Fishing for summer steelhead at the Siletz River

My friend Johnny Southpaw took me to the Siletz river. Here is a video report of our fishing trip.

Nice looking river Anatoliy !
Go a little further north to the Trask and no Taco Bells (Blue Foxes) !
Eggs, Corkys or good ol' fashioned yarn like Carrol was using yesterday :

The river still is a little high but is dropping back into shape nicely. Try drifting some sandshrimp tails, eggs, prawns, or crawdad tails and you might catch one of these chromers.

Do you guys mean that fishing with bait would be a smarter choice?

yeah, that and flossin'...

Trask has been really good this year.

Trask is pretty far from me

very true. very good return this spring none the less.

The Siletz was a favorite of mine for summer fishing years ago, a hike into the gorge was always rewarding. I would recommend reading "The River Why" by David Duncan, particularly Book 3, chapter 3, The Warble of the Water Owl. The description of a unique bait fishing technique, crawdad tails, Siletz summer steelhead, and the kind of fisher person that we all hope to meet once in our lives is a subject for fishing in Oregon movies. Bait works to catch more than fish.

For the Spring Chinook fishery that is going on now at the Trask, eggs, Corkys or yarn, IMO, would be superior to tacos for those Springers.
In about a month and a half, bring those tacos (Blue Foxes) over to the Deschutes River and tangle with some very aggressive Summer Steelhead. Those fish are players...they will hunt down your spinner and try to kill it.....no foolin'. Best summer steelhead fishery on the planet. Damn, I might get a canyon haircut (scalped) for saying that.

You could hang a Trask Springer on a spinner but a more subtle approach with the aforementioned offerings would be a better bet.

If there are summer steelhead around when you're fishing the Siletz, then yes, if they're players, they will jump your spinner.

You'll never find me scalpin' anyone but there are some summer run fisheries that have matched my wildest dreams out there. The kind you think of when someone is talking to you about nothing interesting and your mind begins to wander and you picture the perfect tailout stuffed with surface oriented steelhead rolling every thirty seconds! Can't wait to venture back!!!

You definitely sparked my attention for the deschutes now. Man this game gets expensive!!!

If it's your first offense, I've heard that sometimes, instead of the haircut, they'll hang you upside-down for four hours.
It's easy to spot those second-offense guys

Don't sweat the tailouts, the Desert Queen features so much structure.......I digress.

Yo Danny.....Lets jump on as a warm up for the trip up North. Busting a few little brothers before we gear up for the real fish. Pick the weekend and I'll hook up a sled ride with someone who knows it better than anyone.


JD

A few friends and I have taken several this year on unweighted spinners (trolling) with around an ounce and a half of led.

Done deal buddy. Gimme a call today!

For those interested in Deschutes summer runs, again I recommend reading "The River Why" by David Duncan, chapter 1, "Gus the Fish". What happens when a fly fisher and then a bait fisher hook the same steelhead of a lifetime on the Deschutes. In fact I would recommend that anyone interested in fishing read the book, particularly if your focus is Oregon fishing. It may be too literate for some but but the book will add insight to the sport we call fishing.

is this thread about the Deschutes or the Siletz. I get those damn injun names all mixed up........

Yep, in tidewater.
The pic I posted was further upstream in quicker water.
It's all good.

Siletz in the title but I think Anatoliy's posts are about more than the river, Siletz, Santiam, or Willamette. He captures the one reward that fishing can always provide, discovery and learning something new. In the end the important thing is not how many fish you catch or how big they are, it is that you enjoy the experience for what it is. That is the reason for "The River Why" reading recommendation.

yes.

+ a bunch

So I went to the Siletz 2 more times. Tried spinners, spoons, salmon eggs. Nothing. I didn't see/hear any jumping/rolling steelhead. When I got tired, I decided to target trout. Caught bunch of small cutthroats (they gladly take spinners, eggs, nymphs). So my question is are there steelhead there? May be they don't get up the river in numbers yet? Or they are there but not active?

Anatoliy. I don't know how long you've read this board but it amazes me how much info you have received. Hope you are in sales. If you are I'm sure you are doing well.
If I knew anything about the Siletz I'd probably tell you.
I know I learned some stuff from this thread.

Ana-
PM me, are you busy tomorrow? I'll give ya boat ride...

Forgot to mention, I've got all gear, rods, bait covered. Can pick ya up in Philomath on my way over...

PM sent.

Have fun, gents. tight lines!

I hope you are on the river right now and finding fish. The Siletz, for those who don't know the river, has one unique boat drift called the Bull's Bag by some. You launch in the town of Siletz, do about a 3 mile drift to the head of tide water and take out at the next ramp in the town of Siletz. No shuttle required, it is just a few blocks walk back to the launch ramp. In the late 70's, when I fished there regularly, that drift in June always produced steelhead and the occasional chinook. Hiking into the gorge produced better later in the summer.

We were on the river and we did find fish!

Twitch is such a great guy! And he knows alooooooot about fish.
I'll let him tell the story. I will get some good sleep and will start working on the video report.

P.S. Twitch, thanks a lot one more time

Great Stuff!

Two snapshots to tease you

Sounds like Twitch abruptly put an end to Ana's steelhead virginity.

The detailed report is here: Anatoliy strikes CHROME!