Friday fishing

K
Kage
Any good spots to hit this weekend? I was planning on the Sandy but I'll head out to where the fish are at the moment.
 
D
Dizzy Fisherman
There should be plenty of fish in the river near you. Since the Sandy has a brood stock program the fish return later in the season which creates a good mix of big hatchery fish, wild fish, and the possibility at an early summer run. I've been reading your posts and I recommend that you keep fishing the river you have been fishing and learn it well. Learning where the fish will be sitting and what section of river to fish depending on ALL conditions is more important than what lure you're using. That being said there are some lures and techniques that are a little more versatile than others when it comes to fishing certain conditions. You can PM me for more info. I would highly recommend joining the NW Steelheaders so you can fish with some guys that have been fishing the Sandy for a long time. The Sandy Chapter meets the first Wednesday of each month at the Sam Cox building right behind Mark's Snack Shack in Troutdale. I just looked at their website and it looks like they have a fish along planned for tomorrow on the Sandy. This means several boats will be launching at Oxbow and floating down to Dabney. If I was going to fish tomorrow I would concentrate on the river above Oxbow boat ramp.
 
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C
ChezJfrey
Dizzy gives sound advice.
 
K
Kage
Today I fished the section of the Sandy along the Oxbow campgrounds, coincidentally it was the first place I fished on the Sandy 6 years ago. My gf at the time/now wife knew how much I loved fishing and bout me a trout rod that I was using everywhere I could. There I was snagging spinners one after another not even realizing my little trout rod was no match for any steelhead I may have ever encountered. I stepped foot on that stretch of water today and thought to myself I've learned SO much since then. I fished every inch of that water, may have gotten a bite once but landed nothing. I didn't walk away with a fish but I was happy knowing that I've come a long way but also have a longer road ahead of me. I'll be hitting that spot again tomorrow, this time with my fly rod. I find myself intimidated at times by the wealth of knowledge that others have compared to myself. I could benefit greatly by joining the Sandy chapter of the NWSteelheaders, I'll look into it. Thank you for your help and advice, I appreciate it.
 
D
Dizzy Fisherman
Kage said:
Today I fished the section of the Sandy along the Oxbow campgrounds, coincidentally it was the first place I fished on the Sandy 6 years ago. My gf at the time/now wife knew how much I loved fishing and bout me a trout rod that I was using everywhere I could. There I was snagging spinners one after another not even realizing my little trout rod was no match for any steelhead I may have ever encountered. I stepped foot on that stretch of water today and thought to myself I've learned SO much since then. I fished every inch of that water, may have gotten a bite once but landed nothing. I didn't walk away with a fish but I was happy knowing that I've come a long way but also have a longer road ahead of me. I'll be hitting that spot again tomorrow, this time with my fly rod. I find myself intimidated at times by the wealth of knowledge that others have compared to myself. I could benefit greatly by joining the Sandy chapter of the NWSteelheaders, I'll look into it. Thank you for your help and advice, I appreciate it.

My advice would be to float fish/drift fish until you start catching consistently and then move up to the fly rod.
 
K
Kage
I've been floating jigs for awhile now, just haven't seem to get a hit. I'll be fishing with a co-worker soon and he'll be teaching me what he knows. With the fly rod, whether I catch anything or not, the simple act of fishing is so fun and relaxing I'm happy just to cast. I'm most comfortable float fishing now so I always go back to floating jigs. Tomorrow is purely to relax and landing fish is secondary.
 
K
Kage
Fished that same spot today with jigs but payed a lot more attention to the subtle depth changes. Trying to do as advised and learn the layout of the river bottom in that stretch. Fished up the river and worked my way down taking a few step after working each section from bank out to the far side. When I got down far enough I walked back up and switched jigs to offer up a different option. Couldn't be sure if I got bites or had a snag but I think I did a pretty good job of trying to just learn that spot. My fly rod stayed on my back, didn't bother taking it out.
 
M
montym
If I may suggest, you might want to go out with a guide. No guarantee that you'll get into fish, 50% of my guided trips have been without a fish to the boat; but it does increase your chances and you'll surely learn a lot. A bit pricey for sure for most of us, but worth every $ with a good guide. A few others in this forum has expressed the same opinion in the past.

I can recommend two from personal experience, Tanner (his name pops up in every other post here, I'm sure you've noticed) and Kolby Lewis. You can't go wrong with either of them, you'll learn even if the fish stay away.

I also second the opinion on NW Steelheaders, you don't even have to be a member to join their meetings. They are a swell bunch of folks, and very willing to share their knowledge.

Cheers
M

PS: nope, I am not getting a discount for this :)
 
K
Kage
As much as I know I could learn from a guide, the price is just too much for me to afford. I have looked at the NW Steelheaders Sandy chapter and am leaning towards joining up with them. I appreciate everyone's input, I have much to learn and I think only now am I really realizing I can't learn it all from books and videos.
 

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