Clackamas 1/2 Day Special Winter Steelhead trips

Today, a first for Royce- a winter steelhead on the fly rod!  We offer 1/2 day float trips on the Clackamas River custom tailered to what you want to do.  Today Royce wanted to learn to spey cast and try a few spots for steelhead.  We worked on spey casting most of the morning and fished our way to the boat ramp.

This dandy wild fish gave him a run for his money and at that Royce was only out $125 for a 4 hour trip.

Get some friends together and enjoy this before work special or afternoon on the water for only $100 per person.  $125 for a single.

Call Rob for details 503-704-6449

www.watertimeoutfitters.com  Check out Steelhead Fly Fishing: "The Tug is the Drug"

Something A Little Different

Greetings all,

        Well with Super Bowl weekend Ally and I went to visit friends in Eastern Oregon.  Knowing that there are still some Steelhead in the rivers that way I just happened to slip in a couple rods.  I know that the weekend was a very busy one on the Coastal Streams and was pleasantly surprised to find several willing fish to the East without any other anglers!  This is a reminder to us all that sometimes thinking outside the box results in an uncrowded experience and great times for all.  The following are pictures from Saturdays outing with a couple of my great friends:

We ended the day hooking 10 fish and landing 8.  Many of these fish were wild and when there was not a good place to quickly land and release them we focused on getting them back home without risking a picture.

Gil Muhleman

Water Time Outfitters

541-419-7778

THE TUG IS THE DRUG

North Coast Steelhead Special

Greetings all,
          I will be instructing another Winter Steelhead Workshop in Tillamook on Sunday February 19th.  You can see results from the last class further down on this blog site.  I currently have a little space for this class where I devulge many of my secrets.  This information has taken me a lifetime to develop and it has proven successful for myself, those who fish with me and certainly for those who have taken this course previously.
        

Eric's First Winter Steelhead Ever Caught Last Week

If you are interested and have the opportunity to get out and experience this fantastic fishery please give me a call.

Remember to keep an eye on the blog as I will continue to update it with fishing reports and updates on other opportunities.

Gil Muhleman

Water Time Outfitters

541-419-7778

THE TUG IS THE DRUG

Winter Steelhead Fly Fishing Boot Camp

Brought to you by Water Time Outfitters is the "Boot Camp" of Winter Steelhead Fly Fishing.  Get started fly fishing for winter steelhead with the right tools and instruction for success.  Great for beginners or advanced anglers who want to fine-tune their skills; or the summer steelhead angler who wants to learn what winter fishing is all about.  This course covers spey casting, specific approaches to fishing techniques, rigging, reading water, fly selection, fly tying and much more!

This action packed special provides all your meals, lodging, equipment as needed, instruction and guided fishing.  We'll have over 20 fly lines for you to fine tune your set-up or use ours.  Waders and boots are available as well.

Our on river lodging gives us the prefect launching point for an itinerary packed with learning.  Conveniently located right on the Wilson River we have the option of fishing five different rivers most only minutes away. 

This action packed adventure is provided by full time guides Rob Crandall and Gil Muhleman, our years of instruction and guiding experience will be a breath of fresh air for those confused or intimidated by the complexities of fly fishing.  We'll be eating, sleeping and breathing steelhead fly fishing giving you plenty of time to unravel the confusion and mystery of fly gear and techniques.  Learn what the expression means when you hear "The Tug is the Drug" of steelhead fly fishing. 

This boot camp timing is set for the peak of the winter run steelhead on the Oregon coast.  Both wild and hatchery steelhead are available at this time of year. Learn what it takes to catch and land steelhead on the fly rod with this excellent class format.

Winter Steelhead Boot Camp 2012  cost is only $550

March 10 & 11

Space is very limited - reserve your spot now: 503-704-6449
www.watertimeoutfitters.com

Steelhead Fishing the Clackamas River

Having grown up on the Clackamas River I have seen a lot of changes in the river.  Over the years the run timings have changed, the pressure has changed and of course the river bed has changed.  Many years ago I used to catch bass and bluegill in ponds that became the new river channel in the 1996 flood.  As a river changes the angler needs to keep up to speed to be at best prepared for fishing success.  Here is a current breakdown of important aspects about fishing the Clackamas River for steelhead.

