WILD BLOG: Low water = prime-time steelhead action ... shhhhhhhh
NEW Feb. 8, 2009 / 12:00 p.m

TILLAMOOK, Ore. - In the last month now we’ve had not much more than an inch of rain on Oregon’s north coast, and the rivers are getting low. Real low: as I write this, they're about as low as they usually ever get during the winter.

And I'm lovin' every minute of it.

Low water, low pressure: As I’ve mentioned before, I love it like this: I get the rivers to myself. It’s common to only see one other boat per day. That’s because most people lose all their confidence in these clear conditions, but not me.

Spots we fish and our conditions change but the fish are still going to come in. They have to, because their biological clock tells them to.

Consequently, we have been easily getting into half a dozen fish a trip.The fish we have been getting are a mix of wild fish, early hatchery brats and some awesome quality brood stock hatchery fish.

Since there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of fish around this year, it’s nice to have less competition. If there were half a dozen boats on the drift, then that half-dozen biters would be split up and we may be only getting one or two fish a day.

Old school, new school: It’s been fun and unique, with little mix of the old and the new. With fewer fish around, I’ve had to lean on past experiences to pull a few fish out of the hat, but I’ve also had to experiment and tweak my techniques. And in the clear water, I’ve been able to find new little pockets that were created during some of our recent high waters.

Those same high water events filled in some good holes too, but I guess you win some and lose some.S

Shopping for plugs,Tillamook style: Here’s a cool thing that happened recently.

As we were floating through some frog water, I spotted a metallic green plug on the bottom near some overhanging brush. As we got closer, I noticed it was in the mouth of a fish! I turned the boat around to get a better look and it was gone.

Half an hour later as we were fishing the next hole down, my client Dona hooked up and as the fish came into view, believe it or not, it was that fish with the plug in its mouth!

It was a wild fish, so after removing the plug and our hook he was quickly released to go on his way.  I got a K11 Kwikfish out of the deal.

Looking ahead: We have some rain coming in this week. Will it bring in more fish?  Maybe. Will it bring in more fishermen? For sure. 

It’s actually not supposed to be a whole lot: the 10-day forecast I look at shows ¼ to ½ inch a day, whihc is not really a lot to rise the rivers.

We’ll see. Just be willing to cover water and refine your techniques and you just may be rewarded with some very nice brood stock fish.

Our brooders return January through April, so you still have a lot of time left to intercept some of these fish.

-DJ