Another day, another struggle with notorious big smallies

The author caught his first steelhead on May 1.
Gary Dodson
The author caught his first steelhead on May 1.
Gary Dodson and I went to the Salmon River in Pulaski, N.Y. April 30 to May 1, to see if we could catch the tail end of the steelhead run and maybe annoy some smallmouth bass.
I’ve only been once before, 20 years ago, and I forgot that the name of the town is pronounced “Pulask-eye,” NOT “Pulask-ee.” Yes, this would come as news to the Polish general whose name adorns the landscape in at least 17 places in the U.S.
We stayed and fished the Douglaston Salmon Run, where we had a nice little house to ourselves.
We dined on successive evenings at the bar of the Tailwater Lodge in nearby Altmar, where I continued my study of the American cheeseburger platter. While I still maintain that the World’s Greatest Restaurant is Mizza’s in Lakeville and the runner-up is the Roscoe Diner, I can report that the best cheeseburger platter yet is at the Tailwater Lodge. At 18 smackers, it is also the most expensive, but only by a few bucks.
Gary said there was another, earthier option with excellent chow, but the last time he went there it was Lynyrd Skynyrd Karaoke Night, and the peril was too great to risk another visit. Personally, I thought it sounded amusing, and was willing to brave the peril, but Gary said no, it was too perilous.
Day One: After leaving Lakeville at 4 a.m. and driving to Gary’s in East Jewett, N.Y., arriving at 6 a.m., the result was predictable. I forgot several key items when transferring my gear to Gary’s truck.
This is called “Paging Dr. Boing-Boing.”
The doctor makes an appearance every time I (or you) forget something, or lose something, or some other issue of fishing logistics comes up.
Dr. Boing-Boing can and will strike at any moment. Eternal vigilance is the only answer.
We found a serviceable wading belt at Fat Nancy’s; the single biggest tackle shop I have ever seen. And it was only ten bucks.
Monday afternoon we fished down where the Salmon River widens out into an estuary before it segues into Lake Ontario. I caught the first of several smallmouth bass that were all roughly double the size of the biggest smallie I have ever pulled out of the Housatonic.
It doesn’t look so hot in the photo, a combination of giant net and moderate wide-angle lens. So I put the net over my extra-extra large head (I wear a 7 7/8 hat) and Gary took a photo for comparison.
Some necessary context: The stretch of river we were concerned with is only about seven miles or so, from the lake to the hatchery. DSR has 2.5 of those miles locked up; anglers pay a daily fee to fish there. There is also a lot of public access, which gets pretty nuts in the peak salmon and steelhead periods. This was the off-season.
Apart from a small population of resident rainbows, the river is home to migrating fish: two kinds of salmon, steelhead and smallies.
The salmonids are headed home. Home is the hatchery. I don’t know what the smallies are doing.
I had to throw pretty much everything I know about fishing out the window. For starters, almost everybody I saw was using a two-handed fly rod or a center pin rod. My nine-foot eight-weight single hand fly rod was an outlier.
Second, even though I was standing in the middle of some sort of hatch, the fish ignored the bugs as far as I could tell. What they wanted was something large and hairy. The initial smallie took a size 6 conehead olive Wooly Bugger with rubber legs, and Wednesday’s steelhead obligingly chomped on a black version of the same.
Tuesday morning began with a Boing-Boing moment, as I managed to sprain my left wrist trying to operate the shower controls. Such is the price of cleanliness.
That ruled out fooling around with the switch rod I brought along, to see if I could puzzle it out.
We fished all day Tuesday, except for a much-needed siesta mid-afternoon. All we encountered were smallies.
Wednesday morning neither one of us could face trudging the mile or so down to the estuary again, so instead we trudged a different mile or so upstream.
I got my steelhead on a different single hand rod, a 10 foot seven weight that fishes better with a number eight line. It was a floating line, with a short leader consisting of about four feet of butt section and two feet of 1X fluoro tippet.
With some coaching from Gary, I managed to land the thing without a net.
In fairness, the steelhead seemed a little out of it. It dove, it tugged, it jumped once. It went this way and that.
But that first smallie put up much more of a fuss. Probably because it hadn’t been milked at the hatchery and wasn’t stumbling back to the lake.
Three days in Western N.Y. state was a serious dose of America. Rolling back into Salisbury Wednesday afternoon was like entering a theme park — Disney’s “New Englandland” or something.
Back in New Englandland, after disposing of some work chores, I ambled over to the Blackberry on a sunny and almost hot afternoon and had a good time catching a bunch of normal, unexciting regular trout that eat bugs.
This was promising enough that I inveigled a friend to give it a shot the next day.
You know what’s coming.
She hopped out of her car, only to discover she had remembered her waders but forgotten her boots.
“Allow me to introduce you to Dr. Boing-Boing,” sez I.
Luckily she had a pair of muck boots, which did the trick.
And then, after observing small children training to be Jedi knights at a “Star Wars” activity, I made my way up to one of my secret brook trout streams and found that the winter’s incessant rains and subsequent high water had reconfigured the brook, mostly for the better. I landed several and tickled more wild char, most of them attacking a size 8 Stimulator that was bigger than their heads. Some less ambitious fish hit kebari soft-hackles and the always-reliable Bread and Butter nymph.
