has anyone been bringing anything home to brag about from either one of these tribs i will be tramping the banks tomorrow the weather conditions are going to be pretty much the same as thelast time i went out wet but warmer.i got shut out last week,and im hoping i catch something tomorrow,also whats the word on the cowlitz. fish on!!!

The Lewis has got fish all through the river but a boat is going to be your best bet. My boat got two last thursday. Both were caught in the meathole on herring. The following eve we weren't up there but another buddy of mine seen 7 caught in the meathole area. The bank access is limited but plunking by the corkline will be the most successful at 2900cfs. I would plunk a K-15 kwikfish wrapped with sardine, the best color is silver/chartreuse head. My buddy was on the kalama today and got one about 30lbs and lost another in the middle of the afternoon. Pretty HOT!!!

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The Kalama is pumpin out some fish. My neighbor works at PSNS and a couple of his buddies fished there last weekend and got some nice fish. The biggest they got was 37#, thats a nice springer! Also caught a couple of steelies.

Fishaday-37# springer.You sure they werent pullin your chain...I fished it for 3 days and was dennied...I talked to everyone I seen and they were 0-0 and hadnt talked to anyone that had caught fish...But that doesnt mean they are not there!!

[This message has been edited by LoomisMan (edited 04-12-2000).]

thanks stlhdr1 and fishaday im all geared up and ready to go with luck and a good bite i should be able to say fish on!!!

Loomis-man, I would hope that my neighbor wouldn't pull my chain, but I wasn't there.

fishaday-I'm sure he wasnt pulling your chain.I was just disappointed myself on my trips that I was denied.Didnt mean to offend you .Sorry

[This message has been edited by LoomisMan (edited 04-12-2000).]

I don't know about the meathole but I know the mouth sucked,I was there for 6 hrs monday and saw three fish caught talked to a fewe other guys and they said thats the way its been so it hasn't changed since we were there on the sixth.All the fish we saw caught the biggest was about 10 and the smallest around eight lbs.Ther was 25 boats on the mouth monday we did see lots of fish on the finder I guess they were salmon ??.
Good Luck

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Bob Dawson

Loomis-man, you didn't offend me, no sweat!
I would probally question it also, but the neighbor is pretty straight w/me.

just finished filleting a nice 8.5# hatchery buck from a visit from one of my favorite tribs,using a foam float a no.#1 vision hook adorned with jumbo shrimp,scent and all. he gave a good battle.brought to shore ,broke him off right where line meets hook.he flops right into the water,so i jump in both arms scoop the buck right back on the bank, picc up a rock smack it in the head. and off he flops right back in the drink,so ijump right back in and do the same.im kinda glad the closest people were in a drift boat 30 yards up river . i won fish on!!!!!!!!

Fished the kalama yesterday,up in the caton in the morning picked up a nise nate buck about 10# lbs on a rag& bait combo,went down river a little above Prichards hooked and long released a nice springer had him on for about 15 minutes ,10# main line and my noodle rod lota fun but oh well...good luck

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Tight Lines
FISH ON ------<*)>><
Men are like fish we get into trouble when we open our mouths to much!!

was out on the kalama saturday all day water asnt bad a little high with some color.got shut out,had fun though. seen about 5 springers caught.high teens low twentys#.fish on !!!!!

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Was on the Kalama on the 16th with a buddy (thank goodness for the witness). Started very early up at the deadline and got absolutely shut out. Saw one native steelhead caught. It was a nice one but had three bite marks on its belly, one of which had cut through to its abdominal cavity, but it was still very much alive and kicking.

Left the canyon and went down stream, as you absolutely had to believe there were some fish in the water, conditions were perfect for moving the fish. We went to a tailout that dumps into a very long, deeper, evenly moving slow stretch. You could see the salmon nosing up onto the tailout. While throwing at the ones we could see, I hooked a good one that threw the hook when he immediately came up and thrashed around. I immediately went to a bigger hook, as we were geared more for steelhead than salmon.

About an hour later, my float went down, I struck, and the water just exploded. This fish jumped all the way out of the water twice about 40 feet from us and then screamed off down river. I can support Fishaday, because this was a huge fish. When it jumped, I looked at my partner and his eyes were bugging out of his head.

