Really (really!) cold water tactics

James in Idaho · 01-30-2002, 02:37 PM

David:

Seeing as it will take 5 or so hours of driving to get to the Salmon, driving even farther west is out of the question! :grin: Not only that, the "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" that I had over the Blues after Thanksgiving was all the excitement that I need for a while. It is tempting. I fished the Sandy on Thanksgiving (no luck), and other than the lack of fish, the wind, the RAIN, and those dang blackberry bushes, I really enjoyed myself. If any of you saw a nut in camo raingear downstream from the Interstate on Thanksgiving morning, that was me.

Problem with waiting until it warms up is that it usually doesn't. The river is in a pretty deep canyon, so you have to be moving to find spots that are in the sun. Looking for slow water is easy, it is right under the ice you are standing on. :shocked: There are lots of sections of river that are frozen bank to bank, but the fish seem to hold on the edge where the water is fast enough not to freeze. It does get you off the bank and you have access to some drifts that can't be easily fished w/o a boat. It is an interesting way to fish, but not necessarly the safest way. A fall in the river right now could very easily be fatal, the water temp in December was 31'.

I'll be back out to Portland in September, my little brother has decided to get officially hitched late in the month. Any bank action at that time, or should I save my "fun tickets" and book a trip with guide? Looks like our state might get a spring chinook season again this year, but a fresh out of the ocean fish sure sounds like fun. But an Wyoming black powder 'lope hunt may eat up the fun bucks. I did leave a pretty decent rod and reel with the little 'bro, maybe he'll get off the windsurfer long enough to find a place to fish. Wedding planning can cause just about any guy to take up fishing!! :grin: Thanks for your help, if we do anything this weekend other than dent the Crown bottle, maybe I'll figure out how to post a picture.

James in Idaho · 01-30-2002, 11:11 PM

Alright, gotta go. I heading out to North Fork/Corn Creek section of the Salmon River for a 3 day steelhead attempt. We'll be mostly fishing off the ice shelves on the river. The forecast is calling for lows in the single digits, with the highs in the 25/35 range. We will most likely be fishing in water that is at or a little below 32 degrees. Traditional corky/bait usually just turns into an ice marble. I was up there right before Christmas, and it was a little colder, but the river was actually freezing from the bottom up, you don't feel much "tap" when the bottom of the river is ice. I did manage a nice 27" nate buck on a black jig, but that was it for 2 really cold days of fishing.

Is anybody else this crazy? Any suggestions for enticing a bite? I'm leaning toward the jig approach, either with a bobber or just jigged off the edge of the ice. Drift fishing is pretty hard because the slush in the river keeps pulling your bait off the bottom, but you can sometimes find a seam where there is less slush.

Should be a fine weekend for camping! :shocked:

David Johnson · 01-30-2002, 11:26 PM

Don't start fishing until 11 in the morning when the water might warm up. Tip your jig with some bait and look for the slowest water you can find.

Another option is to head west and fish out here were it's warmer, or wait 'til spring. Sounds too cold for me but I'm sure if I lived there I'd give it a try too :grin: