The Kalama...?

[flyguy15]

Haven't made it over to the Kalama since early August. Anyone been fishin it? Heard it's blown for now, but should be good when it drops..Worth it? YES or NO?

[dardevle]

With all the rivers high and blown for awhile, I'm not sure anyone could say which one will be "going off"  when they come into shape.

[Big Buck]

you;ll never know unless you go,, and if you don;t go you;ll never know...

[flyguy15]

That's very true, but when I live 3 hours away its hardly worth the drive to fish in chocolate milk..yah know? Just seein if the nates were in yet or not..Still prolly a little early..

[Big Buck]

f;g;15 i did not mean you should go tomorrow, i just meant when the rivers start to drop into shape ,most should have fresh fish in them, it will be a crap shoot on which ones will be the hottest, but the kalama might be a good call..

[bigjake]

I was down there last weekend, the water was good, 3 foot vis or so and not too high, the fishing on the other hand was verry slow. no hook ups for us and only a couple caught by drift boaters that we talked to. hopefully it will pick up, call the guy at mahaffeys and he will let you know what the river is looking like.

[GoCougs]

when I went by mahaffeys or Mary Contrary store was closed until feb. due to "economical times and weather" and wouldn't open again until Feb.  Hopefully they still answer the phone.  Water is too high for my liking right now but there should be fish around when it drops back into shape, if it does.  Lost one on Tuesday last week and only heard of 2 others in the canyon.  Water was up but had pretty good vis.

[Koka]

I've gone a couple of times in the last few weeks, and it's been pretty nice. One day I saw 3 nates caught and a few hatchery fish kept. That was the day I caught my dark late summer fish. Don't know about right now with the last rains we had though.

 I attached a fish my buddy caught the same day.

[flyguy15]

I've never really had a bad day on that river, but now that I live in Central WA I kind of have to pick and choose my trips. The rivers over on this side are either closed for the winter or blown out. Oh well just have to wait and play it by ear

[Finfollower]

Dang Koka that's a nice fish! 

Been wondering what you were up to, you've been quiet for a while.

[Koka]

Hey, Bob, thanks, but unfortunately for me, I didn't catch that buck. I was a little envious when my buddy caught that fish, and all I had caught that day was the dark fish I released. I still can't complain though, because at least I caught one. 

[bigjake]

The store is closed, but the guy that runs the campsite is who I talked to and he does answer the phone.

[Chum Man]

i haven't been down there since mid-june.  it used to be a great december/january river but it seems like either the early return hasn't been too great the last few years.  the hatchery fish seem to be returning later, and spread out over a longer time frame.

[Grizz]

i haven't been down there since mid-june.  it used to be a great december/january river but it seems like either the early return hasn't been too great the last few years.  the hatchery fish seem to be returning later, and spread out over a longer time frame.

I've talked to a hatchery manager down in our neck of the woods who explained to me that state mandates on the dates for smolt release don't always equate to actual release date in the real world. The state managers would like to make sure that hatchery run timing remain consistent but often times Mother Nature has other plans. For instance some times river levels would all but ensure a major fish kill if local managers were release smolt during periods of high run-off. Other times they withhold drops because of predators present in the estuary. At the hatchery I'm speaking of large back channels were created near the hatchery and the smolts are released there. That way, the fish can decide for themselves when conditions are optimal for them to enter the river.

Basically what goes on is local hatchery managers take it upon themselves to decide when to drop smolt into the river based on river conditions at the time. That could be whats going on with the Kalama, purely a guess on my part.

Some would say that delaying the drops might increase the chances of hatchery fish spawning with wild fish. I would be one of those people. Although this particular pratice on the particular river I'm speaking of has been going on for some time. The river experiences good returns of both early hatchery coho and late wild coho,......go figure.