L
LawyerBob
Tried my luck drifting the lower Wilson Sunday, putting in at Mills Bridge and taking out at Sollie Smith. Water was green with right around 3' of visibility. Putting in at sunrise, Mills Bridge was packed with bankers and boaters. Heard a few say fishing had been pretty decent Saturday. Most people were tossing huge drift bobbers, lead and bait.
Much of the drift was spent trying to get away from the parade of boats. We probably saw almost two dozen. The water was moving much faster than anticipated, having previously only fished it in summer. My two buddies and I were simply ill-equipped to get our offerings down deep enough for any period of time.
We got skunked on our first chinook attempt, but other boaters did fairly well. I watched a few fish get brought in and took inventory of what the more successful anglers were using. The key, it seemed, was being able to keep your bait about 2-4’ above the bottom by using divers or 1-4oz of lead. Not a huge surprise there, in hindsight. Gauge near Tillamook was at or about 5.7", discharge around 2500 cfs; 50 degree water.
Much of the drift was spent trying to get away from the parade of boats. We probably saw almost two dozen. The water was moving much faster than anticipated, having previously only fished it in summer. My two buddies and I were simply ill-equipped to get our offerings down deep enough for any period of time.
We got skunked on our first chinook attempt, but other boaters did fairly well. I watched a few fish get brought in and took inventory of what the more successful anglers were using. The key, it seemed, was being able to keep your bait about 2-4’ above the bottom by using divers or 1-4oz of lead. Not a huge surprise there, in hindsight. Gauge near Tillamook was at or about 5.7", discharge around 2500 cfs; 50 degree water.
