Nehalem Steelhead, Elk and Bobcat

This past week, I went up and fished a tributary of the Nehalem.   The cold frosty morning brought the elk herds down from the hills.  One herd of elk were in a farmer's field near Elsie, OR.

I saw mostly cows in this group.   I continued on til I found my destination.

The main river was blown out, but the tributaries were quite the exception!  They were running gin-clear.    

Once I hit the river,  the first cast brought a beautiful native steelhead.



I took a quick video and let him swim another day.    Driving along the creek, a giant bald eagle flew up in the tree right next to the road.

It was munching on a dead fish down below. 

As I was driving down the forest road, I saw something run across the road.  I realized it was a bobcat, so I quickly grabbed my video camera and got a little footage..



Those things are 'stealthy'!!

Trask River Elk Herd

I headed over towards the Trask River to do some steelhead fishing.  I looked for the elk that usually reside in the field next to the airport, but didn't see them.   I took the next right, on the way up to the river and noticed quite a few along the river.  Many younger spikes practicing their techniques.



Very interesting watching them spar.

Newport Ling Cod/Crab Fishing (3/6)

I had the day off today and wanted to enjoy the day fishing, but wasn't sure where. Its my new boat and I wanted it to get salty...

I thought about it and:
...I could've gone up to Portland and dragged some herring around...
...OR I could try and slip out during this weather window before the next front hits! I've come to notice there's usually a pretty nice 'calm before (most) storms'.


Well, I got up early, hitched up my boat and figured I'd try my luck at the bay.

My luck was on my side! The sun was shining and the wind WASN'T blowing.
...and to top it off, as I snuck out to the tips to see how it looked, I noticed a pretty flat ocean! (along with some other competition for the fishing)!

I ran out past the bouy

and north and dropped the pots.

Then headed up toward the lighthouse and looked around.

Eventually I made my way back to the South, down near Seal Rock. I found some nice pinnacles that held some fatty Lings.

I released 5 other smaller lings and kept one nice one, along with 9 big dungies~!

What an awesome day to break in the new salty boat!

I didn't want to get stuck on the outside, so I came back into the bay after the tide changed.

Good thing I did, I noticed the "ROUGH BAR" lights flashing tonight as I left to come home. Got to see a killer sunset.

Great time to SEIZE THE DAY!!