HOOK AND FUR By Bob Brown Of all fishing lures, jigs are probably the most favored by steelhead fishermen. One of the reasons for this is their proven ability to catch fish. Jigs use movement, vibration, flash and color to bait fish. A plain jig is usually a single hook with a weight around the eye end of the shaft. It is weighted so the hook point rides up and away from the bottom, lessoning the chance of snags. A jig can be dressed with just about anything, but most often with bucktail, nylon, feathers or Mylar. When choosing jig head colors, water conditions (clear, stained or dark) must be considered. Jig heads are available in natural, fluorescent metallic, two-tone and glow finishes. In stocking a jig box, experienced anglers suggest starting out with a handful of basic colors - black, brown, white, yellow, pink and red for clear to stained water. Florescent chartreuse, green, orange and glow for dark water. As a general rule, use a 1/8-ounce jig for every 10 feet of water. For river trout and salmon, 1/16, 1/8 and -+-ounce jigs are recommended. When fishing for steelhead, there are two rules that need to be remembered when using jigs. The first rule is to present the jig within one or two feet from the bottom. The second rule is the jig must be presented at the speed of the current. It has been said that jig fishing is light on investment, low on frustration, and high on productivity. You can only say something is a success after it has been tried or used. Jigs surely would fit into that category. Robert Roth, Florida-based charter boat captain and author, said that in a pinch, if you have a hook, a plastic bag and a sinker or something else that can be used for a weight, you can make your own jig. Cut a half-dozen strips (about eight inches by a half inch) out of plastic bags. Use whatever color you have and care to use. Pierce the center of each strip and thread them onto your line, followed by the weight. Tie on the hook, and trim the strips just long enough to hide it. This lure would be better for trolling than jigging. Some of the material used in this article was extracted from Steelhead University's article Jig Fishing 101.
FISHING REPORT
-+ The Cowlitz continues to be full of fish, and anglers are taking full advantage of it. During Aug. 4-10, sampling showed boat anglers averaged a steelhead per rod. Most of the fish were caught in front of the trout hatchery and near the mouth of the river. Bank anglers were also catching some steelhead near the trout and salmon hatcheries using sand shrimp, eggs, cured prawns, loonie coonies, and just about anything else they can get their hands on, said Karen Glaser of Barrier Dam Campground. During that week, 1,336 summer steelhead, 89 spring chinook adults, 42 jacks and 156 mini-jacks, four fall chinook and two cutthroat were recovered at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery. Two- hundred summer steelhead were recycled downstream to the Interstate-5 boat launch. -+ Joe Hymer of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) reported steelhead still comprised the bulk of the catch in the lower Columbia. During Aug. 4-10, department personnel sampled 1,356 salmonid anglers (including 230 boats) with five adult and six fall chinook and 527 steelhead. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife reported sampling s taken Aug. 10 at Buoy 10 showed anglers averaged 0.56 chinook and 1.37 coho caught per boat. In the gorge boat anglers' averaged1.25 steelhead caught per boat, while anglers fishing the Portland to Westport area averaged 0.02 fall chinook and 1.18 steelhead caught per boat. In Troutdale, boat anglers averaged 0.26 steelhead caught per boat. Bank anglers in the gorge averaged 0.20 steelhead caught per rod, while anglers in the Portland to Westport area averaged 0.16 steelhead caught per angler. -+ Anglers targeting northern pikeminnows continue to rack up good catches in the Boyer Park and Greenbelt areas on the Snake River. The areas produced 1,076 pikes at Boyer Park and 1,344 at Greenbelt during the week of Aug. 4-10. To date, 29,376 pikeminnows (23 were tagged fish) have been caught in The Dalles area and 4,732 at Cathlamet.
Bob Brown is a freelance outdoors writer. He can be reached at robertb1285@fairpoint.net
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