Clackamas River Report

With snow in the lower hills surrounding the Clackamas basin, the water has been cold.  Mount Hood has a fresh blanket of snow and we recently had snow on the river earlier in the week.  As of this week in March the snow pack is at 99% of what we need for the season.  Those are good things for the summer water flows and for our fish come summer and fall.  It also means that our water has been very cold.  That can make getting fish on the swing a bit tough.

Today was a good day on the Clack.  It was a sunny day with air temps in the 60's!  I wore a tee-shirt most of the day.  How good it was to feel sun on my skin.

We ended up the day with 6 hookups and 2 fish on spey rods.  One fish was our first summer steelhead of 2012!  You can tell these chrome hot rockets are summer steelhead by the fin clippings.  These hatchery origin fish have their adipose fin clipped as well as their right maxillary fin clipped. 

Chrome bright wild fish in March

First summer steelhead for my boat in 2012.

Note the right maxillary clipping.

Good luck on the Water!

Rob Crandall

The Tug is the Drug

www.watertimeoutfitters.com