Just when I thought the Little Salmon River was going to come in we started to receive some rain and the river has blown out again. I did make a trip down to the river Tuesday and hooked into a fish but I fished al day and it was the only hit that I got.

The river is as high as I’ve seen it in years and the one fish I did hooked got out in the current and if you have ever fished for Chinook salmon you know what happened next.

Yep it was like trying to stop a D-8 cat from running down a frozen cliff you hold on and hope for a miracle. Even with 40lb test line I was unable to even slow it down let alone turn him. In about thirty seconds he had striped off most of my line and was headed back to the Ocean. It was exciting but the battle if you want to call holding on for everything you got a battle, did not last long and I had to admit defeat before I even got started.

With the river running as high and fast as it is fishing is really tough you use three ounces of weight to even touch the bottom and your line drifts through the hole in about ten seconds. Most of your day will be spent casting that is when you are not tying up a new rig because when you do hit bottom with that much weight it usually finds a way to crawl under some rock and you end up leaving your rig to the river gods. Yet even with conditions the way they are I can’t wait to get back on the river after all it is Chinook salmon season.

If you do not like spending your day casting and tying rigs you may want to hold off for a week or two before you head down. There is however always plunking if you don’t want to fight the current river condition. I have had some pretty good luck with this technique of fishing over the years.

For those of you that are not familiar with plunking it is setting up with a heavy weight as a drop sinker and using a spin and glow with eggs or a similar lure casting it out in a deep pool and then you just sit and wait for the fish to find it. When condition are like the are this is a very good technique plus while your waiting for a fish you have time to relax and tell some fishing stories with you buddies.

Well I’ll keep watching the river and let you know as things develop but for right now fishing is tough.

RR Smith

Steelhead, Salmon and Trout Fishing Gear

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