Well since this trip was in Idaho but im from Utah I figure ill post it here too( Its on the Idaho side too) for anyone who doesnt visit the other forums.
Im going to make this brief and let the photos do the talking. So pardon the spelling/grammer.
Left SLC on friday at 4pm and got to Boise at 8:30 watched the jazz game and spent the night at dads gfs house. Took off LATE saturday morning slept in [crazy] oops. Got off by 6:30. On the way to Orofino we saw a lot of people fishing on a river and having no idea what it was we decided to fish it. Fished a hole where there was nobody for about an hour no luck. Decided to go up to one of the packed holes(later found out it was “mailbox”) to see what was going on, and if anyone was catching em. On the way up the muddy bank an experienced steelhead fisherman saw us and gave us some good advice with our gear and had us follow him upstream to a deeper hole(mailbox) he dropped us there and went further up river. While fishing in this hole my wife caught the first fish on a jig. Picture 1. Man she was excited and her arms were burning so bad as she tried to reel this thing in after a 10 min fight bingo! Landed it 33" about 12lbs on the scale(youll notice a trend here). I didnt catch a fish all day. And this was the only fish of the day. I was really feeling the pressure because we didnt see many people catching fish, and I didnt want to have to admit she had caught the only fish of the trip.
Fishing day 2
Fished almost all day on the south fork again as we really didnt see many people on the main river or the middle fork or the north fork. They seemed to be stacked on the South fork.
We fished the middle section of mailbox again and I finally hooked up to a fish on a bag of roe I had tied. Landed it, this one went 32" on the nose 12lbs again(sound framiliar?) We fished here most of the day and then ran upstream just below a town I cant remember the name of and fished in a hole next to a whole bunch of other people. I walked up threw out my bag of roe and caught a fish on my first cast. 31" 12pnds on the scale. I guess they hadnt caught anything from the hole until I got there but one gentlemen did catch a big male that probably went 18pounds hatchery and left with his fish shortly after.
Day three fishing.
Drove down from Orofino again(should have stayed closer but there wasnt any way to know where we were gonna fish) to fish mailbox. Got there early enough that the icebergs were still in the river. I decided I was going to catch fish on a jig today and put the roe away. Fished for a little while and BAMB caught my biggest fish of the trip. We didnt measure this fish or really weigh(it was shaking when I weighed it by myself and then we cleaned it shortly after) but it sure looks like the biggest fish. we caught. There was only a few other people there this early. Nobody else had caught a fish. And about an hour later I hooked up to the trips smallest fish a male again it wasnt measure but this one was released. Im guessing 26-28 and thin. We left mailbox and ran up to the hole below the town we had fished the night before. I was fishing at the head of the hole and my wife at the bottom and about 5 people between us when she yelled out she had a fish. I ran down and she had the thing like 3 feet from shore already and it was BIG! At least as big as the guy from the night before 17-20pounds somewhere in that range. After a 2 min fight it got down into some rocks though and DING popped off. She was beyond sad about it. And I was too. When we pulled up the line her knot had actualy broken in half. Poor girl. About 20 min later we headed home for good.
All in all it was the single most fun fishing trip I have EVER had. Learned a lot of things. One was that even though I was new to steelhead fishing. I caught more fish durring my time there then I saw caught by almost EVERYONE else combined. No, I dont think Im a better steelhead fisherman than anyone else after 1 trip. But what I do know is that I also lost 10-1 jigs to anyone else I saw. I just figured my bait had to be on the bottom of whatever hole I was fishing. And I guess that worked to my advantage on this trip. Beautiful area. Deer, Elk, Bald Eagles, Wild Turkeys, Big fish and big water. All in all for a trip for 2 we kept the whole thing with gas, lodging, rental car, tackle and food to under $300 for 3 days of fishing, cant beat that.
P.S.
I dont have the time nor the patience to resize my picture and they come from a 10mp camera so beware.
Most of my old fishing friends in Idaho really prefer those A run fish on the Clearwater. Have you ever tried to imagine the long journey that fish has made to the ocean and back hundreds of miles. That has to be what makes them so strong. Thanks for sharing your trip. Dan
A couple years back me and a couple guys were fishing in stanley just down from the hatchery and i was thinking about that. I caught a fish shortly after and i had to release it. I just couldnt get it out of my head that this fish had come hundreds of miles and a half mile upstream is its destination. I know that fish went on to die anyways but it was just one of those things.
