steelhead

[buckspa]

so I just found out that I will be taking my first steelhead trip to Oregon right after Christmas. If nothing else, it gives me a good reason to shop for a new rig and gear. I have my eye on the Lamson Liquid 3.5 paired with the TFO BVK 7 wt, loaded with 7-8 WF.

This will be my first experience with steelhead, so any insight, tips or advice you can provide would be great.

 

[Kill3ducks1deer]

That would be a good setup for erie steelhead, not sure about out west, I would go to an Oregon fly fishing forum for the best info, just my 2 cents though

 

[sandfly]

what river are you planning to fish ?

 

[PocketWater]

If you sign up for emails from Sierratradingpost.com, you will sometimes get emails where you can take an additional 30% or 40% off of an item. You can score some good deals on there if you watch.

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/sage-3880cf-fly-fishing-reel-7and8wt~p~5316h/?filterString=fishing-reels~d~188%2F&colorFamily=03

 

[buckspa]

sandfly...Nestuca (sp.?) sounds familiar, but can't be sure.

 

[buckspa]

yep, checked out some of the forums and they seemed to like 7 wt with 8 wt line. I also wanted something to chuck streamers on the Lehigh closer to home

 

[sandfly]

you might want to take a 9-10 wt for there the Chinooks will be running. a 7-8 wt. will be torn apart. very different fish than fish on the salmon river I can guarantee that.

 

[buckspa]

here is a more specific list of where we might fish

Slietz, Nesstuca, 3 rivers, wilson, trask. most likely 3 rivers and Nesstuca

 

[sandfly]

The Nestucca River Road parallels the upper Nestucca River, beginning at Beaver and continuing upstream to the angling deadline at Elk Creek. Best bank access is above Blaine, with many pullouts along the river. The use of bait is prohibited in the Nestucca River above Moon Creek. Fishing in the upper Nestucca is best later in the season, as primarily wild fish return to the upper river. The Nestucca River upstream from Moon Creek closes March 31.

Boat access is available at boat ramps located at the first and fourth bridges above Beaver, at a boat slide above the fifth bridge (a new wooden boat slide was constructed in 2011, with concrete steps added last year to make access down the bank easier)and at the sixth bridge. The launch site at sixth bridge is located on private property, and anglers are asked to be courteous and pack out their trash in order to insure access in the future. Only experienced boaters should launch upstream of the fourth bridge due to some hazardous water.

The lower Nestucca River offers limited bank access, but some very good boat access. Launching/takeout is available at boat ramps located at First Bridge, the Rock Hole (end of Bixby Road), Farmer Creek wayside, the mouth of Three Rivers and Cloverdale. Bank access also is available at those sites. A separate fee (not the county pass) is required at Cloverdale to cover the cost to lease access from the Sanitary District. Day passes are available at the launch, or season passes are available from the sporting goods store in Hebo. Repairs to the lower end of the Cloverdale launch were completed recently. Use caution as there is a drop off at the end of the concrete, although this should not be an issue at normal winter flows.

Three Rivers, a tributary entering the Nestucca at Hebo, offers very good bank access in the lower river and excellent opportunity for anglers targeting early-returning hatchery steelhead, as well as later returning wild broodstock hatchery steelhead. Good numbers of steelhead ascend Three Rivers on their return to Cedar Creek Hatchery.

Bank access on Three Rivers is available at the hatchery, at the “heart attack” hole (on the south side of the stream), on the “S” curve just above Hebo, and by the sewage treatment plant in Hebo. The upper Three Rivers is accessible along Hwy 22, but fewer fish are present above the hatchery weir and bank access is limited. When available, fish are recycled downstream from Cedar Creek Hatchery.

The Little Nestucca River offers fair opportunity for steelhead. A few stray hatchery steelhead may be present throughout the winter season. Wild fish may be caught and released through the winter, with the run peaking in March. Limited public access is available along Little Nestucca River Road between Hwy 22 and Hwy101.The river closes March 31.

 

[sandfly]

Siletz Basin

The Siletz River offers anglers the opportunity to fish for steelhead year-round. The Siletz has both summer and winter steelhead native runs as well as summer and winter steelhead hatchery programs. Anglers are reminded that only hatchery fish can be retained.

Winter steelhead begin arriving in late November with a peak in January-March. The winter steelhead hatchery program in the Siletz Basin utilizes a wild broodstock and can provide excellent fishing throughout the season. This program has a target release of 50,000 steelhead smolts each spring from the Palmer Creek acclimation facility located across from Moonshine Park.

