M
McClane
Just curious, do you think I'll find any SRCs about 15 miles upstream from Tillamook Bay?SRC’s run upstream in late summer / early fall. The best fly is the legendary Borden Special. Otherwise you’ll want to target the resident population; in slower pools, Eddie’s, and undercut banks. They don’t need more oxygenated / faster water like rainbows do.
Depends on when you’re going to be thereJust curious, do you think I'll find any SRCs about 15 miles upstream from Tillamook Bay?
July or August. . .I haven't booked it yet. I recently retired so I'm open to any time, but I'm hoping to run into the sea-run fish.Depends on when you’re going to be there
Is that because it's unusual to find sea-run fish that far up, at anytime?I would not count on it, slightly possible, but highly improbable.
Ah, okay then. Since it'll be my first-time fly fishing the West Coast and, I know very little about sea-run cutthroats, would you recommend I fish at my sister-in-law's house (because she claims she's 14 miles up from the Tillamook Bay on the Trask River) and I will do well enough with local, non-migratory fish, then I can simply go north to give the Wilson a shot, as I understand they have a decent run of summer steelhead? I live in NY and I've fly-fished for trout, steelhead, Landlocked Atlantics, and Pacific Salmon (in the Lake Ontario Tributaries) for 40+ years, so I basically have an idea of what I'm doing, I just want to be able to optimize my time while I'm there and since she recently retired herself, and recently sold her home in Portland and moved to her cottage on the Trask full time, I have some real opportunities to fish the area in the future.That is my belief. I have fished that watershed some as it is local and I target trout and never seen one that far up. Other trout families but not the Sea Run family you are targeting.
They go all the way up to the headwaters my man.That is my belief. I have fished that watershed some as it is local and I target trout and never seen one that far up. Other trout families but not the Sea Run family you are targeting.
Never said they didn’t. Saying they didn’t came from between your ears. I very clearly said I hadn’t seen one.
You could run into coho , steelhead and chinook also.My sister-in-law has a place on the Trask River and I will be coming out that way to fish this summer, she says she lives about 14 miles from where her river empties into the Tillamook Bay. I have a couple of questions: what time's the best time in the summer to fish for cutthroat trout? And, how far do the sea-run variety run up the river? Will I be able to fish for these fish or do they tend to stay more in the brackish water and, instead, should I target resident fish? Also, will I be able to catch sea-run fish on the dry fly, or is it all streamer-type fishing? Thank you.
Thank you. You were quite informative.Woof there’s a lot of misinformation in this thread so far.
Sea run cutthroat are semi anadromous, which means they don’t migrate every year. Their migration is driven by food, not reproductive cycles. You will find large sea run cutthroat that have residentialized throughout the entire length of the Trask and its forks from the day trout season opens in late May through the end of it on October 31. The nicest sea run I’ve ever caught was a dozen miles upstream in June. All techniques that catch sea runs work on residents, too, so there’s no need to target one or the other.
While these fish certainly do like Borden’s Specials, it’s one of the two most popular sea run flies sold in the state along with the Reverse Spider. Tying your own variations of classic flies with the hackle collar reversed will be more effective. Be ready to fish traditional methods too, like nymphs or a dry dropper set up. They like them leggy and gaudy.
From September on, it’s an October Caddis game and you should be fishing big bushy dries dead drifted or lightly skated on the surface.
Finally, while sea runs do tend to live in slower, deeper water and undercuts down in the estuary sections, they live in more traditional trout water as you go upstream. You will encounter far more of these fish in pockets and riffles than in deep pools or eddies.
Long story short, yes you will find sea runs well upstream in July and August. You’ll find more after the first rains arrive, but you’ll also have to share space with a lot more anglers. It’s a wash, IMO. You’ll have a great time either way.