Anybody else fish the Slaw today?

[Bgunder]

I got to the whitaker creek area about nine this morning and fished up and down the far bank till about 2 or 3 with not even a hit and I wrestled through the bushes quite a bit farther then any bankie I have ever seen go, I only saw one guy who had one on other then that no one else was catching them either so I didn't feel too bad although I can say I didn't get skunked thanks to the 16in chub that took my jig the second it hit the water.So all in all I would say it was a pretty slow day but at least the weather was nice.........

 

[bran_man]

Yeah I'm just guessing but with no change in weather and the dropping water levels I'm sure is slowing the action quite a bit. I bet next good rain and it will be on like donkey kong! Never know when I pod a fish will decide to move up though.... but my bets are that it will be kinda slow till there is a change

 

[Bgunder]

Yeah I was thinking that when I was on the river today, need some more rain now.I didn't even see any fish below the gate in the creek.

 

[1 nut in the water]

I spent all day on the slaw from whitaker to about 3 miles down past the wildcat in pursuit of my first bite from a steelhead and nada! Talked to quite a few folks and heard of nothing............. Sounds like i missed a nice golf day in town.

 

[rippin fish lips]

I have no reports to share

 

[Yogidabear]

I was there from about 8 to 3:30 one guy down below me and across the river said some pretty fowl words :naughty: so I'm assuming he lost one, every boater I talked to said zero. I heard that a few were caught Thursday. going a completly different direction tommorrow.

 

[Bgunder]

Were you there for the evening fish? I think I talked to you on my way back up the bank, you were throwing spinners and told me I was lucky cause I had been there all day...Lol I guess lucky since I got out on a nice day but never lucky with steelhead it seems.

 

[plumb2fish]

Will post a new report tomorrow. Gonna give er another shot....

 

[JeannaJigs]

Nexttttttt weeeeeek. Maybe. I've been fishing elsewhere lately, but it would be nice to stick closer to home. It's hard for me to deal with the animals on that river.

 

[OnTheDrop]

Man, Low clear water are some of my favorite conditions to fish for winter steel...Try downsizing your gear. 1/16-1/32 oz jigs and even smaller with a leader of 6-8lb lines max. 10lb can even be too much at times. Dark colors such as black or purple have been great to me.. Winter steelhead are going to move through water systems reguardless if rivers have rain in them or not. Maybe not how they would if there's rain but you bet there's new fish in the system on the daily. I also do abnormally well from about 330 in the afternoon til about dark in low water. I think the fish get comfortable and start moving and biting rather aggressive. Anyone else notice this with steelhead in that general time period? Seems like common sense since the suns going down and pressure changes but man it's like a light switch sometimes. .

Just a few things that popped into my head reading this. Good luck out there and may the lines be tight.

 

[Bgunder]

Thanks for the advice, I will have to try the evening fish sometime, I always go in the morning but then wear myself out and don't want stay for the evening fish which I know is a mistake.So I'll give her a shot.

 

[steelhead_stalkers]

Low and clear water is our favorite! We went 7/11 yesterday on winter steelhead and missed a few other take downs. The fish are still there they just dodge your leader easier now! :lol: Great advise to downsize. You may lose a few fish but your hookups will go up.

 

[plumb2fish]

If you have a hard time reading water when it is high and OFF colored, you should spend time on the rivers when they are low and clear. Where there is chop, more than 8-12" of water and you can't see bottom, there may well be fish. The hardest part is not spooning them when you stumble across holding fish...at least that's been my experience....I spot em as I'm about to spook em or already have.

 

[Bgunder]

I have been using 10lb p-line fluoroclear as leader line, should I be using real fluorocarbon line for my leaders rather then fluorocarbon coated p line?

 

[hawgcaller]

Ditch the fluoroclear, IMO it is garbage. very little abrasion resistance. It is a matter of personal preferance but I would go with 8lb Maxima ultragreen as leader line. It is super strong, stronger than 8 for sure. It is a good color mono and never really found the need to use fluoro leaders.

 

[hawgcaller]

If you must go to fluoro, I have a buddy that swears by the seaguar 8lb, It is super low diameter to boot. When it says 8lb though, it means 8, if that. It feels pretty good and is invisible ( to my eye,) in the water. I would probably try the ten out though.

 

[steelhead_stalkers]

Good advice. Maxima 8 lb breaks at around 16 lbs and is similar diameter to 15 lb test line. Most fluoro lines break near their rated lb test and are the correct diameter for their rating. Most steelhead green water fluoro is not necessary but there are times when it can help. Keep in mind that the thicker the diameter of line the more water it will move or displace. There is a balance to learn but both have their place.

 

[Bgunder]

I gotta hook a steelhead first!So I should use the 8lb maxima ultragreen? I'm not sure I follow you on the water displacement,is it the thicker the line the more water it pushes out around it?

 

[fishonshawn]

That must have been u I saw way past the crowd bankies, never seen anyone trek that far. I landed a bright hen at sunrise and had my second by 1:30. Slaw was good to me today, although most people I spoke to did not do so well.

 

[jamisonace]

Funny you should mention the afternoon thing. I was there on Saturday and no one did much til about 2. For about an hour it was fish on for everyone we saw practically. We had two on. The first was enormous and broke off and the second came unbuttoned at the boat.

Man, Low clear water are some of my favorite conditions to fish for winter steel...Try downsizing your gear. 1/16-1/32 oz jigs and even smaller with a leader of 6-8lb lines max. 10lb can even be too much at times. Dark colors such as black or purple have been great to me.. Winter steelhead are going to move through water systems reguardless if rivers have rain in them or not. Maybe not how they would if there's rain but you bet there's new fish in the system on the daily. I also do abnormally well from about 330 in the afternoon til about dark in low water. I think the fish get comfortable and start moving and biting rather aggressive. Anyone else notice this with steelhead in that general time period? Seems like common sense since the suns going down and pressure changes but man it's like a light switch sometimes. .

Just a few things that popped into my head reading this. Good luck out there and may the lines be tight.