Beautiful morning on the Molalla, 2 Steelies and an UGG

G
Growbug
0
Got to the river and tried a new hole today. Just past the mile 2.5 marker from Glen Avon. Nice narrow, fast run, dumping at a rock drop off into a nice wide pool, tailing out into some rapids.
Large rock formation to stand on and cover all the water.

Started off at 10:30 throwing a #4 Blue Fox that I had doctored last night removing the treble and installing a small split link and #2 Gama Octopus and some wool. Smothered in Mikes Lunker Lotion (trout and steelhead)
About 5 mins later, tug tug and the first fish comes in.
WOW. quick photo and he's back with this friends. A whopping 6" fish.
th_steelie1.png
Carried on with spinner for about 15 mins then changed rig to a drift slinkey with 10" of 8lb mono, corky, hook n yarn (with mylar from tail of daughter "My Little Pony")
Well.. they like My Little Pony in there.
5 mins in.. another likkle steelie
th_steelie2a.png
Whilst I was dealing with that one.. Two fish swam past the drop off to my side and darted upstream through the fast water. They were, at a guess, about 20" dark top with bright silver sides.. I would swear they were steelies...

Continued drifting the pool and across the tail-out. Another 15 mins goes with nothing but the occasional tug, nothing on "hook up".
Then .. tug. tug. tug. strike.. YANK...
I really thought I had hooked into a Salmon or something. The fish took off across the fast water, but tired after only 2-3 mins.. In it came.
th_pikeminnow.png
About 16ish inches.

I now got a reason to go up there and try and catch as many of these 'damn beasties' as possible!!

its really an excuse to try for late Coho and watch for the early Steelies.

All in all, i wouldnt say that this was a bad morning.
(pictures are clickable to full size)
 
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great pics,,,i love finding new holes to wet my line!!!!!!!maybe we could meet up for a day of fishing sometime.........
 
That would be great.. Steelhead are coming..
I am trying to spend as much time on the river at the moment, getting to know all the little holes.

That last fish.. I think it's a Squawfish/Pikeminnow or whitefish. Is that correct?

____
edit, On close examination.. Its a Mountain Whitefish, 15" long, 2lb 5oz. Currently Poaching
 
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Remember to be careful when handling those little smolt. If you grab them with your bare hand, they will die. The oil on your skin, is like acid to theirs. I'm not saying you did anything wrong, it's just that I think we should all be extra careful with the future generations of our fish. Also, remember that bait is not allowed, and that includes soft plastics. I'm pretty sure that scent is OK, isn't it guys?
 
The smolts come out of the river on top of a nice damp rag that i have just for that purpose. I dont like handling fish that i am not going to keep and i want to see them again when they are 2 years down the road!

I am a little shocked that they thought themselves tough enough to attack that spinner! On that size tackle i really didn't expect little uns.
 
Yes.. if i had have used the whole of the "My Little Pony".. i think that would have classed as a plastic lure.. but a hard one. I only stole the mylar strips from the hair!!
 
Growbug said:
That would be great.. Steelhead are coming..
I am trying to spend as much time on the river at the moment, getting to know all the little holes.

That last fish.. I think it's a Squawfish/Pikeminnow or whitefish. Is that correct?

____
edit, On close examination.. Its a Mountain Whitefish, 15" long, 2lb 5oz. Currently Poaching
Click to expand...

Looks like a whitefish to me. Did it have a small mouth?
 
Page 6 ODFW Regs
Bait Any item used to attract fish which is not an artificial fly or a lure. Molded soft plastic or rubber imitation worms,
eggs, or other imitation baits are considered bait. Scent is not considered bait.
Click to expand...
 
TTFishon said:
Looks like a whitefish to me. Did it have a small mouth?
Click to expand...
Yup.. Small mouth and beak.
 
It could be a twin.. except yours looks like its had its lips botoxed
 
Nah.. this is definitely a Whitey.. Adipose fin (a large one), beak, small mouth, etc.
I have another pic of it all laid out in state before being poached.

I didn't know that Whitefish were a member of the Trout family.. I dont suppose I can class this as my largest trout yet though.
 
Molalla Closed to Trout

Molalla Closed to Trout

I don't want to be a spoilsport, but the Molalla is closed to trout fishing Oct. 31st, I do believe.

BFF
 
You arent being a spoilsport at all.
Northern Pikeminnow, Carp, Sucker, Chub, Sculpin, Whitefish, Shad and other Nongame Fish
No limit. • No length limit.
• Angling restricted to artificial flies and lures in streams. See exceptions
under Special Regulations where use of bait is allowed.
Lakes: Open all year.
Streams: Open during trout, salmon or steelhead seasons, except mainstem Willamette
River and sloughs and tidewater areas of Columbia River tributaries downstream from Bonneville Dam are open all year.
Click to expand...
So Whitefish are fair game all year, seeing as they arent specifically mentioned in the Special Regs or Regs for Molalla River.
 
Yeah, you can fish for any of those nongame fish as long as the stream, in this case, is open for trout, salmon or steelhead. I saw those first two picks and thought you'd kept the second one, as you didn't say you returned it. My mistake.
Those two 20" steelies were probably bright coho jacks, perhaps. There still are coho coming up W. Falls, as of the 12th.

BFF
 
Bait is allowed on the mollala may15 - july15
 
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