The Big One!

Our fishing on the North remains spotty but it only takes one when it is a monster like Robert Wissmar "Wiz" caught today. The only grab we had today ended up being a 40.5" X 20" buck that gave Wiz about all he could handle - two huge leaps and 20 minutes of tug of war. Congrats Wiz - well deserved! The fish was big enough, the pic of it lying in the water is about as good as we could get. It was nearly impossible to hold it up for the classic fish and grin shot.

We had a dose of rain last night that put some grit in the water and bumped the river back up to a great height. The temps have dropped but the river should be in good condition for the next few days. I am still getting reports of fresh fish being caught in the lower North and I saw a half dozen fish at the ladder tonight so, there is reason to be optimistic.

MORE PICS!

4 from a great day with Dave Laurence on the North!

I had a minute so I thought I would take the time to post these pics from a day with Super Dave Laurence. The fishing remains spotty on the NU but if you keep castings good things happen. Just ask Dave! Today we only had one and given the pressure on the river, I was happy with that. I am still getting reports of some new fish passing through the lower river so, I would expect our fishing to continue through the middle of next month.

STILL COMING!

OUR BIG NATIVES ARE HERE!
I stopped by the fish ladder at Winchester on the NU yesterday after fishing and it was full of fish. Not only was it encouraging to see good numbers of chrome fish still making their way upriver, it was great to see a couple exceptional fish. I saw two fish in the 20lb class and at least 6 in the mid to high teens. I am guessing this will be one of those years we see our best fishing up in the fly water the last week of March and first half of April. Despite great water conditions, our fishing up there the last couple days has been slow. I just think we are a week or so away from having our biggest slug of fish reach the fly water.

On other fronts, our fishing on the coast will continue through the end of the month. I have been busy on the NU because that is where my anglers have opted to fish but, I have been getting good reports from some of our rivers on the coast side of the mountains. Two days ago a buddy of mine had a day they hooked 12 and landed 7. I am sure we could have headed west and had good fishing. That is the problem with the North - it is an addictive place that can consume an anglers interest. It is often times hard to get my anglers excited about venturing away no matter how good the prospects are elsewhere.

I am also looking forward to getting back down on the Rogue. I have heard reports that the majority of our fish have been holding up low in the system. We should see the dam counts do nothing but improve over the next couple weeks. My best fishing on the upper Rogue is generally the first two weeks of April.

I will also take this opportunity to post some pics from recent trips.


Steve Rose with a chrome buck still sporting sea lice with tails. The sea lice had not even lost their tails yet - only hours out of the salt!!! It was an amazingly strong fish. It was only one of a number of fish we had that day.


A couple more from John and Steve's trip.

Judy Nakawatase with a 33" chrome hen. The biggest fish we saw on a productive day over on the coast.

Shiz with one of his from a day he went 5 for 5.

Judy with one of the big bucks she had from a 3 day trip where they hooked 17!

Peak Season!

We are heading into the peak of our winter season chasing big natives on the North Umpqua. I have not done the job I was hoping to do updating my daily report this season. I am finding that as a new father, my evening desk time is very limited when I am on the river guiding everyday. I have been rained out today so, I am taking this opportunity to post a report and share some pics from earlier this winter.

Up to this point, our fishing on the Umpqua has been slower than we are accustomed to. I believe our final fish counts will show that our numbers are down this season. We were all aware that our fishing was going to be slow on the South Umpqua because most of the hatchery juveniles that correspond to this years return died prior to their acclimation. As a result, I have spent a lot less time on the South this season. Unfortunately, the wild returns on the Main and North have been down as well. We have had some high points but overall, we have not consistently seen the crazy numbers my clients have come to expect. Don't get me wrong, the fishing has been consistent but, most days we have been working hard for 3 to 6 fish a day. When it comes to numbers this winter season, my best fishing has been on our coastal rivers. Here we have seen some huge number days. What are huge numbers you say? How about days when we went 14 for 18 or 10 for 16 on chrome bright fresh winters!!! I have included some pics below.

I also wanted to take this time to point out an issue we are experiencing on the Umpqua. As many of you are aware, we just won a battle this last year to stop the killing of wild steelhead on the entire Umpqua system. Fortunately, this new law corresponds with year when our fish counts will most likely be down. My question for ODFW who was in support of killing our wild fish is: "Aren't you glad we're not killing them this season?" It is a perfect example why all of us wild fish advocates are in favor of managing our fishery on the side of conservation rather than ODFW's outdated policies of maximum sustainable yield. 1 - this year has shown us that we can't count on hatcheries to provide us with an artificial fishery. The die off of nearly the entire South Umpqua hatchery plant has brought this fishery to its knees. Selfishly, it has directly affected my business. 2 - this year has also reminded us that our wild returns are cyclical and very unpredictable. Years like 2004 when our fish numbers were above the 10 year average, sparked a debate to start killing our wild fish. It was these years of bounty that enabled ODFW to reopen the system to the killing of our wild steelhead to harvest what they calculated to be a "surplus". We are now seeing the return from these years of harvest and it is no mystery to many of us why our numbers are down. Whether you believe our low counts this year are a direct result of killing our wild stocks or just coincidence, we must all agree it is a good thing we are not killing any of them this season. We are going to need every fish returning this to successfully spawn.



A perfect pair from a day with retired pro baseball player Scott Hatteburg and his brother Jeff from the Umpqua. Scott has become a good friend and regular client of mine. He is one of those guys that always seems to bring good luck with him.

Long time friend Mike Davis with a beauty from the North. This buck was one of several fish we had that day and is the biggest Mike has caught with me over the years.

After a great day on the coast a couple years ago where they had 11, Jeanette and Jamie were rained out of their trip last winter. They made up for it this year with fish like this nice buck Jeanette caught.