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spey
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Nookers on the fly... Spring Chinooks are poring up the Columbia this year in big numbers. The count at Bonneville Dam as this is being written is 280,000. All of the Columbia River tributaries are expected to receive good numbers of fish. Most of these fish are of hatchery origin and Spring Chinook are considered to be the best eating of all the Pacific salmonids. Yet, few of these fish receive much attention from fly rodders. Why? |
| Because Spring Chinook are damn difficult, that's why! They hate light, so they are only on the prowl in shallow water very early in the morning and late in the evening. They are intensely moody and will go on and off the bite for no apparent reason. The bite usually lasts less than half an hour at a time. Springers like deep water with lots of current available. They like the deep side of the pool, especially if it has a lot of big boulders or |
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ledges to break the current. Spring Chinook runs bring out the meat hunters and a lot of the best water will have high traffic from the bait slinging crowd. Most fly fishers get discouraged before they even start. However, Spring Chinooks are big strong, hard fighting fish and when you know the rules to the game, there are quite a few places where they are available to fly fishers, if they have the skills and the tackle. |
| The best part is they take flies about as well as they take bait or spinners. Very fast sinking tip lines are mandatory. A two-handed rod will enable you to fish the deep side of the river where there is usually a minimum of back cast room. Most hatchery Spring Chinook run from 10-20 pounds with 14 pounds average. Your average stout winter steelhead rod (14' #9/10) will work fine if you can throw 250-275 grain tips. Short leaders with 10-15 pound test tippets are required. There is no doubt that there is a lot of experimentation to be done with flies for Spring Chinook, but simple Bunny Buggers in black, orange, pink & chartreuse are proven. The Clackamas, Sandy, Hood, Deschutes, Kalama, Lewis & Wind Rivers all have fish. As to where are the specific spots to fish, you might as well ask a Chinook fisherman where he has his gold buried. |
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What the Marmot Dam fish passage counts reveal. |
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| January 1, 2001 to April 25, 2001 | January 1, 2000 to April 25, 2000 | ||
| Wild Winter Steelhead | 559 | Wild Winter Steelhead | 578 |
| Hatchery Winter Steelhead | 587 | Hatchery Winter Steelhead | 620 |
| Hatchery Summer Steelhead | 4 | Hatchery Summer Steelhead | 0 |
| Chinook | 0 | Chinook | 0 |
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Ever wonder about fly fishing
in Hawaii? Well the next time you vacation in the land of hulas and bikinis, you better pack your fly gear. Seems as though there are some very large bonefish there as well as several other interesting fresh and saltwater finny critters. |
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Stearns Float Tubes From The
Makers of World Famous Floatation! |
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