Post by: carvermoe on February 27, 2021, 04:52:53 PM
Post by: Limhangerslayer on February 27, 2021, 04:57:36 PM
Post by: carvermoe on February 27, 2021, 05:00:44 PM
Post by: BTobsession on February 27, 2021, 05:08:13 PM
Post by: KB88 on February 27, 2021, 05:12:25 PM
Post by: allen on February 27, 2021, 06:07:45 PM
Post by: BigGoonTuna on February 28, 2021, 06:59:08 AM
my own experience with the cowlitz since the early returning fish were discontinued is that it seems like things start to pick up in early march, then fizzle out when it should be getting good. what a disappointment.
Post by: pnwbestlife on March 08, 2021, 02:09:07 PM
Post by: Bullkllr on March 08, 2021, 02:13:09 PM
my bet is that it's gonna be a mad house since WDFW outlawed fishing from boats on almost every other river anyone would want to put a sled in.:yeah:
my own experience with the cowlitz since the early returning fish were discontinued is that it seems like things start to pick up in early march, then fizzle out when it should be getting good. what a disappointment.
And everything draining to the coast south of the Hoh closed today!
Post by: HntnFsh on March 08, 2021, 02:27:21 PM
Post by: elkrack on March 08, 2021, 08:39:42 PM
Post by: WSU on March 11, 2021, 10:53:17 AM
Post by: millerwheeler on March 17, 2021, 06:18:11 AM
Post by: HntnFsh on March 17, 2021, 09:31:18 AM
Post by: BigGoonTuna on March 17, 2021, 10:26:04 AM
It looks like a complete CF on the webcam.took the kids for a drive on Sunday, blue creek parking lot looked like it would have between Christmas and New Years in the good old days.
Post by: 2MANY on March 17, 2021, 11:13:59 AM
Post by: D-Rock425 on March 17, 2021, 11:59:59 AM
Awe the good ole days.when were the good ole days?
Post by: fowl smacker on March 17, 2021, 12:12:09 PM
Back in the early to mid 90's if you weren't catching your steelhead limit on the Cowlitz in very short order you didn't have your line in the water. The limit at some points were 6 steelhead and many many times, me and my uncle would have no problems catching 12 fish in a couple to a few hours.Awe the good ole days.when were the good ole days?
Post by: D-Rock425 on March 17, 2021, 12:19:01 PM
Post by: 2MANY on March 17, 2021, 01:08:56 PM
80s.
AND they were good to eat summer runs and not these egg sprayers.
Post by: steeleywhopper on March 17, 2021, 01:39:20 PM
Post by: JimmyHoffa on March 17, 2021, 02:39:19 PM
Old timers have told me that the steelhead and salmon fishing sort of peaked around 1967. The population of people, river access, regulations, plants led to some really, really good fishing. One guy I knew started steelheading around 1945 and said it was pretty good then. Any creek or river, even some ditches had fish regularly. Basically said that back then the main reason for a boat was that you would have too many fish to physically carry around. Almost all agree that the fishing took a major dive in the mid 1970's.Awe the good ole days.when were the good ole days?
Post by: ASHQUACK on March 17, 2021, 05:11:47 PM
Post by: M_ray on March 17, 2021, 05:21:19 PM
Awe the good ole days.when were the good ole days?
70’s and 80’s and 26 trailers would produce a hundred fish This time of year not just a handful. When it was hot The parking lot was full and there were trailers parked all the way down the road past the house on the east at blue creek.
Post by: Bullkllr on March 17, 2021, 06:16:04 PM
Post by: millerwheeler on March 17, 2021, 07:27:08 PM
Post by: HntnFsh on March 17, 2021, 07:30:27 PM
You could drive down what became the trail to Blue Creek.
I did that many a times. I remember watching a couple locals cleaning house on the little island throwing small green Rooster tails.
Post by: WSU on March 17, 2021, 07:45:53 PM
The Cowlitz winter run hatchery production spiked in the early 70s to levels never seen before or since. I was pretty young, but old enough to remember just how crazy things were for a few years. Bank fishing there were more fish on the bank than people. You literally had to watch where you stepped. Literally thousands, into the tens of thousands, fish caught per month during the peak of the runs. You could drive down what became the trail to Blue Creek.
