Steelhead Reports and Pics 2012-2013

[BlakeP]

Nice fish there. Good to see some fish showing up in a few places. It's pretty dead over here. Haven't seen anything here on the dungeness other than one i hooked a few days ago. Heard forks is slow too. Pretty slow year so far. Starting to look like i gotta take a trip to some other rivers soon.

[BentRod]

Nice fish goodtimes! Thanks for the pics.

[RiverChromeGS]

good to see some chrome marc!

[natetreat]

We've got our cold snap! The fish will be on there way. I'm betting that the slow start is going to pick up soon.

[RiverChromeGS]

^^^ its almost christmas, which usually marks the end of my hatchery season, and nothing has happened, im starting of the vedder now, our rivers are worthless as of late.

[natetreat]

Last year during the winter run I caught twice as many fish in January than in December. We're still catching fish down here, and every trip out gets a little better. They're acting like steelhead this year, not like the idiot trout they were in the cascade last year. But like everyone has been saying, it was a crazy year for steel in the cascade last year. Sometimes you just have to work for your fish.

[Brat Bonker]

Nice fish there. Good to see some fish showing up in a few places. It's pretty dead over here. Haven't seen anything here on the dungeness other than one i hooked a few days ago. Heard forks is slow too. Pretty slow year so far. Starting to look like i gotta take a trip to some other rivers soon.

I am about to make a trip or 2 next week to forks, I have been looking at the creel checks and the on the weekend there have been like 70 bank guys for 3 days and weekdays have only 20 for 3 days haha but not much more fish being caught. gonna be nice to go on a weekday for once not to mention I am going to the cascade for a straight 5 days!!! Goodtimes chromers just got my anticipation even higher haha can't wait.

[RiverChromeGS]

Hopefully bonker you will be one of the 2 people to get a bite during the week, lol. I wont go up to the cascade anymore, almost impossible for a multifish day

[Brat Bonker]

yeah hopefully but seems like the fish are coming through the skagit right now so maybe the fish are more scattered out or something.
Any reports on the cowlitz lately?

[goodtimesfishing]

Nice fish there. Good to see some fish showing up in a few places. It's pretty dead over here. Haven't seen anything here on the dungeness other than one i hooked a few days ago. Heard forks is slow too. Pretty slow year so far. Starting to look like i gotta take a trip to some other rivers soon.

I am about to make a trip or 2 next week to forks, I have been looking at the creel checks and the on the weekend there have been like 70 bank guys for 3 days and weekdays have only 20 for 3 days haha but not much more fish being caught. gonna be nice to go on a weekday for once not to mention I am going to the cascade for a straight 5 days!!! Goodtimes chromers just got my anticipation even higher haha can't wait.

Hopefully bonker you will be one of the 2 people to get a bite during the week, lol. I wont go up to the cascade anymore, almost impossible for a multifish day

Cascade today was ZERO fish...not just for me but nobody got one today and you only see a couple a day sometimes only 1. Even the pic I have there with the limit....only 2 fish(mine) caught on the river from light till about 1:00 and there where several people fishing. Yesterday it was one other person besides myself and that was with atleast 10 people fishing. People that ususally always get fish, have yet to even get 1 yet. cascade is tough this year, don't let my pics fool you into thinking there are fish being caught. Only a couple more fish have came in the traps. I think it will be closed before we get enough water to bring enough fish to prevent a closure...sorry to say, but I would not be surprised if it is closed by Christmas. Something has to be done so the hatchery gets the eggs requried for the year.

[BlakeP]

Nice fish there. Good to see some fish showing up in a few places. It's pretty dead over here. Haven't seen anything here on the dungeness other than one i hooked a few days ago. Heard forks is slow too. Pretty slow year so far. Starting to look like i gotta take a trip to some other rivers soon.

I am about to make a trip or 2 next week to forks, I have been looking at the creel checks and the on the weekend there have been like 70 bank guys for 3 days and weekdays have only 20 for 3 days haha but not much more fish being caught. gonna be nice to go on a weekday for once not to mention I am going to the cascade for a straight 5 days!!! Goodtimes chromers just got my anticipation even higher haha can't wait.

Yeah, good luck if you go. I've decided i'm about done with forks till faburary-march. I'm thinking about going to the cowlitz for the first time, the first week of janurary. Till then i'll be fishing the dungy a few days each week.