I jumped in the water, which was slack next to the bank and chest-deep, and waded down river. About 50 yards down the fish stopped, and I got him back to about 20 feet from me. I thought then that I might have a chance. As soon as I started talking to my partner about how we might land the fish it took off again, like it didn't even know it was hooked. Another run, out to about fifty yards. He sat there for a while and thrashed around up on the surface some more More tip-toeing down river. Finally, I got just about as far as I could go. After some stalemate, we got another 30 or so feet back on him. He took another shorter run. I could feel the line move over his back as he turn back up river. He gave some head shakes and the hook came out. I've started shaking again just writing this!

These were my first spring salmon. I've caught big fall chinook on the O.P. rivers, their fights were strong, but not extremely active. This fish was just a wild ride! I wish I could have landed it, but I had an unforgetable 20 minute fight. I believe, from seeing the fish up close, that it was into the 30's. It's still there. Got get him!!

Mr. T. Dodge , I feel you're pain brotha sounds alot like my trip on Thurs. Strong!!! fish, were you fishing shrimp under a float?
Good Luck....

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Tight Lines
FISH ON ------<*)>><
Men are like fish we get into trouble when we open our mouths to much!!

Steelheader boy: yes, just sand shrimp tails under a float. Nothing else, except a little extra weight about half way up my leader (in addition to the weight above the barrel swivel) to make sure I was getting down and getting down quick.

Your brother in pain. T.

hiya, i was wondering were you usin a fixed float or a slip bobber? and would my chances of catchin a fish be greater if i used shrimp or not, and if so, how would i rig a shrimp on? ive never used em, but have gone dug some up with my shrimp gun. but anyways..im heading down there this saturday..any info would be cool..thanks

s w/a b: I was using a slip bobber. I put enough weight under the bobber to keep the float upright, like hollow lead or egg sinkers over the main line under the bobber, and tie the main line to a barrel swivel. I use a leader of about 24-30 inches. I use various split shot, according to conditions, about a foot from the hook. I just put a sand shrimp tail on the hook. Pinch the head off, start the hook about one segment down the under side of the tail, run the point out several segments below that, run the shrimp tail up the shank of the hook, loop the bait loop over the first segment at the top of the tail. The point here is to keep the shrimp tail from twirling.

Play around with the depth until your bait is running just off the bottom. Play around with your split shot according to the current.

This works for me, hope it's some help. Good luck! T.

Don't mean to pound you with a ton of questions but what do you use for a bobber stop?

Just curious.

I use nail knots. It's easy to tie up a bunch on a stir stick or some other hollow plastic tube and that's a real handy way to carry them for quick replacement. I tie them with mono. One note - be careful sliding these up and down your main line. If you move them in a quick zip up your line, the friction heat will abraid your line. Just adjust them slowly enough not to create this problem. Otherwise, these work really well.

i was out on the kalama yesterday.didnt see a fish.or one of any size. there are so many jacks that i finally broke out my trout rod and tossed some spinners c and r a bunch of the little peskies.at least i had fun.will be out there tomorrow . FISH ON !!!!!!

rvrtramp,

How big are these jacks you are referring to? My guess is that these are probably salmon smolts(6 to 10") that have been released from the hatchery. I heard there were alot in the river. Most guys refrain from fishing for these little guys so they have a better chance of surviving and returning as 15 to 20 pound adults. Just thought you might want to know. Tight lines.

I fished the kalama for the first time on 4-21 and was really impressed. We didn't catch anything but enjoyed the day. As for all the smolts. We couldn't keap bait on more than a few min. They were so packed into the holes I couldn't believe the numbers of fish. millions of smolt. but I gues that is good. I thought I would try a spinner and they wouldn't bother with it. wrong they still went crazy after it. the only thing with spinners I didn't need to put bait on every cast.


Overall I like the river and will be back in a few weeks when things get going.

dcrzfitter

Was up on the Lewis on thursday the 20th and my partner and I hooked 3 chinook landed 2. 15 and 18lbs. We also caught a summer run about 10lbs what a beauty. Much, much funner than any chinook in the world. There were also 11 chinook taken out of the Meathole this morning the 22nd. It's so sad that all the bankies have to be whiners the river closes from Johnson creek to Colvin creek on May 1st. SO SAD!!!

