| Coastal
& SW Washington Report |
March 16, 2010
|

Just a brief report for this week.
Good fishing for Steelhead in most rivers around
the region. What a great year!
Cowlitz has been good this week. Springers and
Steelhead are from top to bottom. Should only get better.
Satsop good reports from the week. Same with
the Nooch. Kalama has been putting a few Steelhead out and
if there's Kings in the Cow there could be some here.
Gotta love big hatchery Steelhead in March!
Get out there and get some.


Mention
Salmon or Steelhead University and receive 15 percent off
a trip for two.
Now
booking Winter Steelhead and Spring Chinook
For
more info call Phil Stephens, Mystical
Legends Guide Service Call (206) 940-0052 or E-mail

Steelhead fishing on the Cowlitz remains pretty
good, nice fish, lot's of limits. Also a few spring chinook
starting to show. Steelhead action on the Cowlitz should remain
good the next 3-4 weeks, with spring chinook picking up in April
and peaking in May.


Bob
Barthlow
Rivers
NorthWest Guide Service
(509)
952-9694

I fished the Sol duc on Sunday with Bob kratrzer
and Matt Shurtleff . The river was at 1,250 and slowly dropping
with great vis We hooked 11 steelhead and landed 7 .We caught
a mix of dark and bright fish the biggest was a large 39.5
" x 20.5" buck, but no photo due to a camera malfunction.
Bob is a great guy to spend a day on the river with and I
would strongly recommend booking a trip with him!


Submitted by Todd Girtz, Steelhead University
WET..COLD..WINDY..Tired..and yet we still caught
fish!
We went 3 for 5, only fished until 12:30 PM. Side
drifting worked for us but we put in a lot of River miles to
get 'em! The fish are there but you still have to put in your
time to get 'em.
Steelhead and Springer are on tap and waiting:
So get going!!
Call me today!

Book your trips and let's go fishing!
Bruce
Warren, Fishing
for fun Guide Service
Email
or call me on my cell at (253) 208-7433

There has been some awesome fishing going on for
the last few weeks , on our rivers here in western Washington.
A little bit of everything seems to work if you put the time
in. Picked up our first Springer of the year to go along with
8 Steelhead today. The days prior to today haven't been bad
either. Freedrifting bait or corkies and yarn, backtrolling
plugs and or divers and bait have all been working. I have some
dates open if you want to get in on this fantastic fishing.



Rob Sweem, R&K
Guide Service
(360) 481-0612 or Email

Fished the upper water again. We didn't touch
a fish until 11:00, but at 11:25 we hooked 4 and and landed
3 with divers and bait. I was only guiding 1 today so we were
basically done by 11:30 but we fished for the deck hand and
got 1 more. I didn't really see many fish caught today - only
4 other than ours.But I'm still getting limits every day so
call to come get in on the fun spots are still open


Submitted by Charlie Johnston
Sound Sport Fishing (360) 508-6019
Email charliesfishing@comcast.net

The fishing on the Cowlitz has been fantastic!
Free-drifting eggs has been the ticket for us. The fish are
spread out, but starting the morning around the Blue Ckeek area
is always a good bet. All the fish have been aggressive biters,
and all have taken line off the reels more than once. I'll be
down the last couple of dasy this week, if you want to get in
on some of this great fishing give me a call or shhot me an
email.


Andy Shanks, Island
Guide Service
(206) 280-7159
| Washougal
River |
March 16, 2010
|
No report this week
Tyler Davis, (360)-771-7802
davis0450@comcast.net
| Skagit River |
March 16, 2010
|

The Columbia River has started to produce some consistent
catches of spring Chinook. I have been all over the place
lately from the Columbia to Puget Sound trying to find consistent
fishing for my clients. This last week produced some of the
better fishing on the Columbia River this year. I will be
calling the Big C home for the next month. All of the fish
we have taken this year have come on herring with or without
a flasher. If you are looking to get out and learn how to
catch some of these on your own I do have a few seats still
available.



