Headed out to the bustling metropolis of Westport today to sign a line of credit today and had the opportunity to check out most of the rivers on the way.

Elk and John's River estuaries:
Both running cloudy and muddy.

Chehalis river:
High and Muddy with a chance of whole trees. Saw one big alder headed for the net of a native fisher stupid enough to set his net about 1/2 mile upstream from Walmart in Aberdeen.

Wynoochee:
High and muddy, not trees seen.

Satsop:
High and muddy, but the parking lot at highway 12 is not under water at this time.

Saw over 100 swans between the HWY 12/Satsop bridge and Elma.

Andy

Hey Andy,

Thats all good, but did you catch any fish???

[ 01-08-2002: Message edited by: Nebb ]

Nope, I was moving at about 50 MPH. My client did give me 4 fresh crab, though. So I did get to bring home something for dinner.

Andy

What tips can people give for steelheading in 20,000 cfs of chocolate milk? Will the fly-guys need to go to their 35 foot spey rods? I suppose a float fisherman like myself should maybe put a little scent on the jighead?! I'm thinking of strapping my kicker motor to my wading belt to hold me in the current. On the upstream side I'm going to mount my depthfinder transducer horizontally to give me early warning of drifting logs. Wish me luck!

When the waters are high and muddy I prefer a modified floating jig approach. Take a modified 16oz ball sinker with your jig hook embedded into it and tie to the shank of the hook a clean shop rag approximately 1' square. Dunk the setup in your favorite scent purchased in a 5 gallon bucket. A run-of-the-mill beach ball is sufficient floatation to keep the presentation at a fixed height.

Others have used a rigged hubcap from a 55 Ford pickup as a pseudo-spoon offering, although I haven't found a swivel big enough for this rig up.

[ 01-09-2002: Message edited by: Dave Jackson ]

Dave,

Try using a 2 ton come-along for the swivel. Lots of adjustability, and it takes place of the cannon ball sinker for a more streamlined offering.

Dave, what's going to happen if you try to hold your float back a little?
Might want to harness your *ss to the horse. Also before you harness up, be sure horse is on high ground!

FJ...out.

Fishing is my religion dammit!