It’s my understanding that steelhead aren’t program to die after spawning like salmon. They are rainbow after all. I think I’ve read some can occasional spawn more than once but that’s pretty unlikely when the runs get very long like into Idaho. Now that’s not to say that some don’t die after spawning but it’s not a given.
A couple of things. I believe these fish run almost 700 miles by the time they get to where we fished. And 2 we spoke with a biologist who was doing the weekly fish/hours/fisherman report. He said that a lot of the fish come back multiple years. They dont automaticaly die at the end of every trip. What I failed to ask him and I have though about ever since. Is what sort of advantage a steelhead has by running to the ocean and back to lay the eggs. The only thing I can think of is that there might be less predation on the eggs in the river system than in the ocean so its beneficial for them to travel so far to ensure the continuation of the species. And I guess some of the fish from even one batch of eggs may never go to the ocean while others do. CRAZY!
i know in alaska and even some shorter rivers along the coaste the steelhead can go back to the ocean and spawn again, and maybe they could at one time along the salmon but sense they have added the damns there is no way for them to get back to the ocean. In any numbers anyway. Also any hatchery fish is killed and stripped of its eggs. There are lakes that have freshwater steelhead that will spawn multipul times. Yes they are basicly a rainbow but they grow much faster.
Man i love tem Steelhead, the economy has me grounded this year so i’m bummed. Awesome report!
As far as the questions on Steelhead, if they don’t go to the ocean the are just Rainbows…Anadrmous Rainbows head to the ocean after about 1 year and are referred to as Smolts just as Salmon. After several years they begin their journey back to the area they were released or hatched to spawn. I’m intrigued by them in the fact that after they make that transition from salt to fresh they really don’t consume much more but focus primarrily on survival. Understanding that it helps to know how to get them to strike out of protection of their own.. After Spawning most make another journey or are part of the food chain. I am testifying of that, they are absolutely the best trout i have ever had…I am a firm believer that it only takes 1 time to feel and see a steelhead to get the “bug” and I struggle to fullfill the desire to get into them. There is indeed a great respect for that fish and i love to see them swim away, but it is exciting to take a few home as well. Awesome!!! There typically are 2 runs referred to as A and B, or Summer and Winter. I have only had the opportunity of fishing for A’s. I would really like to go after B’s one year. I would hope some “B” fishermen mighgt chime in and we could hook up and plan a trip for next year…Anyway love to share my passion for them.
Not in the neck of the woods i’ve fished for the last years…Even though they are Anadromous they are different than Salmon. The guides and friends ive met over th year always refer to the fish were catching from Oct to Dec as mostly A’s. Then as They begin to get larger, and heavier fish they get excited saying the B’s are starting to come and will wait for Ice to break up in the spring and then continue their journey. Not an expert just sharing what i’ve been taught and experienced.
looks like we were both right. here is what the idaho f&g page says
Idaho SteelheadIdaho’s steelhead are often classified into two groups, A-run and B-run, based on their size and ocean life history.
Steelhead are actually rainbow trout that migrate to the ocean and return to fresh water (anadromous fish). Idaho’s A-run steelhead are usually found in the Snake and Salmon rivers. They return from the ocean earlier in the year (usually June through August) and they most often return after spending one year in the ocean. Because they return early in the year and because they usually come back after only one year in the ocean, they weigh 4 to 6 pounds and are generally 23 to 26 inches in length.
The B-run steelhead most often return to the Clearwater River, but some return to tributaries in the Salmon River. These fish usually spend two years in the ocean, and start their migration to Idaho later in the summer or fall of the year (usually late August or September). Because of the extra year and the extra summer of growing in the ocean, they return as much bigger fish.
Average B-run steelhead weigh between 10 and 13 pounds and are 31 to 34 inches long. Steelhead grow very large when they spend a third year in the ocean before they return to Idaho to spawn. These steelhead are usually larger than 37 inches and often weigh more than 20 pounds. The Idaho state record steelhead was 30 pounds and was caught in the Clearwater River in 1973.