Broke my Clackamas skunk!

[ChezJfrey]

Went out early this morning to the same spot I hit the other morning.

This time, tried drifting a small corkie and worm. Gridded entire hole and nada.

Went back to my spoon and after a few casts, letting it drift down, feel/see nothing, then suddenly a few head shakes, see a flash of chrome. Unfortunately, pulled the trigger too late and never hooked it.

Decided to let things settle by fishing the lower end of the hole for awhile. Nothing there, so moved back up. A few casts in, my spoon goes 'dead'. Set the hook! Fish on! Talk about stealth biters...good thing I was 'on it' this time. Wasn't my best hookset either, but turned out not to matter. After a bunch of surface thrashing and one downstream run, got a shiny native to the bank.

Didn't get a pic though...while 'fishing' for my camera with fish in the water, tail in my hand, it was still a bit feisty and shook free, swimming away.

So two definite bites, saw a handful of fish, and even a couple more chasing the spoon, but not committing. Good morning, overall, and I have now banked my first Clackamas steelhead...8 for 13 this year

 

[patrickhvr]

Can I ask what stretch of river? I'm going out there my first time possibly this weekend. And grats on the fish. You want to know my chinook count? 1 for 22. Yeah, nauseating right? That was on the Big C.

 

[jabs67]

Way to get rid of the skunk!!!

 

[Modest_Man]

Nice! I almost got up early and headed out there but have a lot going on today that I need to get done. Let me know the next time you go. I'll be out for sure next week, either Monday or Wed.

 

[ChezJfrey]

No joke...the Clackamas was a major source of frustration last year for me. With my success on the Wilson this season, I was hoping to transfer some of that steelhead mojo to the Clackamas in the coming months since the Wilson will likely cool down right about now

OFF to a good start!

 

[ChezJfrey]

Well, I really wanted to get a photo, because this was a momentous occasion, but anyway...

Back in 1980, my family moved here from southern California. Within a year or so, having heard about the grand fishing here, my dad and I gave it a go. From 1981 to 1983, we fished mostly the summer months with absolutely nothing to show for it except during a shad outing with a friend in a boat on the Willamette. Our main focus was to try and catch steelhead (or trout) in the Clackamas. Unfortunately, we didn't have a clue how to go about it and never caught anything...really...not even trout. I now realize our errors, but that's beside the point today

We stopped trying after 1983 and I didn't resume a steelhead attempt, in any river, until last year.

So, this morning, was a final break in the 30+ year drought of Clackamas steelhead! I wanted a photo to share my long-delayed victory on that particular river with my dad, but a phone call would have to suffice due to the craftiness of the bugger I caught this morning during my phone wrestling. I just spoke to him on the phone and relayed my success this morning; he was quite pleased and we both had a good laugh about our cluelessness those many years back.

Vengeance is mine!

 

[Kage]

Grats! I'm still waiting to get my hook on! I got a definite bite today at Clackamette Park so I might try there again tomorrow or at High Rock. I'm using bobbers and spinners since it's all I've got