Ryan
360-840-1155
www.reeldealguideservice.com
Submitted
March 10

Here are a few pics from this last week on the Bogachiel
river. We used a varity of methods to target these Chrome
fish. The first few days the river was up a bit and had a
little color to it (about 5 feet of vizibilty) so we were
mostly free drifting eggs and backtrolling Tadpoleys in my
favorite plug holes. The chrome and orange hearing bone was
by far the best producer this trip. As the water level dropped
and and conditions became low and clear we switched our presentations
to float fishing, primarily using jigs. The best producer
was a chrome and silver tinsel tyed by the Skagit legend Ron
Metcalf. Thanks again to all that joined us this week, I will
be over Fishing the Bogachiel, Sol-Duc and Hoh In late March
and early April for more steelhead and Spring Kings. I've
still got some dates available. Then it's down to the Lewis
to get in on the heavy springer fishing anticipated this year
for the Columbia and it's tribs.. Dont miss out on the record
run predicted for that area. I have days availble from April
15th through May 15th. We are running a weekday special this
spring for Kings.. 3 persons for $450.00 all bait and gear
included just bring a lunch, license and a cooler for your
fish.



Submitted
by Wayne Ackerlund
Ackerlund's
Guide Service
E-Mail
or Call 1 (888) 6 Skagit - [1 (888) 675-2448]
| North
Puget Sound Rivers |
March 16, 2010
|
| Snohomish
River System |
March 16, 2010
|
No report this week
Mention Steelhead University for our Special
Rate
Brett Basim
Brett's
Salmon and Steelhead Guide Service
360-403-8477 Email: fishwithbrett@comcast.net
No report this week
Ray Vermillion
Lucky
Strike Guide Service
No report this week
Chris Horton
No report this week
| Olympic
Pennisula Report |
|
March 16, 2010
|

The Sol Duc is in great shape running at
6 boards and 5 to6 ft of vis. The river is dropping slowly.
At this water flow the best techniques will be plug pulling
or float fishing. For plug pulling stick with wordens flatfish
or Luhr Jensens Kwikfish in the small ot meduim sizes. The colors
that have been working for me have been silver, Silver/red dots,
flame, flame/red dots, green hornet, green weenie, blue streak
and flounder. Float fishing in the upper river has been best
with a Mad river worm in Pink, Nail Polish pink or pink haze
with a white or chartruese jig head. Aero jig and Beau MAc jigs
in pink, pink/white or night mare jigs are the best. Have also
been playing with a new jig that we are working on with a small
light on it and they will be out on the market soon. Look for
them as they are very good. The fishing for snider hatchery
fish will continue for a couple of more weeks. The native run
will only get way better with each day.
The Calawah is in good shape running at
1380cfs and dropping with great vis. The best techniques for
the Calawah will be Plug pulling or Floatfishing. For the plug
pulling stick with Wordens Flatfish or Luhr Jensens Kwikfish
in the smaller sizes. For the color of the water stick with
silver, Silver/red dots, Flame, Flame/red dots, green weenie,
green hornet or flounder. For float fishing we have using lots
of Beau Mac jigs in Cerise, Pink/white and Cerise/white. Though
my favorite is the Aero Jigs in Pink, Cerise and the Peach.
I also use our own design of Black head pink and chartruese
rabbit. I have had great luck on Mad River worms in pink with
a chartruese head. Fish are spread out from the mouth all the
way past the forks. Remember that above 101 bridge it is selective
gear rules. It is all wild fish from now until end of season.
Bogachiel River is in good shape running
at 28.50 ft and with 2 to 4 ft of Vis. River is dropping slowly.
The best techniques with the given water flows and color will
be to pull plugs, sidedrift or floatfish from the hatchery down
and above hatchery stick with plugs or floats. For plug pulling
stick with Wordens Flatfish or Luhr Jensens kwiikfish in the
smaller sizes. For colors i like to use Silver, Silver/red dots,
Flame Red, Flame red/ red dots, green weenie, blue streak, michael
jackson, flounder and green hornet. For sidedrifting we have
been using two #3 vision Hooks and a #12 cheater in flame, chart/red
dots, green/red dots, rainbow, glo orange, orange clown and
glo green. The best bait has been eggs cured in pink Borax-0-
fire or prawns done the AGS way. Float fishing has been best
with Beau Mac jigs in Pink/white, Cerise, Cerise/white or Orange/peach.
Aero Jigs in Pink, Hot Pink, Pink/white, Pink/peach and Nightmare
have been good. Mad River Worms in 4" in Glo Pink, Nail Polish
Pink, Pink/Chart Tail and Bubble gum pinkon a 1/8oz jig head
in white or chart head has aslo been very good for bigger fish.
The Hoh is in good shape running at 2,160cfs
with 2 to 3' of vis in upper river and 1 to 2' in the lower
river. River is dropping slowly. Lots of fish are spread out
from the mouth all the way to the park boundry. The best techniques
in this little more colored water will be to Pull plugs or sidedrift.
For plug pulling stick with the larger plugs like K-13 Kwikfish
or a T-4 flatfish. Color's loke silver, Silver/flame Back, White/red,
Claire- a- bell, grren hornet and flounder. For sidedrifting
in the upper river this prime time to fish 6" long Mad river
worms in pink, Methiolate and flour orange. In the lower river
fish 2 @ 2 vision hooks a #10 cheater in brighter colors like
flame, chart/flame dots, chart/green dots and rainbow. I like
to use a little bigger baits, so cut your eggs a little bigger
and add a mad river egg to the bottom for a little more scent.
This will only get better as the water drops and clears.
Submitted
by Bob Kratzer
Anglers
Guide Service
(800) 577-8781
Email: ags@centurytel.net