During peak season drift boat fishing can be very productive but many sections of the river can be busy during favorable flow conditions. Popular techniques used from a drift boat include side drifting, pulling plugs or drifting a bobber and jig. Bank fishing can also be very good in the upper river around Moonshine Park. Effective bank fishing techniques are flow dependent but include swinging spinners and spoons across riffles, drifting a bobber and bait or jig, plunking, and bouncing a corky and bait along the bottom.

The Siletz River also has a native summer steelhead run, the only one in the Oregon Coast Range.

Fishing upstream of the park does require access through the Siletz Gorge Road -- a private logging road open to public vehicle traffic only on the weekends. Bank anglers also plunk with stationary gear in the lower river, especially when river conditions are high with poor visibility. A portion of hatchery fish returning to ODFW fish traps are also recycled to provide additional fishing opportunities. These fish are tagged with a small colored tag near the dorsal fin. Anglers are encouraged to report these tagged recycled fish so that the benefit of the recycling program can be assessed.

A hatchery summer steelhead program with a target smolt release of up to 80,000 fish each spring offers anglers an excellent opportunity to harvest fresh steelhead by early summer. Summer steelhead start arriving in May with a peak in mid-July. A second push of summers arrive with the first fall rains. Most summer steelhead fishing is from the bank starting around Moonshine Park on up to the deadline below Siletz Falls. During the summer flows, fly fishing the gorge area can be very productive by swinging flies across riffles in the early mornings. Other techniques such as casting lures or using a bobber and bait/jig can also produce good results.

Drift Creek-Siletz (located just south of Lincoln City) offers anglers good catch-and-release wild steelhead fishing with the occasional stray hatchery steelhead. A large portion of the fishable river is located within the Siuslaw National Forest with several good hike-in opportunities.

 

[sandfly]

what flies are you taking ?

 

[buckspa]

That's a great question. I am a steelhead virgin, so any tips/suggestions would be appreciated. So far I have been reading alot about the egg patterns and pink worms.

 

[sandfly]

not for there, purple, blue, black and pink intruder style flies, some egg patterns, stoneflys are big for nymphing. make sure you have flurocarben tippet in 6-16 lb. a sink tip or shooting head system would be best out there as its a large body of water. polar shrimp, purple peril, and comets for wet flys in size 6-2

 

[sandfly]

heres an old but good read on the area.

http://www.yourlittlebeachtown.com/sites/default/files/press/inn-cape-kiwanda/2010/10/nwflyfishingmarchapril2010.pdf

 

[buckspa]

OK, thank you for all your advice. I will look for those flies.

 

[geebee]

I was in Washington last year, and will be again this spring. This is my kit list :

Gear :

13ft 9wt Spey Rod- 650gr Skagit head
10ft medium floating MOW tip
10ft medium floating/sinking MOW tip
10ft T-8 sinking tip
10ft T-11 sinking tip
12ft T-18 sinking tip

11ft3' 7wt Switch Rod - 400gr Skagit head
10ft light floating MOW tip
10ft light floating/sinking MOW tip

8lb,10lb & 13lb mono/flouro

flies - for high water - pink, blurple, black, blue, orange - popsicles, intruders, skykomish sunrises, leeches, egg sucking leeches, MOAL leeches big prawn patterns. Hoh Bo speys, Dirty Hohs etc etc in 2/0 and above, flies 5-7"

for mid/normal water - the above in smaller sizes plus monkeys, green butt skunks, highlanders, buggers etc in #2 and above

for low water - traditional speys, skinny hohs, trout wets, General Practitioners, Ally's Shrimp, Ally's Cascades, etc etc in # 2, 4, 6 etc

if you want or need to nymph between runs or the water is very low. the guide will likely provide the latest 'hot' nymph.

the above is the standard go to's - but there are plenty of guides and steelhead bums who just fish blue/black or pink intruder or leech like patterns - on the basic idea that wild steelhead are dumb and will grab anything - but finding them and getting a properly swung fly in front of them is the real trick.

In 4 days on the hoh, queets, Sol Duc and Quinault rivers, my guide and other fishers were in the above camp - and put as much flash and UV material in their flies as possible in high glacial water.

best o luck.

cheers

Mark.

 

[sandfly]

flies like this will work. just put them up for sale.

 

[Rollingdog]

those are all fairly small coastal streams
you are a bit early for winter run fish.. expect hatchery fish

advise - Get a guide

if DYI
(sounds like you are single hander)
get the 8wt
bobbers/eggs-big flashy nymphs/split shot... look at what the gear guys are using, i'd bet 99% are using egg sacks and power worms

Its your first time
Don't over-complicate it... have fun

If you want specfic info

http://www.flyfishusa.com/

http://www.flyshopnw.com/
http://www.gorgeflyshop.com/store/pc/home.asp#.VhwUlvlVhHw