igquick said:
should I cast in the middle or just as far as I can?
because I could EASILY cast to the other side...I might try it one day definitely....
it seems like you know the certain "seasons" for salmon within the clackamas river and I have NO IDEA....I didn't know I would have a chance right now for coho...so what seasons are good for salmon fishing in there? for example what seasons can I catch what type of salmon? or does it matter?
alright I remember plunking now I did one day and it sucked because we lost one...
Any river has peak run times and definitive 'seasons' because the fish instincts, along with environmental factors (water temps, flow/height), prompt it to start moving up a river to spawn. For the Clackamas, the best steelhead times would usually be December-June, best Chinook times probably May-June, sometimes July, best Coho times around September and sometimes into October as well. Keep in mind, some fish come earlier, some a little later and they are moving upstream, so December can be good low in the river steelhead, but at some point it will become virtually void of any steelhead, while 20 miles upriver might be great action. And people can/do catch steelhead in November (early Winter run) down low, and into August/September (Summer run) up higher.
As for where to cast, salmon and steelhead select holding water based on all kinds of things...water temps, sunlight or lack of, water height, water clarity, underwater structure, available cover, fishing pressure, etc.) You don't always want to just cast out to the middle or other side...heck, sometimes the fish are within a few feet of the shore you're standing on (so be careful, slow and quiet walking around!). You want to find the most likely pieces of water that have the attributes a steelhead or salmon might select based on the things mentioned vs. what those particular fish seek. Winter steelhead and salmon share many types of water they like, while Summer steelhead are sometimes a little bit different from salmon.
There are too many variables to cover here, but resources that go into what these fish most often seek out in certain conditions are readily available in books and a few online sites give some decent information.
And on top of all that, when you figure out where there might be fish, make sure you get your lure down close to where those fish actually are...usually the bottom of the river.
Good luck.