Clackamas and Sandy Rivers

[Navigator]

What is the forecast for coho this weekend for either the Sandy or Clackamas rivers. Are fish moving into these rivers or are they still concentrated toward the mouths?

[Phish_on]

I spent a couple hours at Carver Bridge on Monday morning, the fish were passing through in significant numbers.

Not a good place to catch any - water too slow and deep ( I don't care for the "combat-fishing" ). I went up on the bridge after the sun hit the water to check out the view. Every fish that jumps is in a school of about 20 fish ! They are FAST and real nervous. Also looked like some fish were digging redds right there above the bridge at the end of the gravel off the boat ramp.

I would think they're distributed through the River pretty well. Get up early and try to stake out a spot at the bottom of some fast water. Sounds like little corkies would be the way to go, something they'll inhale accidentally ... these fish aren't thinkin about FOOD. PICK UP YOUR TRASH ! ! ! I brought home 3 (small) bags, didn't make a dent in the mess ... decided to just try to focus on monofilament. At least they left bags for me too ! & empties and broken glass and butts and styrofoam and burger king and and and

[MoJet Driver]

Hey Phish,

I just picked up a book about bobber fishing for steelhead and they went on about that same type of water. Sounds like the technique may work, you may want to give it a try on the silvers too. I've had those Clack silvers take a marabou jig before.

Good luck!

Good 'tude about picking up the trash. Thanks. - A word about the "accidental" corkie hookup thing: the intentional "floss" snagging of fish has gone on for years but reports indicate there seems to be a big increase of it this year with lots of fish not biting in warm water. It's done by using long leaders and corkies to drift or bottom plunk in big schools of fish and you hear the constant sound of "whiiifftt" in the air. Guys will be ticketed for this. Many guys, including some prominent ego fishermen, are doing this and go off to brag about multi fish days for it. Ugly. Enough so I think I will do another seperate post about it. - RT

Hi,I've caught a few fish up by Eagle Creek on the clackamas using small corkie's,light line (8lb) with about a 18" leader and very light weight just enough to touch bottom when the drift is in front of you. With lite gear you can feel the fish take the corkie, of the ten or so fish I've had on only two were foul hooked and I released them AFTER reviving them, lots of people unfortunately do snag fish and I think you can tell their intent when they're using 20-25 lb test for 10 lb. fish.But there are lots of fish in the Clackamas Good luck.

[Steve]

Eagle Creek, what a zoo, 50+ cars from Eagle Fern Park to the top of the hill before the Fire Station. Most of the fish have their backs out of the water and the snagging is obvious with a high percentage of fish with extra hardware attached...haven't wet a line yet may miss the run.. would probably get into a socially unacceptable confrontation with these guys....if they need meat so bad they could do better to spend the money that a ticket would cost them to run up to Cascade Locks and buy a fish, it would help the Warm
Springs community and economy and they wouldn't have to work so hard hiking into the canyon to commit illegal acts and try to say that they caught it fair and square. Pray For Rain....

[Navigator]

Thanks. I think I will head to the Sandy. Maybe no news is good news.

[Ramstrong]

Steve,

I agree with you, there are a lot of fish with decorations on them. However, the fish will bite. And I mean bite. There are just a couple of guide lines to follow. First, get there early. The first hour of daylight has been working for me. Second, keep your offering small, nice small corkies (light colors work well), and a small gob of eggs, I'm fishing 6lb UG leader. Second, don't let the fish see you. Hide from them, behind rocks and trees works well. I've ripped my waders a couple of times this year doing the butt crawl down to the river. When the fish are in skinny water like eagle creek they get very jumpy. Also, I've found that they bite very quickly this year. Watching them inhale the eggs, and spit them out in probablly about a second is pretty cool. Very sharp hooks are key. Well hope this helps. And for RT, fishing the Clackamas isn't cheating, it's just smart.

Fishing the Clack is cheating? I didn't say that.