Wilson River trip. Looking for some tips.

[jmelinte]

I'm planning a camping trip out by Elk Creek and the Wilson at the end of May. This will be my first time there, and I'm not a very experienced fisherman (two seasons at East Lake, and a bit of stream shore casting). Any tips for me? I'm also strongly considering grabbing a pontoon float (Colorado XT seems to be a good beginner setup) for future lake fishing, but I'm debating whether I want to do it before the trip or wait a bit longer. Would you recommend taking this out on the Wilson and anchoring/paddling in the area I mentioned, or would it not be worth buying one early? I don't know how calm the water is, etc.

 

[davep]

Wilson river and pontoon

First, you need to do some research on pontoons... if you are going to float steelhead rivers, the colorado would be my last choice... Look at outcast, scadden, water skeeter.. all in the same basic price range... second, the wilson is not for beginners... you first floats should be with experienced river pontooners..... good luck...

 

[BIG D]

Well I was down on the Wilson last Tuesday and its not the kind of river I would go boating on if your not an experienced rafter in some areas this time of the year its a class 3 to 4 rapids with strong under tows like in keening creek area so if your a beginner I would start by learning your boat on a lake Just a suggestion

 

[cchinook]

wilson

wilson

this time of year is slowwwwwww..... the wilson is known for the fall hogs and winter steelies -- there is a possibility for coastal springers but that run is in big trouble - Oct. - end of Nov. - for the hogs - last year I hooked them till my arms hurt - no boat -

 

[beaverfan]

I was out there today and the fish were on the move. Caught one 5-6lb native hen and lost a couple. By the way it was my first steelhead! Caught two nice little sea run Cutties too. Water color was just about perfect this morning but by this afternoon it was pretty clear. If I had a car I'd be back out there tomorrow, but I will probably just stop by Bethany or Commonwealth and try to catch me some dinner.

 

[BIG D]

Maybe I'll see ya at one of the lakes tomorrow, I'm heading back to the Wilson with the boy tomorrow what part was ya fishing if you don't mind me asking

 

[beaverfan]

The two spots I always do best are the pullouts by mile marker 21 and mile marker 14.

 

[beaverfan]

I'm planning a camping trip out by Elk Creek and the Wilson at the end of May. This will be my first time there, and I'm not a very experienced fisherman (two seasons at East Lake, and a bit of stream shore casting). Any tips for me? I'm also strongly considering grabbing a pontoon float (Colorado XT seems to be a good beginner setup) for future lake fishing, but I'm debating whether I want to do it before the trip or wait a bit longer. Would you recommend taking this out on the Wilson and anchoring/paddling in the area I mentioned, or would it not be worth buying one early? I don't know how calm the water is, etc.

Oh and if you plan on camping outside of Elk Creek Campground and not in it. They went through and destroyed every free camping spot along the river. They made it really difficult to even access the river to fish. I almost fell in several 6-7ft deep holes they randomly dug to keep people out. So anyone heading out be very careful!

 

[metalmania]

I was out there today and the fish were on the move. Caught one 5-6lb native hen and lost a couple. By the way it was my first steelhead! Caught two nice little sea run Cutties too. Water color was just about perfect this morning but by this afternoon it was pretty clear. If I had a car I'd be back out there tomorrow, but I will probably just stop by Bethany or Commonwealth and try to catch me some dinner.

Way to go on the first steelie bro:clap:. The first is always the best. It always seems like everyones first is a nate, mine was to, maybe it's good luck though.

 

[jmelinte]

Oh and if you plan on camping outside of Elk Creek Campground and not in it. They went through and destroyed every free camping spot along the river. They made it really difficult to even access the river to fish. I almost fell in several 6-7ft deep holes they randomly dug to keep people out. So anyone heading out be very careful!

Wow, that's awful! We are actually planning on camping in Elk Creek Campground, so I'm glad to hear there's no problems there.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I'm going to scratch the pontooning the river idea, but I believe we're still planning on going to camp and do some shore casting. As far as the pontoon, I picked up the Outfitter X9 from Costco today (pretty much the same thing as the Colorado, but as we all know, Costco doesn't like to carry standard models). I decided to just go with that to begin with just because of the great return policy that Costco has. I know that something like the Fish Cat would have been more suited for river use, but in all honesty, I'm more of a calm water fisher, so the only times I want to take it on a river is when I find a nice slow-moving section. I'm fine with casting/wading through the other stuff