Re: N Santiam Info Please
Letsfish,
I caught my first 8 summer steelhead on the N. Santiam, and it remains my favorite river to fish, although the ODFW has made attempts to screw it up.
I always used peeled prawns on a hook with light weight and light line for summer steelhead, but in the last two years this hasn't been as effective. Be careful of the trout population, which is catch and release and extremely healthy this year. Last Thursday I caught a 16, 20, and 25 inch trout on shrimp above Mill City. There were hundreds of summers around, but they didn't want bait or spinners. I thought the 25 incher was a steelhead until I got it in and saw the dark red sides and massive shoulders.
Spoons of various colors- blue, copper, and gold- will often entice a bite.
One of the most successful fishermen I have seen up there uses 4lb test leaders and worms with an orange corkie and claims this is the only way to catch N. Santiam steelies, but I never had much faith in 4lb test or nightcrawlers for steelhead. I've caught too many over 10 pounds, and I've seen how smaller fish rip this guy up when he hooks into them. Its a constant drag adjustment.
I've also seen guys fishing darker colored jigs in deep fast water picking up fish, but again this is a method I don't fish alot, so I don't have a lot of detail.
Take a look at the holes around Minto Park and Gates bridge, and always wear polarized glasses. The fish are sometimes difficult to see this time of year, but if you can sight fish them, then you sometimes have better opportunities.
I won't say the evil two words- G##D L*CK-
but go out, catch a fish, and have a good time. Its a great river.
HT
__________________
The life of a steelhead fisherman is always intense.
Was he a logger or was it a different kind of tree?
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