Winter Season

[John H]

Conditions are definitely not good but there are fish to be caught. Low water generally prevailed on the trips I took. Sometimes the low water kept everyone away and I had the river to myself. Sometimes the low water packed everyone in on the only fishable float and we were gunnel-to-gunnel with bobber dogglers all day. I did get blown out by a storm which was pretty cool although you don't want to do it too many times. The rain fell for about 36 hours, the river rose 5 feet and turned from green to brown. Looking at the internet and seeing the graph blow up tells the story but watching it unfold in person is pretty impressive. Some fish were caught swinging but mostly on the indicator. Many fish were lost including of course the biggest ones hooked. Seems like the fishing gods are constantly inventing new ways to lose fish. I don't want to give any spots away but I will say all fish were caught north of the Golden Gate and south of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. There are some beauties here. All well cared for and released in fine condition.

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa22/jhodgson55/Winter%202015/002.jpg (http://s203.photobucket.com/user/jhodgson55/media/Winter%202015/002.jpg.html)

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa22/jhodgson55/Winter%202015/001_1.jpg (http://s203.photobucket.com/user/jhodgson55/media/Winter%202015/001_1.jpg.html)

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa22/jhodgson55/Winter%202015/003.jpg (http://s203.photobucket.com/user/jhodgson55/media/Winter%202015/003.jpg.html)

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa22/jhodgson55/Winter%202015/005.jpg (http://s203.photobucket.com/user/jhodgson55/media/Winter%202015/005.jpg.html)

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa22/jhodgson55/Winter%202015/009.jpg (http://s203.photobucket.com/user/jhodgson55/media/Winter%202015/009.jpg.html)

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa22/jhodgson55/Winter%202015/004.jpg (http://s203.photobucket.com/user/jhodgson55/media/Winter%202015/004.jpg.html)

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa22/jhodgson55/Winter%202015/007.jpg (http://s203.photobucket.com/user/jhodgson55/media/Winter%202015/007.jpg.html)

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa22/jhodgson55/Winter%202015/008.jpg (http://s203.photobucket.com/user/jhodgson55/media/Winter%202015/008.jpg.html)

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa22/jhodgson55/Winter%202015/010.jpg (http://s203.photobucket.com/user/jhodgson55/media/Winter%202015/010.jpg.html)

[SeanO]

Gorgeous Steel!

You don't see too many steelies with sea lice (last pic)!

Congrats,

[Mark Kranhold]

Congrats on a great trip, gorgeous fish pics!

[Larry S]

John,
Outstanding picture essay!
Best,
Larry S

[Blueracer]

Hi John, Nice job on the pics and catches. Did you use a waterproof camera? Thanks for sharing them with us.

[John H]

Blueracer -

I do use a waterproof point and shoot camera. I don't shoot underwater much with it but it is nice to not have to worry about keeping it dry. I may do some ab diving in a couple of weeks and might try get some shots with it if the visibility is good and the sun is out. I am thinking about getting a DSLR but have not pulled the trigger on that. The third fish pictured was on the swing. The fourth fish was also and came on the pontoon boat day. The last fish is my favorite. It was about a mile above the tidewater limit. We caught the fish around 3 in the afternoon. Likely it came in on the high tide at 7 in that morning.

[Notch]

Nice sealice hen! I have to agree with the tough fishing conditions and crowded water this year. Nobody wants to fish the clear water which ended up clogging the fisherman downstream. This forced us upstream and required a few tactical changes...One cool experience with the low water was watching my buddies cast to holding steelhead. I was watching the fish and letting them know where to cast, and out of about 10 perfect casts that put the fly ~1 inch from their face, they wanted nothing to do with it. Maybe it was the mid-day sun or stress from holding in shallow water? Regardless it showed me that usual tactics don't work in low-water and it forced us to slim down our presentations. We got a few but it was a grind of a season