[Brat Bonker]

yeah I just was looking at some other and things and checking out the cow too and i am thinking of going down there instead on the bank at blue creek or barrier and make a trip to forks in our drift boat on the weekend.

[RiverChromeGS]

Well, number 48 and 49 hit the bank today, One more and im at 50 steel for the winter, time to throw a party! Haha, no but i gotta take a few days off to go down and check out the progress on my drift boat! cant wait to get it, some serious steel are gonna get caught once i hit the river in this thing!

[Brat Bonker]

Cascade today was ZERO fish...not just for me but nobody got one today and you only see a couple a day sometimes only 1. Even the pic I have there with the limit....only 2 fish(mine) caught on the river from light till about 1:00 and there where several people fishing. Yesterday it was one other person besides myself and that was with atleast 10 people fishing. People that ususally always get fish, have yet to even get 1 yet. cascade is tough this year, don't let my pics fool you into thinking there are fish being caught. Only a couple more fish have came in the traps. I think it will be closed before we get enough water to bring enough fish to prevent a closure...sorry to say, but I would not be surprised if it is closed by Christmas. Something has to be done so the hatchery gets the eggs requried for the year.

that would suck if they close it but I know a ton of spots upstream of the bridge that hold steelhead, it was either last year or 2 winters ago on new years day we were scouting and found this stretch that had a huge school of at least 20+ steelhead just sitting there unfortunately they saw us and were not biting. But I am convinced that was a pod of hatchery brats that by passed the hatchery.
either that we will hit the stilly, really want to try that this year. but 0 fish is pretty bad, but they will come.

[goodtimesfishing]

As I have said before, I believe they will come. However, the bad news is, it might have an emergency closure by then and if not closed I am affraid that they(fish) have been waiting for high water for so long that when we do get some high water they will most likely swim straight to the traps. If it does not close I am sure there will be some fish but as for days like last year where you get a bobber down constantly, I don't think that is going to happen this year. It is so weird how they release the same amount of steelhead as salmon(200,000) and we got 10,000 salmon back this year and the steelhead numbers for the return are so much lower???

[Brat Bonker]

yeah maybe it has to do with different release times or becuase of all the salmon their is too much competion for the steelhead but that is a good question.

[racfish]

So much of it all is water temps. Polution,global warming, there are so many variables that it could be on why such bad returns. The sea lion population isnt dwindling if anything its getting bigger. We save the majestic orcas . In doing so we lose more steel and salmon. I think sometimes we worry about the wrong sealife. As we grow as a nation certain food supplies get depleted. Ive seen years like this before. Last year the hatcheries numbers were up much later then usual. With La Nina or El nino playing a roll in their survival. Im no biologist nor some professor. I always remember the great years and the bad years. Thats life.

[natetreat]

As I have said before, I believe they will come. However, the bad news is, it might have an emergency closure by then and if not closed I am affraid that they(fish) have been waiting for high water for so long that when we do get some high water they will most likely swim straight to the traps. If it does not close I am sure there will be some fish but as for days like last year where you get a bobber down constantly, I don't think that is going to happen this year. It is so weird how they release the same amount of steelhead as salmon(200,000) and we got 10,000 salmon back this year and the steelhead numbers for the return are so much lower???

Steelhead spend more time in the fresh water. More birds, dollies and predators. Plus our hatchery fish are inbred. We're lucky to get a 1% return on steelhead plants because of their inferior genetics, pond rearing and all of that. That's why the hatcheries in Oregon love their broodstock programs, with 5% returns, they get five times the amount of fish back for their money. The Marblemount hatchery right now gets a .26% return on their fish, which is not very good. The coho run gets a 4.95% return, which is why we love them so much. Could you imagine if we had the rate of return that Oregon gets on their hatchery fish? Steelhead seasons like the coho season we just had. It would be awesome. Not to start the debate up again about but yea.

[Brat Bonker]

nate where did you get your stats from I got a .7 % return for steelhead at the cascade. We have like 2 rivers that get 5% and that is it in washington, pretty sad.

[natetreat]

https://fortress.wa.gov/dfw/score/score ... arblemount" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They update it sometimes, you have to check back. Their tech people are behind the game usually. But yea, you have to find this stuff through the back door, they don't have any links to it on their official site.