Forks area rivers are in great shape and kickin
out some beautiful fish. Seems like the fish are pretty much
spread out in all the rivers. Some huge natives have been caught
and released and we continue to hook some Snider Creek fish
as well.
Looke for the good fishing to continue. Some nice
shots of rain have helped without blowing the rivers.


Submitted by Mike Zavadlov
Mike Z's
Guide Service
(360) 640 8109
Email: mike@mikezsguideservice.com
| Klickitat
River |
March 16, 2010
|
No report this week
Please
check out my new video - The Klickitat is awesome!
Call
or email Tracy
Z.... phone (509) 369-2366
www.adventurefishing.net
No report this week
Submitted by Ryan Pitcher
West
Coast Anglers, Oregon, Washington and Idaho
1 866 846-4240 or Email ryan@wcafish.com

Hey everyone we are getting to the end of our
steelhead season but we decided to do one last Guys trip on
the Grand Ronde! (there was no work done on this trip for anyone!)
We headed down there on Thursday afternoon to get a camp site
and maybe get some fishing in before the rest of the crew arrived.
That evening we headed down to Cottonwood Creek Hatchery to
do a bit of bank fishing before it go to dark and managed to
get a couple before dark. Later on in the evening the rest of
the guys showed up and we kind of invaded another groups camp
site but they were really nice and let us hang out by the fire.
On Friday we were so ambitious to get going, I
say that very sarcastically, we hit the water at about 9:30
and 5 minutes into the drift Greg was on to a fish. We landed
a nice little hatchery buck and proceeded to toast the fish
gods. As we dropped down river to the next hole Scott hooks
up with a nice looking wild hen, back she goes and another toast
to the fish gods! We worked our way down to the hatchery with
no luck but as soon as we got to the hatchery the fish were
ready to play. I got the chance to finally wet a line and about
the 3rd cast "FISH ON!!!!!!!!!!!" rang out and than shortly
after "%$@& FISH OFF!!!!!!!!" in which Scott was so kindly to
reply to "Lost fish that's a double bubble" so we proceeded
to toast the fish gods again. Well the day pretty much carried
on in the same fashion, lots of fish hooked and landed and lots
of fish hooked and lost. Our other boat made it down to the
hatchery and we cooked up some lunch and toasted the fish gods
once again before we headed down the river to the take out.
That night the rain started and holy cow did it come down! But
it did not dampen our sprites we had rib eyes on the BBQ and
lots of whiskey to keep us warm. Great food, good friends, nothing
could bring us down.

