Santiam Scouting for Springers

Santiam River Spring Chinook Scouting Trip from Sublime on Vimeo.

High Water, But Still got a Spring Chinook

Decided to run up and hit the river with a Mike, his dog Wiley, and Alex yesterday evening around 4. The river was still running high and fast, but had good color, so we decided to give it a try.

We ran up to a couple runs and holes and decided to bring out the diver and eggs and start dredging.

Had a few squawfish take our baits, and a few bites that we swore were chinook, but missed those. Mike's rod started getting nibbled on..waited....waited.....waited.....waited.. for like a minute.. and finally he set the hook and BAM! FISH ON!
The video is from a still cam, so it's pretty shaky, but you get the idea!



Wasn't a large fish, but HEY!, it was a high water springer, so we were happy! We were the only boat on the river. Apparently nobody else thought the river was fishable.  

Too bad we only had a couple hours on the river.  The fish are all over, just have to find them!

Willamette Springers, Steelhead, and Sea Lions

Went out on the Willamette yesterday with a buddy to try for springers. We headed up at first light with a great shot of Mt. Hood on the way up.

Once we dropped the boat in, we decided to sit on anchor for a while, since there were a few fish caught in the area.  We rigged up some prawn spinners, and other ideas and got to it.  If you look closely, you can see the guy right above us has a nice fish on.

Not more than an hour in, Gary gets a nice springer.   An hour later, my rod goes off.  I leap up, get ready to set the hook and......its off!...still hasn't committed yet..  i wait....and wait..hands just an inch from the rod and reel, just waiting to snag it and set the hook.  the rod tip throbs down and back up again...  2 more tugs later he has it and running.  I grab my rod, set the hook and its on. Felt small, but then realized it was only a steelhead.  However, it was missing a fin so we netted and bonked it.

There was one BIG drawback fishing up there.. Okay, maybe about  5 - 10 big drawbacks.. SEA LIONS!   Those bastardly lions were at it.  Once they saw you stand up in the boat, or saw a net being waved around, they'd cruise toward the ruckus and eventually nab people's fish as they were fighting them.  Luckily we never encountered them during our 'hauls of bounty'  But I KNOW there were others that had their catch swiped away.

This lion was floating downstream, tossing a BRIGHT CHROME salmon around and taunting the fishermen.

Talk about heartbreaking!?!  I've lost a fish to a lion before and it really sucks!  If you can get them in as fast as possible, you can usually beat the lions.

One thing I couldn't believe is how many boats out there had slingshots, and 50-cal shot, and rocks.. Each time a lion would surface you'd see a couple holes puncture the water right near it.   I saw one good shot a guy took, hit the lion and that thing didn't surface again til 200yds downstream.. Guess he hit it!  good for him!!     But for the record, its a federal offense to harass them (which is rediculous), so I do not condone the activity.. BUT I DO APPLAUD IT!! 

Earlier in the day it was

Lions:           4 fish
Fisherman:   1 fish

but by the end of the afternoon, the lion must've been full, because the odds definitely jumped back into the fishermens' favor.  We probably saw 20-30 fish caught around us.. The warming water and sunny temps really helped.   We packed it up later that afternoon and headed back to Salem.

 
Not a bad 45 min. run to the river!   Hoping to get out again soon!

Springers, Solitude, and Suckers!

Been fishing the CR most of the season, but decided on Thurs that we'd try a little closer to home and fish the Willy. We fished a very secluded, zipper-lipped hole just around the head of the MC.



Right when we got out there, we were seeing sporadic fish being caught here and there. Mostly a morning bite.

I noticed this gentleman with a fish on. Definitely doin it the 'Barta Way'...the Hard Way! Very impressive with the amount of freeboard on that boat!


No, but honestly, this guy obviously does this alot.. landed that fish in the net as smooth as ice. Great one-handed fisherman! If you are out there and see this, Awesome job, man!


Noticed Mr. Kitchen Pass with a fish on and decide to make him famous for a couple seconds..


Later in the morning, I couldn't help but notice Rod-Action (Ken Bolstad) so I gave him a shout. Sounded like they had a great day too!


(the boat name and contact info has been photoshoped to protect the freedom to keep this picture up on this site. God forbid should I let THAT slip out!)

The eagles and the osprey were hangin around, watching everyone else catch fish.


Then, this guy decided he wanted in on the action as well. Dive down, Kur-Plunge! flappin those wings outta the water with a giant sucker fish.


He sat up on a perch with it for a few minutes as I took some photos, then decided to give me a fly-by, showing off it's catch.

Blessed me with some great images!




Oh, and we caught fish too!

But these images are more entertaining!

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