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Fishing for those Steelhead was so much fun today, wish we were still out there, but it got dark too fast. We got up this morning to look outside and see everything covered with snow, and it is really coming down, I asked Barb if she wanted to go out fishing in the snow storm, and she said we had better do it today, because the temp. is supposed to drop into the teens later this week, it is 30* outside now.

We got the boat hooked up and left the house at 12:30pm, our goal was to make two long drifts on a productive stretch of water and then come in, launched the boat at Couse Creek, then headed down river several miles, pulled the boat off plane, point the bow upriver, fire up the little Honda, engage the TR-1 Autopilot, apply a scent concoction to the underside of the plugs, then start a slow back troll on the Idaho side of the river, inching downriver while traversing side to side, trying to put the plugs in good holding spots.

We have the heater turned on, the snow is falling, ambient temp. is around 30*, water temp. is 45.4*, it is going to be a great day on the water even if we don't get a hit, the canyon walls are covered with snow, there are deer in sight on both sides of the river, what fun this is. Suddenly Barb yells "Ken you've got one on," I had been concentrating on positioning the boat and did not even see the rod slam down, the Steelhead is stripping out line as I remove the rod from the holder, he then comes boiling out of the water three times, then peels off more line on a down river run, then does another leap completely out of the water, that was his last jump, he was about eighty feet out, and put up a tug of war until I finally brought him to the boat and Barb netted him, was around five or six pounds, and put up a great fight, took a picture and released him,

We had just started that drift when the fish hit, so Barb started the big engine and motored to the start of the drift without getting on plane. Started a repeat of the first pass, at the end of this drift there is a deep hole that angles up to a seven foot shelf, for some reason they like to lay on, or near this shallow shelf, I told Barb to get ready, a few minutes later she yells "FISH ON", this one is trying to take that rod right out of the holder, Barb grabs her rod, the Steelhead comes out of the water several times, then rolls up in the leader, it had stripped out quite a bit of line, the fight was pretty much gone, it was really wraped up in the leader, the line went limp and it was gone, along with the plug, when we checked the leader it was broken in the center, probably cut by the gill plate.

We proceeded to do another pass, WHAM, Barb's rod goes down again, this one stays deep, she says it feels like a big fish, after about ten minutes her line goes slack, and another one is gone with the plug, the knot had failed where it was tied to the lure, this was my fault, leader was too old, will replace with new material tomorrow, feel bad about the poor fish when something like this happens.

It's starting to get dark, the snow is really coming down, everything is kind of wet and soggy. We decide it is time to head for the launch, been out fishing for almost three hours, had three fish on, this has really been a fun day, the air is crisp, the canyon is beautiful, the steelhead are hitting, what more could we ask for. Ken & Barb

Matt

11/22/2010 10:42:00 PM

Great report! and I like the Fatfish Hat!

hewesfisher

11/23/2010 6:24:00 AM

Awesome report Ken. We had similar great results on rainbow at Roosevelt this past weekend. Maybe the fish knew the weather was planning to take a real turn for the worse and were "stocking" up. I enjoy reading your reports. :-)

afk

11/23/2010 7:04:00 AM

I'd say you are one lucky guy to have the fishing partner you have! Keep it up! Thank you !

BMGW

11/23/2010 4:18:00 PM

Ahhh yes, you guys are hard core, I figured there would be snow on them hills for your next report. Beautiful !

kenbarb

11/23/2010 5:25:00 PM

You were right BMGW, it's now 5:00pm, 18*, and still snowing, supposed to get up to 30* Friday, should be a good day to catch Steelhead. Yesterday we did not see a single boat on the river except ours, and the river is full of Steelhead, as soon as it drops below freezing most of the fisherman pack it in, and by doing that they miss the best fishing, we have always found it best the latter part of Nov., Dec. Jan. & Feb.

rugrats6

11/25/2010 8:25:00 AM

are you the only people that fish there, you make so meny reports for Interstate Bridge to Hells Canyon Dam. So meny nice
fish.

Wintersteelhead21

11/25/2010 10:42:00 AM

Ken

I enjoy reading your reports. Great fishing. You're right...many guys miss the best fishing just because its cold. The steelheading is fairly good on the upper Columbia. I'll be out the next two days since the forecast looks "warm". At least above 0 degrees! I'd love to hit the Snake sometime

kenbarb

11/25/2010 10:47:00 AM

Hi rugrats6, There are a lot of fisherman here, and a lot of different places to fish that hold Steelhead. The Snake River, Clearwater River, Salmon River, and the Grande Ronde are all close with easy access, and world class fishing, it's a destination fishery with many guide boats, people come from all over the country to fish and hunt here. We live right on the river, launch the boat on a nearby gravel bar, and fish near our home, there are more productive places to fish, but we prefer to stay away from the crowds.

kenbarb

11/25/2010 10:57:00 AM

Hey Wintersteelhead21, We are on the same page, I love it when it's cold and crisp out there. Looks like the temp. will be over 30* tomorrow, and a beautiful day to go Steelheading, good luck to you.

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