Clack or Sandy...need some advice

[john montana]

If a former steelhead/salmon/trout guy who had converted to the true darkside of carp fly fishing suddenly had the desire to do a little evening after work fishing for something shiny and silver rather than gold...would you experts direct said fly fisherman to the Sandy, or to the Clack.

For the record, I used to fish both and am vaguely familiar with a few places to go...i say vaguely because I certainly claim to be no expert in steelhead or coho...but i've got the gear and am willing to walk past crowds to find some solitude. Frankly, i'm not too concerned about actually catching a fish. some recent issues require a place to keep my head clear, and there is no better place than a river. I do however, have a tiny bit of an aversion to fishing water with no fish...i'd be content to not catch any if i knew there were a few around (saw them rolling, splashing...having some faith issues) that way i can simply place the blame for a skunking squarely on my diminished steelhead/coho skills.

Long winded way to ask for a little advice. Thanks in advance...

 

[igquick]

I always see fish jumpin about 20 feet or less from the banks of riverside state park on the clack and im gonna assume they r trout because the water is cold clear a little rocky, small current, and nearly all of them were small...if I only had a fly rod....

I know u said ur not going for carp but I heard a story about a kid that was plunking there that caught a large gold trout and everybody was laughjng because they knew it was a carp and he took it home and ate it....they asked him how it tasted the next day...I havnt tried for carp there yet but I will some time because that kid caught it during winter and parts of that place look carpy

 

[abel]

John, The Molalla River chapter of the Northwest Steelheaders will be meeting Thursday night. Guest speaker is pro guide Will Fox who is presenting on tactics for catching our unique run of Upper Willamette coho. 6:30 pm at Farmstead Restaurant in Arrowhead Golf Course, 28313 S. Hwy 213, just north of Molalla. This presenttion might give you some info you are looking for. I will be there and you(all) are invited to join us. It's a nice group

 

[john montana]

Would love to do that Abel, but I have a meeting at my daughters school. Next time!

 

[Irishrover]

I'm not sure where you are located, but Oxbow park sandy River should have what you are looking for. The sandy is running low right now last I looked it was about 7 feet at Dodge Park. Another option is Barton Park on the Clackamas. If you walk up river there is a nice strech to swing flies on.

 

[waco]

You are right John there is no better cure for stress than going to a river, sometimes I go there but I don't actually fish, just to look around and if I spot some fish just watching them it's out of this world! It works for me! Anyways good luck and take you're polarized glasses you gonna need them!!

 

[ChezJfrey]

You are right John there is no better cure for stress than going to a river, sometimes I go there but I don't actually fish, just to look around and if I spot some fish just watching them it's out of this world! It works for me! Anyways good luck and take you're polarized glasses you gonna need them!!

Surely you're joking, right? How can you just relax there while the fish are just sitting there, taunting and teasing you, "Na, na, na, na, na!" It's not long before I can't take it anymore and I've gotta huck something out there.

OK, maybe I have problems...LOL

 

[waco]

Nope, not joking! Sometimes there is so much going on, in my head that I don't feel like doing nothing!

 

[john montana]

Thanks for the advice...I hit some spots on the clack that I used to fish before I fell into the carp thing...went 1 for 2 with this little hatchery brat.

Nice evening!

 

[eggs]

Not to shabby!

 

[steelhead_slayer]

You could catch fish in a mud puddle. Hope it was therapeutic for you

 

[halibuthitman]

Thanks for the advice...I hit some spots on the clack that I used to fish before I fell into the carp thing...went 1 for 2 with this little hatchery brat.

Nice evening!

thats the prettiest carp I have ever seen! good job!

 

[ChezJfrey]

thats the prettiest carp I have ever seen! good job!

It's like a prodigal son has returned, eh?

 

[john montana]

hah...i am still a carp guy at heart. I just get bored swinging flies. I only fished for a couple of hours, then i sat on the rocks and watched my buddy cast spinners until dark. Really nice to be on the water though. I do plan on chasing some coho, and doing the winter steel thing this year. carp season for me is probably done until the spring.

it felt pretty good to stick that fish!

 

[bigsteel]

nice work john!!!!!!!!!!!havnt lost the steelhead skills

 

[igquick]

Nice fish john! So pound for pound, which fish is stronger a steel or a common?

 

[john montana]

It isn't close. straight muscle to muscle, a 7 lb carp would drown a 10 lb steelhead if you tied them tail to tail. but you would have to take into account location. in a relatively still body of water (lake, or really big river) the carp would simply crush a steelhead. steelhead are made for heavy current though...and carp aren't. a steelhead fights great in that kind of water, and it was definitely a fun battle with that fish. totally different than the sheer strength and endurance of a carp in slower water.

 

[igquick]

Thats makes me wonder if this guy I was talking to was telling the truth....he told m e he caught a carp or two at the willamette where there was a current and he told me they give up and were easier to reel in than the 5 lb smallmouth he catches...so maybe he was tellin the truth cuz they arent made for the current?....I guess I believe him because he described the look of a carp to be exact, the golden color etc etc....he also told me all kinds of fish pass by the bank all the time, sturgeon, steelies, salmon, carp, etc.....I didn't believe him til I walked up to the bank and a gigantic spawned out steelhead passed by and I saw it without my polarized that I never had at the time, and I caught a sturgeon off 10 to 15 feet of water which shows hes tellin the truth

I thought steelies were stronger but it was based on how long it took me to land one when I was very young so its kind of blurry and I probably sucked at playing large fish at that time

 

[john montana]

I'd bet $20 the "carp" that guy caught was a sucker. There are many sucker species out here, and people mistake them for carp all the time.

i can say this...i see my backing (you have 90 ft of flyline, and then a couple hundred feet of backing on a fly reel) more in one season of carping than i have the rest of my life combined when fishing for trout, salmon, steelhead. they simply run farther, fight longer, and have more strength (largely a function of size) than other freshwater fish.

to me, a big part of the wonder and beauty of battling a steelhead is the nature of their environment. watching one rocket through a rapid and leaping in the air is awesome. but in a straight muscle contest...carp win.

 

[ChezJfrey]

to me, a big part of the wonder and beauty of battling a steelhead is the nature of their environment. watching one rocket through a rapid and leaping in the air is awesome.

That is my sentiment as well. It's both the thing I love, and the think I curse, when it results in escape. LOL