clackamas at mciver

[Corkie Monster]

I was at McIver yesterday at the mouth of Dog creek. I had to move down stream cuase I could'nt keep the trout off my Steelie and Pink worms. Every cast, I had about 6 hits by trout. All the trout I landed were about 8 inches. The Hatchery there must of released their trout. :grin:

[Catch 22]

I'll be there too ampersat. I've been eyeballing a couple spots all winter.

[ampersat]

is the clackamas up at mciver going to be any good for trout for the opener? if not, when does it start picking up? i'm itching to get the fly rod out and i don't care how big they are as long as there's plenty of them.

[fishinbuddy]

I'm always game for some fly fishing. I'm sure I will venture up there one of these days. Getting tired of fishing lakes all winter. Time to get down to business and hit the rivers. How's the steelhead run up there? Old winters and summers in there right now? Any reports? :smile:

[Corkie Monster]

Yup, Old Dark winters and lot's of summer's. Lot's of Trout too. :grin:

[David Johnson]

Those "trout" are probably steelhead smolts.

I don't think the Clack opens until the end of May for trout and at that they are not stocked.

[Corkie Monster]

I don't recall ever seeing the clack stocked with trout either. I was kinda thinkin smolts, Their about 8 inches in length. I got out of the area after the 4th or 5th one was hooked. :tongue:

[Catch 22]

Hmmm... The "smolt" I saw today was over 14" and was not clipped. It was a rainbow "smolt" with a heck of a girth. The Clackamas has been Catch and Release Only for about 5 years now for trout. It used to be stocked before that. There are lots of trout in the river. Eagle creek also. I've lived on this river for over 20 years and I'm sure I know a trout when I see one.

[ 04-22-2002, 08:48 PM: Message edited by: Catch 22 ]

[Steelie Ben]

Catch22,
Don't take this the wrong way cause I am sure you are very knowledgable in fish species and such but a steelhead smolt is essentially a trout with a little different dna makeup. Not that there isn't any trout in the lower clackamas(Like that 14" you caught) but I would venture to say that most of them are smolt. Steelhead smolt released by the hatchery are usually in the 6-8" size range and look identical to a rainbow trout. I fished the dog creek area a lot last year and had many of these "trout" take my gear, all of the ones I hooked and landed were clipped indicating they were smolts, they don't plant trout in the clackamas anymore. If you are looking for a great catch and release trout fishery you might try the upper clackamas above north fork resevoir, there are some dandy's up there but please practice good catch and release practices as this is a recovering fishery. Good luck to all and tight lines.
Ben

[Catch 22]

Steelie Ben, no offense taken here from anything you've said. Your information is correct. Statements above, in my opinion, led the reader to believe that there were no trout in the Clackamas because they don't stock it. I'd be willing to bet that the smolts that you caught were while using eggs. Smolts swarm on globs of eggs at dog creek sometimes. Especially if left sitting out of the current a bit. This is a flyfishing forum and I've never caught a smolt on a fly. Mostly because I fish more than 100 yards away from the hatchery. Another is because of the methods I employ to catch my targeted fish. If you absolutely have to baitfish an area that's filled with smolt, try sandshrimp. They usually leave them alone. I live as I have for 20 years on Springwater Rd right down the road from Mc Iver. So if someone wants to educate me on a fishery, pick another place please. :grin:

[drbfish]

catch22,
It isn't April 27th yet, did you catch the 14" fish steelheading? Just wondering, I have never caught a trout swinging steelhead flies.

[ 04-21-2002, 08:30 PM: Message edited by: drbfish ]

[Catch 22]

Truth be known, I didn't catch anything on a fly Saturday. The gentleman upriver from me caught the trout while drifting small sandshrimp. I have photos waiting to be developed for all those interested. Reading my post you would see that I SAW a trout, not caught it.

[Ramstrong]

You'd be amazed how many fish either survive the trip through the turbines or fishway down from the dam and live in the clack. While springer fishing between rivermill and Dog Creek I've seen numerous trout in the 12-16" range caught. If it was open, I'm sure limits could be posted without too much effort. Nice big and fat hatchery holdovers.

[fishinbuddy]

Is catch and release open for trout the entire year, or does it start April 27th? I am not interested in keeping any trout. Catch and release is great, if it is open. :wink:

[ampersat]

the regs say lakes are open all year, streams open april 27th unless otherwise stated in the stream's special section. once they open, you can catch and release all you want.

[Corkie Monster]

Harriet lake is open year around. It's also got some really nice browns in it, and just downstream from Harriet is the frog lake, Nice browns there too :grin:

[Catch 22]

OK Here it goes. I am an idiot. I completely misread the regs. The Clackamas opens for trout MAY 25TH. Except in Estacada Lake where it opens April 27th. The part that seems weird to me is that there is no hook size regs for bait this year. Since bait is ok below North Fork, it looks as though it's OK to fish with bait for trout even though it's catch and release only. This doesn't make any sense. Anyone else get this or am I missing somthing again. :whazzup: