Too early for coast river steelheads?

[Smeagol]

I'm heading to the coast (Tillamook or Lincoln City area) on Sunday and my wife has told me I can spend an hour with a line in the water for every hour we spend with sand in our toes. Obvious choice for fishing is chinook, but I don't have the right gear yet (unless I can borrow from my father). I know that winter steelhead don't usually show up in the coastal rivers until November. Just curious if anyone has seen any steelhead action or is it really just chinook right now? Any advice on a river where we could spend a few "peaceful" hours and have some chance of coming home with a nice fish is greatly appreciated.

[skrimmy]

Sunday, 1PM low slack or there abouts, Hospital Hole on the Trask River in Tillamook. Bobber, Eggs, Sandshrimp. With that combination, I can't guarantee your time will be peaceful, but you'll catch fish! See you there! Oh yeah, that's not Steelies you'll get either, too early for that.....better borrow that rod!

[ 10-11-2002, 07:33 AM: Message edited by: skrimmy ]

[TheRogue]

I'll probably be in trouble.....but check out this link from a recent report:

Nestucca Steelies (http://www.ifish.net/cgi-local/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=015935)

[Smeagol]

Ha-ha - that's funny. First couple hours of daylight? Not with my wife. She'll be lucky to be out of bed by then.

I better stop there just in case she's reading this.... :grin:

[ampersat]

c'mon smeagol, i'm sure you can think of some reason to get yourself a nookin' rod for this trip. early christmas gift, maybe? has she done any shopping "for herself" lately? i'm up $200 just for a trip to the hair salon in the last week. if she makes a few more of those, i'll have enough for a motor for the drifter, or another rod, or a couple of reels, or a tackle box full of plugs, or...

heck, call ahead and set her up with a morning massage, a morning facial, a morning pedicure. by the time you get back smelling of bait, and hopefully fish, she'll be sending you back out so she can go back for more. don't just do it for your fishing time, do it for the economy, for the good of the country. sacrifice, it's all about sacrifice.

[Tanner]

Two years ago I caught my first winter steelie of the year while fishing for chinook on a north coast stream in the middle of October.

[excuse me]

There are lots of summer steelhead throughout the Wilson River. They are mostly concentrated in the bigger holes higher up the river. If you can talk your better half into fishing the first 2 or 3 hours of morning daylight before heading for the beach your chances of catching one will be better. Use good low water methods.

[ssteelheadsteve]

The early Steelhead ?
I was guiding 2 anglers on the Trask and one landed a mint ws hen of about 9 lbs. on October 6, 1981. No clips but frayed dorsal and rounded fins indicated hatchery origin. Scale sample later verified hatchery origin.

You never know with theses hatchery fish.
Retired OSP Game Trooper Rick Pert landed one from the Trask in early Oct. several years ago.

[Fishalot]

Ampersat sounds like you and yours are caught up in the game of you can buy that if I can buy this :rolleyes: ? Maybe the guy just does not have the money to spend right now? Sometimes it is better to save up and buy the good gear, or barrow it if you can. Smaegol hope hope you find a fish or two on your trip.

Fishalot

[SKP]

ampersat,

With that $200 hair style, I think you deserve a few days on the water. With that faster motor you can buy, you can zoom along and also get a good hair style, the "wind look".

My vacation is over tomorrow, so back to M. Graphics I go. I ended up with 4 chinook, and one released silver in 5 days of fishing. Not my best, but acceptable.

SKP

[ampersat]

hey fishalot, it's not a game. this is serious. it's about fishing. we can't afford a new motor for the boat just yet, but i'm keeping a tally for later. :wink:

skp, i'd need somewhere around a 300hp to get a windblown look out of 1/4" of hair. 4 nooks for five days? sounds like a good vacation to me. wish i could have such luck.

smeagol, so it would seem you've been there and back now. any reports for us?

[Smeagol]

No Nestucca report. My parents were in a minor car accident on Saturday (they're okay). Car was totalled and they needed someone to pick them up from the hospital and get them set up at home. That wrecked plans on Saturday, which got pushed into Sunday, so in short, no beach trip.

I did manage a little time on the upper Sandy Sunday evening. Saw several snagged. Group of guys next to us were doing a good job of flossing. But overall the activity seemed less than last weekend. I had to leave by 6:45, so I wasn't there for the post-dusk bite.

As for money, well I would like to say it doesn't matter, but it always does. According to my wife, I've already spent way too much on fishing. She is letting me go out on a guided fishing trip in a couple weeks (with David Johnson), so I'm not complaining too much.

I am thinking about picking up a North by Northwest rod for $35 at Joes. From what I've read on bobber fishing, you don't need a real sensitive rod, so a cheap one should be fine. They make a 9'6" casting rod rated at 20-40 pounds (or something like that). I have an old Penn Peer level-wind reel that just needs a little oil and new line. So for a little gear and $35 on the new rod, I think I can be set-up to do some bobber fishing. Add in a little bait (it doesn't sound like a pound of eggs will last the day) and I'm set to go. Now I just need to learn how. :cool:

[Bill Monroe]

A friend of mine caught one of those hatchery steelhead Oct. 4 on the Wilson...summer I assume from all the fat and slightly (but only slightly) off-color skin...tasted pretty good...