Fall Chinooks are finally showing up!

[FishSchooler]

Lets welcome the fall chinook run! The largest salmon run in the year! Whos gonna go get some great salmon action?

 

[ZeeBorn]

I’m certainly going to try and get some! But I have never tried to fish for them this early. Where do you go? I fish from the bank so if it's all boat fishing for a while I guess I’ll have to wait. I have been thinking of jetty fishing for salmon, anyone ever do that? Or if anyone has an open seat for some boat fishing I would I sure appreciate an invite and would of course pitch in some money for gas and bate.

 

[FishSchooler]

No no no, of course you dont need a boat! If you know what to do, bank anglers with outfish boaters cause the fish swim closer to the bank, avoiding the main current of the river. I will go out to bonneville a couple of times, plunking and spinners are basically your only choice. Almost the same as steelheadin, just bigger fish and bigger water. Tanner creek is the place to go if your bankin, closes august 15th so walk down to the deadline, 80 yards down accordin to cchinook. Then plunk with spin n glows and roe/shrimp/prawns, anything. Do NOT keep any chinook caught at near bonneville until after september 1st. Right now, steelhead are runnin strong, and bankers will use spinners or plunk. Ask cchinook, he seems to hook a lot of big fish up there. This is my first time for salmon and steelhead too, so I need some tips as well, use 20 lb test line and up. The main mistake made by bank anglers is thinking that you have to cast into the middle of the river... WRONG!!! all the fish are close to the bank cause the main river is too strong, if you wade in far, you just might be where the fish are swimming! rcast far as you can and start reeling FAST until you get to a slower, deeper water. The fish might not be deep, so spinners is when that comes in. good luck to me and you and the rest of the salmon peeps!

 

[Kodiak]

Fish Are In Now

Fish Are In Now

Took the boat out on the Siletz and marked 2 big pods of fish about 7 miles up the river. The groups were about 30 fish a piece. I've heard of a few fish being caught already.....FYI silvers are in at the mouth of the clack. I will be whipping out the blue green rainbow spinner, red and brass, red and white, and chart. green/nickle spinners verry soon. Check out the link and let me know of what you think of the patterns.

 

[cchinook]

fall fish at Bonneville

fall fish at Bonneville

Sept. 1 opener - if you do it they will get you ! # 4 blue foxes , last year it was gold blade and pink body -result was 4 nooks above 30 lbs. and 8 coho -and 4 bass and 1 walleye and 1 steelhead -- 4' leader to a 2oz. kidney
lead with your favorite spinner - leader 30lb. maxima - main 50 lb. Tuff Line -
it is not a casting contest --

 

[Kodiak]

Open on coast now

Open on coast now

Coast opened aug 1. for fall fish same with the willamete for silvers. Never fished Tanner Creek before. I might have to come join you guys up there for that. I picked up 18 silvers in one day on eagle creek last year, 9 chinook on the siletz, 3 silvers on the salmon, 9 steelhead on the southfork of the santiam (this year I have 19 steelies), 18 springers on the North Fork.
check the link and let me know wht you think of our patterns
Good luck

 

[FishSchooler]

You got bass and walleye up there? Lol? Would a size 3 blue fox work?

Im going to Tanner creek next week before it closes, Im gonna be plunking with an ExTReMe DoUbLE TrIcK RiG.
It doesn't tangle either. :dance:
One of the leaders with a spin n glow with eggs or some prawns, and the other with a plug of some sort. The prob is I dunno what plug is the best on the Columbia cause I never plug fished before... yet... :think: Any colors or brands that any of you recommend? Thanks!

 

[ArcticAmoeba]

Took the boat out on the Siletz and marked 2 big pods of fish about 7 miles up the river. The groups were about 30 fish a piece. I've heard of a few fish being caught already.....FYI silvers are in at the mouth of the clack. I will be whipping out the blue green rainbow spinner, red and brass, red and white, and chart. green/nickle spinners verry soon. Check out the link and let me know of what you think of the patterns.

I dunno, you really think that the Coho are at the mouth of the Clackamas??? I know Bonneville, and the Willy Falls has there ususal mis-identification of Silvers, going over the dam, that are probably super jacks, or smolt or something else.(1 or 2 in a day? I don't think so.) Last I heard this week, the Cohos were still 10 or so miles out to sea, gaining massive amounts of weight per day...On the order of 1 pound per. Silvers are dinks most of their lives. Anyhoo, it would be cool if there were Coho in the Clackamas already, but I think that is a still a few weeks out though...
The spinner blades look a little Hollywood to me, but I know anything works. I'm sure the fish will key in on the contrast, not the design... You actually do some extensive testing on the ones with flames? I have heard of other blades with a similar paint scheme, and hear they don't do very well. I want to know how yours work though! Do you sell anything to produce your own spinners, like blades, beads, wire, clevices, rubbers...Ya know the basics. Just curious, as I now have a certain method about how my spinners are constructed, and I end up redoing everything I get anyways, even re-wired all of my commercially manufactured ones! (B.F., P.M., R.T.'s) And, they fish a whole boat load of Trout better! Amazing what the smallest discrepencies in the manufacturing process do to skunk you senseless!!! Those Predators I actually think look really killer. Imagine holding up a 20 pound Steelhead, and one of those blades was hangin out of it's mouth, pretty rock 'n roll if you ask me...

