Sandy Update 4/11/09

[mgdguy]

Hit Oxbow this afternoon. Started with a spoon below the park...no action, did see one surface though. Moved up into the park to a spot I like and switched to bobber and jig. On the 'last cast', bobber went down. I had too much slack line bobber came back up before I could tug. Threw into the exact same line - bobber goes down again in the same spot. Line is tight, but a tug just brings the bobber back up

I had a worm on the end of my jig....I think it was getting nibbled on, whether from a steelie or trout. Or I had too much worm on and not enough hook exposed.

Everyone else I talked to there today got skunked, and my bro and his buddy tooned from Oxbow to Dabney this morning, with no action as well. So at least I got some action!

 

[ArcticAmoeba]

Could have been Smolt too, or even sucker fish if you were running on the bottom...Which is pretty much where you should have it set. Weird to hear a buncha skunks today.

 

[Mike123]

Could have been Smolt too, or even sucker fish if you were running on the bottom...Which is pretty much where you should have it set. Weird to hear a buncha skunks today.

There are tons of smolt in a lot of rivers right now.
I couldn't even use a bobber and jig combo last two times out because smolt were hitting my jig like crazy. So I switched to a spoon with a larger siwash hook. No more smolt hooked.

Oh one of the smolt I caught on the jig was 2+ lbs...!!! It looked like a football.

I can't wait to move to Gresham in September! Such a good coho run there on the Sandy!!

 

[mgdguy]

You're right AA, it could have been any of the above. But because it couldn't grab the hook I'll never know

 

[ArcticAmoeba]

No kidding. The local creek is chock full of 2-5 inch fish! Dumb little guys eat anything! Was the 2 pounder an outbound Smolt, or a Jack? If it was a retainable Jacko you shoulda whacked it! They are the best tasting by far!

 

[mgdguy]

I couldn't even use a bobber and jig combo last two times out because smolt were hitting my jig like crazy. So I switched to a spoon with a larger siwash hook. No more smolt hooked.

What's funny is the first time I used a heavy spoon, last fall on the Sandy, I caught a little 8" trout on it. ONLY thing I've caught on it the damn thing was half as big as him! lol

Been tryin to catch a winter steelie on that thing ever since....

 

[Irishrover]

The smolts got a good ride to the Columbia yesterday. I drifted the Sandy from Dabney to Lewis and Clark and there was a lot of water pushing down that river. The gauge at the lower gauge hole was reading 12 feet. I was going to use some magnum wiggle warts but was afraid that big of a plug in that water would have sucked us down river at 20knts! We did pull some plugs and drift eggs but drew a zero. The good thing was the ramp at Dabney in good shape and very close to the water.

 

[Mike123]

Any Springers being caught in the Sandy yet?
I'm going to make a trip up in mid May for some 'Nooks...

 

[ArcticAmoeba]

We have had a couple on with fins. Only two to the bank, but no real numbers yet. But mid-May should be about prime time for the Sandy. Summers, and Chinook. Great time of year to be out there too!

 

[Irishrover]

Any Springers being caught in the Sandy yet?
I'm going to make a trip up in mid May for some 'Nooks...

That's what we were shooting for. Been catching a few nooks above the Sandy on the Columbia so yesterday we thought it might be fun to give the Sandy a shot. There sure is enough water and the color was good. Next week it's back to the Columbia those tides look to good to pass up.

 

[ArcticAmoeba]

A few days after a good pumper tide the fish should be in the mouth of the Sandy. Another couple days after that, the fish should have spread out, and shuttled up the lower end, and lazied up in most classic holes. Thats what is nice about how our rivers flow into each other. You can follow fish up into the tribs very easily if you have tide charts.

 

[Mike123]

Cool thanks for the info guys! :clap:

 

[fish_on!!!]

No kidding. The local creek is chock full of 2-5 inch fish! Dumb little guys eat anything! Was the 2 pounder an outbound Smolt, or a Jack? If it was a retainable Jacko you shoulda whacked it! They are the best tasting by far!

What are jacks really called so I can google it and see a pic jus in case one runs itno me! Are they common in Sandy n clackamas is there a way to tell I'm apart from a smolt? Sorry for hijacking

 

[youngbuck307]

Fish on im new to fishing kinda but i have always been told a jack is just a nook that got a wild hair up his A** and came back after being in the ocean for only a year.... They look just like a salmon just normaly small like 20in or so... well thats what i have been told am i right???

 

[Mike123]

Fish on im new to fishing kinda but i have always been told a jack is just a nook that got a wild hair up his A** and came back after being in the ocean for only a year.... They look just like a salmon just normaly small like 20in or so... well thats what i have been told am i right???

Right on the money!
And remeber jacks can be any species...
The exact size is in the regs...

 

[Kodiak]

The wild Hair

The wild Hair

Fish on im new to fishing kinda but i have always been told a jack is just a nook that got a wild hair up his A** and came back after being in the ocean for only a year.... They look just like a salmon just normaly small like 20in or so... well thats what i have been told am i right???

Male fish of any one species of fish will out number females about 4 to 1. As fish begain to age they will naturaly thin their population on their own eliminating an excess to keep the balance right. They don't know for sure but they are pretty sure thats why we have jacks.

 

[youngbuck307]

when i drifted the rouge river we were catching what they called 1/2 pounders were they just jacks??? if i remeber right a lil bigger than a 1/2 pound though just what they called them... i was only like 9 so didn't know to much then but always wonderd what they were i was catching...

 

[ArcticAmoeba]

Those Steelhead are just a very, very small strain. They do stay salty, 3-5 years, and still come back as a big as a doublr order of Cheesburgers. Thats why we call 'em C-Burgs, or simply CheeseBurger Fish. Great fun, and as far as Steelhead go they taste the best.

 

[tnffishman]

a couple years ago i was down at meldrum fishin for springers and had no luck, so i went and messed around in the little lagoon area by the boat ramp and hooked probably 50 smolts on a panther martin, went back the next week and hooked around 15. they were around 6-8 inches and fought hard, havnt seen em back since then:think:

 

[FreshMoneyFisher]

Reading the tides?

Reading the tides?

A few days after a good pumper tide the fish should be in the mouth of the Sandy. Another couple days after that, the fish should have spread out, and shuttled up the lower end, and lazied up in most classic holes. Thats what is nice about how our rivers flow into each other. You can follow fish up into the tribs very easily if you have tide charts.

AA,

I just purchased a solur/lunar tide table and am anxious to learn how to use it, and in theory, consitantly put myself in potentially productive situations.

This might be a better post for a new thread, but wondering if you would shed any light on how we can follow these fish on there spawning journey using the tide charts.

If you follow the fish vs have them cross your path, better chance for a hook up, right?

Thanks for any input.