i have been holding off on this post because the fishing has been hit or miss for the last couple weeks with the crazy water levels. we have been fishing the northfork of the clearwater pretty consistantly.using jig and bobber we hooked fish every day we have been there in the last 2 weeks having a hard time keeping them on those jigs just dont hold fish as well as a circle hook does the fish have been spawning in the shallows for a week now right off the bank but we left thos fish alone trying to get the fresher fish holding in the deeper water. 2 days ago my buddy matt landed 2 one was 13 lbs and the other was 11 a buck and a hen very green and red. yesterday we headed out to the northfork and got there around 10am pulled up to the spot just in time to see a man and a teenager fishing where we normally fish and could see all the steelhead piled up right infront of them and these guys were casting there jig and bobber 5 feet off the bank to these fish. then i saw what made my stomach turn the the teenager set the hook hard and snagged a big big hen right in the stomach not knowing we were watching them they landed the scarred up hen that began drooping eggs all over the place and beat it with a rock. then hurry and ran it to their pickup truck i told my buddy i was gonna call them in for snagging but i didnt have CAP's number right there so we grabbed our stuff and went down to fish next to them when we got down there i said the boy that was a pretty nice hen he landed and asked him where he hooked it he said right in the mouth and i asked him if he was sure because it looked like he snagged it in the belly from up there. then he realized i watched the whole thing go down so he started ignoring us the guy and teenager grabbed there stuff and moved down river away from us. so we fished for about 2 hours matt hooked and lost what looked like a fairly fresh fish and about a 15 lb hatchery buck right at the bank it was the slowest day we have had out of the 6 other times we have been recently so we decided to hole hop the main stem of the clearwater back into lewiston as we left the man and teenager came scurring back down the boat ramp and started at the spawning fish again so i looked CAP's number on my phone and called them as we drove out right when the lady answered the phone we pulled up to a fish and game check station so i just told them about it and they headed right down to confront the people. i didnt stick around to find out what happened but i have to say i have no remorse for telling fish and game they were doing it.
on a side not the first place we stopped at on the main stem on my 3 cast with a float and trout bead i landed a wild buck steelhead that i would say was around 10 lbs we took a pic with my phone but my buddy forgot to hit the save button to bad it was a really pretty fish. nothing else the rest of the day so we headed in. i will post some pics of matts fish in a little bit.
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Unfortunately thats typical behavior for a lot of the N. Fork this time of year until they close the season. Seems like when they raise the flows out of the dam those fish try and spawn on those gravel flats and since they are so vulnerable they bring out the unethical anglers. I personally wouldn't even bother with the north fork this time of year as most the fish seem to be nasty old boots that bring out anglers like chrome junky witnessed.
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Sounds like fun fishing despite the snaggers. I just HATE snaggers. I hate 'em!
In my neck of the woods, they "blind" snag lakers in the fall with treble hooks when they spawn. DWR turns their heads the other way and won't even respond to calls.
What kind of jigs were you floating under the bobbers? I've used marabous in the past, but those are probably considered "old school" these days. Also, have you tried any jigs made with Owner or other "chemically sharpened" hooks? (Gammy's, Ultra Points, etc.) They seem to stick better for me.
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marabou is what we are using. it just has a more natural look then other jigs in my opinion.
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what are the colors your using I like 1/8 oz red black and green black green cerise same on the flies for bouncing. I've got my 8wt so i'll try swinging that up there the 23rd
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purple and black with a little flashabou seem to be the meal ticket. we havnt hooked any fish on any other color so far this spring. i have also been doing well with trout beads under a float. nailed that nice wild buck that my buddy ruined the picture of with a trout bead under a float.
