I've been out of the big game fishing arena for awhile, targeting mostly trout up in the Upper Clackamas system. It has always puzzled me why people would fish elbow to elbow in pursuit of salmon on the Wind, play bumperboats out at Bouy 10, or join the mess of folks that hit Eagle Creek when the silvers are in.

Is it only the stereotypical "meat hunters" that find this type of fishing for quick rewards worth it? It has to be more than that, as I'm not sure that there are that many out there to justify what I've seen/heard about. Am I the only one that would rather spend all day trying to catch my limit in solitude than spend two hours or less getting my limit after waiting my turn to cast in a classic clusterFiretrUCK?

With an estimated 3,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,184 silvers coming up the system this fall, I think that this is a very valid question.

Well, I am a Wind River kinda guy. Also fish the mouth of the Lewis when the summer steelies are thick. Both situations are your classic bumper boats. I enjoy it. Nobody gets riled over the occasional foul-up and everyone has fun. Relax, enjoy yourself, and fill the freezer.

Let's hear it for Thumper! You're Damn right its worth it..... Well, about 90% of the time anyway. I combat fish when I have to. I even enjoy myself most of the time. However, there are times and places when I've said "Sdrew it! this is not worth it!" It just depends on how high your Bull$hit tolerance thresh hold is. Mine is pretty high, so I can fish in some pretty hostile conditions before I get too disgusted and have to go home. A good rule of thumb that I go by is "If your not having fun, then go home". I think it's an individual thing, if you're going to be miserable then I'd say no, it's not worth it.

I must say that I aviod combat fishing at all costs. I have always enjoyed the hunt for the fish. If they are stacked up some place that means that they are in the river. I will skip the crowd for a no fish day if I must. I have no problem with the combat fishers but I feel there is always some other place with no crowds that have fish.

For me it's the reason why I'm fishing. Fishing for me is a form of meditation, and it works very well for me. It would be hard for me to do any other sort of meditation in the middle of a crowded subway.

All in all, it depends on my mood I guess. Most of the time I like covering lots of water and avoiding people, although coming across another angler or two on the day can be a nice change of pace.

But certain combat fisheries can be fun, more for the sheer humor then anything else. I didnt think I would like the Drano Springer fishery at all but I had a blast watching everyone that thinks they can fish out on the water in everything they think will float. It makes for a good time and lots of laughs.

no combat fishin here, i go fishin to relax and have fun, i dont go fishin to deal with abunch of idiots.

interesting name heywood lmao

I've fished in my share of combat fishing zones, for the most part I have had a good time. Depends on the crowd, if ya know your headed for one of the zones take a good attitude with ya. The only one that I really didn't care for was earlier during the springer run up at the dam!!! Nothin' like 200 boats backbounchin' in heavy water, not really what I considered fun as I was the one runnin' our boat!!! There will be some this year with the gazillion silver coming back and yes I will be right there in the middle of it!!!
Good luck and tight lines, Jeff

guides are meat hunters, if they were`nt, they would go out of business.

Mike:

*telephone rings*

Hello?
Hi, this is pot. Am I speaking to kettle?
Yes. Yes, you are.
In that case, YOU'RE BLACK!
Huh?
*click*

Ha Ha, don't get it. What the f*** does that mean?

I hate combat fishin! I can hardly stand it when I even see another person on the river. I have many times left a productive stretch of water and went trout fishing because I felt crowded. Even if there was only one other guy than myself. I gues it just depens on what kind of mood Im in. Thats why I stay in the C&R water most of the winter. I fish a couple of productive places where I rarely see another person. But there is a lot of walking involved. But the walking is worth it when there are no boats, roads,or other people.

I generally avoid combat situations, but occasionally will try it. One just needs to put themselves in a different frame of mind before they go. I tell myself to be tolerant and have fun, and if i do that, I usually enjoy myself. Have had some fun days catching fish and socializing with those around me.
While fishing alone is rewarding and relaxing, both situations have their high points. You just need to approach them for what they are.

I didn't mind plunking for spring chinook up at bonneville, I don't know if that qualifies as combat fishing but there were lots of people there and most of them were decent fellows. It was fun to chat with people and lean a whole new way of fishing. I even kept one salmon.
I felt kind of sorry for a couple newbie boaters I saw out there that got yelled at pretty good and probably felt stupid afterwards. Thats not a good place for a newbie to learn how to join a hog line and they created some dangerous situations with their ignorance.

