# salmon in the tittabawassee, chippewa or salt rivers



## bmbiff (Jan 3, 2002)

anybody have any info on salmon is these rivers. a couple years ago i caught some out of the salt river in sanford but they were mostly out of energy and were dead. that was in the middle of october or something but i know some guys catch them in the tittabawassee but i don't know if they have any spunk left and i wouldn't know where to look for them. i know that there isn't a lot that go there but if you know the rivers you can find them. i have checked already in the salt where i saw them before and have seen nothing. the bait shop in sanford says that people have started to catch them up here. i have heard though that the chippewa gets a pretty good run. anyways any info would be appreciated


----------



## outsider (Feb 16, 2002)

Check below the dow dam.
It's been a few years ago but they used to bunch up there pretty good. My brother lives in sanford ,and used to get some in the salt river ,but the water levels have been to low the past few years.

Hope this helps ,good luck
OUTSIDER


----------



## skinne (Dec 20, 2000)

check below the sanford dam also and check at the sanford sports shop they always have pics of salmon and steelies that have been caught up there.i also have a buddy who has caught them at his house on the chipp.


----------



## Ruler (Nov 30, 2001)

I've got a couple of questions about the Dow dam. Each is pretty much dependant on the previous one.

A. Can one fish it without a boat?

B. How do you get to it?

C. Where do you park?

D. Is it public?

E. What techniques does one utilize in this area for salmon?


----------



## bmbiff (Jan 3, 2002)

A. You can't fish the dow dam from shore, the dam is totally surrounded by Dow so if you do fish from shore you either have to be an employee or know someone that is that takes you down there.

B. To get to it just put your boat in on the gordonville boat launch in midland and head upstream. The dam is right inside dow probably a mile , mile and a half upstream. You can't miss it. The dam is actually just a pile of rocks that the water flows over.

C. There is parking at the boat launch

D. The launch is public, free of charge

E. I don't know what techniques you would use for salmon. I would think just drifting a 3 way rig with a fly on your bait line maybe. Depends if you could see them in the river or not. Some spots like to the right of the dam next to the shore if conditions are right you can see the bottom. For walleyes in the spring we drift jig heads with the current,then for white bass, walleyes, and smallmouths later on in spring after walleye season re-opens we used the same techniques but shad raps seemed to work better.


----------



## vanwagm (Dec 28, 2000)

BMBIFF--How has the smallmouth fishing been lately? I was thinking of taking a trip up there. Any info is appreciated. Thanks.


----------



## bmbiff (Jan 3, 2002)

well i haven't fished it much lately. i did stop and fish the last hour before dark earlier in the week and did catch one nice fighter smallmouth about 12-13incher on a rebel crawfish. the river conditions were good but i didn't move around much and was fishing the same fish under the saginaw rd. bridge and the rail trali bridge. usually though the fishing picks up a l ot during this time of year. that cooling of the water really kick starts them. I usually fish the river up in sanford pretty hard during the summer and early fall for smallies but haven't fished much lately. I did get an 18 incher earlier this year in a section that I wade. It hit on a little mister twister spinner, like a beatle spin, on 6 lb. test and my 5'6'' light rod. it was a good battle. if you need any more info just holler. i've put a lot of hours in up there on the smallmouths and know the river very well.


----------



## vanwagm (Dec 28, 2000)

BMBIFF--Thanks for the info. We ususally fish the Center Rd. bridge in Saginaw area. Is the water up toward Midland better for smallies? Also, how is the water level? Thanks again.


----------



## bmbiff (Jan 3, 2002)

the water levels are what i call normal level for having the dam shut off up in sanford, which is usually shallow and clear. I kind of prefer these conditions because they concentrate the smallmouths on the cover and in the holes. Don't count out the shallow water even if it is only a foot or so deep. Smallmouths aren't shy, i've seen them cruising shallows were the only cover on the bottom is a few sticks and weeds. i have never fished below sanford that much for smallmouths although I do fish around gordonville rd. and the dow dam for walleyes. we fished the dow dam a couple weeks after the walleye season opened this year, we went a couple weekends in a row and there is a pretty good run of smallmouths that go up there too. i never got any huge ones but caught lots of nice ones. the water up there was pretty clear and low at the time. generally though the water tends to stay clearer up in sanford i would say though. the water isn't as stained from the muck and stuff like it is down in the lower regions.


----------



## Ruler (Nov 30, 2001)

Thanks for the info bmbiff. It basically counts me out of fishing the dow dam, since I'm NOT going to paddle the canoe up the titabawasee river again. (I did it once and that was more than sufficient for any given lifetime!)

Good luck to all you fishing the area.


----------

