Few things in winter steelheading are certain. The only certainty is that following a blowout the rivers drop into perfect shape on a weekday only to blow out again on Friday before dropping back in on Monday. . . . I know I’m not the only one to ruefully observe this pattern.
Well, if the forecast holds this weekend is going to present winter steelhead conditions as good as a working (hu)man can hope for. The rivers which have been low and clear blew out over the week and are falling back into shape even as I type this.
Saturday is looking to be a bit high but definitely fishable on the Siuslaw. The Slaw is forecast to fall from about 8.5 on Saturday to 7 feet Sunday before starting to rise again. Conditions should be better on the Alsea , falling from 5.5 to 5 before edging slightly upward on Sunday. The Siletz is forecast to fall from 5.2 before bottoming out at 4.8 feet. Even though the rivers are forecast to start rising again Sunday, the rise is anticipated to be modest and should not take any of these rivers back out.
The Alsea has over 800 fish at the hatchery. It never ceases to amaze me that any fish survive that gauntlet. Every coastal river has fish in it and this rain event should have pushed them upward. I’d highly recommend fishing this weekend and fishing the river that you know best.
Bottom Line: This might be the best weekend forecast of the season. . . One other thing is certain, you won’t catch ’em on your couch!-KM
O.K. You talked me into it. ut the door in an hour.
Steve
You were right! Perfect steelheading weekend. But by yesterday evening, reports came in from California’s Smith, the Elk & Sixes, Siletz, Siuslaw and Tillamook County, all reporting very slow fishing in spite of perfect conditions. Some distressed anglers are ready to call this the worst season ever. But that’s anecdotal and premature in my opinion. There are always slow times in February, and it’s not unusual for steelies to show up several days or a week after a high water event, especially when tides suck. The Caddis Fly crew seems to have had a good, if not great, season so far, and my season has been fun and satisfying.
My personal reports come from the Siletz and Lake Creek. Siletz was unusually slow. Lake Creek was perfect and we spanked the hatchery pukes. Saw only one wild fish caught in two days.
Thanks for the pep talk–I hope you followed your own advice!