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I've done good on the salmon with purple not alot of luck on the clearwater I guess i'll build a couple variations
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Do you ever use pink and white? I always had good luck with those combos with flashaboo mixed in. both flys and jigs in mariboo and buck tail
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hate seems a little harsh isn't it ? the fish are going to die anyway and they get plenty of spawners in the hatchery for spawning purposes.not condoning it but in reality what did it hurt ? better never go to alaska and fish for reds aka sockeyes they don't bite and you have to " line " them in the mouth. flip'n rip. is the name of the game up there. plenty goes on on the little salmon as well
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Hate is perfectly accurate. I guided in Alaska for 7 years. Hated it there too. I hate it everywhere. "Going to die anyway" is no excuse for poor sportsmanship. Catch the fish fair and square in the mouth.
As for marabou colors, I was always partial to the pinks and purples. They all work at one time or another, and especially when presented right.
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I've tried pink and white. I'll still use all the colors. Black and red will still be my go to colors. I've got alot of color combos and i will probably try a few of them.
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I guess following the rules doesn't matter to you. The rules are in place to follow, not abuse. If you see it happen call it in. Hopefully they got busted.
The fish are going to die so why don't they just erase all the rules for steelhead fishing and let everyone do what they want. My guess there wouldn't be any runs left for you to fish.
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I really need to go steelin with some of you I have a heck of a time getting into them!! I just use what I've been shown by my inlaw which is a wet fly on a spinning setup with just corkies to keep it off the bottom... It works but it's very slow and unconcistant.. And I like to snag carp just thought I'd throw that out there!!
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i never once said i snag fish or condone it. i am saying it is extreme in my opinion to possibly make a teenager lose his liscence and get fined for snagging a fish on it's way out allready. he kept the fish so i will asume it was a legal fish. so what did it hurt really????? society is so quick to stab our brothers in the back for anything these days. if it bothered me i would man up and confront the individual first. and quite frankly it bothers me that the f &g would take a phone call and go down and fine someone based on hearsay. kind of scarry actually. again having said that that is only my opinion and agree with chromejunky for calling it in in his eyes they broke the law and he is more than justified to do so. we all have different points of view. the native americans gaff, SNAG WITH HOOKS AND GRAPPLING HOOKS, use nets ect. and do so legaly. so to me a teenager taking one dying fish is minor
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meh... its illegal so it looks like said person broke the law
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F&G would go check it out on some one's say, but I doubt if they would fine them only on someone's word. They would examine the fish to see if there is a hook wound in the mouth that showed evidence of playing the fish, or if there is a snagging wound. Then if there is doubt, they probably would warn them etc.
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no way would fish and game go down there and just write a ticket to the kid based off of a person saying i saw this guy and kid do this he would go down watch them for a bit and see if he could catch them doing it then he would go talk to them. he couldnt write them a ticket just off of my hear say. and i highly doubt the kid is going to lose his liscence.
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Personally I would try and educate the kid first as well. Obviously his father or whoever he was fishing with condones this type of behavior and steered JR down the wrong path. Why not explain to the kid that what he was doing is wrong and teach him a sporting method before getting this kid a misdemeanor for snagging?
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this brigns to mind a situation i saw this summer. I was fishing one of my favorite sturgeon holes and a boat came along and joined me. THey hooked up with a nice fish and after the fight one of the guys reached down and lifted the fish up by the gill plate snapped a pic and dropped the fish in the water where it stayed on its back for the next three hours swimming in circles on top of the water. Needless to say i was pissed(i like my dinos) and waited till they caught there next fish and got my camera out and turned on the video and filmed them doing much the same thing to the next fish. i then walked out till i had cell service and called the number of a local F&G warden i know and gave him the video (they had left when they saw me filming them and then getting on the phone). i don't know if they ever caught the guys but there were some kids in the boat and i say if you don't nip this in the butt early with the kids and adults they'll keep doing it. maybe im a bit of a hard ::blank:: but its the only way some people learn
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I never said you did or do anything against the rules. I am saying if someone snags or does anything wrong call it in. last discussion about henry's lake hopefully they learned a lesson from being turned in and it won't happen again. Here same thing turn him in and hopefully learn from it. teenager or not he should know how to read the proclamation. you said don't be so harsh. I say call him in if its illegal. chrome junky saw it he did the right thing. who cares if the fish is dying is not the point. ITS THE RULES.
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