American river

[Jeff Edwards]

I fished Upper Sunrise with another Spey buddy. We fished for 4 hours below the island in all the gravel bars. I usually do really well there, but not this trip.

At about 12:30 I went to the top of the channel where a ton of guys were earlier in the morning. Mostly gear guys. My Spey Buddy Dan found a spot and started hooking up right away. he had 6 hook ups and landed a Beautiful 23 inch Chrome Bright Steelie that jumped about 5 times. He had to follow it down stream just a little. In that period of time another fisherman took his spot. Dan didn't get it back the guy wouldn't give it up. I was annoyed but Dan was happy as hell becuase it's only his second Steelhead ever landed.

I managed to get a spot above the guy who took Dans spot, and hooked a 29 inch 9lb Steelie right under his nose. That fish ran me all over the river for 20 minutes. Another gear guy helped me land it gently and I measured it fast and let it swim away. Unfortunatly I forget the guys name who helped me land it, but he was a friendly guy. Was a great way to start this seasons Steelhead fishing. however, I'm still kinda annoyed at the guy who took Dan's spot.

Jeff

[Adam Grace]

Congratulations!

Thank you for releasing that 9lb steelie. Conservation is important, especially for steelhead.

Some American river fishers are nice and friendly like the guy who helped you but there are those bad apples like the spot jumper. At least you and your buddy landed one fish a piece.

Good luck on your next outing.

[slimfishin's]

Great to hear that you had some success out there. As I drifted by that hole I was curious as to why there were so many fisherman in that side channel..... Apparantly that was where the fish were!

I've used a spey rod before when combat fishing in those types of line-ups, but I find it really hard to cover any water, since there are people stacked up on both sides of me. In that spot, I also would have trouble casting while standing against that steep bank, especially with all those people on the bank above watching me from the bike path.

I'm somewhat new to spey casting, and I'm wondering how you get any distance in those tight quarters? When fishing those fast tailouts, I can never seem to get my flies down to the fish, unless I put some serious splitshot on....... but then, I can't cast the rig anyway. It becomes more of a lob. I've had some good success lobbing casts like that with a single-hand rod on smaller rivers, but the American seems so wide open, it's hard to find the fish.

Tight lines,
SF
8)

[John D]

Great report! Glad you found some fish.

Jeff's message inspired me to stop lurking and join the discussion. Perhaps this should be a new thread.... What is proper etiquette when fishing a good stretch of water? In some rivers it is expected that you will make a few casts and move down. If you hook a fish and walk it downstream, expect to get back in line at the top of the run and be patient. On the American gear, bait, and fly fishers seem to stake out spots. It would be great to get some different perspectives.

When drifting I think the boat should yield to bank anglers. However I've been anchored and a bank fisher will arrive and start casting into "my water." Certainly boat fishers can fish areas that others can't, but...

Cheers,
John

[Jeff Edwards]

I will admit most of the time on the American I don't have any issues. People are very polite and I just fish and BS with the people around me. I like fishing that way. Its pretty rare to have a negative experience at Sunrise.

As far as spey casting on that channel with people above you looking down. Most of the fish are within 15 to 25 feet from you. Just make a simple roll cast and drift then swing at the end. I use weighted upper fly and an egg dropper. I use a short 8 foot leader and 8 inch per second sinktip. Its really easy there believe it or not. Just don't expect to make any really fancy "spey" Casts. 2 years ago I hooked and landed a 35 inch 15.5 lb standing on that bank. That fish was within my spey rod length away. Was a nice buck.

Here's to hoping I make it back this weekend at some point for another Steelie.

Jeff

[Anne Vitale]

I fished that both sides of the island at Sunrise yesterday afternoon (Gosh, that sure reads funny). Nothing..nada. Obviously some folks got there before me and fished it out :wink:

I too was using my spey rod but it seemed obvious to me that all I had to do was simply wade over to the island and fish back into the channel from that shore. There is plenty of room to spey cast from over there. I know what you mean about the line up on the bank. There must have been at least 5-8 bait and gear guys lined up there but since they were standing in one place, I just worked my way down the run between their casts. No one seemed to be doing any better than I was so I didn't think too much of not getting anything.
However, after my last on-the-river spey casting lesson with Jeff Putnam and watching his new video for the hundreth time, I seem to have moved into a new phase with my casting. I can still feel that line anchoring where I want it to and then seeing it shoot out in nice tight loops-- even as I sit here and write this. Sweet!

[JohnD]

question for the catchers....what sort of water do you target? Regular "trouty" holding water? Riffles? Backwater?
I've hooked a few half-pounders in trouty holding water but have never hooked an adult in the American.