Each year when the weather permits I pursue the forgotten “blueback“, sea-run cutthroat trout. It’s always a blast and I’ve been looking forward to fishing for them again all summer. So to help others out in the pursuit of sea runs I’ll drop some pointers on how to catch Oregon river sea run cutthroats. I specify this is for the fish once they are in the rivers.
In rivers like the Alsea where you fish for sea runs in deep slow pools, you’ll need a float tube and all that goes with a float tube (a pump, flippers, etc.). Waders are a must because fishing starts after it cools down and after it rains. When it comes to other clothing, wear layers and bring a rain jacket, my best days are rainy ones and I mean really rainy.
Rods/Reels/Lines/Leaders/Tippet:
I fish with a 5wt and it handles everything just fine. Your standard trout trout you probably already have is perfect. I would probably fish a 4wt more if they made sinking or sink tip lines for 4wts. As far a reel goes anything will do. A Nautilus is the cheapest one found at Walmart. These fish should not be running you to your backing and shouldn’t be needing to put them on the reel. Lines are the next thing to consider. A floater will get you 90% of the way there. I personally fish an intermediate line more than a floater but that is my personal preference. If you are budget concise then you can buy sinking leaders to go with your floating line and kind of have the best of both worlds. They don’t cast all that great, but they get the job done. A midge tip or integrated sink tip would serve you a lot better. Now tippet and leaders I fish shorter 7.5’ leaders at 3x and use a little bit of 3x to extend it out to 10’. I also fish exclusively fluorocarbon as well.
Flies:
This is really what everyone wants to know. The Borden Special is my top-producing fly by far and away. The runner up is a spruce fly. If you just had those you would do great. Now if you want to experiment, knock yourself out. For me one of the most fun parts of this fishery is using retro flies. You can break out the articulation and tungsten beads but it’s really not necessary. Flies like bear paws, dark knights, female coachman, royal coachman, and others are great places to start. The only downside is these patterns are not commercially tyed typically.
When/ Where:
September is typically when I start if the rain comes. In the past 5 years that hasn’t really happened. We have been getting mostly October rain, and a couple years ago rain didn’t show up until November. The season for this fish closes on October 31st so if it doesn’t rain until November we essentially don’t have a season for them. They do stage in the estuaries and tile portion of the river as soon as July or August but we are talking about river fish. If you want to know more about them stay tuned, maybe I’ll write about fishing the estuaries for them.
When you’re in the river you are looking for large pools that can be 5+ feet deep with riffles on either end. The larger the better. Once you find them and there as been some rain there will be fish there. I find most of my pools I fish in the bottom 25ish miles of the river systems.
How:
You need to start earlier in the day. These fish hate the sun and will get lock jawed as soon as the shadows are off the water. This means on a mostly sunny day you have until noon before the fishing comes to a halt. If it’s rainy or heavily overcast your fishing can be extended to sunset but in the past years that hasn’t happened all too often.
Fish for these fish like you would for smallmouth or brown trout. They love cover like logs, willows overhanging the bank, cuts in the bedrock, and undercut banks. Cast your flies tight to the cover and strip them back. Sometimes they want it deep or slow or fast or shallow, its up to you to figure that out and make adjustments throughout the day. One day while I was out I only caught fish when the rain showers were happening. No fish when there was rain and only fish when the rain came back. Weird but it tracks with these fun fish.
These fish when bite-y will move 8’ or more for flies. They have nearly ripped the rod out of my hands. So don’t be afraid to move flies quickly or make a wake on the surface with a large stimulator or october caddis.
I love these fish. They are a true PNW fish and they are fun. There are times I’m glad they are a forgotten fishery because it means I get them all to myself. There are countless rivers these fish swim in from Eureka, CA to Anchorage, AK so I think we can all find water away from one another and still get plenty of fish to the net.
If you have any questions or want to know more reach out here or through social media.
