Sandy River, Cedar Creek Area Take Two…

So the rain had lifted long enough for us to take another shot back over by Cedar Creek on the Sandy River. While it had rained a little on the previous day, we hoped it wouldn’t be enough to mud out the river once again. On our way To Cedar Creek we ran into a few sprinkle showers but nothing strong enough to get the windshield more than slightly wet.

Upon arriving around 6:15 AM, there were already two other vehicles in the parking lot with no one loitering around the parking area, so we figured the river must be acceptable for fishing. Since FishFinger on the Oregon Fishing Forum (http://www.oregonfishingforum.com) was kind enough to point us out to the correct path down to the river we decided to take that rout this time. Although swinging from trees and roots was kind of fun, well scratch that it wasn’t that much fun at all. So a big thank you to FishFinger, the trail was much easier, longer but much easier. When we finally made it to the river it was beautiful, no mud in sight. So we went back to the same spot we thought would be best on the last trip and set up shop.

For the past few weeks my main objective was to learn how to bobber and jig fish. After lots of time spent scouring the net, it seemed that this was the simplest, most effective way to land steelhead and salmon on a nice flowing river. So for the first bit of time spent we practiced our casting as well as moving our bobbers up and down our lines to affect the height of the jig compared to be at the correct depth above the bottom of the river. After a while of this method and different types and colors of jigs with no hits, we noticed a real fisherman up river catching a few smaller fish on what appeared to be a spinner. This is when we decided to switch over to another favorite of the fishing community the blue fox. I chose a Red Tiger #4.

After switching to Blue Fox’s things started to pick up and I am happy to show my first catch of the day.

Another Blue Fox lure, and it was even blue!‼ After this amazing catch, we began to learn all of the different hazards beneath the water of the Sandy River. This started out as another learning experience about how to cast a lure and real accordingly without snagging everything in sight. And I am pretty sure there was a submerged car or truck in the middle of that river that was having the time of its life with us, but we pushed on.

Once we learned were the major snag areas were located, we were able to start concentrating our efforts on what appeared to be the better fish territories. Around 6:45 AM or so I got the first hit of the day as well as my first fish on the Sandy River.

The fish was caught and released successfully after taking a quick photo opportunity to actually prove I caught something if there were any doubters back home. Not too long after the first fish, I had another one on using the same lure as before and casting in the same general area.


This fish was also successfully caught and released after its photo op.

A few minutes later my fishing partner (my cousin Matt) using a Blue Fox #4 Red Tipped Silver Flake hooked his first fish on the Sandy River. It started out pretty slow but it soon picked up as the fish leaped out of the water. Much to our surprise it wasn’t a steelhead, but a good sized Chinook salmon. After a good few minutes of fighting Matt was able to bring the fish a shore making it not only his first fish ever on the Sandy River, but his first fish other than a stocker trout. It sure must be nice to go from only catching stuff around a pound to something closer to 20 pounds.

Landing the Chinook was a great experience but for Matt it was a mixed blessing. After landing the lunker, Matt realized he had to walk the fish back up the mile and a half trail to the ice chest to keep it fresh, and then walk the mile and a half back to continue fishing. After much whining and complaining, even though he caught the biggest fish of the day he began his journey back to the truck. While Matt was busy hiking I managed to hook another fish using the same lure as my other two.

This was the last of our fish and was also successfully caught and released after taking a few snap shots. After the last fish around 9 AM or so we weren’t getting much action. We had only brought a 3 different Blue Fox’s and Matt managed to lose two of them to that damn submerged car or whatever it was, and mine was pretty bent up from a super snag in which I was able to save the lure, just not the hook part.

Upon Matt’s return from his hike, he had mentioned that he ran into some people on the way back. One of these people was an older gentleman from Wisconsin who mentioned that this was his first time salmon fishing. Around 9:30 or so this older gentlemen set up shop just up the river from where we were. After a few casts with what appeared to be just about the same lure I was fishing with he hooked something big. Watching this hooked fish was pretty amazing, as fast as the man could real in the fish would run his line back out. This fish was leaping all over the place and rolling as hard as he could to spit the hook out. After about a solid half hour or so fight the man appeared to drop the tip of his pole closer to water level. As soon as he dropped the tip of his pole the fish started to roll like crazy and wouldn’t you know it the hook came right out. The man fought long and hard, but in the end the fish got away. As the man reeled in his now empty line a smile came across his face. I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him, but at least he got to experience his first salmon fight.

