In honor of my favorite time of year I thought I would see if there are any of you who use these forums. How is eveyone's fall salmon season going? I have seen real promise thus far. There are plenty of fish to be caught right now and we are not even in prime time yet. Many rivers are also being opened for a native coho season again. I fish the Umpqua and Siuslaw by the way. I have only been fishing the Umpqua so far as it is a little early for the Siuslaw at this point. I am happy to say that it has been a productive August and I am looking forward to September. Tight lines eveyone!

Hey Mr Westbrook,
I'm on here occasionaly.  I fish north coast rivers and haven't been out just yet.  In the next few weeks (after some rain), I'll go on a scouting trip on the Nestucca.  A bit too low for the drifter just now and the fish won't hit the lower river until it does rain.  I fish more Steelhead than Salmon and am waiting patiently for Thanksgiving. 
I build rods and jigs if you should need either, just give a shout.

JustDave

Will do Dave, I actually tie steelhead and trout jigs as well. It is nice to see that there is at least one other oregon fisherman who uses the forums. I was starting to get the feeling that I was talking to myself. I am mostly a trout fisherman, but there is something about salmon that makes me look forward to fall all year long. I love the takedows that happen while trolling for chinook and I love catching silvers on light tackle all day long by pitching lures when they are thick in the river. I have never fished the north coast because it is a little far away from me. How is the fishing up there? Lately around here the salmon runs have been a little weak. Last years return was the best in a while and this year is supposed to be a strong run as well. Our steelhead fishery on the other hand is doing just fine (could always be better though). We kind of have a choice between large natives on the Umpqua and smaller (but more abundant and legal to keep) hatchery fish on the Siuslaw. Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that crabbing has been unbelievable lately.

It's been the same up here with down runs of Salmon for a couple years, reduced bag limits, etc.  It rebounded last year and of course, supposed to be good this year.  The boys are out today on Nehalem Bay, but I passed for the day.  We have our native Steelhead rivers and hatchery rivers as well.  I normally will keep a couple Salmon and a couple Steelhead and then switch to natives for the duration.  Here are some of my jigs tied on lead free Owner hooks.



JustDave

Nice jigs Dave. I tie mostly wooly bugger style jigs and I also use owner hooks. I use unpainted nickel plated brass beads for the jig heads. They work wonders on the steelhead around here. Jigs are not the most popular method around where I am from, but as long as the right adjustments are made to match the conditions, jigs work as well as anything. I think some people don't realize how effective jigs can be because they just mindlessly tie one on without giving much thought to what is going on around them and expect it to work. I passed on the fishing today as well, as if it being a holiday was not enough, they are having a fishing derby too. I did not want to be anywhere near that place. It can get pretty packed sometimes.

Here is one of the boxes I have with me on the river.  I was able to take down a bruiser 44" nate on a small trib of the Alsea last spring on one similar to the bottom left.  We've taken quite a few fish on all of these patterns over the years.  We've tied them as small as size 8, but I prefer size 1 Owner SSW hook, with or without bumbell.  I've been fishing jigs exclusively now for the past 10 years and have dialed in my arsenal pretty well.
 


I missed most of this past spring with a broken leg, bt managed my share before and after the leg healed.  Fortunately a lot of the time I was on crutches, the rivers were blown, so I didn;t miss much quality fishing time.

JustDave

Sorry to hear about your leg Dave. Glad to hear that you still managed to catch some though. That is a beauty of a steelhead. Last year was kind of messed up here because we had so much rain that it caused a major flood. There was a long period of time where no fishing was even possible. I have only even been fishing for steelhead for about three years. I am only 20 and my dad (who I fish with most of the time) does not steelhead fish so I started right about when I started to drive. I have been fishing for pretty much anything else that swims around here my whole life though. I have a salmon fishing trip planned for next tuesday on the Umpqua. I can't wait to get back out on the water. It looks like you have really tailored your approach to fit where you fish. I probably still have a ways to go, but I get a little better every year. Hopefully eventually I can get my approach as dialed in as yours is.

I fish with my son almost every weekend in Fall and Winter.  We back off during the summer to get the honey-dos done and upkeep on the property.  Time spent together on the water can't be replaced.  I'm assuming your dad taught you to fish.  Teach him to Steelhead and spend more time together.  Good luck on your trip and keep at it.  I learn every time out which is humbling.

JustDave

My dad and I actually had the benefit of learning to fish together. My dad had never been interested in fishing, but he took it up when I started. I became interested in fishing at a very young age after watching the bluegill swim around under the dock at one of the local lakes. He has started steelhead fishing with me a little bit. We have had some good times on the water and we still make as many trips together as we can. I will make sure to post a fishing report on here after I go on tuesday.

Family is the most important thing to me.  My son caught his first fish at 3 years old, as did I.  We had our Trout opener tradition every year and he really started getting into it when he was about 10.  I aught him everything I know and as a teenager, he took it to another level.  I'm good, but he is awesome.  My daughter has a 2 1/2 year old, so we will begin another generation on the water next year.  I'm going to try to get my mom out on the water one day next year, with my son and grandson.  I think having 4 generations in the boat would be awesome.  She taught me how to fish by the way.  Myson and I caught our first fish on the sam creek she caught her first in about 1929.

JustDave