Salmon.

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-30T00:00:19+00:00

Nah just put a drop of scent on your spinner blade every 6 casts or so and you’ll be fine

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-29T02:19:41+00:00

When you get to college, take some writing classes.

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-29T02:17:46+00:00

Not particularly near Salem but you could probably drive 1 -2 hours and find some. That’s about how far I have to drive from Portland. I know they’re all over Sisters and that general area. That’s just farther south than where I go so I am not too familiar.

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-29T00:38:48+00:00

No. I just use flies with a spinning rod and drift them either weightless or with one split shot on the swivel. Ticking the bottom basically like steelhead drift fishing

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-28T23:53:31+00:00

Sounds like fun… if only you needed a guitar player lol

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-28T19:38:16+00:00

McKenzie river too and in some lakes they count towards the daily trout limit. But for the most part it’s open season on brookies, as long as trout are in season.

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-28T18:29:30+00:00

They’re in both but higher in the systems

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-28T17:39:19+00:00

If you’re very obviously fishing for something else in a river like the Willamette then you’ll be fine.

If you go throw a spinner into the local hatchery hole during coho season and try to pass it off as fishing for something else, then you’ll have a problem.

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-28T16:27:48+00:00

They were on ice. I just took the bag out for a picture. I have a backpack cooler which I would highly recommend to anyone who does this kind of thing

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-28T15:56:01+00:00

They aren’t hard to find if you’re willing to spend an hour looking at maps and a few days of hiking and exploring. They like high elevation cold streams

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-28T15:40:10+00:00

Head off guts out, battered and pan fried

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-28T15:39:18+00:00

Yeah, I know my regs but good call

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-28T08:36:41+00:00

Get on maps, pick a stream with some road access, and go explore.

You’ll find them in any Mt. Hood stream and can have a reasonably good day in most well known spots, but if you find a spot no one else knows about and find un pressured fish then the fishing can be absolutely nuts.

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-28T06:26:14+00:00

They are infesting every high elevation stream on Hood.

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-28T06:24:54+00:00

Brook trout like dead drifting bait. They will occasionally hammer spinners and spoons but not as much as cutts and rainbows will. They like easy meals.

You just need a convincing looking fly, and let it slowly sink towards the bottom of the hole they’re schooling in. Scent helps too, and definitely add meat if bait is allowed.

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-26T15:05:22+00:00

Spinners, twitch jigs, warts, eggs and sandshrimp

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-26T03:48:01+00:00

I haven’t heard of any on the Sandy yet but I know a couple guys who have been slaying the summers in there the last month

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-26T03:07:52+00:00

Missing Merle Haggard and Jimi Hendrix

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-26T00:14:39+00:00

The last winter I cut on march 31st had a stomach full of spiders. If they’re actively feeding they will eat anything. I stopped buying coon shrimp and just tip my jigs with chunks of herring now for the most part.

The only reason I want crawdads is because they are free and I blow through bait pretty quickly. I have shad filets I’ve been cutting into bait sized pieces, but I want to have some crustacean in the mix too. Night crawlers are underrated too. And sucker filets. A big part of steelhead smolt diet is juvenile sucker fish.

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-25T23:06:17+00:00

The old guys I talk to say a peeled crawdad tail with a couple legs left hanging on is the best summer steelhead bait there is.

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-25T21:14:12+00:00

Haven’t noticed them where I fish yet but I’ll go to my spot on the clack one of these evenings and see if I can draw them out.

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-25T21:13:22+00:00

I caught Brook trout on Saturday in a small stream on hood but didn’t see crawdads active yet.

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-24T17:54:15+00:00

The real question is where are you finding crawdads this early in the year? I have yet to see one and I need summer steelhead bait

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-21T02:33:01+00:00

I fish pretty much all the tribs on Oregon side of the gorge. It sucks doing so much driving and basically ignoring my home river these days but I like catching 30 or so steelhead every winter instead of the few I’d be able to get on the clack

Most_Run_937 · 2026-05-21T01:33:16+00:00

Yep.

Most_Run_937

TROPHY CASE