NW Outdoor Explorer

With springer fever starting to really kick in, deciding to float for steelhead or troll for salmon was tough.  Either way, I just had to get my wife on the water.

If you read the title of this post, it is pretty obvious the decision I made.

My buddy Pablo did a little recon and thought our best chance for hooking up would be on the Sandy River.  We launched from Revenue Bridge and floated to Dodge Park.  Even if we end up not catching anything, this stretch of the river is really nice to float on a pontoon.  The weather was mild.  Overcast and about 40 degrees.  Rain was not forecast till later in the day.

Unfortunately, this stretch of the river does not allow you to fish from the boat so we had to stop along the way in some strategic locations.  We were trying a number of techniques from bobber and bead to spinner to drift fishing.

On about our third or fourth stop, I had switched up to just casting a spinner.  A Blue Fox #5.  This spot was mostly some slow moving water with a couple boulders bubbling in the middle.  I threw four casts and in this one spot, I felt a little something that did not quite feel like the bottom but it was not a solid take down either.  On that fifth cast, the spinner went through the same spot and BANG!!!! I hook up.  It has been a few weeks since my last fix so I wanted to make this one last a little.  I did not reel in too fast and let him take a few runs.  One or two aerials added to the thrill.  We could see early that it was a native and had some color.  It was time to bring it to shore and release it.  Got a couple pics and gently let him swim away only for him to run into a rock and give us one last aerial.  On to the next hole.

Our next stop was along this property that the owner is not exactly hospitable.  We were careful to stay in the water where we could.  A couple of lab puppies came down to the water to ask us to play.  One black lab and one yellow.  I love dogs and had to give them a couple of rubs.  My wife was in the water trying to fish and they kept pawing her back.  Pet me!  Pet me!

We continued down river.

My buddy Alex switched over to drifting a corky.  Probably the smallest corky I have seen.  No way is that going to work.  He worked the hole and got his hook up.  Shows what I know.  🙂  After a few runs and some acrobatics, the fish was brought to shore.  Another native that posed for some pics and was let go.  Alex took a short break and gave the same setup another go in the same hole.  First cast, hooked up again.  DAMN!!!  This one gave a good fight as well.  This one was a hatchery and going to the table.

We continued to work the hole till we decided that Alex got the only two fish there on that day.  Unfortunately, not much more action the rest of the day.  Fished through a couple rain showers and gave it all we had, but no luck.

It was another great day with great friends.  Thank you Pablo.

My original plans had me out on the Columbia River trolling for Spring Chinook again last Saturday.  One event led to another and my plans fell through.  I got an invite to join my good friends out on the Clackamas River to chase winter steelhead instead.  With the Columbia as cold as it is right now, it would be more about burning fuel than catching Kings.  The odds for landing steelhead on the Clack are much better.

We launched the Pavati about 7am.  There were only two other trailers in the parking lot.  It looked to be a light traffic day on the river.  I think we came across about 4 or 5 other boats throughout the day.

The morning temperature was a chilly 37 degrees and showers were in the forecast.  It warmed up to about 52 degrees by about 1pm and we were fortunate to not get rained on.  It was a great weather day on the water.

My day did not start out so great.  The first snag, I pulled up on my rod and snapped it about a foot from the reel.  The rod must have been compromised in some way for it to break where it did.  I know some people out there have had success with the Lamiglass X-11’s, but this is the third one I have broken.  I doubt I will ever buy another.  For cheap rods, I am a huge fan of the Okuma SST’s.  I have not had a single problem with one yet.

Throughout the rest of the day, I must have found every snag in the river and went through at least 10 leaders.  By mid day, I just accepted this was going to be my role.  Thankfully, I was with good people and spirits were kept high.  Beer, food and music made it a joyful day.

It was a tough grind, but we did not go home skunked.  The second to the last hole, I was once again with my rod in the boat putting on another leader while Pablo drifted his bead through and got a hit.  We were in some current so Pablo loosened his drag and the fight was on.  The fish turned out to be a native and after a couple of pic’s, it was returned to the water.

We attempted another pass through that hole with no success.  It was time to move on to the last hole and call it a day.

This is the continuation to my previous post.  Thank you again Home with Heroes for making this happen.

