit the river and went 2 for 4. On Saturday most of the guys caught fish. Dan's guys went 8 for around ten!

1/27/08 - Well I didn't have to get to the Syracuse Sport show until 10:00 AM so I decided it would be great to get a little fishing in. I started fishing at 7:00AM and by 8:00 AM I was back the tackle shop 1 for 3! That's how to start out the day!

1/22/08 - another great day on the river. Captain Lou took Tom out and he fought several fish and landed two nice, fresh fish. Captain Dan took his dad out with center pin and Captain Joe show us that he really does know how to work the drift! He was onto fish all day and landed a nice Steelhead and a Brown Trout.

1/20/2008  This was Jeff's 1st trip ever for Steelhead and what a nice fish he landed. He is now hooked and will be a return steelhead fishermen. Thanks for the photo Jeff.

1/17/08 - On Wed. Mark took Don out and had a great time. Don had to work pretty hard but Mark put him on 6 nice fish. On Thursday the bite was really on. I had several reports of guys landing double digits of fish. The word is that a new pod of fresh fish are working their way up the river. Did anyone see the Cohos? A large school of Cohos are in a nearby river. I promised I would not say anymore.

1/14/08 - I just got back from Edison NJ at the Outdoor show and here that there are fish in every part of the river as well as the creeks. A couple of our employees were out playing around and said they got into a lot of fish just North of us and on the Salmon River while float fishing. They caught a bunch of average size fish but most of them were bright chrome and with attitude! There was light pressure on the river today.

1/01/07 - The fishing slowed down today. Nelson and his Alex went with me for a half day trip and Alex landed a nice buck. Other then that, they fought about 5 or 6 other fish including a Brown Trout center-pinning that probably would have pushed the scales at around 8 pounds.

12/31/07 - Well I have been out everyday, except for my quick trip into NYC, and it has been an outstanding two weeks! Everyday we have caught fish and the fishing has been good to outstanding. Over the weekend there was a lot of pressure and we had a tough time getting the fish on floats as the fish were there by the hundreds but not really in a biting mood. Everyone fought several fish and landed a couple. There was less pressure today and I had one guy and Mike T had two and we had fought 40 fish by noon landing several. We had some big fish as well. Justin caught a beautiful hen on a pink worm. Lots of fish! 

12/28/07 - Steelhead fishing is HOT. On Thursday and Friday guys caught fish from Altmar to the DSR. Thursday everyone caught fish and on Friday most people caught fish that I talked with. The fish are really spread out and seem to be in every hole. If you do not get a fish after 15 minutes switch baits and/ or make sure you are fishing all of the water as with the water being higher the fish will be holding in different spots. 

12/25/07 - What a great way to celebrate Christmas! We had a couple of hours before dinner so Dan, Robert and I headed down the river and whacked them! Robert got a nice hen that weighed 17 pounds! We don't like to kill them but, we kept one to bring to the Edison show since it had inhaled the plug and was bleeding. Robert and I got them plugging and Dan got his drifting eggs. Fishing continues to be great! 

12/22/07 - I got tho fish on Friday for a couple of hours with Moose Bear. We left the ramp at 8:30 and were at the Pineville ramp at 11:30 and I netted 3 fish and lost two more. Not a bad way to kick off the holidays! I caught all of the fish under a float using mine center pin. four fish hit blue egg sacks and one hit chartreuse. Now I am getting ready to take Brenda's family to NYC for the day. Should be loads of fun. See you on the river soon!

12/21/07 - I have not had a chance to go fishing in the last week (although I am going as soon as I type this!) as I have been busy working in the shop and at school. However, our guides have been having days of hooking over 30 fish! The fishing is as good as it ever has been for Steelhead. We had two groups out on Thursday ad they both landed several fish per person! It's good! The Berkely bubble gum worm have been the hot ticket. See you on the river!

12/11 - the guys at the lodge and our guide had terrific day with everyone hooking up multiple times and landing several fish!. The river is going down to 335cfs and I got to believe the fishing will be HOT!

12/02 - The weather was less then best but the fishing remains excellent. On Saturday we got out for a short afternoon trip and quickly hooked a couple of fish on plugs. On  Sunday  I took Marsha and Chuck and we had fish on floats, bouncing bottom and on plugs. The fishing for Steelhead is great so come up and join us!

11/30/07 - our guides Zeke, Lou and Chris have been fishing this week and do great with the Seelhead and even some Browns. With lighter pressure during the week, the steelhead really turned on. Checkout the Browns Alex caught with his dad Steve! We lost count of how many we fought!

11/26/07 - It was a busy weekend on the Salmon River! It looked like Salmon season. I saw a lot of fish from the lower fly section down to Pineville. We were pretty much locked into a couple places on Saturday but Ken F. landed his first steelhead a nice 13 pound chromer. Bob, fishing with guide Zeke, also landed his first steelhead! Not only are there excellent numbers of steelhead in the river, but Oneida Lake is producing great catches of Perch and Walleye. I have a trip down on Oneida this weekend and Bart has promised to smoke anything we catch. Can't wait for that!

