Celebrating the first salmon the of the Fall
Adventure scouting trips are all about trying a new river, or a new stretch of water, or perhaps an familiar stretch of water at a new time of year. The latter was the case yesterday as two us set out to find the Portland Metro area rivers coho (silver salmon) scouts. Those chrome bright early fish that can sneak in unnoticed under light angling pressure, often for a couple weeks before the word is out.
We went fully expecting to catch nothing and to enjoy a nice float down the river. Still an enjoyable day on the water with the sun shining, shirt sleeves and 80 degree afternoons. There are worse ways to spend a day. The water was low, so we took the white water raft, some extra rope and a handful of fly rods. The raft was a good choice as we both agreed the driftboat would have gotten us into some serious trouble.
We got an unusually late start, perhaps around 8, but the sun was still low and off the water in most of the river canyon. Four deer crossed the river in front of us as we shoved off. Always a good omen. We fished two nice looking holes in the first half mile of the drift and came up empty. Not surprising. The next run we came to was long and wide with a nice choppy riffle at the head and smooth steelhead looking tailout. We pulled the boat over, hopped out and made a couple casts. Seconds later my angling partner’s rod surged and dove as a chrome silver came up tail walking. Fish On!!! Eventually the hook pulled out after several minutes, but the fish left us excited for the day’s prospects. We were not to be disappointed. We hooked four more fish in that hole alone including a Fall chinook and a couple chrome coho jacks.
Once the sun hit the water, the action slowed. However, we did manage to hook one more pig chinook late in the day that swam off with a hook in his mouth. 20-25lb fish are hard to land on 8lb. On a day we expected nothing, we were more than pleasantly surprised. It’s game on for these buggers and it’s only September 6. What is it going to be like in two or three weeks?
To take a crack at these hatchery and wild salmon give us a call at 503.515.3533 or Email Us.
Tight lines and good fishing,
Small Stream Outfitters Guide Staff