I was up at the Chehalis yesterday. Still some coho heading to the hatchery but they are pretty far gone, although they are still feisty as hell! My brass blue fox vibrex really made them mad. There is no water going down the hatchery side at all. Fairly good flow up by the bridge and hatchery intake, but I could not find any Steelhead. 8) Its a real shame about our site The person or persons responsible must have a real warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Well like the father in law says. "There are holes and then theres A holes"[/img]
Chehalis Report
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i was just up there on saturday and yes there was pretty good flow near the bridge but a lot of coho still left at the hatchery. fished there for cutties way below the boundary in some really good small pools. also saw 3 nice steelies over 10lb.s in the hatchery channel 8) . and no we didnt fish the hatchery channel, but below the hatchery boundary. and yes most of the coho are expired but still have very good fight left. also saw 3 clean coho sitting in a pool we fished too.
heres the bottom of the canyon.
:wink:
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heres the bottom of the canyon.
:wink:
I did my usual Sunday thing at the chehalis. Pretty much done for coho now. Once again no Steel head action. As I usually fish alone I dont hike up the canyon. Can a person drive up towards cehalis lake to get to the upper canyon or do you have to hike? Tight Lines :wink:
Yes, there is access to the upper river along the logging road, but it is spotty and can be very frustrating with a lot of dead ends....inevitably the best option is to drive in and explore, but once you drive as close as possible to the upper river you still almost always have to hike for a bit, with the inevitable very steep decline down to the rivers edge. You can find some nice solitude up there though, but you should have a 4x4 to make things easier...
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I would have to agree with ribwart, exploring the trails is the best. Fun drive too. I have found a few spots up there to call my own. (I'm sure people fish there but I have never seen anyone there while I've been there) Nice place to relax and do some good fishing!
I've Found a few spots up there and the only place I could get a fish was at the limit pool/falls pool. Found another very nice looking pool a ways down. Probably 20 feet deep; but it didnt seem to hold any fish both times i've been there. found that to be quite strange.
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Any news from the canyon lately?? There has to ba a couple of fish throughout the system?
Well me and a friend went up to the chehalis on sunday, and fished for a few hours. The water was super low and super clear. We fished up river in a few of the canyon pools. On my second cast of the morning a fish came outta nowhere and nailed my float, I thought for sure it was a steelie, then I seen the beat up old coho come back and chase my roe. It followed it right up to shore and picked it off the bottom. After a short fight the half dead coho was released. We worked down the pool to the spot that I knew held fish. Since my friend was the steelhead virgin I let him have first crack at it. He drifted his worm through several times with no results. I went next and drifted a hefty sized piece of roe through. Second cast into the hole, and my float goes down slowly in the shallower water. Bottom I thought, so I gave it a ligentle tug to try to set it free, and then I realize it's actually a fish. I knew it wasn't hooked well, so tried to play it carefully. A few pulls and a couple af big silver flashes later my setup comes flying back at me. :evil: So we walk back up the shore and give the water a 10 min break. I let my friend have first go at it again, and second cast his float takes a dive, good hook set and the fight is on! He fought it for a few minutes, and had it tired out and almost at the shore, when it did one more head shake, and pop.... out comes the hook. He was just happy having hooked into his first steelhead. We got a good look at the fish, and it was wild and about 12 lbs. We gave the water another break and fished the whole pool again with no success. We hiked into 2 other nice looking pools, but did not get any more fish. It was a fun day anyways, and it's always exciting to see someone hook into their first steelhead.
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Nice, glad to hear a report from the chehalis, might head up there this sunday!
Great Report Chris!Glad to hear your buddie got into a steelhead. I havent been up to the Chehalis for two weeks and am not suprised that the water is clear and low. You have to hand it to the old boot coho though, they just never say die. If the weather is not too cold on the weekend I will get the old stick out and give it another try. Tight lines! 
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