03-14-2010, 07:08 AM
Fishing conditions;
Numbers of fish are very low , water was very high (up to the steps )and stained . Intermittent periods of rain then sunshine , windy and cold .There were a few ice chunks in the river , stairs are clear of ice except near the bottom .
Very low numbers of fish , better fishing is found further down river at rainbow bend from the other anglers I spoke with . The north (Brethren )side of the river had more fish action than the south side , especially down near the boat launch , 3 fish landed there . As far as I know I am the only one with fish hooked in the coffer section up untill 2 P.M. .
The high water warning siren was sounded several times during the day , small framed people should avoid going more than knee deep as the river curent is very strong .
My day;
Up at 4:30 A.M. , waited to hear the itinerary of the day from the Mrs. and left by 8 A.M. .
9:45 arrived to see one fisherman with a small jack (barley 14" ) in the parking lot , asked him how it was down below and he said he saw one guy bring in a black steelhead that had been in the river too long . I figure it wasn't a steelhead but a sucker he viewed from across the river .
I was one of six guys fishing when I landed my first fish a 12lb. hen , I released her .
by noon I had the entire coffer section to myself , thats when I had the fish of the day take me for a ride .
I fought that steelhead for a good 45 minutes , during that time 3 guys came down the stairs and one of them volunteered to net the beast for me (armed with a standard trout net) .
I replied that I didn't think the net would quite be big enough , but he insisted on giving it a go , beaching the fish was not an option as the water level is up to the stairs .
As i worked the fish , (well as the fish took me down to the coffer wall I should say) we had a good glimpse of him , 17 to 20 lbs. easy , something to mount on the wall if landed .
After what seemed like 10 minutes of holding his own at the wall the fish started to tire and I gained some line on him at last , thats when I lost him as he surfaced and rolled over the spill-way . I had him on but there was no way of getting below the coffer wall , I had to break the line .
I gave the fishing another hour before calling it quits for the day .
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Numbers of fish are very low , water was very high (up to the steps )and stained . Intermittent periods of rain then sunshine , windy and cold .There were a few ice chunks in the river , stairs are clear of ice except near the bottom .
Very low numbers of fish , better fishing is found further down river at rainbow bend from the other anglers I spoke with . The north (Brethren )side of the river had more fish action than the south side , especially down near the boat launch , 3 fish landed there . As far as I know I am the only one with fish hooked in the coffer section up untill 2 P.M. .
The high water warning siren was sounded several times during the day , small framed people should avoid going more than knee deep as the river curent is very strong .
My day;
Up at 4:30 A.M. , waited to hear the itinerary of the day from the Mrs. and left by 8 A.M. .
9:45 arrived to see one fisherman with a small jack (barley 14" ) in the parking lot , asked him how it was down below and he said he saw one guy bring in a black steelhead that had been in the river too long . I figure it wasn't a steelhead but a sucker he viewed from across the river .
I was one of six guys fishing when I landed my first fish a 12lb. hen , I released her .
by noon I had the entire coffer section to myself , thats when I had the fish of the day take me for a ride .
I fought that steelhead for a good 45 minutes , during that time 3 guys came down the stairs and one of them volunteered to net the beast for me (armed with a standard trout net) .
I replied that I didn't think the net would quite be big enough , but he insisted on giving it a go , beaching the fish was not an option as the water level is up to the stairs .
As i worked the fish , (well as the fish took me down to the coffer wall I should say) we had a good glimpse of him , 17 to 20 lbs. easy , something to mount on the wall if landed .
After what seemed like 10 minutes of holding his own at the wall the fish started to tire and I gained some line on him at last , thats when I lost him as he surfaced and rolled over the spill-way . I had him on but there was no way of getting below the coffer wall , I had to break the line .
I gave the fishing another hour before calling it quits for the day .
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