We were scheduled to hit the Sandy river, but due to high winds, the excursion was moved to the Clackamas river to get a little more protection from the wind.  It was still pretty cold, but not too windy.  Good call guy’s.

I arrived at the ramp to be greeted by several veterans and their guests.  These were a great bunch of guys with some great stories.  Our special guest was Jim Thurber from Discovery channel series Gold Rush.  Regardless of how hard we pressed him, he would not reveal the new season, although he did have some great stories about the show.

We split between the two boats.  Cody Herman was going to be anchoring and running plugs from his boat while Brandon Glass would be bobber doggin from his.  Trying to decide between lounging around, watching rods, eating, drinking and BS’ing with the guys or running and gunning up and down the river standing and casting all day was a tough choice.  I did not have a preference, but the idea of learning a new technique compelled me to join the team on Brandon’s boat.  There was still eating, drinking and BS’ing, but probably not as much.  It was definitely worth it learning how to bobber dog.  This may be my go to from now on.

We spent a few hours with not even a nibble.  We rolled up on Cody’s boat to find him eating a banana.  Obviously, that superstition does not hold water on his boat.  He landed two steelhead for the day.  As he finished his banana, he tossed the peel at our boat and it landed on my shoulder.  Oh no, I have been cursed.  🙂

As we continued down river, casting through every spot possible, the mood was about to change.  With this bobber doggin method we were using, the way the 5 bobbers were going through the water and being moved around by the currents, if you take your eye off your bobber for a split second, you will lose sight of which one is actually yours.  Well, at least that is how it worked for me.  Someone yelled bobber down!  I was watching what i thought to be my bobber and it was still floating fine.  Then someone woke me up and said “Tony, that is your bobber.  Set the hook!”  Silly me…..  I got the slack out and set the hook.  The fight was on.  Actually, it did not fight that hard.  Just a few tugs here and there and maybe jumped once or twice.  Not much of a fight, but a nice fish nun the less.  It was a keeper hatchery in case you could not tell by the fight description.  That banana peel on the shoulder must have been the trick.  🙂

The first fishing trip of 2018 is now under my belt and the monkey is off my back.  It was a spectacular day on the water.  Let this be my omen for 2018 telling me this is going to be a banner year.

License and tags have been purchased.  It has been a tradition for a few years now.  My fishing buddy Pablo and I head out New Years Day to chase steelhead on the Sandy river.  As the years go by, my staying out all night New Years Eve has been slowing down making it easier to get out on the water at first light the following morning.  Priorities.  🙂

This year I had to stray from tradition due to some prior commitments so I suggested we push out the trip a couple of days.  With the high water conditions, this actually might work in our favor as the water comes down and clears up over the next couple of days.

The night before last, I saw a Facebook post from a local fishing guide, Cody Herman of Day One Outdoors, announcing a free fishing opportunity for Veterans hosted by Home with Heroes.  There were only enough seats for 4 veterans and their guests.  This post was more than 8 hours old so I figured all the available seats were gone.  I thought to myself, “I am a veteran  :)”.  I contacted Cody anyway to see if there was a chance that there was still a seat available.  Fingers crossed.

After a few emails and finally a message directly to Home with Heroes, I was notified that I was on the list and could bring one guest.  Happy New Year!!!!

Home with Heroes is a non-profit organization committed to bringing veterans and active duty military together and into the outdoors, to honor and thank them for their service.

All the gear is provided and I just need to dress warm and be ready to fish.  Easy Peasy   🙂

I invited Pablo as my plus one to make up for my breaking tradition.  He gladly accepted.  Now, we can both just sit back and enjoy fishing letting someone else drive the boat.  Hopefully, I will get some great pics of the day and have more to write about.

Standby…..

The Sandy river is not my back yard exactly.  From where I live, it is more like my neighbor’s back yard down the street.  None the less, it is a river I fish quite often during the late fall and winter months when I am not fishing the Columbia river or Pacific Ocean.

Chinook, Coho and Steelhead all make their way up this river system at different times of the year.  Knowing when the fish are in the system and when best to target which species, I have learned from experience.

