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Cowlitz River Report
Cowlitz County, WA

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08/27/2016
66° - 70°
Drift Fishing
Steelhead
Orange
Cloudy
Corky & Yarn
All Day
08/27/2016
3
3371

Went with my dad today. Got to barrier dam by 645, lines in water by 7.
Water was higher than Tuesday but still quite low.
Hooked into one around 8, still a novice fisherman I was walking him down the river until I ran into someone who also just got on, oops. Mine broke off. Luckily his stayed on then my dad proceeded to net it for him. BEAUTIFUL hatchery steelhead with a nice big red stripe on him. Easily 10+lbs. Not sure what the one I lost was because I never got a good look on it.

In the next couple hours a guy above me caught 2 hatchery chinook, the first one was female, and as I helped him net it, she just started shooting out eggs!!! One of he strangest things! Must have been some kind of reflex like oh no let my babies go before I die kind of thing.. Anyways it was a big hen, 10+ LBs.. But pretty dark, he released him. Next one he got was much smaller, another chinook but this time it was only id guess 6lbs, he released it as well, surprised because it was a bit brighter than the first one.
About 10 am I hook into a big beautiful steelhead. Trying to not make the same mistake I made earlier in the day (and earlier in the week) I tried to tire him out from where I was standing as a opposed to "walking the dog" down the river. I played him for about 2 minutes, got a few good looks on him, like I said nice big summer steely. When my dad finished his drift he went to grab the net then it broke off!! :(. I was PISSED. sorry to anyone there who heard me have a swearing fit after that one :/.

Another 15 minutes after that I got Another bite, got him/her right in front of me and before I knew it or could even tell my dad fish on, he broke off! Wtf!

I realized what I was used hg for leader was crap. I'm sure part was still my novice skills, but 2 of the 3 (the first one and last one) broke off when I was neither reeling nor tugging... Just snapped right off.
My leader was 10lb.. But it was "Izorline first string" I've heard decent things about Izorline platinum. But I accidentally bought the "first string" by Izorline instead of the platinum. Big mistake. That stuff was crap.

After that I switched to the only bigger line I had for leader... Unfortunately it was 17lb flu pro and it was an overkill, after all those bites I got no hits for 3 hours. I'm sure atleast part of this had to do with the heavier leader but I was NOT gonna use the crap line and break another fish off because if I did I probably would have ended up throwing my rod in the river :P (not really but that's what I felt like).
Right before I left around 3. A different guy was above me hooked into 2 fish in a 15 min span. As I was getting ready to net them for him he broke them off.. Dang it. Atleast I wasn't the only one to do it but I wouldn't wish that on anyone. (He was using 8lb leader)

Anywho, I got my first hit on an orange "roe bead" and my last 2 on an orange and yellow corkie.
All other fish I saw caught today were caught on corkies.
One was pink with black dots, one was 3 tones pink yellow orange and another was pink.
So pink and orange were the colors of the day.
Hope this helps someone!
Fish on!

-rated this day a 3 because I had *atleast* 3 fish on at various points of the day and they should have been caught, as well as I saw about 6 other fish caught and lots of fishing jumping -


Comments

BentRod
8/28/2016 8:37:00 AM
Congrats on getting some good experience! Sounds like fun even without landing anything. That's all part of the learning process. Good gear, good line, good knots, and good tackle all are as important as learning how to play and land a fish. When I started salmon fishing. In the rivers I lost a lot of Coho due to poor knots or too light a leader. I've since learned that I like a slightly heavier leader for salmon and a lighter leader for Steelhead. That ratio applies winter vs. summer water conditions too. However, if you don't trust your line, hook, or knot quality then it all goes out the window. Better luck next time! Keep it up and it sounds like you're on the road to success.
-Steelhead-
8/28/2016 9:20:00 AM
I think your problem is that you were using 10lb test... I never use anything lighter than 12 in that fast water, you have to be a lot more careful with 10 there
Scheindogg
8/28/2016 9:32:00 AM
My main line was 30# braid. But I agree a lot of the issue was the 10#leader. Particularly the "first string" line was just crap and should have never bought it. I definitely did not have any knot problems thankfully. I do think part of it was having my drag too tight as well.
Thanks bentrod. I also hope for better luck next time :P. And yeah I'd like to think so as well
dad3lb
8/29/2016 10:32:00 AM
awesome action from what I'm reading. tight lines always
dad3lb
8/29/2016 10:32:00 AM
awesome action from what I'm reading. tight lines always
fish_4_coho
9/4/2016 5:17:00 PM
why does it seem most of the fish bite when you have bad line or to light leaders? my experience has been you can catch salmon with lighter leaders (I have filled in plenty of punchcard spaces with 8lb) but you have to check them religiously to make sure they aren't frayed. and pull on them pretty hard before casting to make sure they will hold. the only other tip is to keep the drag light let them run and be especially careful when they are close to shore. nice to hear that someone is having success.
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709