Where are all the hatchery fish?!

[vw_Brian]

well another productive day for me, but not so much for the freezer hooked 4 good fish and landed 3... all real healthy 10-12 pound wild fish. Dont get me wrong i'd never complain about landing 3 metalheads in a day, but im running short on freezer supply.

is anyone having any better luck with keepers? and im sure you"ll ask... i was in one of the siuslaw "tributary" areas

Brian

 

[Kodiak]

Alsea

Alsea

Hit some hatchery fish on the alsea today....they are complaining about the opposite over there though, no nats, all clipped....just can't make us steelheaders happy can they?:lol:

 

[ninja2010]

good job both of you.

i just wish for one fish to start, clipped or not. i'm beginning to forget what a fish feels like at the end of my line...

wish i knew how to find them in the lower clack.

 

[fishnquest]

I hate to hear you talk like that, ninj. I know what u mean, I'm still waiting on my first one this year, too. I'm sure you will get them and I'd like to see that!
I never even got a bite in oregon, but persistence pays off; I got my first real bite (on the south fork of the eel in CA) by studying the water and putting the bait where I thought it should go, and BAM! he missed the hook and took a big chunk out of my bright red sparkly corkie (it was just enough to get me excited again). Don't give up - I'm looking forward to hearing about your first, go get em.

dale

 

[VagrantAngler]

I'll be on the lower Clack here in about in hour. I'll be about 1/4 mile up from Ye olde bowling alley hole. If that fails I'll work my way up to high rocks and see if I can pull anything out of that deep run there. Good luck and tight lines fellas

 

[bir48die]

Siletz

Siletz

Ninja:

Do you ever fish the Siletz? Heading down to do some crabbing/fishing. Will be in the headwaters. Any words of wisdom?

 

[vw_Brian]

Are you guys really really still catching on a regular basis on the alsea? it went sour on me at least 3 or 4 weeks ago when it dropped below 5.5

I have a really hard time assault fishing down there... its hard to get clients on fish when people are bouncing slinkys off the boat. lol i told myself that i would let the alsea sit until we had a significant amount of rain, but if its still being that productive i might head down before the weather?

and in regards to the siletz... it has slowed for me quite a bit after being really good for early feb. im glad to hear a few others are picking some up.

I just hope the siuslaw/ lake creek holds up through friday so i can get my clients on fish and have the beginning of the week to myself down there while its dropping terrible i know lol

 

[Mike123]

Hit some hatchery fish on the alsea today....they are complaining about the opposite over there though, no nats, all clipped....just can't make us steelheaders happy can they?:lol:

Really?
Man I've heard of just the opposite..
Maybe it's just the people we fish with? haha :think:


But to the original question... there should be more hatchery fish then
what there are this year! They have turned up MIA.

 

[ArcticAmoeba]

The Alsea has produced clippers every trip in the last two months for me. I don't know it or fish it often enough to be productive, but I am. Small gear, and light rigs. 6 berries is pushing the size limits. Tactics change when the water gets this low. The fish don't just disappear, they hide.

The hatch vs. finned fish debate is going, but look at your local streams, The total numbers of fish are down. Not just the clippers. If you are getting into a lot of a particular brand, then a pod of fish moved in, and are holding in your drifts. Next week it might be all clips, versus fins in the same spot. I have had a healthy mix of both. But the overall numbers are very low. In middle school Winter Steelheading used to be like stocker trout fishin. Not anymore.

 

[JeannaJigs]

I took a day off work and spent it on Lake creek today and left for home frustrated.

Nada.

Decided that I sacrificed enough spinners to the river gods today, and came back a little early.

I was driving back 36 and saw two guys with two good sized fish each...I had a truck tailgaiting so I enviously continued on....That was down by Brickerville.

I haven't had much luck with hatchery fish on lake creek the last few years, but there's some nice wild fish for sure...I would have been content to come into contact with just one wild fish

I'm gonna forget what it feels like to have a fish on the other end of my rod.

 

[ninja2010]

fishnquest:
thanks, dale. i'll never give up trying, but it'd be nice even if i get a hit like you did. i used to get a lot of thrill in the salt even when i don't hook up - just the tug of the bite and the slamming on my cranks get my adrenaline pumping. i miss the action. and when i get one, everyone will hear about it and it'll be party-time all over again. maybe this weekend...

vagrentangler:
how did you do? anything?

bir48die:
sorry, i don't fish the siletz. i did the sandy last year and working the clack this year.

jeannajigs:
you threw spinners? i thought you're a jiggy kinda gal...

 

[JeannaJigs]

jeannajigs:
you threw spinners? i thought you're a jiggy kinda gal... [/QUOTE]

Ha yeah normally, but I thought I'd break out the spinners today. They take up so much space in my bag, I decided to donate them to the bottom of the river.

The river gods didn't appreciate my sacrificial offering however...Maybe next weekend? Discouragement is setting in.

 

[BobberDown]

We had a good run of hatchry fish on the clack but i is very slow now i hope we get some rain good luck evry one
Dan

 

[ninja2010]

The river gods didn't appreciate my sacrificial offering however...Maybe next weekend? Discouragement is setting in.

yeah, river gods/fish gods can be soooooo picky.

do not be discouraged... ever. if you ever head the expression, "it's a numbers game" i, for one, am a firm believer that it applies to fishing - number of hours on the water, number of casts, number of styles/lures, number of bites, etc. all add up to number of fish hooked.

i've just never experienced the outrageous improportions and vast ratio like what i'm experiencing with steelhead fishing... and i've been fishing since i was 7.

 

[JeannaJigs]

yeah, river gods/fish gods can be soooooo picky.

do not be discouraged... ever. if you ever head the expression, "it's a numbers game" i, for one, am a firm believer that it applies to fishing - number of hours on the water, number of casts, number of styles/lures, number of bites, etc. all add up to number of fish hooked.

i've just never experienced the outrageous improportions and vast ratio like what i'm experiencing with steelhead fishing... and i've been fishing since i was 7.

I think I'm screwed then lol. I can only get out on the weekends, and I think it's gonna be reduced effective immediately to sundays only thanks to lack of gas funds. Coming into March, that numbers game isn't lookin' so good. lol. Oh well. Maybe my spinner sacrifice today will be appreciated come the summer run? (I hope). Prior to last year, I tried for 3 years to get my first one. I was thinking they didn't even exist. Now that I have got a few and know that they do exist (I think?)...They've become a drug, and I am fiendishly looking for another hit...but I think it's going to have to wait a few months Dangit.

 

[luv2fish]

i figured that the fish gods didn't liked my spinner offerings..so ..ha..i stopped fishing spinners, although at some places i still use them and get a hook up or two......your right ninja...its all the game of numbers...i duely agree with ya on that...

 

[JeannaJigs]

I rarely throw spinners but sometimes they work, and nothin' else was working so I figured why not throw 40-50 bucks into the river.

Back to what jigs and wormies.

 

[JeannaJigs]

I rarely throw spinners but sometimes they work, and nothin' else was working so I figured why not throw 40-50 bucks into the river.

Back to what jigs and wormies.

minus a what.

 

[fishnquest]

I rarely throw spinners but sometimes they work, and nothin' else was working so I figured why not throw 40-50 bucks into the river.

Back to what jigs and wormies.

:lol::lol::lol: i dont care who you are, thats funny. rotfl

 

[vw_Brian]

for sure...never underestimate tossing a good spoon in tailouts, eddys, and undercut rock shelves. they are an absolute go to when nothing else is picking fish up (the correct weather permitting)

well that and maraschino cherries