How many of you would rather fish all day for one fish and not see another angler than fish where you now you will get multiple hookups, But you will have to fight the crowds?
I can handle crowds while Im after salmon. When Im steelheading I would rather fish in solitude. This past week my dad and fished for 3 days and landed 5 fish. On the first day we saw 1 boat and 4 bank anglers. We ended up hooking 4 and landing 2. The second day we fished a differnt river had the whole drift to ourselves, we didnt see another person until we reached the take out. We ended up with 1 fish. The 3rd day we put the boat in a differnt river and floated about 3 miles of virgin water. My boat was the first boat to float that stretch of river all year. We got 1 nate and hooked and lost other. This river flows into another river that gets a lot of pressure. Most of the days floatilla had already gone by when we finally got there. We ended up getting a fat hatchery fish.
3 days, 5 fish and we only saw 2 other boats and a total of 6 bankies. I have to say that was my best steelhead trip i have had in a few years.

For me, being on the river is like taking a Valium. Just being on the river is so relaxing, even if I don't catch any fish. I did Blue Creek ONCE! Never again! I enjoy none to few fishermen, that's why I got a sled and a drift boat. My wife even likes the drift boat rides. Something about the sound of the water. Fish in the boat is a bonus.

Quality, definitly, I am with the guy above about Blue Creek, gives me the 'blues' just thinking about the 1 trip I made down there, never again. I would rather catch nothing and not see another fisherman, then do the fight at a place like BC.

i'm all for solitude. my perfect scenario would be to save my money , spend it on one great trip to a remote stream, where there are no people and lots of fish. I don't have anything against not catching a lot of fish, but given the choice i would take lots of fish and no people. ( a good example would be the gold river or chuckwalla river in british columbia)

I grew up fishing small creeks and rivers where you could go much of a season without running into another fisherman. As I get older, half the enjoyment is talking to other people fishing on the river, not elbow to elbow, but coming and going and passing on the drifts. Have gotten a lot of advice and suggestions and much of it has helped. Have met some good people this Fall and Winter and hope to run into them again out there.

I guess I'm in the middle of the road. My primary goal is to play a fish. I've never been to the Cowlitz and from what I've heard, I don't think it'd be that much fun. As you know, my primary river is the Snoqualmie and that river is just right (as far as crowds go). With the exception of the mouth of Tokul Creek, I've never felt crowded and I've never gotten tangled up with other people. There are a couple spots on that river I know of that are very seldom fished that I find quite productive so that's a bonus. If I'm planning a trip, I go by where I think I'll catch the most/biggest fish in the least crowded place. But fish always comes first.

When I am bankin it I always go for solitude catchoing a fish is just one more great thing. I can deal with other boats. It is just great to be out in my boat. I have not ran in to as many jerks in the boat as I have on the bank.

Fished hard all day today hiking about 5 miles of river with a damm good friend and maybe a new one. One to the beach and two grabs that were missed. Beautiful waters and not a "Honyach" all day. Worked for me.

Gooose

Solitude is high priority for me. Ripping holes in the Hodgemans to find good water and get away from the "weekend warriors" is what keeps me goin. Although, in the fall i love fishing tidewater on a popular river for silvers with the same 5-10 guys that always share the spot. Made good friends and learned a ton from some of the older guys.

All in all, i'd trade quantity for quality.

well ive been pretty secluded as of late and haven't touched a fish since the new year so id say id definitly have to deal with the crowds for now anyway!
tyler

Refreshing post Willie, QUALITY is what it's all about, I feel bad for anglers who have to measure their fishing success in quantity they indeed, in my opinion, are missing the point.

I like solitude unless there are cougars and bears around. Seriously, not everyone is so bad. Sometimes you see a lot funny things while fishing with others. Just relax and try to have fun.

Tyler is! He just admitted he hasn't "touched" a fish since last year! Probably hasn't touch anything else being single, and what, 17? You know I'm jus fun'n ya Tyler.

My Vote goes for quality. Hate fishing in the crowds. Now those days when you get quality with quanity. We all love those

I was talking with J.D. Love one day about this same subject and I think he hit it on the head. When you first start fishing you want to catch A fish, then you want to catch several fish, then you want to catch a BIG fish....and eventually you settle into wanting to catch fish a certain way, whether it is on a fly or in solitude..everyone gets to that place.

