My Weblog

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

March 30: Took a great Husband/Wife Team, Barry and June Snook. It was 34 in Fossil, 43 at the private Lake, and the lake water was 45, 2-3 clarity, on a stormy day. The river was blown out at 3640 CFS and very muddy. Barry caught the first fish at 8:22 Am and they had 8 fish by lunch. June had 7 and Barry had 1. Then Barry went to work and ended up with 16 fish and June had 19 for 35 fish total. The water warmed up to 47, and it was stormy all around us, but we didn't get wet. Fish slow and on the bottom.

Monday, March 28, 2005

March 28: Fished with old clients and friends: Don Miller, his son-in-law Sam Palmer (541-575-1845), and Sam's son Lucas. Here's the numbers: 37 in Fossil, 36 at the river, 45 water temp, 1190 CFS at 3:30 AM, clear morning, 4-5 clarity, 4450 CFS at 6:30 PM, 7-8 clarity, and wind blowing all day long. w
What do you think? Sam caught the first fish at 7:28 AM, a trophy 19 1/4". Sam also caught the biggest fish at 7:28 AM. Sam also caught the most fish at 7:28 AM. You guessed it a one fish day, and the river exploded with slit, dirt, logs, tires, you name it. What a mess!! Needless to say they have a free trip coming in August. We don't make predictions, but probably not fishable till Saturday/Sunday at the earliest. Thank God we've got a private Lake for our backup.

Sunday, March 27, 2005

March 25: Fished with longtime clients and friends Royal Proctor (503-658-6291) and Steve Fletcher both of the East Protland area. It was 27 in Fossil and 36 at the river with the water running 41 degrees, 1210 CFS, overcast, 5-6 clarity. We had no fish by lunch and Royal caught the first fish at 1:25 PM. We ended up with 6 smallies, and Royal boated a nice 19 1/4" trophy. The water warmed up to 45 by lunch time and the air temp was 52, but the fish were just plain tough. We had a few on that weren't hooked hard enough to stay on. The fish bite one a lettle of everything: crnkbaits, texas set ups and Carolina rigs.

March 22: Fished with the Father/Son Team of Bruce and Micheal Meredith. Bruce own Mallardith Northwest ( 541-980-1922) a bird shooting preserve in the Maupin area, and also rows our gear boats and cooks for us on our overnight trips. He still has a couple of openings before the end of the Shooting Preserve season, March 31st, so give him a call. It was one cold and wet day, it was 34 in Fossil and 40 at the river with the water at 44 degrees, flowing 1180 CFS, overcast, and 4-5 clairty. They boated two fish all day with the first one coming at 9:40 AM to Bruce. Note: There are rumors of a Killer Whale siting on the John Day around noontime, they are not true. I repeat they are not true. The boat floated off the bank in the wind and came to rest accross the river. I had to swim accross the river in my underwear and a black tank top (ugly site, I'm sure), but we got the boat back and fished out the day. Note: this will not be a daily "Half-time Show".

Sunday, March 20, 2005

March 20: Fished with a Father/Son team from Cashmere, Wa, Dick and Kurt Ryan. It was 43 in Fossil, 44 at the river with the water running 41 degrees, 1010 CFS, 3-4 clarity, and clearing skies. Kurt caught the first fish on crankbait at 8:35 AM (nice 16 1/2" smallie), and they had boated 4 fish by lunch. After lunch the temp was 62 and the water had come up to 45 degrees, The sky was also turning black. A big storm was on it's way in/ They boated 6 fish after lunch and both ended up with a nice 17" smallie. Most of the fish were caught on Texas or Carolina rigs fished on the bottom and covered with Craw/Anise Smelly Jelly. When Dick was bringing in a nice fish a huge fish came up and bite the tail off the Outlaw 5" Ripple worm that was in the hooked fishes mouth. I'm not trying to make anything out of it, but you had to be there and see it.

March 19: Fished with old friends Gary and Heidi Blaser (503-318-7510). It was 41 in Fossil and 43 at the river with the water running 42 degrees, 1110 CFS, 3-4 clarity, and very overcast. It was a tough weather day and the barometer was going down. We had 000 fish at lunch, then Heidi caught a beautiful 21 1/2" X 13" Master Angler Smallie. It was a great fish and her second in two years. She caught the toad on an Outlaw Bait 4 " Tube fished Texas rig. The tube was filled with Smelly Jelly Craw/Anise, and in color was green pumpkin. Check out their website: www.outlawbaits.com for a store near you. We ended up with three fish, but lost about six who would get on but not get up to the hook.? Next time!!

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

March 13-15: Had the extreme pleasure of fishing with Roger Jarvis (360-687-4857) Roger booked me for three days and fished by himself. We spent lots of time working with Texas rigs, Carolina rigs, and Crankbaits. Roger mastered all of them in one day, and then things happened.
March 13: 21 in Fossil and 31 at the river with the water running 44 degrees, 5-6 clarity, 1360 CFS, and a very clear day. We did not catch our first fish till 1:30 and the water had warmed up 48 and the air temp was 56. Roger boated 8 fish with the largest 16 1/4 inch, and lucked into an 18 1/2" smallie
March 14: It was 21 in Fossil and 33 at the river with the water running 44 degrees, 6-7 clarity, 1410 CFS, very clear day. The first fish came at 10:35 to Roger with a very nice 18" Trophy smallie. He had two fish by lunch and ended up with 7. He caught almost everything on Outlaw 4" tubes, they were covered with Smelly Jelly Craw/Anise and Ultrabite Black Bass.
March 15: It was 36 in fossil and 31 at the river with the water running 41 degrees, 1320 CFS, cler, and 3-4 clarity. Roger caught the first smallie at 8:35 on a crankbatit, and boate da very nice 22 1/2" X 15" Master Angler Smallmouth bass in a slough we've never gotten one before, so we now have the Roger Jarvis Slough. It was on tubby fish. Roger had 4 fish by lunch, and then finised off the day early with another Master Angler Smallmouth bass 20 1/2" X 13 1/2" beauty, and we pulled off the water at 3 PM. Only seven fish today, but boy were they nice. Almost all were caught on crankbait covered with Smelly Jelly. Thanks to Roger we now have 3 Master Angler fish boated and about 7 Tophy fish.

March 12: Took a GREAT Father/Son Team: Mike Sliper and Mark Sliper from McMinnville and Salem. It was 45 in Fossil 44 at the river and the water was running 48 degrees (not a misprint), cloudy morning, 1290 CFS, 5-6 clarity. Mike caught the first fish at 9:50 AM on a Texas rig. They had 2 fish by lunch, and then they went to town; Mike ended up with 8 and Mark ended up with 6. The water was 51 after lunch and 60 air temperature. Slow and on the bottom with plastics was the key today.