Saturday we awoke to a white dusting on the tops
of the hills and the water a bit up from the day before but
we were doing the float from Bogans to Schumacher, one beautiful
piece of water and so we set out with high hopes. This section
of the river there are no roads, once you kick off into the
water that's it until the take out. We set out a bit earlier
on Saturday and with in the first 200 yards I was hooked up,
but it was not meant to be the slime rocket jumped and threw
the hook and other rang from the rowers seat "THAT'S A DRINK!!!!!!!!!"
We worked our way down some more and managed to only pound on
some rocks the fish were being a bit scarce but persistence
would pay off. We came to one spot that was to good not to hold
fish and decided to pull the boat in and really give the section
a good working over. Well we were wrong in our assumption but
slipped about 100 yards down river and managed to start putting
on a show. First Greg hooked up with a nice keeper, than on
the next cast it was my turn. Another nice keeper in the box,
we worked our way down river and got 4 more fish in the box.
We were having a bit to much fun for our own good when we decided
to head down river as we worked our way down the other boat
caught up to us and we decided to pull in for a shore lunch
of ribs. After lunch we headed down river and put a bunch more
to the boat. We ended the day with roughly 20 for the two boats
with 14 keepers. On the way out as we started to climb from
the canyon the temperature started to drop and the snow began
to fall. We came to the top and started to work our way back
down to Bogans on the way down we saw a group of about 50 elk
hanging out on the side of the road. We headed back down to
camp and decided to try to put one last fish to the bank to
seal the last fish bet in our favor, which we did and Scott
had to pay up on the drink. That evening was met with cold,
cold weather a big fire and some great BBQ chicken breasts,
baked potato's and all the fixings. We had a hell of a party
that night!

Sunday morning we woke up to a brisk 25 degrees
outside, everything was frozen the water that had fallen on
the tents, the boats and worst of all our boots and waders.
I was up before everyone and decided to take a little drive
to warm up the truck and thaw out my boots and waders. By the
time everyone was up the temp had risen to a balmy 27 degrees.
We decided to pass on breakfast and get an early start because
we were headed out that day. Luck was not on my side that day,
I hooked up first and proceeded to loose the fish and things
we down hill from there. Scott and Greg both caught and land
a bunch of fish while I couldn't buy a fish. I was nice and
told the boys to have fun I would row us down. We finished out
the day with 10 or 12 none of which I landed but we had fun.
We ended the weekend with about 70 fish total for the two boats,
lots of good stories and memories!


Doug Richert
360-490-2521
www.HellsCanyonSportFishing.com

North Oregon Coast Report
Well, until yesterday fishing has been very
challenging, even for the most seasoned anglers. Low, clear,
and crowded conditions would have described both the Nestucca
and Wilson Rivers. The rain system that we received at the
end of the week spiked the coastal streams and allowed the
next push of fish into these systems. Pods of mint bright
steelhead have moved into the North Coast rivers. Anglers
that made the trip Sunday were rewarded with fresh aggressive
fish.
The Wilson and Nestucca are still seeing a
good return of hatchery steelhead. Primarily on the lower
ends of these rivers. Look for these fish to be higher in
the systems later in this week. Fishing should be very good
for the next few days.
Remember, if you are the explorer type, or
are looking for a little solitude there are many rivers
that only see a native return. The Little Nestucca, Salmonberry,
Big Nehalem, and Trask are a few examples. These systems
should be at their peak about now and have some of the largest
steelhead in the Northwest!
Chris Salter
Big Moby Tackle
www.bigmobytackle.com
503-357-3187
No report this week
Mike Glass
Oregon, Rod, Reel & Tackle
3699 Coburg rd. Eugene Or, 97408
(541) 683-4965
www.oregonrrt.com
We fished the lower Rogue yesterday on our
maiden run for spring run salmon.
With the Rogue swollen and dropping from recent
rains, the emerald green water conditions were nearing ideal
with flows at 6000cfs and 3-4 feet of visibility. I talked
with some of the top guides on the Rogue. A few Springers
have been caught daily with Sunday being the best day when
half a dozen fished were reported / hooked / caught near
the old mill. The bite has been in the afternoons around
the outgoing tide. A few guides have been poking around
upriver will little success to date, most fishing is occurring
below Lobster Creek bridge and in the tidal section. The
go to rig is the standard Rogue spinner bait rig with or
without spinner blades.
This morning Dave Castellanos of Cast Guide
Service called while I was writing this report. Dave has
two fish in the box this morning while guiding the lower
Rogue. Kyle and Corey Kingston from Mount Shasta are fishing
with Dave and the two have landed one 18# hatchery Springer
and one 8-10# hatchery steelhead so far. The foggy pictures
are from Corey's cell phone… if that isn't an up to date
report…isn't modern technology wonderful, thanks Corey!
Sounds like a heck of a beginning to a great day of fishing,
why am I here?
Fishing is by no means rocking and rolling
on the Rogue but the fish are coming and people are out
looking and anchor fishing all of the favorite spots. Look
for the river to improve with each pulse of fresh rainwater
from spring storm systems that move rapidly across the Oregon
Coast.
Tony Hobbs, Monty Moncrief, and Ken Range
were aboard yesterday. We anchor fished anchovies and hearing
rigs in 5-6 feet of water near the willow line at Canfield
riffle. Ken had a massive take down, loosing his entire
anchovy while back bouncing his rig in the current. In fact
the fish hit so hard it stripped several feet of drag an
alerted everyone in the boat that what we were there for
was, indeed, a very real possibility.
We ran a plug coated with Pautzke's liquid
krill on the inside rod, in the slower current, for most
of the day. Here the water level was only about 3-4 feet
making it difficult to keep a bait rig spinning correctly
in the current. After running the Rogues' local favorite
plug all day with no success, I switched to an old "wiggle
wart" that was a go to plug in the old days of guiding the
Russian river. (See the attached background of the photo
for Russian river results) After about an hour, this rod
buckled in the holder with a beautiful wild steelhead in
8# class. Now fisherman all see what they want to see and
hear what they want to hear. We all have our special gear.
We will be back on the Rogue later this week
so we will try to keep folks up to date on the Spinger run.
I have fully turned my attention to Springers but my friend
Andy Martin has been guiding down on the Chetco and reports
that there are some fresh fish in that system. In my opinion,
the Chetco has a good run of steelhead this year but the
escapement is high due to the high water conditions all
year long. The evidence for this is a week or so ago when
all of the guides were landing 6-8 fish a day, mostly downers,
all released. It seems like a good percentage of the early
runs got by the anglers as the river stayed above 4000cfs
for the majority of Jan - Feb. This might lead one to an
unfounded perception of slow fishing and less fish on the
Chetco when, indeed, it is has been a year for the fish.
We have to be careful with premature conclusions prior the
ODFW surveys in May.
The Smith fished fairly well for the Cal-Ore
derby over the weekend. Before the high water a dozen boats
landed nearly two dozen fish. The majority were caught on
Friday before the river came up significantly. According
to one derby fisherman some 70-80% of the fish were bright.
Joey did get to work the snack shack and met the raiderettes,
but took no picture so his grandpa could take a look. I
thought I had this guy trained….
Paul LeFebvre
Rogue Outdoor Store, Gold Beach Oregon