I can’t imagine this. Literally can’t fathom that kind of fishing.
Post by: 4fletch on March 18, 2021, 12:49:45 AM
Post by: duckmen1 on March 24, 2021, 04:14:11 PM
Post by: hollymaster on March 24, 2021, 04:31:55 PM
Any general tackle recommendations for blue creek/cowlitz steelhead for bank angler. Used to other fisheries using float and jig or floating beads and eggs. But hearing its a drift fishing show with long leaders. Making me scratch my head a bit. Figured I would see what you guys had to say from personal experience of methods along this stretch of river. I have a little knowledge as well as some tackle for all method types so can be prepared to run a wide variety of setups. Thanks for any tips guysLong leaders = flossing
Post by: spoonman on March 24, 2021, 04:32:23 PM
Any general tackle recommendations for blue creek/cowlitz steelhead for bank angler. Used to other fisheries using float and jig or floating beads and eggs. But hearing its a drift fishing show with long leaders. Making me scratch my head a bit. Figured I would see what you guys had to say from personal experience of methods along this stretch of river. I have a little knowledge as well as some tackle for all method types so can be prepared to run a wide variety of setups. Thanks for any tips guys
If you are in a boat it’s a drift or float game. From the bank either will work as well. It a a great river to learn to swing spoons on. I only fish spoons down there and pull more than my share of steelhead out of there swinging spoons. I use to run a sled down there multiple days a week (I don’t miss it) and it was just a drift game back then. Now it’s a float show as well with all these golf ball sized stupid beads. It’s just more fun to catch fish on spoons and you catch the fish that are more aggressive!
Post by: brew on March 24, 2021, 04:59:57 PM
Post by: duckmen1 on March 24, 2021, 05:24:42 PM
Any general tackle recommendations for blue creek/cowlitz steelhead for bank angler. Used to other fisheries using float and jig or floating beads and eggs. But hearing its a drift fishing show with long leaders. Making me scratch my head a bit. Figured I would see what you guys had to say from personal experience of methods along this stretch of river. I have a little knowledge as well as some tackle for all method types so can be prepared to run a wide variety of setups. Thanks for any tips guysLong leaders = flossing
Exactly my thoughts. I would rather run yarnies on a 28 inch leader paired with a hard or soft bead trailer then do the flossing game. Hopefully pull the presentation through the strike zone not the line. Or float jigs or beads, pull spinners/ spoons, or bait, steelhead worms. Lots of opportunity other than flossing. Nice to hear what presentations you all might enjoy using down there. I would love to pull one out on a spoon sometime.
Glad to hear there's a chance at a fish.
Are you guys mainly fishing the main river or the creek too?
Post by: fowl smacker on March 24, 2021, 07:44:48 PM
Not necessarilyAny general tackle recommendations for blue creek/cowlitz steelhead for bank angler. Used to other fisheries using float and jig or floating beads and eggs. But hearing its a drift fishing show with long leaders. Making me scratch my head a bit. Figured I would see what you guys had to say from personal experience of methods along this stretch of river. I have a little knowledge as well as some tackle for all method types so can be prepared to run a wide variety of setups. Thanks for any tips guysLong leaders = flossing
Post by: spoonman on March 24, 2021, 09:20:45 PM
Drift eggs, beads, sand shrimp, and number of other things, just run the right amount of lead. Float anything you want and you’ll hook fish as well. If the water is at 9000cfs or less fish seem to be in all areas but if the water is up (11000+) they tend to run close to the bank. I do better in higher water on the cowlitz swinging 50/50 spoons close to the bank. One thing I can say is to take one setup down there instead of 4 rods for 4 different techniques. You’ll never be proficient at one technique until you force yourself to just use that one rod till you catch fish. It’s rarely the case that the fish are only biting one lure. I would of never been as good at spoon fishing if I hadn’t listen to a old guy tell me to just take the spoon rod and a box of spoons till I catch fish. Flit fishing is the training wheels of river fishing, drift fishing can be a pain in the butt for all anglers and swinging lures takes time to learn where your lure is in the water column.
Post by: Platensek-po on March 24, 2021, 09:55:45 PM
Post by: duckmen1 on March 25, 2021, 08:11:55 PM