I am fortunate to know a couple people that I enjoy fishing with that have drift boats, pontoons and rafts for different water conditions.  Not just any drift boats by the way, a couple of Pavati drift boats.  The side doors in the Pavati’s get more appealing the older I get.   🙂

If it were not for the holiday weekend coming up, I would be planning a float with my friends instead of writing about one.

It was a couple of years ago.  I took my wife out with us to chase winter steelhead.  This was her first float on the Sandy river.  She loves to fish almost more than I do and she has all the gear.  Waders, Boots, Gloves, Spinning rod, Bait caster, and a backpack full of the necessities for fishing winter Steelhead.  We launched at first light.  It was probably at or below freezing.  This is when the right gear makes all the difference to keep warm.  We hit a few holes on the way down with not even a nibble.  It was shaping up to be a nice boat ride.  One particular hole we stopped to fish, there is a good sized rock protruding out of the water along the bank.  My buddy got my wife up on the rock to give her a vantage point to cast to the seam we were targeting.  After a few minutes, she had not gotten a bite and decided to get down off the rock.  She slipped and went face first into the water.  It was not as bad as it sounded, but she did take some water down the front of her waders.  Needless to say, she was pretty cold after that, even with the right gear.  Being the trooper she is, she wanted to continue fishing.  The very next cast it was bobber down.  The adrenaline hit and being cold was no longer a factor.  It gave her an incredible fight and she eventually brought it to the bank.  This was her reward for never giving up.  I love that woman.

A couple of weeks ago, My buddy Alex text me.  “You ready to go fishing yet?”  If you know me, that is a rhetorical question.  Any of my fishing readers out there need a reliable fishing partner, hit me up.  I am kind of a spur of the moment kind of person and fishing usually trumps all other activities.  So, I respond to Alex when and where and he replies tomorrow.  I am good to go.  🙂

It is kind of late for fall Chinook and a little early for winter Steelhead, so we are not trying to get on the water that hour before sunrise.  I always hope for fish, but this day, I was not expecting much.  Alex picks me up about 6am and we drive out to the Wilson river, about an hour and a half to two hours away.  We launch the Pavati and are fishing by 8:30am.  I have to say, I love being chauffeured in the front of that boat.  Drift fishing luxury.

The water is low and not so clear.  It has a slight green tint to it.  The day starts out raining, but by mid day, it is just cloudy with a few sun breaks.  We float bobber and eggs through every hole and pull plugs where we can.  We are leap frogging with three or four other drift boats and there are a few bank anglers that we pass.  At least we are not the only fools on the water.  We anchored in a couple of spots to relax here and there.  After about five hours of not even a nibble and only seeing one other fish caught, I am ready to accept that this is just not the day.  We are anchored up in a hole about two or three turns from the take out.  Letting our plugs run, eating lunch and drinking a “beverage”.  At least six boats come through and work the hole with eggs and plugs as they pass.  Nothing is caught.  It is time to pull anchor and work our way to the finish the run.  I decided that nothing has worked so far and I was not feeling wrapping another plug.  I pulled out a wiggle wart and hooked it up fresh out of the box.  100′ off the anchor, my rod gets nailed.  This fish jumps a few times, but it is not your typical steelhead fight.  It pulls line and makes a run a couple times and I am getting nervous that I am about to lose this fish.  It has been a while since my last tug.  We do manage to get it netted and we are blessed with a hatchery.  We are both super excited at this time.  It turns out, the treble hook had the fishes mouth pinned shut and I guess it is hard for a fish to breath with its mouth closed.  This is probably why I did not get the typical acrobatics.

It measured out to about 30″.

Because of that fish, we ended up working the last couple of holes for a few more hours and could not find another.  It was a long day, but it was a great day.

I cooked up that fish the following night using my default butter, lemon pepper, garlic salt recipe for Monday Night Football dinner.  It was so good.  I cannot wait till the next one.

This time of year, it is time to bundle up and get out there to chase the ever elusive steelhead, sometimes referred to as the fish of a thousand casts.

Yesterday, we made the mistake of not checking the wind forecast and headed out to float the Sandy river. Let’s just say, it was a very cold boat ride and we high sided a couple of times in the gusts of wind. Trees were snapping in the background and the sandstorms off the beach were a sight. Needless to say, no fish were caught that day.