I'm going to Siuslaw Sat. to the Whittaker area and I could use your help! I need all the help I can get. I have been told that I should go to the Wildcat side to keep from getting into a gun battle for a hole. I was told that there are some pretty good holes North of the bridge that don't get as crowded as Whittaker area. I still haven't got my first Steel so I figure this will be as much a learning trip as a fishing trip. Watch and learn. If you folks can help me with what I need I would greatly appreciate it. I am taking bobbers, slinkies, eggs, jigs, pink worms, spoons and spinners. Does that about cover all the major food groups? Thanks in advance for all your help. Tight lines to all!

ok, hold the phone... (in my opinion) DO NOT go to the local hot spot, especially by yourself to learn how to catch your first steelhead. these hot spots are usually full of guys who are more interested in feeding their families than they are enjoying the sport. how else do you explain the shoulder to shoulder thing that they have going on? these guys are going to have zero to no patience for a guy who's just starting out, especially if he's by himself. can you imagine snagging in the middle of a hole surrounded by dozens of experienced anglers??!! thats not to say that you wont occasionaly run into a generous old timer... rather, go with a willing friend who has more experience than you do, but still avoid the hot spots. or, go alone! find a good, overlooked location, higher up, where the water is smaller and more defined. learning a little about reading the water will help in finding a good spot. if your friend is any kind of angler, he'll know how to catch a fish anywhere along the river. do what he does. watch and ask questions. this way you can make mistakes (bad casts, snags, in the trees, snap-offs) and not be given the strange looks from all the local meatheads at the hot spots. the scenery and company will more likely be a lot better. so will the learning... good luck!

I would recommend that you stay home tomorrow, because the water level is going to be to high for good bank fishing. It sounds like you have your arsenal in order, you just need to hit it when the water is a bit lower. If you have never caught a steelhead fishing in less than favorable conditions will only add to your frustrations. If you insist on going out tomorrow, I would try a smaller river like lake creek as it is usually in a little better shape than the Siuslaw. There is also Indian creek, which is a tributary to Lake Creek and I'm pretty sure you can fish that, but make sure check the regs before you fish it. There is miles and miles of water above whitaker that doesn't get near the pressure that the lower stretch gets. Steelhead fishing is best when the water is dropping. The forecast for tomorrow shows the river level going straight up. Hope this helps.

Ditto on all that. Plunking....nevermind, stay home and plan on Fri/Sat.

skyfisher wrote:ok, hold the phone... (in my opinion) DO NOT go to the local hot spot, especially by yourself to learn how to catch your first steelhead. these hot spots are usually full of guys who are more interested in feeding their families than they are enjoying the sport. how else do you explain the shoulder to shoulder thing that they have going on? these guys are going to have zero to no patience for a guy who's just starting out, especially if he's by himself. can you imagine snagging in the middle of a hole surrounded by dozens of experienced anglers??!! thats not to say that you wont occasionaly run into a generous old timer... rather, go with a willing friend who has more experience than you do, but still avoid the hot spots. or, go alone! find a good, overlooked location, higher up, where the water is smaller and more defined. learning a little about reading the water will help in finding a good spot. if your friend is any kind of angler, he'll know how to catch a fish anywhere along the river. do what he does. watch and ask questions. this way you can make mistakes (bad casts, snags, in the trees, snap-offs) and not be given the strange looks from all the local meatheads at the hot spots. the scenery and company will more likely be a lot better. so will the learning... good luck!

I disagree. I hope it's not to late for this post but I fish Whittaker in the "hot spots" and its a pretty cool crowd. I'm there 2 or 3 times a week. If you go down and talk to them for a bit and then ask if it's cool to fish on the bank by them 90% of the time they'll say "yes." And The other 10% are jerks that you dont want to fish with anyway. My tip of advise is fish how they're fishing. If they're drift fishing then drift. If they're tossing the bobber, then toss the bobber. But dont toss a bobber while they drifting. It will mess up the drift rotation. Person down river cast first then the next, then the next. Also if you get hung up on a snag, give it about three yanks to free it and if it doesnt come free then break it off. Thats my advice. Hope to see you on the river.

Kenzie wrote: If they're drift fishing then drift. If they're tossing the bobber, then toss the bobber. But dont toss a bobber while they drifting. It will mess up the drift rotation.

Or you could find a bit of river to yourself and choose your own rotation and method. With a little advice from people I think a person can learn far more paying attention while using basic techniques rather than standing around a crowded river bank full of people who self-admitingly could write a book.

Both ways will work but its hard to get into the crowd style fishing for me. I would wait for wittacker to drop very low before I fish it. You can then go in there with no people around and fish any deep spot and pull out fish. Thats what we do once or twice a year. Wittacker stretch is a hard one too because its a different type of river up there than most. Lots of fast, somewhat shallow water. It can be some great fishing though. This year seems to be the most crowded I have ever seen it.