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Stlhdr1...Ever fight a king in Ak. on the ocean, they'll put to shame "ANY" half dead river king.

I hate to burst everyones bubble but the hatcheries havent released a smolt yet this year.Must be native fish!

In the Kalama..

[This message has been edited by LoomisMan (edited 04-23-2000).]

Native fish? WOW!!!! I was surprised with the numbers and now you say they are native. If that isn't good news then what is. I don't wanna think how many fish will be in the river when they do turn them little hatchery buggers out. look out they'll eat the boat out from under you.

dcrzfitter

fishaholic thanks for letting me know about the smolt.not a one was harmed.now loomisman you are saying that these smolt are all native,funny the few that managed to get on my no.1 hook yesterday,were all fin clipped.what is really going on. FISH ON!!!!!

I was up to the hatcheries and both of them told me that they havent released any smolt yet this year.I was there mon.- Thurs. I dont know what is goin on there.I know they had 3 pens they were gonna let loose but they said it would be a few weeks yet.HUH!!!!!

They must have had a mass breakout because there were thousands of the little 4"-6" buggers eating anything in their sight. Either that, or the Kalama has the healthiest breeding grounds for chinook in the whole northwest.

Bruce

Either someone released huge numbers of salmon smolts, or the smolts have learned to give each other adipose fin clips. They are there in great numbers and they have clipped fins.

Otherwise, how did everyone do over the weekend? A buddy and I were there on Saturday. We went through about two dozen sand shrimp apiece to come up with four good fish stuck(all steelhead), and one highly colored, native, winter buck brought to streamside. It was in the 17 - 19 pound class. This was in the lower river. We did not get up into the canyon.

I've heard that the upper hatchery has not gotten a spring Chinook back yet. So they apparently haven't gotten all the way through the canyon to the deadline and beyond and season is still young.

Any summer steelhead or otherwise fresh fish seen or caught lately?

[This message has been edited by T Dodge (edited 04-24-2000).]

Was up there Fri and Sat. Two springers caught that I heard of for both days. B gray was with me Sat and had a Chrome Summer on about 14 pounds. Probably one of the hardest fighters I've seen in a while. We lost it When I was trying to decide what net to use. Couldent at first figure out if it was a springer or a Summer. Had the C & R net and the Beckman. Once a fish gets in a beckman theres usaully no return! There bottomless nets. Awesome for catch and kill springers and Falls...But would never land a Stellie nate in them...

Bob D.

Yup, losing that fish was all Bob's falult. It had nothing to do with the fact that I lose my mind every time I get into a good fight. It really was an unexpected rocket.

Dodge - you probably passed us or vice versa on Saturday. We were in Bob's purple Willie. Hard to miss.

[This message has been edited by B. Gray (edited 04-24-2000).]

That thing was actually under my boat in a foot or less of water at one time! What a missle...He deserverd to get free! I do know he was a Buck. And yes it was my fault! If Id of only anchored and grabbed the Beckman!!! Ya right, Id rather lose it then put it in that net. A pic would of been nice though...but hardly worth the risk.

Bob D

Purple Willie?

I talked to you Fri. when yer buddy was taking his truck down. You were telling how yer buddy had his boat painted to match his truck and I was wanting to do the same. I was in the white GMC with the cowboy in the windows. We did about the same on fri. no keapers. just lots of smolts. maybe try again in a few weeks.

finally starting to see some of the guys from this bord o nthe river.

dcrzfitter

went out this last saturday didnt stay long talked to alot of people from everywhere.smolt were still being a problem. but oh well its for our future.ifinished off at the deadline,IT LOOKS LIKE A D$*N GARBAGE DUMP!!!!every where i stopped at the holes off the banks and the boat launches had baggies,shrimp containers@beer bottles and cans,@ just plain general garbage.i read in a earlier post i dont remember who was gripin about the same thing.remember if you brought it in take IT OUT !!!!!!!

Too many trash fishermen just too lazy to pick it up.

Well if you have time come on up to the dead line parking area at 9:00 AM sat. 5/6 some of us are meeting up there to do a clean up of the river. Every little bit will help. We all should do what we can to KEEP THE RIVERS CLEAN!!!

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dank

[This message has been edited by kalamabama (edited 05-03-2000).]