I don't think I could enjoy myself at some place like blue creek though. It would really bother me to fish like that for steelhead In fact I think i'd rather not fish if it came to that. I have a hard enough time with the Mouth of the Deschutes in August
One year I tried fishing the Hospital hole on the Trask and hated it everyone except the bobber guys were snagging. After hearing all the stories about the area I was extremely disapointed such has been the case with every fall chinook fishery I have witnessed. So i guess the short version is no it ain't worth it for me.

Well I guess that depends.

Most of the time I'm pretty antisocial like RICH G and I really don't want to even see another guy, let alone fish next to him. But, I also know that takes hard work to get yourself to a spot like that, and I'm getting too damn lazy to avoid crowds anymore. If you fish amongst crowds, it's like Jeffhead said, you get out of it what you bring to it. Blue creek is plenty crowded, but it's not a snagfest most of the time. Just LOTS of people, and LOTS of fish kegged up in a short distance. If you keep your eyes open, and watch the guys in your immediate vicinity, you can fish without hanging up with anybody most of the time. Put one doughball in the middle, though, and it all becomes a tanglefest.

Besides, when you're told there's a BBQ at your house this coming weekend, and you'd BETTER have a fish for the BBQ (or party, or whatever) then sometimes you gotta put your fish-face on and head to the combat zone.

The WORST thing about combat fishing? Listening to the DOUGHBALLS talk like they're master steelheaders because they landed a couple fish. Some goober with a surf rod and a 3-oz teardrop lead tied directly to his mainline with a knot, and tipped with a #4 spin-n-glo on a #2 hook is standing there telling everybody about his "expert" technique . And of course the crowd thinks he's God since he already has his limit........those are the times you wonder why you even drove down there in the first place.

If you can take it, there's no doubt about your chances to catch fish at these crowded terminal fisheries. Only question is, can you take it??

I fish in a combat zone every fall quite often. As long as you go in with the right frame of mind it can be alot of fun.
You have to go knowing you're gonna cross lines from time to time. The entertainment value of watching the activities makes it worth it. Talk about a circus. Look up river and see 3 guys with kings coming down river ducking under guys who have crossed lines fishing from opposite banks.
I look forward to it every summer. Can't wait to get back down there when it opens to watch the circus.
I'm generally anti-social and enjoy being alone, but hey it's alot of fun with the right frame of mind.
What makes it a pain is when you get some guy down there that gets really pissed off when ever someone crosses his line, you feel like saying "c'mon buddy give it a break, you have to expect that, if you don't go find another river, there's already 250 people here.

Once upon a time I would go to combat zones and enjoy it. Still could I quess but I prefer fishing. It is as most have already stated a matter of attitude. If I am searching for a hookup with Mr. Stealhead I do not want to go to Blue Creek or anything like that. Hatchery or not I prefer solitude and stealhead to combat zones.

The thing I dislike about terminal areas is the blatent snagging. Last combat I witnessed was Hoodsport. I left after watching a dozen fish snagged and hauled out of the water backwards. It was more than I cared to witness.

FOr me I think I will probably stay away from the combat zones. For others it is not a bad choice if approached with the proper attitude.

I've had some of my most productive and enjoyable days fishing combat zones. I've fished Blue Ck. many times in late December in some extremely tight fishing conditions and you just have to be patient. Most of the time everyone is laid-back and conforms with the fishing method predomanately used for that area. Occasionally there's some clueless idiot or the hard-arse with an attitude that can make for trying fishing. I've had weekends (2 days) where I've had up to 40 big brats (12-18 lbs.) played.... that makes it worth it to me. It's not that much different than drifting from a driftboat from the middle casting position with 2-3 buddies aboard. I've also fished the Russian River when there were guys shoulder to shoulder as far as the eye can see. Had on a dozen reds in 1.5 hours that were full of vinegar...it was a blast.

In my opinion fishing is all about the chase. I enjoy producing fish under hard conditions. For this reason it is discouraging to fish the "meat holes" and seeing every idiot with a rod hooking up. I fished a meat hole on the Fraser last week and actually fished next to a dude who had waded up to his waist in JEANS! Meat holes are for meat fisherman...I'd rather fish in solitude for a couple fish than in chaos for a bunch.


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