 

[Kodiak]

Thanks

Thanks

I have been fishing the mouth of the Clack since '92. The big native bucks show up there well before most other fisheries, generaly around Aug. 1st. THis time of year a number 4 french blade in copper can do massive damage. It seems those bigger bucks (12-18#) blow right through bouy 10 and show up about 2 to 3 weeks before fish start showing up at Bonneville...its a big hush thing but, don't mind letting people know. Fish the high tide for best results.

As far as the flame pattern goes (Inferno tm) we have spent 2 years getting it just right. The secret to getting a flame pattern to work is to make sure you split the entire length of the blade with paint giving it a Pseudo latteral line, which makes it more bait fish like. Another factor that helps this blade SMASH fish is our UV CAST tm. Fish see UV and can key on it, aggresivley at times. We hammered fall Chinook with it last year, we actually spent 20 mins. of fishing time for 2 limits of fish one day last year. Things are always good when you spend more time fighting fish than trying to hook up:dance:

Sept. 1st midnight we will be launching the site for e-commerce. We intend to have all of our spinners and components available.
Good Luck

 

[ArcticAmoeba]

Hmm. Did not know that the big bucks head up this early...Kinda thought they all came up at once, as I fish the Clack a lot too, and normally see Eagle Creek start filling up around the end of September or so...Go to know, about the early runners though, gotta key in on bigger fish for now. The lateral line imitation you mention, seems like a pretty legit method to makin them effective. UV paint huh? I like to tip Aero jigs with raw prawn meat because the natural UV will turn on a stubborn fish! Pretty cool stuff dude.

 

[Troutski]

Tricks of the trade...

Tricks of the trade...

Hmm. Did not know that the big bucks head up this early...Kinda thought they all came up at once, as I fish the Clack a lot too, and normally see Eagle Creek start filling up around the end of September or so...Go to know, about the early runners though, gotta key in on bigger fish for now. The lateral line imitation you mention, seems like a pretty legit method to makin them effective. UV paint huh? I like to tip Aero jigs with raw prawn meat because the natural UV will turn on a stubborn fish! Pretty cool stuff dude.

Funny how the tricks of the trade come out of these conversations; and how they so closely mirror my local river system - I guess a fish is a fish the world around. Although my fish are no where near as fresh as yours, the gas savings is well worth it . Nice to see every ones still sharing...:clap: :dance: :clap:

Chuck

 

[ArcticAmoeba]

No kidding! I have seen a couple of really good techniques, and lure tips, that I previously did not know, and now use them with success. It is funny how some really, really great, stuff comes out on these pages. Like your tip on the wild bucks in the Clack... definitely something I am going to investigate, and hope fully capitalize on. I have caught a lot of wild fish this year, and I am getting better at properly handling the big fish, not taking them out of the water, and what not, but those damn 6 inch smolt, I can't ever get the hooks out, with out totally engulfing the fish in my hand, lightly, but still, just enough to hold 'em still. Never had a still/lopsided swimmer though. Wild fish are a real wicked rush! Real fighters!

 

[kentsboots]

What exactly is a "smolt ? is it just a young salmon ?

We can only keep fish larger than 15 inches correct ? and they must ALL be fin clipped ?

 

[ArcticAmoeba]

Smolt are just that...Immature Salmonids. I am not real sure if Jack retention is open or not, but Jack are, I think 15"-26." Everything larger is considored an Adult. Yes they all must have the Adipose Fin clipped with a healed scar...Some people, believe it or not, will catch wild fish, clip them, bleed them, and try to get away with it! If Jack retention is closed, then all fish must be over 26." I think it's 24" or 26", need to get back to you on that one...

 

[Kodiak]

Big fish

Big fish

The silvers won't be up at eagle creek just yet. THey hang in the mouth of the clack for a couple of weeks . If you go in on the meldrum bar side and fish by the black top it seems to be a little better. You are going to need about an ounce of weight and about 3 to 4 feet of leader. Good Luck

 

[ArcticAmoeba]

Yeah, I don't see Coho stacking into Eagle Creek, until about mid September at the very earliest.You talkin about plunkin it out there at Meldrum? I am not opposed to it, just don't ever do it anymore, as I drift shallower holes in the Clack nowadays most of the time. I could definitely get out to Meldrum though. You think bait, or terminal, like spinners? I made some spinners that are Coho killers. Might as well get them wet early, right. I don't normally fish for silvers, so this will be good...I hope.

 

[Kodiak]

No Plunking Allowed!!!!!!!!!!!

No Plunking Allowed!!!!!!!!!!!

We don't plunk it. It's cast and retrieve right in the mouth of the Clackamas where it dump's into the Willamete. Let it sink about 2 seconds and then start your retrieve. Crank just enough to make your gear work and let it swing through the big boil. Just let it work right back to the bank. Wash, rinse, repeat. Side effects may include occasional hysteria, shakeyness, dry mouth,and blured vision. Occasional cases of lost fish may include the following symptoms: Mild case of touretts, nausia, and vomiting.

Good Luck

 

[FishSchooler]

All I can say kodiak is wow... :lol::lol::lol:

 

[Raincatcher]

Oops

Oops

My,oh my. :shock: Some things are almost irresistable. Which would be fine, if we only had old timer's as members. Fortunately though, we have a number of younger members. Thank you,gentlemen.
Barb

 

[FishSchooler]

Wooooooooooah

Wooooooooooah

Woah did this year get a jump on the season! Started out average about 1000 a day right now, to 3000, then to 9000! Get out there we must! Oh wait... can't keep...