Salmon River 1/19/2008

[AaronJasper]

Took a good friend of mine up to fish for steelhead. We fished there together in the past and experienced mediocre fishing at best. After the previous trips to the river I thought it was going to be easy! We fished a spot in the lower river and caught three within the first 20 minutes of fishing. I thought to myself this was going to be a piece of cake. Well by ten we landed 10 fish. The action was slow and we were not prepared for what was going to happen next. We left for an area of the middle of the river that should be on fire with the new run of fish. We fished every little spot where a fish could rest in this section and had two fish to show for it. The fish were just off. The weather was crazy. It was a blizzard! The winds were cranking and these two fishermen were freezing. We were walking back to the car and I told john, these fish have us up against the ropes!

We headed up to a spot in the upper river that I know is loaded with fish. Everyone was walking back to thier cars saying that the fishing was horrible and they were not biting. First cast into the spot, float goes down and 10 plus pounds of steelhead is attached. John throws in, float down, another one! For the last 2 plus hours of the day we stood there fighting fish! We landed in excess of fifteen fish in that time. We could have landed maybe thirty. We had to use light leader to get the fish to bite. We would try 4X and they would not hit. If you put on 5X you were locked up!

Perseverance was the key to success on this day. I will have some pics up asap.

We must have landed in the ballpark of 30 fish this day!

[alanb_ct]

All right Aaron! Good fishing. That's the way to go, sticking it out in the awful weather. Can't wait to see some pictures of steel and semi-frozen fishermen.

[nutman]

Id like to know what your set up is aron if you wouldnt mind telling me . Fished real hard yesterday ,I saw two steelhead ,and threw everything i could at them ,I had one turn on a fly but she was in super shallow fast water and i think the flys were going to fast for her to really get a chance to wack at them. I fished alot pools from top to bottom ,with no strikes .I did see alot of chinook yesterday ,and i did see a couple of steelhead chasing them through the pools ,could this be why they arent biting ,because they are to busy moving the fat cows around ? I dont know ,but i need some help here!

[AaronJasper]

I answered the question in the other post. When the water is warmer I fish with a fly rod. When the water is cold I use a float rod. Do you see many guys out there with bait casting rods with floats? I know they use lots of jig to catch steelhead there. I have found that many times steelhead that are really on the move won't bite well unless they are resting in spots like the tailout of a large pool.

[Nymphmeister]

We want Steelhead Fish Porn!

[AaronJasper]

Hey Torrey.... you say you want it and then you say its too much?!?!?!

[Brookie]

Aaron - I think you're getting confused with the various types of porn Nymphmeister needs to see more of and less of...

[JBlanchard]

Little late on the post, but it was a hell of a time up there with aaron. It was definitely tough fishing, but the end of the day definitely made up for it. When the temps are in the twenties, you gotta have good guides on your rod. Mine froze up every cast and if I waxed them, every other. Very frustrating and next time, if I don't use a float reel, I'm bringing a bait casting reel. The little twists in the line constantly created drag. Awesome time though. We made the right choice bailed on fishing sunday, they got three feet of snow and the temps were in the teens.

[nutman]

i fish with a bait caster ,with a float ,for salmon sometimes , I like my spinning rod for coho which is a whole other deal and alot of fun Ill fish that with jigs ,Ive caugth lots of steelhead that havent gone to the ocean yet on jigs they lve the things ,also pink rubber worms !I want one on the fly pole .I didnt see your other post aaron .When i use a baitcaster I use brided line and you want a long pole .The braid floats nicer then mono .Thing is you have to follow the float ,so you have to keep the rod high in order to set the hook ,you let slack in the line youll miss fish more offten then hooking .I belive loon makes a deicer for guides and it is supposed to work great ,also try drying your line once in awhile as you reel in .Lots of guys fish with floats out here it is the norm,sandshrimp and eggs ,or jigs .I like to spin fish once in a while more then float fish ,less work .With floats you have to change weight all the time .Oh alot of people fish corkys and glow spins out here ,Also they fish with a bait loop on the hook and it holds the skien in place ,no mesh bag needed.This is a messy deal ,and it stinks to high heaven ,so wear surgical gloves so you can toss them at the end of the day and not smell like a dead fish and an old whore ,my old lady hates when I fish with bait cause of the stink,and then your cloaths stink to .Oh for steelhead dry the eggs out more they like them dry not mushy ,,
this is the easy way to catch fish in my opinon,but Ill do it when im tired of tossing flys .Anyway enough of that ,If anyone needs help on the bait department ,i can answer your questions ,Im just trying to catch one on the fly cause I like catching fish on the fly pole the best!!!!!

[AaronJasper]

When you come in March I can show you the rigging that we have been telling you about. This way you will have a much better idea. Are there still going to be fish in there when you get back?