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kalama river report

2K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  Ricardo O. 
#1 ·
After having attended the Fly Fishing Show in Bellevue yesterday, I made a trip early this morning to try my luck for steelhead on the Kalama river. It was my first time fishing this river in the winter, but the flows seemed to be perfect for this time of year and visibility was excellent as well. A guy I spoke to at Pritchard's on the phone yesterday made the comment the river is in the best shape in has been in a long, long time (for this time of year). Consequently, he said there were lots of people fishing the river and today was no exception. There were lots of bait fisherman (very few fly fisherman-only saw 2 besides myself) and a considerable number of drift boats on the river today. The number of people on the river made it difficult to be the first through a good stretch of water, at least if you wanted to fish below the second hatchery on down to the mouth. Everyone was fishing in this section and I saw no people fishing above the second hatchery today. Anybody have any thoughts on why this might be?

For what its worth, I did talk to a guy who works at the hatchery and he said they trapped 166 native steelhead on Friday. He said it was a bit early yet for the run of natives which was just starting so I took that to mean there was likely a smaller population of fish in the river above the second hatchery than below it. As such, I worked to find good spots to fish among the bait guys. Fortunately, I got there early this morning and was able to be the first one to fish what I believe is known as the "Red Barn" hole. I was fishing the slower riffle water (3-4 ft depth) above where it slows and deepens considerably with a purple egg sucking leech as my lead fly and a size 10 orange egg pattern as the dropper. After about 10-15 minutes I hooked and eventually landed my one and only fish of the day (it took the egg pattern). It was approximately 28", but a wild buck with bright silver color and only a hint of red on its gill plates. As luck (or skill) would have it, I did not touch a fish for the rest of the day. I fished from about 7:30 am until 1:30 before calling it quits. I think with fewer people on the water I might have had a better chance at another fish, so I would recommend going during the week if possible as you might encounter fewer people. I hope this helps and good luck.
 
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#2 ·
Thanks for the report.

Congratulations on the fish. I am envious.

The Kalama is managed by not allowing any unclipped steelhead above the upper hatchery. All steelhead are trapped below the hatchery. Marked steelhead are tagged and than recycled several times back towards the mouth. Unmarked fish are released above the trap. Thus there is almost always going to be a lot more fish in the lower river.

Check at the fish I caught just below the Red Barn a year ago in the picture gallery. I love that river!



:)
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the report. and Congrats on the nice steelie! I have been to the river twice this winter with no luck. both the lower and upper stretches. from what I understand though the upper stretches are supposed to carry both wild and hatchery (you will notice the signs that state that at certain spots) but there just hasn't been a good winter run this year. I love that river to but so does about a million other people. I have made a descision to stop fishing that river for a couple of years as it has gotten way to popular and I am afraid the Steelhead stocks are going to get worse and I want to be able to enjoy it in the future. just my 02 cents.
 
#4 ·
>I saw no people fishing above the second hatchery
>today. Anybody have any thoughts on why this might be?

I called Prichards. They said that the water above the hatchery is closed until June 1. I haven't personally verified the water above the second hatchery is closed but that might explain why no one was fishing up there!

Also, Prichards said Norwestflyfisher is right on - apparently about 20% of the fish they are putting over the falls are hatchery fish.


:)
 
#7 ·
New River Mike

Roper, you're a sneaky one...I KNOW what you're trying to start!

;)

PS...Thanks to those of you who posted the recent Kalama reports. I'd been thinking of heading down there but will continue my quest to find more SRC's locally, instead.

Roper...when I go where I go, I drive a '95 Nissan PU. But I walk the last half mile each way so I can feel better about it.

:thumb
 
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