Umpqua River, Oregon: First steelhead trip

Started by scrinch, March 24, 2020, 06:58:34 AM

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scrinch

My brother has gone winter steelhead fishing with a friend for years up in Washington and Oregon. It always sounded interesting, but there's only room for two fishermen in the guided drift boats that they use, so I just got to look at the pictures when they got back. This year his friend got sick at the last minute, so I got called in as the first substitute. This was at the end of February before all the "shelter in place" orders. I drove up to Medford to pick my brother up at the airport, and we drove the 90 miles from there to Roseburg for four days on the Umpqua. The weather forecast was partly cloudy with highs in the 50s and 60s, lows in the high 30s. Perfect fishing weather!

I've always heard how fickle steelhead fishing can be, so I started out with low expectations. I told my wife that I'd be happy if I caught at least one steelhead during the trip. Of course I was hoping for more, but my brother kept telling me that they're "fish of a thousand casts."

The first day we met up for breakfast with the guide and then headed up the north fork of the Umpqua. The guide said the water was already low and still dropping, so this would probably be our only chance at this section of river without significant additional rain. After a half hour drive from the restaurant and dropping my car at the take-out spot, we put the boat in down a steep trex ramp, climbed aboard, got a quick lesson in trying to distinguish the subtle difference between the tug-tug of bait bouncing along the bottom and the tug-tug of a bite, and off we went.

The first few hours we did a lot of casting and a little catching, but none of the right fish. We caught a few 10-12" rainbows and a couple of suckers, but no steelhead. After lunch we finally got some luck, and I caught my first steelhead, a 17-lb native. We ended the day with 3 steelhead, all natives. Apparently the guide was keeping track not only of the ones we caught, but also the ones we lost...he told us we went 3 for 7 that day. The next 3 days we went without breakfast and got early starts in the foggy dark on the main Umpqua. The weather kept getting better and better, and we ended up going 4 for 7, 4 for 8, and finally 8 for 8 on the last day. We kept filets from the two female hatchery fish that we caught. I've never eaten steelhead before.

I think I got spoiled on this trip with good fishing, great weather, and beautiful scenery. We saw a fox, a beaver, an otter, a couple of ospreys, and lots of bald eagles. I'm definitely going to give it another try next year.

scrinch

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scrinch

#2
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alantani

send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

Keta

#4
Cool, nice to see your smiling face.  You fish below the Winchester Dam?
Hi, my name is Lee and I have a fishing gear problem.

I have all of the answers, yup, no, maybe.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
Mark Twain

xjchad

Beautiful country and gorgeous fish!!
Congrats on the great success!
Husband, Father, Fisherman

scrinch

Quote from: Keta on March 24, 2020, 03:48:10 PM
Cool, nice to see your smiling face.  You fish below the Winchester Dam?
The first day was above the dam...I think Lone Rock to Whistler's Bend. The other days from Forks down to Umpqua.

gstours

Thanks for sharing your pictures.  You seem to have been there at the right time.  Great fighting 🎣 fish for sure.  The drift boat 🚣‍♀️ is the perfect setup for running the rivers.  Great memories.🧜‍♂️

Keta

Quote from: scrinch on March 24, 2020, 04:12:30 PM
Quote from: Keta on March 24, 2020, 03:48:10 PM
Cool, nice to see your smiling face.  You fish below the Winchester Dam?
The first day was above the dam...I think Lone Rock to Whistler's Bend. The other days from Forks down to Umpqua.

The N. Fork does not have many hatchery fish but is good fishing and some large fish.  I fished the main river a few miles down from the forks and the S. Fork below Myrtle Creek, lots more hatchery fish in the S. Fork.   
Hi, my name is Lee and I have a fishing gear problem.

I have all of the answers, yup, no, maybe.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
Mark Twain

Crow

There's nothing wrong with a few "F's" on your record....Food, Fun, Flowers, Fishing, Friends, and Fun....to name just a few !

foakes

Thanks for the report, Rich --

Good photos and info.

Best,

Fred
The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

Keta

Quote from: alantani on March 24, 2020, 03:45:55 PM
never been.  looks like a blast!!!!!

One of the guys on the NLA trip, Kevin, is one of the top guides in NW Oregon and a friend of mine.  I am sure he would be more than happy to take you on a trip.  He also took first place in the 2019 OTC.  Randy is also a good friend of Kevin's and we planned on fishing together this spring but things are not looking too good right now.
Hi, my name is Lee and I have a fishing gear problem.

I have all of the answers, yup, no, maybe.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
Mark Twain

Vintage Offshore Tackle

Great report Rich.  It sounds like you guys really got dialed in, going 8 for 8 on your last day.  Would you care to share what you learned?  I have never been steelhead fishing but I hope to someday.  Congratulations on those beautiful fish!

DougK

excellent !
happy to see all those natives too, that is good news from the river.

I spent a week fly-fishing the main river once, could see them hanging deep in the holes, couldn't sell them on anything in my flybox..
It's a gorgeous river though, was almost enough to be out fishing it. Almost.

Keta

Quote from: DougK on March 24, 2020, 08:14:02 PM
excellent !
happy to see all those natives too, that is good news from the river.

I spent a week fly-fishing the main river once, could see them hanging deep in the holes, couldn't sell them on anything in my flybox..
It's a gorgeous river though, was almost enough to be out fishing it. Almost.


The native fish in the N. Fork have been in good shape for years.
Hi, my name is Lee and I have a fishing gear problem.

I have all of the answers, yup, no, maybe.

A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
Mark Twain