11-02-04 - I have this spot all to myself; SWEET!

It's a brown smolt...doesn't "really" count I guess.

This is what I came out for, COHO!

I guess when the fish just park at your feet the fishing MUST be good.

NOT A SOUL AROUND. Weren't there? Sucks to be you!

11-02-04 - MP Elects...to go FISHIN!

Waters Fished: Root River
Fish Caught: 3/5 if you count the brown smolt!
Outing Date: 11-02-04
Weather: Cloudy
Air Temp: 45F
Water Temp: 55F
Water Level: 30 cfs and rising
Water Color: Muddy, visibility about 6-9"
Fish Species: Chinook Salmon, Coho Salmon
Pattern Fished: Eggs
Pattern Color: Hot Orange worked; all others ignored.
Fishing Quality: Dare I say it was the precursor to the "call in dead" day?

OK I first must totally thank Rich Brown for callin' me at like 6:30 AM and waking me up. I actually got up, and for once decided I really, really needed a fishin' fix.

When it was all said and done, I was at the Root River around 8:15 AM. Only ONE angler was fishin' Lincoln Park up by the first bend...why not give it a shot then!

I got down, and then two guys showed up only feet downstream. I thought at first they were going to fish, but the had left limit catches of cohos on stringers and were coming back down to pick them up. I think I overheard one of them call a silvery fish a "steelie"...nope, guys it was a fresh coho...the spotless tail was clue enough.

As for me, I was fishing while these guys were still taking pictures with their fish; immediately I was hammered and brought in a 9" Brown Trout...ah they've stocked the smolts now! Advice - if you don't want to be hookin' all the little guys you'll have to upsize the offerings.

Shortly after the brown I lost a thrashing small silver fish. It was FAT and maybe only 14" or so...drat. Followed up with a fouled buck coho in FULL stunning breeding dress...quickly got him back on his way.

I kept swinging and drifting, covering every inch of the hole, focusing on the seams. At the end of one drift / swing, I was about to lift when a coho hammered my flies just inches from the surface. The fight was on and this time I was victorious, a fresher female coho was my reward for coming out!

I moved back and forth working for more fish...lost another buck coho with a couple headshakes. This was followed up by a jack Chinook, maybe only 15", who hammered my fly while it drift on the far seam. I should mention, EVERY SINGLE FISH HIT the HOT ORANGE EGG with a red dot; "muted" orange and cerise were completely ignored. I would've gotten this jack's picture, but he actually jumped up and snapped the line while I tried to unhook him!

I tried for a while longer, but the fish just seemed to have disappeared. I had been keeping track, periodically a fish or two would move up through the riffles and into the deep bend; out of play unless you're stripping streamers.

When I looked again at a clock, I had only been on the water for an hour; the first half hour (8:30 AM to 9:00) was great...the later hafl...so so. It was really time to get going to work, but I figured I should go look at the wier.

To my surprise, not only was the wier in operation, but there were at least 10 folks actively processing fish, mostly cohos (did see a couple smaller kings). I got a lot of cool shots and for those of you with broadband, check out the 4 QUICKTIME MOVIES (yeah, they're big files but really really interesting).

So this trip was definitetly worth getting to work a "little" late...this was my first time seeing the Root River Steelhead Facility in action...the video is a real treat. Enjoy; all the wier pics and vids are below:

  MP 

Tons of Coho were actively spawning in the sanctuary.	The Root River Wier at 30 cfs.	Here's the current wier totals...obviously they started running it last week.
Lots of folks workin' to catalog all the fish trapped.	A Coho Salmon gets measured.	QUICKTIME VIDEO - Fish are removed from the holding tanks at the Root River Steelhead Facility (8.38 MB - opens in a new window or rightclick and "save target as" to download)
QUICKTIME VIDEO - A small Coho gets recorded at the Root River Steelhead Facility (6.19 MB - opens in a new window or rightclick and "save target as" to download)	QUICKTIME VIDEO - 10.1 lb. "Spent" Male Coho Salmon being recorded at the Root River Steelhead Facility (13.8 MB - opens in a new window or rightclick and "save target as" to download)	QUICKTIME VIDEO - A female Coho Salmon is stripped of her eggs at the Root River Steelhead Facility (3.43 MB - opens in a new window or rightclick and "save target as" to download)