When the blackberries are ripe?

[sherretb]

Guy and Gals,

I have heard that the fishing is supposed to heat up for steel on the South Santiam (and probably other willy tribs) when the Blackberries are ripe.

Well I picked a handful last night for the first time..

Have any of you heard this saying? Any validity to it?

I caught one on a bright red fly about a week ago down below wiley and had a "bump" this last weekend and that has been it for me lately. (haven't been spending tons of time either...)

 

[troutdude]

IDK. Sounds like an old wives tale to me...

unless you can find a steelie that likes blackberries!

 

[Mad dog]

I know my sons fishing buddy was nailing the summers in late june before the blackberries had even blossomed!

 

[rippin fish lips]

i got into the steelies pretty good b 4 the blossomed. now that they are here i have lost 5!! the number of lost steelies just keeps goin up for me now!

 

[lilsalmon]

Raincatcher and I actually got to fish today....there were steel in the water where we were at but they had lockjaw...so we picked blackberries....:lol::lol:...Maybe thats what you were thinking...

 

[sportsmanlio]

I'm not sure about salmon, but I know you can catch otherwise wary trout when there are berries along the bank. I have used berries on a hook to catch a few trout (where bait is allowed), and it works great! Currants, smaller persimmons, cranberries, blueberries, etc. stay on the hook better than blackberries, but those should work, too.

It sounds wierd, but I just read an article about a guy who makes his own "huckleberry" flies to fish for giant browns and steelhead on the fly in the Adirondacks (I think it was there...). It looks like a puffball. The pictures had him holding some nice fish, so it may have merit for steelhead here...

 

[Raincatcher]

If this is true folk lore,this is the time to strike! The berries are fat an juicy right now. Maybe there is something on the Farmers Almanac website?

 

[troutdude]

Hmmm...who knew that fish were fruitarians? LOL

I'd have to bet that a Salmon berry pattern would also work well; as many of our streams banks are loaded with 'em. That might explain why they'll hit a orange or pink corkie and / or yarn too.

 

[XFactorTackle]

a lot of those gauges for fish timing are just a guess, based on previous years. The truth is, every year can be different. This year for instance, lots of rivers are running higher then normal so fish are coming in sooner, making predictions from previous years incorrect for this run.

The key is to put time in on the water. If your putting time in, you'll catch fish, and even when you don't you'll see fish roll, talk with other fisherman etc. All of this helps you hone in on where the fish are and helps to increase your catch rate, regardless of the traditional run timing.

Good job on the hookups, more to come I'm sure.

 

[cobias]

water temp

water temp

what it means is the dog days of summer are here. hot days mean river water temps get into the high 50's and lower 60's. then we get shade on the water earlier in the evening...deadly combo. was nailing the the late springers ans steelhead last year at this time. try real small silver plugs ( size 50 hotshots k7 or f7 kwik or flatfish ) or small size 1 or 2 silver spinners. i would be out myself but im broke. good luck.