Clackamas Steelhead Fishing

When the water is the right level, fishing has been very good on the Clackamas River.  Water temperatures have warmed up a bit and there  are a good mix of wild, broodstock and summer steelhead in the river now.
Here Adrian shows off one of his biggest steelhead ever.  This fish put up an amazing battle fighting so hard and rarely coming near the surface; we almost thought we had an early Chinook.  It would have taped out near 36-38".

Big wild hen steelhead, nice job Adrian!

www.watertimeoutfitters.com

Best Moments in Guiding

Recently I had what was probably one of my best moments as a fishing guide and a dad.  My five year old son Tanner had been asking about going fishing for some time.  He had been helping me get the boat ready for my trips and asking when he could go.  Finally things worked our for him to come along with one of my long time clients and friend- Don Lewis on a short float on the Clackamas river.

With only a few hours to float we set off optimistic about our quick trip with a few honey holes in mind.  Our first spot was filled with boats and we went on down river.  Tanner was having a blast rowing the boat, drinking hot chocolate and asking Don questions. 

Finally with only 1/2 hour left in our quick morning mission we hooked a fish.  Tanner was gleeful!  He struggled to battle the fish and needed some help for much of the battle.  It was thrilling seeing the look on his face and his exclamations of pure excitement as the fish ran and jumped several times.  Don graciously ran the video camera.

Finally we landed the fish and Tanner quickly asked if we could "bonk it".  As it was a hatchery fish we kept it and had a great photo session.  Someone stepped on the rod and it was coated in the mud, but I didn't mind.  My little guy had experienced the thrill of a steelhead on the end of the line and that is one accomplishment I am especially proud of. 

Now I just have to keep working on his rowing skills so he can row and I can fish!

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

Spring Time in Oregon

It's that time of year here in Oregon where there is so much to do.  Trout fishing opportunities are really starting to ramp up and steelhead fishing has some interesting things going on as well.  Living in Oregon sure has its perks and its this time of year that I am reminded how fortunate we are to live in such a great part of the world.

Trout fishing opportunities are vast this time of year.  One of the big ones that comes to mind is the Salmon fly hatch on the Deschutes river.  This is a world class river that has some truly great fly fishing opportunities.  Add to that equation a bug almost 3" long and you've got a great combo.  Salmon flies are like "Big Mac's" for trout.  As the hatch gains momentum expect rainbows to greedily gorge on these big bugs.  Add in the many opportunities of lakes and small streams around the state and you've got some good stuff going on.

One of my favorite fisheries for this time of year is the spring steelhead we get on the Willamette Valley streams.  Better known as summer steelhead these silvery rockets come into our rivers in the spring and stay in the river for nearly a year.  These fish are a Skamania strain fish of hatchery origin.  The Clackamas river has these fish returning every year around this time.  This years run are identified by a clipped adipose fin and a maxilary fin clipping.  Once hooked they are ballistic rockets and some fish are simply unlandable!

I hope you are getting out on the water and experiencing some of the fantastic opportunities we have here in Oregon.

Good fishin!

Rob