Wilson Steelies

[plucas]

Hey all,
New to the forum and relatively new to fishing in Oregon. I seem to have sparked an interest in catching some steelhead (starting reading about them). Never fished for these before, however I grew up fishing salmon on the Russian and Kenai Rivers, man I miss that, so am not a complete newb to the idea. I was going to head to the Wilson pretty early in the am (probably leave P-town around 5 or 6) and head to the upper portions of the Wilson, I was thinking of drifting bait and maybe throwing some spinners.

Do any of you have any pointers, rigs, or good spots you would be willing to share? It would be appreciated.

Thanks for all the good information you all have posted. This is a great site.

 

[Fishtopher]

sorry man, im no help! i do know this, keep your offerings pretty small out there right now.

 

[plucas]

Ya, small was right. I got my line in the water by 6am, nothing all day. Only saw one and it was only 4 to 5 inches. Not a bite. The water is super low and quite warm I don't think much will be happening in the Wilson until we get a good amount of rain to bring the coho up. It is beautiful up there though got to know the river better as I spent 9 hours on her. Some real nice holes and play from the fork down. Local bait shop told me the Jetty is the place to be right now. Only saw one 3 people on the river all day..

 

[jadedbat]

Try around milepost 9. There is a little road that heads down to the river to a boat launch. A German named place, can't remember the name.

We were pretty stealth with our approach on the hole.. fished it back 20 ft. or so from the bank cuz you'd spook em otherwise,.. but that hole is stacked with trout.

 

[jadedbat]

Sorry just noticed yer lookin for steel. Good cutts and smaller trout there tho.

 

[plucas]

Thanks, honestly anything would be nice at this point in time. Towards the end of the day I had gotten down to about mile post 5, skipped over 7-9, and happened upon a bait shop on wilson river loop road. The lady inside recommended the jetty. I had already been on the river for 8 hours so decided I'd call it a day. Drove up to Cannon and had a few pints at the Warren house. All in all a good day, just not fish wise. Appreciate the information though I will take head for the next time I'm out.

Cheers..

 

[JeeperGal]

I caught my steel around milepost 20 a few weeks ago.. super low water.. she liked my pink sand shrimp

next time i went i caught a beautiful cutthroat but no steels...

 

[Cracker]

The fish are there. It takes some effort to find them at times.Try drifting the pink worm, no weight, light leader.

 

[fishsauce]

I love the Wilson, consider it my home river. I fish it a lot in the winter and a few times in the summer. Fishing for summers on the Wilson can be difficult due to the low clear water. I'm sure you know that smaller, darker offerings are key, but there are other factors that come into play, especially on the Wilson.

Your best bet is to get there early, before the summer sun hits the water. Once the sun hits, the steelhead lose their natural cover and become too nervous to bite. Look for deep holes where steelhead can hide and feel safe. Fishing pressure also turns off the bite. Just because you only saw three other fisherman out there doesn't mean that these fish haven't be pressured to bite. Those same guys may have been fishing for the same fish earlier before you.

If I were to fish the Wilson for summer, which I may try sometime soon since we are expecting rain, I would use bait and fish at first light. Keep your offerings natural. Good luck and report back.

Tommy

 

[beaverfan]

Great tips, thanks bro. I'm planning on going out there next week. Trying to kill this skunk!

 

[GDBrown]

I'm on my way down there this afternoon. Will do some scouting on the way down, then dicide where to fish the evening bite if there is one. I've been trying small egg flies drifted like a corkie. Nothing yet but I'm hopeful.

 

[nointrntrprts]

theyre there

theyre there

they are up there - UP there. Get up high in the system... start downstream walking upstream as to not spookem - if you have spooked one or two, keep an eye on em, give em 20 mins and fish em with a light setup - 6lb leader, small sparse blood red jig - by sparse, only 4-6 marabough feathers.

they are around, just keep on keepin on and you'll find em.