The Clackamas River has both hatchery and wild steelhead.  Various strains of steelhead are in the Clackamas River nearly year-round.  For our winter steelhead runs we basically have 3 strains to pay attention to.  First returning is the Eagle creek strain.  These fish return to the Eagle creek hatchery a tributary of the Clackamas river.  Prime time to catch these fish in the Clackamas river is from Dec 15th through January.  Our other steehead in the Clackamas are our wild steelhead.  These fish start into the river as early as December but are most prevalent in the months of Feb, Mar, April and into May.  These fish spawn in upper basin tributaries and some are main stem spawners.  Gravel reintroduction by PGE in 2012 should help restore some historic spawning areas that have had less than desirable gravel sizes for years.  The third strain of fish found on the Clackamas system are the broodstock steelhead.  These hardy fish are based off the wild run.  Wild fish are trapped at the Casadero dam fish trap and some are used for this hatchery program.  As it has been described to me by biologist Todd Alsbury these wild steelhead are live spawned and returned back into the river. The broodstock steelhead are released at various locations on the river. 

                                      (An early summer run from 2011- note maxillary clipping)

The other steelhead stock in the Clackamas system are our summer run fish.  This strain is called the Skamania summer run.  These are early returningsummer fish that often start showing up in March and then build into early June.  These are aggressive strong fighting fish.  They do not spawn until the following winter/spring and enter the river with a healthy layer of life sustaining fats.
 

The way we tell the difference in these stocks of fish is by the fin clippings.  Broodstock steelhead are currently only adipose fin clipped.  Hatchery summer steelhead are adipose and maxillary clipped and Eagle creek fish have an adipose and ventral fin clipped.

Clackamas River Video Clip: http://youtu.be/0kPfngl8zmk

For more information on fishing the Clackamas River visit our website: www.watertimeoutfitters.com  or see other blog postings on this blog site. "The Tug is the Drug!"

Record Steelhead Run- NF Nehalem

We've been catching a lot of fish this year, so we know its been good but now we know how good.  The NF Nehalem hatchery is reporting a record run of winter steelhead for the 2011/2012 run.  So far to the hatchery they have received 3060 steelhead.  That is the all time best return for any year on the NF.  Why is that such a great number?  Remember the NF is a small body of water.  Also, add in that there may have been at least half that number in harvested fish.  I know we've harvested a good number this year.

NF Nehalem Video - 2012   http://youtu.be/mpu5V2kexHk

In addition to good returns to the hatchery, it appears that the wild steelhead run which tend to return later to the system have had a good early showing.  Just recently there were 4 wild fish landed on the disabled platform at the hatchery.  We have caught wild fish on nearly every trip as well.  That bodes well for the later, prime time for wild fish. 

We hope this record run translates to other steelhead returns on our other favorite rivers and often when its good for one batch of steelhead in the ocean, its good for the whole region. 

For more info on fishing the NF Nehalem see our other blog posts or visit: www.watertimeoutfitters.com See our Steelhead fly fishing decal and T-shirt : The Tug is the Drug

2012 Winter Steelhead One For The Books?

Hello fellow steelheaders,

What an amazing season of Winter Steelhead fishing thus far!!!  December began with no rain and severely low clear water.  I did my secret rain dance at the holidays and boy did I ever over shoot the goal.  While there has been a lot of water this January there have been absolutely fantastic opportunities with possibly my best catch numbers ever.  Remember that small streams like the Kilchis, NF Nehalem, Eagle Creek and others clear very quickly.  These streams typically fish best when larger streams are still off color and too high to fish.  For those of you wondering what to do this weekend, other than watch superbowl commercials, you may consider heading to the Oregon Coast.  Rivers like the Wilson and Trask will be at fishable conditions.  These rivers have rarely been fishable in January and are loaded full of chrome Steelhead right now!!!

Saturday I taught a Winter Steelhead class in Tillamook.  Those who attended got a lot of great information about the area rivers and were shown a few of my favorite sweet spots.  Two class participants joined me for a half day on Sunday.  It is alway a treat for me to guide anglers into their first ever Winter Steelhead.  Brett got things started with this beautiful chromer.

Not to be out done, Eric added a few more as we managed to hook 7 with 4 magnificent fish to hand.

For those of you who attended this class, all of these fish were caught on the Trask River in the area I told you was the transition zone.

Good luck to all and I look forward to fishing with you soon,

Gil Muhleman

Water Time Outfitters

541-419-7778