THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 



WINTER FISHING. 



By Walter F. Backus. 



There are several thousand anglers in the city of Portland who go fish- 

 ing a few times each season, and there are several hundred who go out 

 pretty regularly all summer long, but until this year the number who kept 

 their rods busy all winter have been comparatively few. 



But it seems as though the rank and file have begun to realize that 

 they are missing some real good sport when they pass up the winter fish- 

 ing. On some of the nearby streams, particularly the Sandy Eiver, there 

 are ten times as many fishermen taking part in the winter angling as 

 there were two years ago. 



The main reason for this sudden increase is the steelhead fishing. These 

 fine fish ascend the river during January and February and furnish sport 

 of the very highest order. They will average, twelve pounds in weight and 

 have been caught as large as twenty pounds. 



They will take a drifting bait with a bang that fairly makes the 

 angler's toes wiggle, and once they get the hook, there's no telling where 

 they will stop. 



And it's this ever-present possibility of getting fast to a ten-pound 

 silver arrow that makes the winter angler go forth in all sorts of weather. 



There are two ways of taking steelheads: by still fishing with a bait 

 anchored near the bottom, or by casting with a free-running reel and letting 

 the bait drift near the waiting fish. So far no bait has been found which 

 equals a large chunk of fresh salmon eggs, and they are used by nearly 

 all the fishermen, much to the disgust of various non-fishing members of 

 the angler's family. 



The still fisherman selects a likely looking riffle or eddy, heaves out 

 his baited hook, sets his rod over a forked stick, and then squats alongside 

 a brush fire to keep warm and await developments. 



On the other hand, the bait-caster is continually on the move, sending 

 his bait flying into every likely bit of water, always hoping that it will 

 drift near enough to a resting fish to start something. The still fisher 

 waits for the fish to find his bait, while the bait-caster tries his best to 

 find the fish. Each man thinks his style of fishing the only way, and, 

 strange to say, the two methods of fishing are about equally productive of 

 results. 



During the early part of January the fishing on the Sandy was very 

 good, and it should be fully as good during February. Of course, no large 

 number of fish have been taken, but no one expects it. If an angler is 

 lucky enough to get two or three strikes in a day, he thinks he has done 

 well, and one glistening ten or twelve-pound steelhead is considered a good 

 day's catch. 



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