11-13-2013, 01:50 AM
Jeremy,
the fishing in december can be great because the crowds are down, and the fish become more concentrated in certain spots. on the salmon river, (i dont know if that is where you normally go... the clearwater is a different story) there is often so much ice and slush ice that most of the river is unfishable the whole month. barring overnight lows in the single digits for at least a couple days, you can fish quite a few spots. There are a couple of things to consider for slow water steelhead fishing. the fish are very, lethargic. that doesnt mean they arent aggressive, they just dont want to move very far, and they dont do it very fast. they also hold in water that is much slower generally than you would find them in the fall or spring. think deep water seams, slow runs, and soft pockets. when the water gets down very close to freezing (when there is slush in the river) its tough to get a good presentation. i dont like to fish in these conditions, myself, because the metabolism of the fish slows down so much that its like they are swimming in slow motion. they dont fight at all when hooked, because they are basically hibernating.
also, the a run fish that compose most of the run are running 2-4 pounds average this year, instead of 4-7...
hope that helps. good luck if ya go!
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the fishing in december can be great because the crowds are down, and the fish become more concentrated in certain spots. on the salmon river, (i dont know if that is where you normally go... the clearwater is a different story) there is often so much ice and slush ice that most of the river is unfishable the whole month. barring overnight lows in the single digits for at least a couple days, you can fish quite a few spots. There are a couple of things to consider for slow water steelhead fishing. the fish are very, lethargic. that doesnt mean they arent aggressive, they just dont want to move very far, and they dont do it very fast. they also hold in water that is much slower generally than you would find them in the fall or spring. think deep water seams, slow runs, and soft pockets. when the water gets down very close to freezing (when there is slush in the river) its tough to get a good presentation. i dont like to fish in these conditions, myself, because the metabolism of the fish slows down so much that its like they are swimming in slow motion. they dont fight at all when hooked, because they are basically hibernating.
also, the a run fish that compose most of the run are running 2-4 pounds average this year, instead of 4-7...
hope that helps. good luck if ya go!
[signature]