Santiam with TCO tackle.

[osmosis]

Hit the Santiam today with Kodiak. We found a couple fish but sure had to work for 'em. Mine was hardly an adult, kodiaks was about double mine haha.



The flash of the camera took away from the actual color of the filet. There was some teasing about the edibility of Santiam fish the other day so I took this second pic. It's not clack fresh but I am impressed for several hundred miles of travel.



If you don't have any yet, you really need to grab yourself some TCO blades!

 

[just1nook]

Nicely done Alan. Sorry you had to work so hard. Columbia was unfishable this evening, chop and wind.

 

[metalmania]

Awesome job you too:clap:. I couldn't agree with you more about those spinners, there not fair to the fish at all.

 

[PDXKush]

Nice job guys !! Kodiak you told me you knew where they were...You sure know your stuff. Man Osmosis and Kodiak fishing together...That just isn't fair for those Poor Salmonids

 

[Fishtopher]

Man that looks like a nice filet. Everytime I filet a fish, it looks like i did it with a chainsaw. When work slows down, I gotta catch up with you hooligans. Nice work.

 

[Kodiak]

The other pics

The other pics

It was great fishing with Osmosis again. The steelhead were stubborn on a brand new level yesterday, only a couple of quick takes...and if you didn't see them you wouldn't have known you were hit. One steelie hit Osmosis, then in the same pass and hauled @$$ right on out of there..our spinners were maybe three feet apart..good stuff! Several chased after them like they wanted to fight but then peeled out at the last second. We turned our vengence on some chinook and it paid.:dance: Glad Osmosis was there to help get the skunk off my back!

 

[Kodiak]

Dark fish

Dark fish

ya santiam fish a are a little darker, But they cut great..I got 4 meals for my family out of 1 fish, and still managed to save some for the smoker.

 

[PDXKush]

Looks like bomb filets to me. Congrats again.

 

[Troutier Bassier]

Reading these posts about People catching Salmon makes me want September to come tomarrow.

 

[FishSchooler]

Reading these posts about People catching Salmon makes me want September to come tomarrow.

Why september? Why not just catch one now? :think:

 

[youngbuck307]

..... coho makes it a lil easyer so i hear.... put it this way i was told if i havent got a salmon by sep i was promissed a coho. just so many of them

 

[youngbuck307]

lol but o yea nice fish guys!!!! can't wait to get out on the water with some guys that know what they are doing lol!!! i really just need to say skip it and come up with the cash for some of them spinners lol...... maybe be a lil short on rent this month... lol jk

 

[Anyfishisfine]

Man, I need to get into spinners for the big guys.

My problem is right now I'm using a bait caster, Abu Garcia 5500 for my Salmon/Steelhead fishing, and it's no good at casting light lures. The least I can manage is about 1/2 ounce without running the risk of a bad bird's next.

 

[Kodiak]

Man, I need to get into spinners for the big guys.

My problem is right now I'm using a bait caster, Abu Garcia 5500 for my Salmon/Steelhead fishing, and it's no good at casting light lures. The least I can manage is about 1/2 ounce without running the risk of a bad bird's next.

The 5500 sould pitch them fine...I would try going with lighter line around 10-12 pound. I routinely land springers on lighter tackle and makes it a lot more fun.!

 

[osmosis]

I agree, light tackle makes for a lot of fun. Mine from yesterday was on an 8-12# steelhead spinning rod with 10lb line.

The 5500 should work fine for #3's and up as long as you adjust your brake apropriately.

 

[Anyfishisfine]

I have 15# mono on it right now, next time I respool I'll drop to 10.

How do you guys adjust the brake? I set it so that the terminal tackle will just barely drop on its own. Like I said that works great until I get down to less than 1/2 oz or so.

 

[osmosis]

A good place to start, until your thumb gets good and educated, is the with the bail released when the lure hits the ground the spool only continues for about half a rotation. that way it wont "blow up" and cause a nest when it hits the water if your thumb isn't on the spool fast enough.
remember to re-adjust the brake every lure swap or change in amount of lead while drifting.

 

[Anyfishisfine]

A good place to start, until your thumb gets good and educated, is the with the bail released when the lure hits the ground the spool only continues for about half a rotation. that way it wont "blow up" and cause a nest when it hits the water if your thumb isn't on the spool fast enough.
remember to re-adjust the brake every lure swap or change in amount of lead while drifting.

Yea, I'm constantly adjusting it as the day goes on. The line seems to get heavier as the day wears on. I usually *try* to break it with my thumb when it hits the water. That was an early and critical discovery.

What I should do is head to the local football field and just spend a few hours casting without worrying about snags or anything and improve my technique.

 

[youngbuck307]

dad would go and cast his sturgeon rod all the time like that to get better with it!!!!

 

[Anyfishisfine]

Yea, I'll set out some buckets, and bring the kids so they can practice with their trout gear.

Sorry for hijacking this thread BTW.