From: tomg@hpcvusc (Thomas J. Gilg)
Subject: Oregon Fishing Report (11/92)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 01:19:07 GMT


Tillamook Oregon area rivers:

   o I haven't been too up on the Chinook and Silver runs this year for
     the Tillamook area.  As of two weeks ago, I understand that the
     Silver run on the Trask was winding down, but that the Chinooks
     hadn't kicked in full gear yet.   For the two trips I made ~3 weeks
     ago, I went 0/1 on chinooks, while another friend went 0/5 on chinooks
     arguing he didn't want to run the fish down through all the people.
     We saw several bright fish taken, mostly on flies for the area I was in.
     By far, the largest crowds I had ever seen - part of the reason I'm
     slowing on Chinook fishing.

     The Wilson should get its December Chinook "brights" to finish the
     salmon season.

   o The Chum Salmon season was once again a blast, and is now closed.
     Because the escapement rate for Chums over the past 3 years has been
     at near historic lows since they started instream spawning counts (48'),
     this was the first year all Chum fishing was restricted to catch and
     release, and like last year, closed Nov. 15th though the run often
     peaks after that.   Despite CAR, the crowds were larger than ever.
     I fished the Chum run 11/7-8 with 20 other Corvallis residents.
     The Miami was fluctuating water wise from blowout to very high, and
     the Kilchis was running too high to fish effectively.   After spending
     most of 11/7 running around, I came back to the Miami at ~3:00pm.
     Fishing pink/green-butt flies, managed to land 5 legal chums and 1
     snagged female.   I had another 30 zips, hits, yanks, runs, that
     atleast got the heart pumping each time.   The following day, we
     hit the Miami again.   Like all previous year, certain spots were holding
     the fish and lots of spots wern't holding anything.   I managed two
     legal and watched most others manage typically 1-3 for the day.
     Oddly, one lady new to salmon fly fishing managed 20+ legal hookups -
     I had more fun just watching people new to the sport landing fish.

Siletz/Nestucca:

   o Having worked damn hard to learn how to catch steelhead on a fly rod,
     I hesitate to tell all, but this has been an excellent year for me and
     my friends on the Siletz and Nestucca.   The summer run of steelhead
     has been strong to the point of being historically notable.   Using
     mostly egg patterns and pink/green-butt flies on a 9 foot leader
     with split shot and a floating line, I think the Corvallis fly fishers
     have accounted for easily 100+ landed steelhead, almost all released.
     Early on, most of the casting was to visible steelhead.   With the
     recent rains, casting has been blind, mostly to likely holding zones.
     This past weekend, I kicked back and took it easy on the Siletz, and
     still managed two beached Steelhead - 27" male, 30" female.

Alsea:

   o The silver run is basically over, but word that a few chinooks are
     still being caught tempts me to check it out.

Deschutes:

   o The whitefish should start spawning soon, and using micro-egg patterns
     should produce plenty of whitefish and trout for those who care to
     try.

Other news:

   o I heard that there was a ballot measure in one of Colorado, Nevada,
     or Arizona, that was designed to restrict hunting and was sponsored
     by some animal rights groups.   Evidently one interpretation of the
     legislation would BAN FISHING.   The vote was 40% to 60% and failed,
     but it might be an indicator that the days of fishing are nearly over.

   o Evidently the North Umpqua "Steamboaters Club" is thinking about asking
     the Oregon Dept. and Fish and Game to prohibit the use of weights and
     even weighted flies on the North Umpqua.   What do you folks think or
     know ?   It strikes me as rather elitist to legislate particular
     techniques as correct and others as incorrect (i.e. non-traditional).

Thomas Gilg
tomg@cv.hp.com