Quality! I purposely pass the "hot" holes to be away from the crowds.
I think it is a progression we make as one noted above.... I am glad that in middle age I realize I don't HAVE to be first on the water, don't have to catch the most fish, don't have to stay out the longest and get the coldest and wettest to prove my worth as a fisherman.

As Roderick Haig Brown once said, "sometimes the least important part of fishing is fishing...."

G-Man you might be suprised!
tyler

Good thread Paul. For me, quality! But quality and quanity are not mutually exclusive.

Tyler, we'd be suprised? At what you touched in those crowds? jk

RT

I am all for quality.

Though like RT said, quality and quantity can go hand in hand sometimes.

Quality and quantity can and does go hand in hand. I have had some banner days fishing for steelhead when I havent seen another angler besides the ones I was with. These days usually come late in the season. On one occasion 4 of us decided to bank it in the Siletz gorge. We ended up hooking 18 nates. We landed and released 12. I landed 2 fish that were in the high teens on back to back casts. Thats a day I will never forget. March, April and the very first part of May are my favorite time to be out on the rivers.
Lets hear some stories of high number days with no people around.

Here's your story about no crowds, lots of fish: I was driving back to the sound from taking the Oregon state police entrance exam, and crossed over the Toutle on I-5 and thought that I had always wanted to fish it. I told myself that there will probably be a lot of people, but when I got under the railroad tracks, no one. I tied on a jig and float for the first time and had casted out about 3 times before hooking into a 24" summer run, got him to the bank, released, and next cast, same hole, same size fish. Must have been his bro or sis. I was so pleased I packed up and went home after only 15 min on the river. Thank you Toutle.

I will do the quantity thing early in the season - like anchor my boat below Blue Creek and load up on Xmas presents for my relatives (7 hatchery dinks in 4 trips - no C&R here!). I'll also bump boats with the Bouy 10ers to load up on the chrome piggies, but what I usually wind up doing is fishing out of the way or off peak places and enjoyng the solitude, uninterupted by disturbing things like fish biting.

I have on occasion had the two coincide, like a few years back on the upper Quinault, where the river split into a side channel configuration that encouraged all the fish to swim into a channel that boats couldn't enter. I found this spot one March day while fly fishing during low water, and proceeded to hook 8 wild steelhead and land 3 (many snags and mean fish!) One taped out to be 21 lbs, and I only got him in by chasing him into the shallows after he had rolled up in my fly line to the point that he couldn't break me off. That spot went away during the next high water, but was sure fun while it lasted.

It all depends on my mood...I love bushwackin or floating a river in a pontoon boat and getting away from the people. A couple fish for the day just add to the fun.

But other times, I am in the mood for a terminal area fishery. Whoever has dont the Reiter summer opening, knows what I am talking about. Hundreds of people, poised to cast when the shotgun or whistle goes off. Most hookup and as you can imagine, this scene defines the phrase "Chinease Firedrill."

Another combay fishery I enjoy is Drano. I spent a day down there last Spring for springers. What a blast!!...hundreds of boats (boats used loosely as many are not boats but actually just some object that floats) fighting for position. Big springers running everywhere, tangling lines, cussing and swearing and screaming and yelling. It is a blast...

In a perfect world I'd take both.. But reality is for steelhead I enjoy solitude with my lazy ass... I don't care to race or compete with anyone, I'm too good.... I mean getting to old for that crap.. Fishing is fishing and if you hook one, well you hook one. It's the time in solitude that matters, all the fun of exploring and seeing it all for the first time alone no matter how many are there fishing in your spot...
Keith

At this point in my life, all I care about is learning to catch fish.

Matt

Fishing is my form of meditation. It helps me recenter myself as the stress of the outside world washes downstream with the flow.

Catching fish is bonus. If I don't, then I still come out of it better than when I went into it.

The river can be chalked full of trophy fish and if there are already people fishing it I go else where!
I guess I have gotten spoiled with all my exploring!Other fishermen always ask me how do you fnd these spots and I wrinkle my nose.I explore!I buy maps, good boots and stay in shape!Quality isn't the right word

PRISTINE: prime,first,dawnlike,primordial;fresh dewey,pure,virginal,unspoiled.

I enjoy being on the river all by myself without anybody in the gorge. Watching the sun come up over the ridge, deer near me, eagles soaring, and seeing bobcats on the other side. Hiking up and down the river pounding it all day. Finding and catching steelhead.