[nocoho]

fishing will be slow with all the water for a few days so i thought i would start a new topic for discussion.......where are all the steelhead this year.......in the vedder that is.......i know it is not just me......for a while i thought i had just lost my touch but with all the guys i have talked to on the river and reading these posts there seems to be fewer fish coming through the system this year.......last year i was into 40 plus steelies.....this year i have beached 2 and hit 3 others.....the water has been less than ideal( TO SAY THE LEAST ) on 80% of my trips to the river with the new slides that muddy up the water.......but i have had a few days with very nice conditions and have seen very few fish hit......on friday i pounded the river for 8 hours.....hiked all day and fished at least 12 different pieces of water and saw only one hatch fish.......i ran into one of the locals in the afternoon and we chatted for quite a while......he was into more fish than me last year and he has only beached 4 fish this year and that is with fishing 4 to 5 days a week since the first of Jan.......i know some of you guys have had good numbers this year but from what i am seeing there are not a lot of you in that catagory.....STILL MAYBE IT IS JUST ME.....AAAAAHHHHHHH

 

[Rib]

Not just You nocoho, I too have had a less than stellar year on the vedder, granted, I have fished the vedder not even 30% as much as I did last year. Where are they? Good question. Perhaps some of those who have had good success on the vedder this year would answer that...

I do offer this theory on the lower catch rate some of us have experienced. With lowered visibility this year due to silt and clay, the distance from which a fish sees our offerings is much, much less than last year. Also, this lowered visibility allows them to hold in places we might not normally expect, not to mention that vast changes in the river are harder to get a handle on when you can't see the bottom. Reading the water alone doesn't always cut it...

Early in the season I made the decision to ply my drifts in other waters and it has paid off handsomely, yet it has been a disappointing year vedder wise...

 

[Steelie Trav]

Agreed, the vedder has produced 0 for 5 trips this year, not even a tug! On the other hand I know a few guys who have generally no problem hooking fish on that river, maybe its just us! ;D

 

[nates]

This is only my second season on the vedder. Last year I did well when the water was clear and the fish were holding more in the deeper pools and runs. Early this season I was probing similair waters with little success. So I changed my game plan and started picking up fish in shallow pocket water on a regular basis. As far as the numbers being down I don't think that is the case, I just think that the locals who fish the same areas year after year aren't finding fish in those spots. Sometimes people get stuck in fishing the same types of water year after year, and that kind of mindset just doesn't cut it when it comes to steelheading in changing river conditions. Such is the case on the Vedder this year I think. Alot of fish were taken last year because the fish were very predictable, anything with some good depth and moderate to slow flow was holding fish, and usually good numbers of them. Throughout the day these fish would turn on and off. It was not uncommon to hit up to 10 steelies a day out of the same hole towards the end of the season. However this year with the water being high the fish are spread out and holding in less than ideal looking areas. You have to remember that the river looks alot different under the surface. With the added safety of dirtier water a 3' deep set of rapids with some mid sized boulders scattered throughout looks like a great holding spot to a steelhead. 1. The broken water reduces visibility. 2. The boulders provide a great current break. and 3. Food is constsntly being washed past them just inches away from their nose. Keep some of these things in mind the next time your out on the water and some successfull outings are sure to come your way. Those double digit days are going to be hard to come by this year, only due to the fact that the fish are able to use the whole river and not just the deeper areas.

Keep your confidence level up and success will follow.

Tight Lines, Wes Roffey