10-12-02 - The Root and Pike with Dan!

Rivers Fished: Pike & Root Rivers
Fish Caught: 0
Weather: Dark and Rainy
Air Temp: 60's
Water Temp: N/A
Water Level: Lower Still
Water Color: Root is Muddy, Pike is clearing up a bit
Fish Species: Chinook, Steelhead and COHO!
Pattern Fished: VARIOUS, see below
Pattern Color: Various, see below
Fishing Quality: Better

Once again out on the Root. My buddy Dan met up with me (I think he's secretly starting to get addicted to the whole fishing thing, and that's a GOOD thing.) We hit the Root first, arriving at about 3:30 pm (Dan still drags A$$!). Fish were most concentrated in the refuge below the wier, but plenty of fish below the refuge. Dark Skies and Rain really thinned Lincoln Park out nicely. For once, the fish were shoulder to shoulder and the angler's weren't!

My first dip in, simply to wet the fly and get it to sink, and BAM I've already foul hooked a fish on the dorsal. A big fat Chinook. Couldn't get the hook out, so I had to fight the thing and eventually the tippet snapped. Dan still felt this was too close to "shooting fish in a barrel" so we headed to the Bridge at A on the Pike. No one was down there, it was beautiful. The Pike is severely low at this point BTW. So, we came across two pairs of Chinooks spawning; basically on either side of the bridge. Steelhead were all around, combined with Jake Chinook and what were probably Coho, feeding on the spawn. We didn't land anything with the limited time we had, but we got to see fish without seeing people, and had a good time.

  MP