11/21/07 - Today I took Kyle and Mike for a ride down the river and did a little float fishing along the way. We landed two and fought several others. We saw a ton of fish rolling and porpoising. Mike landed his first Steelhead float fishing!

11/19/07 - Fishing is very good in upstate New York! I took Alex and his dad Steve fishing on Saturday in the tribs. and we absolutely lost count of how many Brown, Rainbow and Steelhead trout they caught. It was amazing. On Sunday I had a day off so fished for a few hours and landed 16 Brown trout by 9:00 am from 6 pounds to 18 pounds! The guys on the Salmon River continue to have great days with multi digit hookups and many Steelhead landed. We have good water and all is good. Have a great Thanksgiving and we will see you soon!

11/12/07 - Fishing out west for Brown trout was very good again! I have one more weekend I am going out and still some spots so give me a call you are interested. This weekend we landed a total of 65 Browns between 6 and 13 pounds. The river was on fire Saturday. All of our guides (6) had a great day. Sunday was a little more difficult as there was a lot of people on the river and the fish became somewhat leader shy. However, the steelhead fishing remains excellent for this early in the year!

11/08 - Steelhead, Cohos, Kings and Brown trout! As Jim and Al show you above, the Salmon River is on fire! Pick your fish, hey are all here!

10/28/07 - I apologize for not having a fishing report. I have been down in Pennsylvania this weekend as, my grandmother passed away last Thursday. It was my grandmother who took me trout fishing as a child at her brother's cabin in the hills of Pennsylvania. I have hundreds of wonderful memories but here is a fun one; many years ago I was staying with my gram during summer vacation and I caught a smallmouth in the Susquehanna River that was just less than five pounds. I decided that it would be first wall mount and put it in Gram's freezer and went back to fishing. When I got back, my gram met with a huge smile and proudly announced that she had a wonderful surprise! Sure enough, she had brilliantly prepared the bass for dinner! I don't think too many fish made it to the wall with the Pennsylvania Dutch! Gram, thank you for taking me fishing!

10/23/07 - 335 cfs + RAIN = FISH!!! The river will be running 335 cfs for the next week and there is a ton of fish coming up the river. A couple of guides went to check things out and landed 62 fish with many Stealhead (all were released).

10/19/07 - The King Salmon fishing is on FIRE! I had trips in the PM on Tuesday and Wednesday and we really had great days. On Tuesday we had a limit of Kings plus a Brown and a Rainbow and Wednesday I fished with Phil and Mike and we had a limit of Kings plus put a ton of fish back. It is raining like crazy as I type and the river is going up to 185cfs until Monday!!! It should be on FIRE!

10/14/07 - With temps dropping and some much needed rain, the fishing is very good in the Salmon River from the bottom to the top. It is still to low for drift boats, but our guides having been putting people on limits of fish everyday. We are getting mostly Kings with a few Cohos, Steelhead and Browns. For some reason the Steelhead seems really cig this fall as you can see from the pictures. Above are some nice pictures fro the last couple of days - enjoy!

10/09/07 - It is raining and the temps. are actually going to be below normal for the next couple of days. We are starting to see some hens with loose eggs and I would think that by this weekend they should be starting to move onto the gravel. Fishing pressure if medium to light from and Pineville up and everyone is catching fish!

10/06/07 - The fish are starting to spread through the river. If you do not mind lots of pressure, you can get a limit of fish from the town hole to the estuary. If you want to get away from the crowds, you can fish up through the upper fly and get plenty of hook-ups. We are still doing well in front of the river trolling in 20 - 40 feet of water. The fishing in front of the river is on fire! All and all, things are good. It is going to cool down and start raining, so things should really get going everywhere!

10/02/07 - Even though the water level is low, the fishing is on fire! On Sunday we had a good day on the Lake landing four nice Kings and on Monday and Tuesday everyone of our guided guests had their limits very early in the day! Kings have been making a strong push up the river today. Our guys landed their limit by 8:30 AM today!

9/29/07 - There are a mix of Kings, cohos and steelhead scattered throughout the river. There is a good push of fish every day in the lower half of the river. The fish are in the upper half but not in big numbers and they are moving up to the lower fly (The Lower Fly is CLOSED until Oct. 15) and hatchery. The lower fly is loaded! The guides are really smacking the fish back trolling in front of the river at night and night fishing in the mouth as been excellent. Most of our guides had limits of fish in one to two hours! We have availability for 4 hour and 6 hour night trips. 

9/23/07 - We hit the river on Sat. for my first river trip of the year and we had a very good day landing 14 fish out of about 30 fish the guys fought. last night the drift boats did very well in the mouth of the river and today the charters boats had a great day in the Lake from 12 feet to out to 300 feet.

