Here’s my Clackamas report from this morning:
Steelhead on Cold November Morning
I thought it was still pretty early, but I was feeling the itch to get out. I took some really old salmon eggs that my wife “discovered” hiding way in the back of the freezer and put it on a bright orange corkie with a 1/0 hook and a glob of eggs.
Same Steelhead, Less Blurry!
I’m not totally sure this 28″ inch chrome buck was a winter steelhead though. It didn’t fight really hard, so I thought I had a sucker or something for a minute until I saw silver! Then, when I got it out of the water, it was only adipose clipped, not jaw-clipped. (Don’t they jaw clip Clackamas winters?)
2007 Thanksgiving Steelhead
Anyway, I’m happy to report that my casting rod has finally shaken off the skunk!
Premo posted:
I would say that fish is a summer fish that is still in good shape. We catch lots of summers all the way until January. The dead giveaway is the long slender body with the yellowish fins and of course the adipose only clip. An early Clackamas winter this time of year will most likely have a snow belly with clear fins and probably have a right ventrical clip(eagle Creek). Most of the early returning Clack fish will be Eagle Creek fish. The left maxillary fish(Clackamas hatchery) start showing from late January/early February through April. It’s still a fish and good job on the catch.
Steelhead University has some great maps and descriptions of the Clackamas River, so check those out, too!