Seems like this post should have been from back in mid September but it is not, it is from just a few weeks back now in late October and early November. Much needed Fall rain took it's sweet time getting here and for fans of one Clackamas River tributary this meant no fish until late in the season. While a sort of bummer, it is not all bad. The opportunity to fish a bit later made for great scenery and very few anglers. When the rains finaly came the eager coho seemed intent on reaching their goal and throwing all haste to the wind, they even began to travel miday in low water.




Late season coho salmon moving up river after a much needed blast of rain

I spend a great deal of time on this creek, often times with local resident Mike Braun. Anytime it looks fishy we check out the scene even if we draw a blank. Most of what we found during this week of heavy movement was dark fish better left for release. We decided to stick on it a few days and see if a last push of brighter fish might suck out of the main river after the darker fish blow through for a day or two. Late in the last day I fished there I saw a mix of these 'brighter' fish start to show but I already had what I needed for the season from this run. Nothing was retained but many had been released, save for the few bent Lamiglas rods I handed off to eager receptive anglers looking for a meal.





I still enjoy browsing through large packs of moving fish even if they are somewhat turning over their prime. It seems hard to asscociate any real guilt when working over what is 99% hatchery fish that are still willing to rock my 8 weight. A few other local anglers spent the week enjoying this local scene in hopes like us, that brighter fish might come. Most of these become surplus fish that will spawn or die in the creek so its always worth a try. I think many of the local anglers understand this. We also noted there was several summer steelhead caught that week. Not unusuall for this area but they are not planted here and are considered to be stray hatchery stock.





The Fall color was amazing both in and out of the water!


Female Coho Salmon turning to spawning colors


Male Coho Salmon turning to spawning colors



On some days I could see packs of fish numbering in the 20's going by. I think these fish got spread out because they came late. In most years when the rains come on time the ball stays together but on years like this on inland rivers we see smaller numbers of fish trying to run the gauntlet when ever they can. Mike and I sampled this for a few days but the same rains that had these fish finaly moving also had coast salmon on the move so it was time to move on. Nice to spend a few days doing well before moving on. In years past the fall color had come later to this creek than the coho run and would finish up long before the winter steelhead begin to show. This year had the coho moving during the peak of the Fall color, hope you enjoy the color!