canoeing up the Lower Stave for trout.

[Big Lew]

Took my new Clipper Scout for another outing on the Stave today. They were letting a lot of water out of the Dam but I had no trouble paddling solo (put my pack and a filled 5 gal water container in the front) up most of the river....very pleased about how well it handles and slips through the water. Experimented with moving weight around while tracking but had little success....very discouraging. The canoes I've used during the last 47 years all had a keel which made tracking easy. I could line them back and forth way out into a river loaded or not with great control, but not this one. I might have to glue a hard plastic wear strip onto it. As for the fishing, I noticed quite a few fishing on the east side, and a few on the west side just below the Dam. I fished from the main island without much luck, catching only a whitefish. As I said before, they were letting out a heavy load of water so the current in most of regular the fishing areas was too fast. Saw quite a few dead minnows along shore. They were quite large and developed, so if the current was slower, it should be fairly good fishing with a dry line. Normally when the fry are that big, you should see fish taking them right off the surface....I didn't see any feeding at all, mind you, I was there mid morning and later.

[Whonnock Boy]

Was there lots of dead fish? What about sculpins? (Bullheads). I'm curious because a few years ago they were draining the reservoir and killed a bunch. It was about the same time of year too! Makes me wonder about the Stealhead and how they fair in those conditions. It ended up being some sort of kill due to too much CO2 in the water from the turbines. It did not make sense to me.

[Big Lew]

I doubt there was anything abnormal about the dead fry. I used to fish the area very frequently and successfully between Feb. and the end of Apr. during the sixties, seventies, eighties, and early nineties. Every year we would see dead fry along the rocky shoreline and we assumed it was because of the rapid release of water from the Dam. There were lots of fry swimming about every year. There was a very healthy population of whitefish feeding on them. Fly fisher-persons did quite well catching cutthroat, dollies, and the odd steelhead as well. I haven't fished there for quite some time, and today I was shocked at how much gravel has filled some of the best fishing areas and how much the channels have changed. I was also concerned about not seeing any fish chasing minnows, especially whitefish. Hopefully when I go again soon, the water flow will be less and I'll be able make a better assessment.

[BigfishCanada]

Big lew, not sure if you consider this fun fishing, but I used a ford fender and worm, paddled a small boat in that area and couldn't keep the cutties off my line. A ford Fender is two big flashers, you tie a pre rigged hook to the end with a worm and it worked awesome

[Big Lew]

In 1965, I was introduced to fly fishing below the Ruskin Dam by Charlie Miller, a well known and accomplished fly fisherman, and Louie Donatelli, both local residents since childhood. We became very good friends and enjoyed exceptional fly fishing almost everyday in the spring for many years below the Hydro parking lot on the east side. Although I have used ford fenders successfully while lake fishing over the years, I never considered trying them in the Stave because of the earlier great fly fishing and companionship enjoyed with Charlie, Louie, Stan Room, and Gordon Brackley.

[ruger#1]

I have never had much luck on the lower Stave. I used a twin leaf lucky strike oer a hidlabrant with a twelve inch leader with a worm or Mickey Fin in the sloughs. It is a killer combination. Largest Cut I caught was out of Morris lake bake in the eighties. It was 27" long. The harrison river is where I used to go when I had a boat. Large Doc Spratleys worked great there. They were about 1 1/2" to 2" long flies. casted okay on a #6wt rod. Not so good on my #3 WT.