Outdoor Report 12/14

Winter steelhead have started to enter virtually all the local and North Coast streams. The smaller creeks like Big Creek, Gnat Creek, Eagle Creek etc, will get the bulk of their hatchery fish returning now through the first few weeks of January. These fish are typically good biters and will eat a wide variety of baits. Pink worms, jigs, yarnies, corkies, beads, eggs and sandshrimp are all great options when targeting these fresh hatchery fish. When the rain comes back the smaller streams will recover the quickest and be your best option to fish first. Currently in the bigger rivers jigs, beads, and bait are all good choices. These more unobtrusive and less flashy offerings can get shy or spooky fish to bite. The coastal rivers have winter steelhead entering them daily, so when we get some more rain, there will be no shortage of fish around. Once the rivers do come up a lot of folks will be bobbberdoggin’ bait, yarn, beads or worms. While that is a deadly and effective technique, don’t forget to pull over and drift fish a run, or bust out the plug rods and plug a promising looking run. “Old school” techniques are still just as effective today, as they were years ago. So, bring a full selection of rods with you as you never know what the fish will want on any given day. Catch and release sturgeon fishing has been very productive in the Willamette lately. These fish haven’t been picked on very much so they are eager biters, when you find them. Squid, sandshrimp, herring and smelt are all great bait options this time of year. Duck hunting has improved in the local area. The Sauvie Island Game Management unit has had some very big days this last week attributed to the freezing temperatures and gusty winds. The GMA reported a season high 3.8 birds per hunter average on Saturday with nearly 1,000 birds harvested. A reminder for all of you hunters and fishermen in Oregon, if you plan to hunt or fish after December 31st you will need to make sure you have new licenses and tags. A great gift for the outdoors person is a new hunting or fishing license or you can get gift cards in our stores or online that can be used for licenses as well as merchandise. Tight lines, shoot straight and be careful out there.