Yes, they exist, as a small percentage of every run. Mother natures way of making sure some natural disaster doesn't wipe out a given generation of fish. Many folks will catch one and think it is just a trout...
I'm sorry I offended you with my guessing it as a jack steelhead. There is nothing wrong with jack steelhead, they play in important role in survival of the species. It is obviously not a down river fish, nor was the prior one. Size is hard to gauge in pictures like that, my apologies with...
Come to the coast, there are a bunch of good guys on this forum from eugene. Maybe one of them can show you around the sewerslaw. If not just drive down it and start watching where people fish and do what they do.
Do sturgeon even go up the clackamas? Why is the picture titled 1-12-12 Jiggy? So you were just driving by with your boat in tow on your way home from work?
That sounds more like a 10-20lb rated rod to me, even those I think top out at 1.5 or 2oz. I have a 6-10lb 4 piece clarus that is 11'3" long, and I know they make a 10ft 8-17 clarus, but it is only a 2 piece. You might try cabelas, I know they make quite a few travel rods....
Is it any cheaper then a spool of Ultra green? I buy a big spool of maxima ultra green right before steelhead season and it seems to last me all season long...Thats like $8 or $9
I have a 4 piece 11'3" shimano clarus. it is a 6-10lb and I love it. It has slip rings instead of the standard screw down reel seat, but they work well for a spinning reel and let you balance the reel on the rod just right.
Honestly you are pretty late in the game for salmon fishing. They will be around for a few more weeks, but steelhead will kick off around thanksgiving at the coast. If you want something that will work well for both steelhead and salmon I'd recomend an 8-17lb shimano clarus with a quality 4000...
You should try reading the odfw online fishing report. It will at least give someone new to the sport some idea of how each river is fishing and how high the fish have gotten. I am on the south coast or I'd give you some tips on where to go. It is the transition time I think for most rivers...