There was no sign of Dr. Boing-Boing.
Players put on an aggressive defense, making frequent contact with their competitors that often put players on the ground during the Friday, Sept. 5, soccer game at Webutuck. Visiting competitor Rhinebeck won 1-0.
AMENIA — Webutuck’s Friday night home game against Rhinebeck ended with a 1-0 loss with a late-second half goal from Rhinebeck.
The Wildcats put up a solid defense for most of the game, with goalkeeper James Singleton back on the field this season showing his strength in the net.
Webutuck suffered an apparently significant loss midway through the second half when both team captains suffered severe muscle cramps, forcing them to the bench to recover and replenish electrolytes for the rest of the game.
The remaining players fought on without them, but a well-timed fake out pulled Singleton just far enough out of the goal to sneak the ball into the back of the net.
Webutuck couldn’t manage to tie the game, but defenders held Rhinebeck at bay to maintain a 1-0 loss.
MILLBROOK — The office of U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan has announced that the CARES van is scheduled to visit the Millbrook Library on Wednesday, Sept. 17, from noon to 1:30 p.m.
The Constituent Advocacy Resources Empowerment Services van — the CARES van for short — assists residents who have issues or questions about Social Security and Medicare, VA benefits or any other federal agency. Rep. Ryan’s staff is prepared to help anyone who stops by for specific questions or even just to offer a comment.
Since its launch in 2023, the van has visited over 164 communities served by Rep. Ryan.
This small Victorian house built in 1880 sold for $280,000 after initially listing at $379,000 in August 2024. The home sits on .7 acres in the center of the hamlet of Ancram across the street from the Union Cemetery.
ANCRAM — There were five properties transferred from June through August in Ancram – typical activity in this sparsely populated town of only 1,400 residents.
The price of closed sales hovered around a median of $550,000 and listing prices of homes on the market show that Ancram remains an attractive second home market. At the beginning of September there were 16 single family homes listed for sale with none under $500,000 and seven over a million dollars.
84 Cottontail road — 2 bedroom/1 bath home on 6.46 acres built in 1958 sold by Christopher Hoilund to Andrew MacDonald and Katsuko Bowne for $302,500 recorded on June 24.
1086 County Route 3 — 3 bedroom/2.5 bath home built in 2012 on 27 acres sold by Joanna Bree to Barbera Brooks for $2,100,000 recorded on June 25.
111 Arcadia Drive — 3 bedroom/2.5 bathroom home in a HOA sold by Irene H. Lovitz to Alexander Sherwin and Lisa Davis for $560,000 recorded on July 14.
1283 County Route 7 — 3 bedroom/1.5 bathroom house on .7 acres sold by Michelle Podbielski to Esao Andrews for $280,000 on August 11.
Harry Wood Road — 105 acres of rural vacant land sold by Robert Natale to Bouba Kiki LLC for $924,500 on August 12.
*Town of Ancram real estate recorded as sold with consideration is derived from Columbia County public deed transfers with property details from Ancram property tax records. Active listings data reported from realtor.com, and Trulia.com. Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Harlem Valley area activity report Aug. 28 through Sept. 3
Aug. 30 — Deputies responded to Tony’s Deli in Pawling for an intoxicated and unwanted person on the property. The subject was told to leave and not to return. Matter resolved.
Aug. 31 — Deputies report the arrest of Ericka B. Rose, age 52, for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree subsequent to a traffic stop in the area of 385 Route 22 in the Town of Pawling. Subject to appear in the Town of Pawling Court at a later date
Aug. 31 — Deputies arrested Justin Kadish, age 28, for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree as the result of a traffic stop on State Route 22 in the Town of Amenia. Subject to appear in the Town of Amenia Court at a later date.
Aug. 31 — Deputies arrested Angelina Mejia Lopez, age 51, for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree subsequent to a traffic stop on Route 22 in the Town of Pawling. Subject to appear in the Town of Pawling Court at a later date.
Aug. 31 — Deputies responded to 46 Charles Colman Blvd. in Pawling for a report of a customer who slapped and pushed an employee at that location. Investigation ongoing.
Aug. 31 — Deputies report the arrest of Fernando Chavez Ortega, age 32, for driving while intoxicated. Mr. Ortega had crashed his vehicle on Holmes Road in Pawling and reportedly left the scene on foot. Deputies located the subject nearby where further investigation revealed him to be in an intoxicated condition. Ortega to appear in the Town of Pawling Court at a later date.
Sept. 3 — Deputies report the arrest of William R. Sierra Duenas, age 54, for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree subsequent to a traffic stop in the area of 3570 Route 55 in the Town of Pawling. Sierra to appear in the Town of Pawling Court on a later date.
Sept. 3 — Deputies arrested Amanda Salveggi, age 43, for driving while intoxicated subsequent to a traffic stop on Maple Lane in the Town of Dover. Subject to appear in the Town of Dover Court at a later date.
PLEASE NOTE: All subjects arrested and charged are alleged to have committed the crime and are presumed innocent until proven guilty and are to appear in local courts later.
If you have any information relative to the aforementioned criminal cases, or any other suspected criminal activity please contact the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 845 605 CLUE (2583) or Email dcsotips@gmail.com. All information will be kept confidential.