9/17/07 - I have been keeping very busy with charters on the Lake and they have been a bit hot and cold depending on the wind. Over the weekend we had a couple of strong fronts pass through and they turned the fishing on and then off and then on and then off again! Timing was everything. The best day was Saturday when despite waves of 8 foot we fought 9 fish and landed 5 in about four hours. The fish we caught this weekend were all out of temp. (as was TJ) and real angry. It was a lot of fun. We are booking 4 hour afternoon trips for $325 and with the river low there are a lot of fish stacked in front of the river. The estuary fishing has been very good as well. The river is low (100cfs) bu there are schools of fish making there way into the river.

9/13/07 - fishing on the Lake has continued to be as good as it can be except the other day when had 9 - 15 footers! The water is low in the Salmon River but people are catching a nice mix of Kings and Steelhead. On Wednesday Tom got out for a few hours and landed 6 Kings and Skamanian Steelhead close to 20 pounds. All were released unharmed.

9/10/07 - The fishing on Lake Ontario has stayed red hot and I will download some pictures as soon as I get a break. We caught our limit or were one fish shy every trip this weekend. There are some Salmon and some Steelhead in the river.

9/02/07 - Nelson Helen and Alex Rudiak went fishing Sunday afternoon with Capt. Dan and reported: "Although it was slow as you know Sunday afternoon, we had a good trip and Capt Dan did a great job. Ask him about my fish dance that I am sure had an effect. I did land one late in the day and made it all worth it. Here's the proof with a photo."

8/19/07 - west is best! We got some west winds and the fish set up for us again. Zeke and I had trips with Barry and the boys from Pa. and we went out to 300 FOW and found them stacked up. We landed 15 fish and lost a ton more! The fish had attitudes and were snapping leader and beating us all day. Barry got the biggest fish probably around 28 pounds and Frank landed our first Coho of the season. There were fish caught Sunday from 50 FOW out to 400 FOW as well as a few in the lower section of the Salmon River. Hopefully the east wind that is forecasted will not mess us up the next couple of days, but, there are a lot of fish!

8/12/07 - After a day off, I had to replace the distributor cap on my boat, we were back at it today. Again the fishing was tough. We marked a tom of fish but getting them to bite was an entirely different task. We did manage a nice King Salmon caught on the dipsey back 270 feet which gave Tony a fight and a half and a Brown Trout. I don't know how fat the fish ran on his first run, but when I looked at the line counter after about ten minutes of fighting, he was just back to 270 where we began!

8/10/07 - Today I took Clair, Mark and Justin out. With the winds shifted out of the east it has really hurt the fishing. We continue to mark Kings and Brown Trout but can't get them to bite. We worked hard to splitting are trip up into the AM and then out just before dusk. We manage to catch four keeper Browns and one small King and a handful of Brown Trout about 10 - 12 inches long. Even though the fishing was slow we still had a great day!

8/8/07 - My brother-in-law just moved here from Florida so I decided to take him and my nephew Kyle and niece Brianna out for a little fishing. We wen out for a couple hours in the AM and landed one King and released two others, one was a bruiser that ended up breaking our leader. I had to come work on the tackle shop so we came in and went back out for Brown Trout in the PM. In an hour we went 5 for 7. Robert and Kyle each landed two and Brianna landed one, but of course, her fish was the biggest!

8/01/07 - today Mark and I took my dad out for his first trip on Lake Ontario (can you believe it!). I am pretty sure he will be back. We only had three rods in the water when a 26 pound chromer hit the dipsey rod back behind the boat 270 feet and went on a tear until the line counter read 770 feet! Mark and my dad landed their limit today as well as a Laker. It was a great day!

7/30/07 & 7/31/07 - Tim, Tanya ans the main man, two year old TJ were up for two days on the Lake. The temp. was a bit messed up and it was a full moon, but we managed to get a few fish. The fish were big and had a lot of attitude! We had a great time and I have to say that TJ is going to be some fisherman!

7/28 - what a crazy day! We could not do anything right for the first half of the day and then we moved and started all over and good things started to happen. It was a slow day on the Lake for most anglers, but me, Lou and the boys from Conn. stuck with it and ended up landing four nice Kings.

7/27 - we had to really work hard, but after dropping a few fish, Homer and Mickey managed to land this nice 20 + pound fish.

7/25/07 - Another great day on the Lake! Steve brought his friends from Jersey to show them a little Salmon fishing and we had a great time. They fought a lot of fish! They ended up landing 8 very nice Chinook Salmon. I am confident that they will all be back up again!

7/10 - while Brenda and I were in the Florida Keys teaching 36 South Jeff. students about the coral reefs and swimming with dolphins, Zeke took Nancy and Kevin out fish and they had an outstanding couple of days landing limits of Brown trout and King Salmon!!!