Alsea trout fishing

[FilthyUrbanite]

I recently bought a property on the alsea river and have just been inhaling information and studying various books and old forum posts on this river and so far have been doing well but I need some knowledge from people who know better, how do I go about targeting cutthroats on the Alsea? I have caught in total about 3 fish, 1 4 incher, a 13 incher, and a 16 incher, all residents, but I would like to catch more and get into some searun action, information on this subject has been sparse for me.

 

[DOKF]

You may be the resident expert ...

 

[FilthyUrbanite]

Haha I appreciate that but I would attribute it mostly to dumb luck as I haven't been able to get much else and those fish were way back in june. When do the sea runs show up in the main river above tidewater? The property is up near the town of alsea itself.

 

[DOKF]

Searun cutts tend to show up when the show up.

I've never fished for SRC on the Alsea, but in other streams that I have targeted, it seemed that they tended to follow the spawning salmon in from the estuary hoping for some loose eggs. Back home, they would go in and out of the streams and estuaries all summer.

 

[FilthyUrbanite]

Thanks for the info, I think I am getting better at homing in on the run. I will try again in October or whenever the fall rains kick in.

 

[troutdude]

Pardon me...I'm looking for the jelly button on my keyboard. ;-) You're one lucky dude to have property on the river.

The Bluebacks (what locals call sea run cutties, because their backs turn a deep blue when then return to fresh water), just like Nooks, will wait for cooler water temps as well as more water (i.e. rain). The Bluebacks typically really like brown rooster tails (they somewhat mimic small/baby crawdads, which they feast upon). You would also do well to find some Borden Special fly's too. Bob Borden developed that fly decades ago--specifically for the Alsea Bluebacks.

Good luck and let us know how you do.

P.S. I used to clean up on resident cutties, decades ago, with merely a bobber and a worm. But bait is ILLEGAL nowadays. Only artificial flies and lures are now allowed.