No winter steel reports???

[troutdude]

Hasn't anyone been out chasin', our winter steel yet? It's too quiet, on here. What's going on? Are there no fish coming in yet?

 

[GaryP1958]

Been down to the Sixes chasing Fall Nooks too early for Steel!

 

[hobster]

Waaaaay to quiet. A little too early for the rivers I fish, and we need some rain to bring em in!

 

[Native Fisher]

I have been searching for them, typically I have banked a couple by now, but I got nothing to show for my work but a few salmon. It is very disturbing seeing the lack of salmon on the spawning beds this season,

 

[C_Run]

OK, I'll go first. Normally I don't start steelhead fishing until January but, with the nice sunny days, I wanted to get out of the house and scout around. I intended to fish the lower Alsea since I haven't been there much in recent years. After fishtailing on the icy road over Mary's Peak in the dark, I popped into one of the boat ramps below Alsea to regroup and get the gear ready. It was getting light and was **** cold! Recalling that this spot had some good spoon water and I had some success there in the past, I decided to make a few casts. Well, about the fifth cast I get slammed by a sizeable Chinook and was quite under equipped with my 10 lb. leader so I just loosened the drag and hung on while it proceeded to do its thing. About ten minutes into it I was really regretting leaving my gloves in the truck. Finally it completely spooled me and I was ready to break off when it stopped and I began to regain some line little by little. To shorten the story a bit, it went back to doing its thing close by and finally headed into the willows where it remained for another ten minutes with me freezing and not much to do about it. Eventually the line broke at the spoon which was a real disappointment since I had never caught a Chinook on one of my homemade spoons. I moved and continued fishing nearby and soon had another fish on a Steelie. This time it was an old coho which I landed fairly quickly and released. I decided it was time to head down river and hit as many places as I could. Fishing pressure was moderate. That is, there were boats but not too many and bankies all along the way but not too many. I had several spots to myself during the day. Towards the lower end I laid eyes on two steelhead in the river but they were in a spot impossible to reach due to topography and vegetation. Trophy class, I might add, bigguns. Nobody I talked to had caught any or heard of any caught today but there are some in there now. There's you Alsea report!

 

[OnTheDrop]

Yup, they're in some rivers already, as to be expected.

 

[rogerdodger]

Yup, they're in some rivers already, as to be expected.

Excellent

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[troutdude]

Ha! I knew that someone would at least see some steel, on the Alsea. My pops used to start his season every year--back in the 70's--on that river. And his first day out, was always the day after Thanksgiving. Another good rain, or two, outta get it goin' across the board. Thanks for chiming everyone.

 

[DrTheopolis]

Yup, they're in some rivers already, as to be expected.

Looks like a summer and a fresh winter.

I got a summer on a coastal stream a couple of weeks ago (in tidewater, no less).

That's the entirety of my steelhead report.

 

[OnTheDrop]

Looks like a summer and a fresh winter.

I got a summer on a coastal stream a couple of weeks ago (in tidewater, no less).

That's the entirety of my steelhead report.

Nope, both Winters. Both are right max and adipose clip. Inferior Alsea strains. I call them 2 jump johnnys...

 

[rogerdodger]

Nope, both Winters. Both are right max and adipose clip. Inferior Alsea strains. I call them 2 jump johnnys...

Bonk'em and smoke'em!

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[OnTheDrop]

Not right max clips, left, which I believe is early Alsea strain. Also, rumor has it they are going to be outro, and some North coast rivers switching to all broodstock fish. Not really sure how I feel about it, but we'll see...

 

[Native Fisher]

Not right max clips, left, which I believe is early Alsea strain. Also, rumor has it they are going to be outro, and some North coast rivers switching to all broodstock fish. Not really sure how I feel about it, but we'll see...

I often times miss those early alsea strain fish on my home river. The broodstock programs produce some incredible large fish, but in order to have a decent program you have to be very on the ball with your parent fish. the problem we have had locally is that we used to take fish from throughout the season early, mid and late, this produced fish from thanksgiving to early april. The last few years though there was little care taken in brood selection, few wild fish put into the program, and the result is you get a bunch of fish that shoot up the river in a few large groups throughout December. Like good trained dogs they go right into the hatchery/trap in the high water making for a frustrating situation for anglers.

It would be nice to have those early fish to get into in mid to late november.

 

[troutdude]

It would be nice to have those early fish to get into in mid to late november.

Those early fish, always made my dad a happy camper!

 

[atjohnson1111]

I've been out a couple times. Then again, I'm trying to catch a Steelie on a fly. Pretty tough combination when you're fishing a technique you haven't had much experience with and how to get that darn fly into the strike zone!

 

[Paul Smith]

I've been trying to hook up with winters on the swung fly and its tough! Ill be trying again Saturday! Glutten for punishment I guess; better than sitting home watching TV!

 

[Gulfstream]

I tried the Coos yesterday and got blanked

 

[troutdude]

I tried the Coos yesterday and got blanked

Well at least you tried.

 

[GaryP1958]

The trap at Whitaker will be in tomorrow so we will see if any fish are up that far yet soon!

 

[atjohnson1111]

I've been trying to hook up with winters on the swung fly and its tough! Ill be trying again Saturday! Glutten for punishment I guess; better than sitting home watching TV!

Right?!?! I fished hard from 8 this morning until about 3 and couldn't touch em. Swung fly, deep dead drift without an indicator and no luck. It's just a tad too early and to be honest, I don't think the clack is a type of water I want to tackle with a fly just yet. Feels like I should start smaller.