St. Helens 4/17-4/19---Ouch!!!

[Steelie28]

Set up camp on Sand Island in St. Helens last week for 3 days of what we thought would be some good springer fishing. Unfortunately, while driving to work on Monday and Tuesday last week I noticed the Willamette way off color. Water in the channel was way off when we showed up on Wednesday afternoon. One of my buddies managed a nice 23 lb. keeper that afternoon. We had three boats fishing Thursday thru Saturday and managed only one more fish, which was a native, Saturday morning. Did not see many fish at all caught on Thursday and Friday, but things picked up a little on Saturday. Sounds like we had the same luck as most that fished in the floatilla. A very disappointing trip to say the least. I did run into GizmoMan on Friday, nice to say "hello" to ya Gizmo.

Steelie28

[fishing is life]

thanks for confirming that the fishin was not spectacular. i am worried they are going to shut down the big C today. the dam counts are backing off too.

[GutZ]

Steelie;
We were in the Big Blue Drift Boat just down the Island from you guys. We got one Friday about 20, o for Saturday and got one and lost one in the MC Sunday. Nonetheless we still had a good time. Sand Island is a neat place to camp! Say hello next time!

[Steelie28]

Fishing is Life and Brion, I agree with you both. This is the first time we have set up a "salmon camp", and unfortunatly we were set in stone as far as the dates were concerned as there were people coming from out of town to join us. We decided on St. Helens because we did really well during the middle to late part of April last year down there. Next year, I'm pushing for more flexibility both on time and location. I want to be able to monitor the action and when it gets hot, head out and coon 'em. That's where ifish comes in.... graemlins/hearton.gif

Steelie28

[Steelie28]

Gut Z,

Was that you guys that landed one with a fly rod?
If so, nice work! I don't have any ifish stickers yet, but next time I will say hello.

[fishing is life]

flyrod on the Columbia? sweet!!!

[lost_sailor]

Originally posted by BrionLutz:

...
When the fish are everywhere, everyone catches them.
...
<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">You probably meant "everyone except lost_sailor..."


graemlins/dork.gif

[Nanook]

http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung/spezial/Fool/aaa.gif

[BrionLutz]

Steelie28,

I'm not that familiar with Sand Island area. I put a lot of miles on the boat on the water, not the most cost effective method and not doable with some boats.

If you were to go by boat, how far would beginning of MC/Willamette confluence be from your camp?

Just in case I'm up there and I hear Sand Island is hot &lt;grin&gt;.

Brion

[BrionLutz]

fishing is life,

thanks for confirming that the fishin was not spectacular.<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">It was great for some, not me. I did OK over the weekend, not great though.

Those who did great (I was watching some of them) were the folks who know how to pick the spots, where the fish are going to be on different days, different tides, different water levels.

On last two Saturday's I was out, I saw one guide limit out on days that others said were slow. He didn't fish the regular spots like the Garbage Hole or Sellwood or the other crowded spots.

When the fish are everywhere, everyone catches them. When they are average, the good folks (again, not me) seem to know where the fish are going to be and what they are going to bite on.

Yesterday, I saw folks posting about what a slow day it was, I went out in the late afternoon...bumped into two guides that were one fish away from limited out, 5 fish in the boat, not counting natives caught and released...one right next to me &lt;chagrin&gt;.

Gives me hope, if not fish &lt;grin&gt;.

It's always a tough call to hang in at spot that produced in the past but is cold today or move on to where the fish might be today.

Brion

[fishing is life]

Brion, i was actually talking about fishing down low on the Columbia. Sounds like the Willamette was much better.

you are right that the guides/experienced fishermen know where to find the fish better than most but that is what they are paid for and if you fished all the time you would figure it out too. It is nice finding the non crowded spots but you have to put your time in to find the ones that produce.

btw, when i read your posts i dont get to see the intended graemlin, instead it just says &gt;grin&gt;. dont know if that has something to do with cookies or not. maybe i am the only one not seeing the graemlin.

[BrionLutz]

fishing is life,

i was actually talking about fishing down low on the Columbia.<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">That's what I thought from Steelie 28's message about setting up camp at St.Helen's.

My suggestion/question was, if they are not there, maybe move on (check Ifish for the hotspots) vs. fishing one spot for three days?

I separate the good guides from the so-so guides by how much "hunting" they do and trying different spots and different presentations.

My experience with these pros is that "hunting" works which is what I was suggesting to Steelie...go get'tem vs. setting up camp on one spot.

On the &lt;grin&gt;....I have religious issues with smiley faces. Should be a hunting season for smiley faces, I like spelling it out, a vanilla/chocolate issue.

Brion

[Steelie28]

Brion,

Sand Island is straight across from St. Helens Marina. I'm guessing it's a 1/4 mile or less downstream from the confluence of the channel and the Columbia. Good place to camp as you can fish both the channel and the Columbia if you want. I've always had good luck in that area, except for last week. Hope this helps.

Steelie28

[GutZ]

Sorry, Not a fly rod! But a Canadian Style Mooching Rig. 10 1/2 foot 12 to 17 with a Shimano 4000C on it. Generally known as a "KnuckleBuster".
I used the same rig down at Bouy 10 last year. They are a blast!

We were only out for about 45 minutes when we got that one. Was a beauty!