Last week we experienced our first winter cold front of the season, and as a result fishing was very slow. Our guides managed a few fish, but to be honest fishing was very tough. Most fish were caught side drifting large baits and back trolling diver and shrimp. In our opinion most of the slow fishing was attributed to the rapid change in weather. We went from decent fall weather to winter rain/snow in a matter of only a few days.
Success for fly anglers was very limited last week with most of the action coming from guys throwing sink tips and some larger winter type steelhead patterns. When the water gets cold it seems the fish need a little extra coaxing to get them to move to a fly. Our favorite patters during the colder late fall flows are big marabou and bunny leach varieties. Black and pink seem to be two of the most dominate color patterns that produce fish through the colder months.
For next week we will see continued weather rolling in and out of the area. I think that this will only improve fishing conditions. Rain is forecast for the Orofino area for most of the week. Rain and wet weather mean the river should come up some which will improve fishing. The biggest key to success during tough fishing conditions is to fish hard and remember that these are steelhead and part of the allure of fishing for steelhead is that they are difficult to catch.
No comments:
Post a Comment