After a few more hours of fishing, we weren’t able to hook any more fish let alone get any more bites. But we did happen to somehow manage to catch a few rigs while reeling in.

Around noon we called it quits. After catching my first fish on the Sandy and Matt catching his first salmon we had had a pretty good day. We also had learned some new tricks of the trade, and to come with a little more extra equipment just in case. Tonight we will replenish our gear and bright and early in the morning we will return. Hopefully day two will be just as good as day one.

Rain, Rain, Go Away….

Its funny how soon as I get really excited and really get into something, that something else always gets in the way. Right now the hurdle that keeps getting in my way is the rain. Now fishing isn’t too bad in inclement weather, but out there on the Sandy River the rain can wreak havoc. It turns the water into a giant mud fest, making fishing pretty impossible (since I couldn’t catch anything before the river was mucked up I am not sure if my chances are going to get any better). And for some reason when we are supposed to be having those hot August nights, we keep getting 30 to 40 degree nights along with showers. But I am not going to let a little rain ruin my parade. Oh no, first thing, bright and early in the morning, I will embark once again to try my luck at hooking a lunker.

The Sandy River and I

So I have lived close to the Sandy River for the better part of my life. Many, many times throughout my years I have fished various locations and the only thing I have ever been able to hook was an old boot. Yes it sounds cheesy but that’s the only thing I have ever caught in that river. Now I have never been excellent fishermen, and I probably don’t even rate as mediocre, but I like to go fishing because it’s relaxing, and catching fish is a thrill (at least I think so from watching it on TV). Well I had to retire from fishing once I entered the military a few years back but decided to pick things back up once I returned. It started out just by going to all of the old places I knew I could catch at least some stocker fish. So off to Roslyn lake, Benson lake, and a few others all of which I returned empty handed. Well as time went on and I kept at it, I made some changes and finally started to land some fish.

During this time I have still been making infrequent trips to the Sandy with no luck of finding anything but trash along the banks, so I decided to do some research and find out where people go. Every time I looked up fishing on the Sandy River, everyone would talk about the hatchery at Cedar Creek. So with great interest sparked, my fishing partner and I made the trip this morning.

Upon reaching the parking lot of the hatchery and wondering where we go from there, we saw a lone fishermen in the distance walking to his car. As he approached I rolled down the window and he said it was a waste of a walk because there’s nothing but chocolate milk down there. Well being the inexperienced fishermen that we are, we didn’t have an idea of what that meant. We assumed it meant the water was a little messed up but since we had never been there and are desperately trying to find a decent spot to fish we decided to give it a shot anyway.

So off we went. It started out as an nice walk, next to the cow pastures and then into the woods. But then we came upon a giant cliff. Now when reading about Cedar Creek many people mention that it’s a nice hike to the water, and even one or two mention that incline can be a little much, but in no posts did it ever mention that I would be holding on to tree roots for dear life. And just to make things worse if you haven’t noticed the weather lately we were getting dumped on pretty good, which didn’t make the trek any easier. Well after much root swinging and tree grabbing and clawing at anything poking out of the dirt for some grip we made it to the bottom. After that trek I kind of felt like Sylvester Stone in Cliff Hanger, but we made it and felt good about it.

Another few minutes later we made it to the water, and it was a beast. That fishermen earlier was right, this place was a genuine chocolate factory.

( I guess this is what Chocolate Milk looks like)

So we walked around and found some water where we thought would be a good spot, and we just started to practice casing a bit since we were already there. After a few minutes went by and the rain filled my boots with water, we decided that we had found a fishing spot to return to and started out trip back.

We spent the next hour and a half of us trying to navigate our way back up the treacherous cliff. We might have been defeated once again, but we are still determined to catch something sooner or later (even if I have to buy the damn fish myself at Wal-Mart and throw in the water and pretend)…

Adventures in Mediocrity

Some people have one or two things in which they might call hobbies or interests. Normally, when someone concentrates their efforts into these one or two things they become pretty knowledgeable or become pretty good at doing these things. Well I just happen to like to do too many things at once. I don’t concentrate my efforts into any one of these things long enough to become an expert. So rarely do I become really good at any one thing.

One of the things I loved to do as a child was fish. Back then I was never any good at fishing, with just being able to hook a small fish here and there that just happened to get suckered into my cheap tactics. Well it’s been quite a few years and once again I have the fishing fervor running through my veins. Though this time armed with the knowledge of the internet at my finger tips and the pop can money supplying the gear, I hope to this time break free from my adventures in mediocrity.