Fishing Report 01-21-2022
Fisherman's Delta Park Tackle Specialist Bruce Netzel hooked into this beautiful Winter Steelhead using pink worms on his last trip out. As river levels begin to settle; expect more opportunities to arise!
Fishing Report 01-21-2022
Winter Steelhead is now rockin’ and rollin’ across the region. We have had reports of Winter Steelhead getting caught from the Smith River all the way up through Forks, Washington. This up coming week the rivers look to stay in fishable shape as we will be getting some rain but not enough to blow things out. Locally, we had encouraging reports from the Clackamas, Sandy, Wilson and Nestucca giving anglers lots of great options. Fisherman’s Pro, Chris Vertopoulos, has been finding success on the Tillamook area rivers this week while fishing a lot of bright colored B-n-R worms. As we continue to progress through January many rivers that implement a broodstock hatchery program will start to see good push’s of hatchery fish entering them. Most all common techniques will produce well as the water clarity shouldn’t be an issue. It’s always a great idea to have multiple bait options with you to give the fish a couple of options. All to often you will fish one presentation though a run with no luck only to hook a fish on your first cast with a totally different bait.
Remember, we have a Winter Steelhead derby going on that runs through April first. Bring by your hatchery Winter Steelhead to any one of our three locations to get entered to win one of our weekly, monthly or overall grand prizes.
Prior to all this high water, the Willamette had been a great place to target catch and release Sturgeon. It will be a little bit before the river calms down and becomes a safe place to fish. However, once it does, we expect the Sturgeon bite to pick right back up.
Crabbing has remained a solid option for those feeling the need to fill their coolers with fresh crab. Tillamook, Nehalem and Astoria have all been kicking out crab.
Razor clamming was once again great in Long Beach this past week. We had some large tides but that didn’t seem to bother the clams all too much. There are quite a few more tentative digs scheduled throughout February, so keep an eye out for when the dates officially get released.
Bottom fishing is another good wintertime option and more anglers are starting to figure that out each year. One person who can attest to that is Fisherman’s Pro, Andy Martin. He has been getting his clients into quality fish almost every trip. Most recently he got a boat full of clients their Lingcod limits in short order while fishing near Mack Arch. Vertical jigs, Rock Cod rigs, curly tail grubs and Shrimp Flies all will evoke strikes from bottomfish.
Kokanee fishing at Merwin Lake continues to produce and anglers are still finding success fishing high in the water column. These fish love to school up; often times, when you find one biter, you find many biters. Trolling dodgers with weddings rings, wiggle hoochies, bright colored hoochies and even small spinner blades have all been producing well. Shoepeg corn is a must have and having along several different scent options to try can be extremely beneficial.
Trout fishing has still been going on. However, with the lack of freshly stocked fish, many anglers are not finding the large numbers as they do during the fall months. But that can correlate to a larger size of fish being caught. With less fish around to fight for food, the hold over Trout from last season get to be first in line at the Trout buffet. This can indicate that bigger fish get caught and some folks have found some really big fish this year. Fishing bait off of the bottom is still the most common technique as Trout don’t move as much during the winter months (trying to conserve energy) so a non-moving bait gives them plenty of time to find it.
Always be sure to check local regulations at ODFW and WDFW before heading out. Find reports and two most widely used baits, information on the Fisherman's Community page.
