little north fork santiam question

laxmike11 · 08-10-2009, 09:45 PM

After driving home from a weekend at cascade lakes, i was scoping out the north fork and the little north fork of the santiam on the way home. I know there are lots of fish in there but I was wondering how they are doing currently. the upper reaches of the north fork above detroit looked pretty nice. I also saw the little north fork and all those deep pools looked like fun to toss a dry in there. has anyone been up there in the past this time of year. If so what hatches are going on plus how is the water temperature?
Thanks

rockthief · 08-10-2009, 09:51 PM

tempting, but wait until the rains come. The water temp is too high and the fish are stressed. It's a pity, but true.

laxmike11 · 08-12-2009, 12:19 PM

thanks, it did rain last night and friday when I was driving through there. anybody have advise for the little north santiam since thats where I decided to go?

briangephart · 08-12-2009, 02:12 PM

Go to the Marion Forks hatcher. There is a little dirt road across the street that leads to the Santiam River. I have had the best luck in that stretch up stream mostly and down stream only about 1/2 mile. It is the best flyfishing waters near Dertoit.

laxmike11 · 08-12-2009, 06:27 PM

thank you briangephart

rollcast · 08-12-2009, 09:27 PM

Can not comment on the Little NF, but I did fish the NF today. I spent most of the day trying in vain to wrangle up a steelhead. After 4 hours with nothing to show I decided to switch to my normal cast of caddis (Adult, emerger, pupa). I caught some smolts but also caught a handful of nice rainbows. The 3 biggest were all around 14". I also caught a handful in the 12" range. The best spot for me was Minto Park. I like to find good sized pockets in fast water. FYI, the water is quite cold since the NF is bottom release from Big Cliff dam.

Good luck!

cubsfan · 08-13-2009, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rollcast

Can not comment on the Little NF, but I did fish the NF today. I spent most of the day trying in vain to wrangle up a steelhead. After 4 hours with nothing to show I decided to switch to my normal cast of caddis (Adult, emerger, pupa). I caught some smolts but also caught a handful of nice rainbows. The 3 biggest were all around 14". I also caught a handful in the 12" range. The best spot for me was Minto Park. I like to find good sized pockets in fast water. FYI, the water is quite cold since the NF is bottom release from Big Cliff dam.

Good luck!

And since they released a ton of water for the repair, even colder now. No luck for me this year, but I haven't fished much at all.

laxmike11 · 08-13-2009, 10:11 AM

I did see that the reservoir is drawn down a lot. when will they be done working on the dam?

Maineiac · 08-14-2009, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laxmike11

After driving home from a weekend at cascade lakes, i was scoping out the north fork and the little north fork of the santiam on the way home. I know there are lots of fish in there but I was wondering how they are doing currently. the upper reaches of the north fork above detroit looked pretty nice. I also saw the little north fork and all those deep pools looked like fun to toss a dry in there. has anyone been up there in the past this time of year. If so what hatches are going on plus how is the water temperature?
Thanks

A friend and I (fishmstr) fished the Little NF Santiam on Tuesday and the results weren't great. We started with dries and the fishing was slow, I stuck with smaller stimulators and was able to pick up some small 6" trout he went to nymphs and picked up a fish somewhere around 14".

Word is that the bigger fish in that river don't regularly come up or even move for bugs, best to use a streamer. There are some deep pools there and the water temp is nice, if you have the time bring a mask and snorkel. I wish I had, I really wanted to see what was lurking in the bottom of those pools.

There seems to be a good bit of access along the river too, just hike down at any trail and moving up or down stream is pretty easy. Good luck.

laxmike11 · 08-14-2009, 09:27 AM

hey thanks maineiac, I will report on how I do

laxmike11 · 08-16-2009, 12:45 PM

I went out today, it was pretty much a scouting trip since I didn't even fish. the water is super low right now and it just didn't look so good right now. it seems like more of an early and late season river.