Guide Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing in Brookings nets
a steelhead for Pat Atkinson of Grants Pass, Ore., March
14 on the Chetco River. The fish hit a small cluster of
roe cured in Pautzke's BorxOFire fished with a size 4 Eagle
Claw hook.
Chetco not done yet
BROOKINGS, Ore. - A mid-March rainstorm that dumped
more than 3 inches of rain on the Southern Oregon Coast
gave steelhead fishing on the Chetco River a late boost
as the season nears its end. Two days after the river blew
out, the handful of guides fishing the Chetco March 14 reported
good results, with a mix of fresh fish and spawned-out steelhead.
"I was surprised how many new fish came in during the most
recent storm, because it was really slow before the rain
arrived," said guide Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing
in Brookings. "We got three fish, including two fresh fish,
and lost a big one that was at least in the upper teens."
Martin said he also saw guide Val Early catching fish. "The
bank fishermen were catching some fish too," Martin said.
"I saw a guy get a nice chromer across from Emily Creek,
a plunker got a fresh fish at Loeb and a guy drift-fishing
from the bank at the North Fork got one. A fly fisherman
at Social Security hooked one, it jumped, and snapped off."
The Chetco dropped to 4,000 cfs March 14, two days after
hitting 8,000 cfs. With the March 31 closure approaching,
local guides on the Chetco expect a decent finish to the
season. "Since there are still fresh fish coming in, we
should be catching fish all the way up to the end of the
season," Martin said. Some anglers have complained the Chetco
has been fair to slow most of the season, but Martin notes
the river has blown out several times this season, limiting
the opportunity to fish. "I talked with the ODFW biologists
in Gold Beach and they said the slow fishing at times, when
the river was blown out or high, doesn't necessarily mean
the run is down," Martin said. "There has been high spawner
escapement. Just look at how many down runners we've been
catching the past few weeks, sometimes six to eight a day."
On March 14, Martin said his clients caught their fish on
eggs cured in Pautzke's BorxOFire fished with size 4 Eagle
Claw hooks. He drifted from Ice Box to Social Security,
and reported getting bites throughout the river.