Let’s see, the local fly shops say “the bite is on” “that’s it – Clackamus River up towards Barton” “all you need are these few flies”. And of course the fish are always biting when you need to sell some flies and tackle. So off I go to find the River near Barton!
I will say it’s a beauty of a River, with some nice public access, so I stayed two nites and fished at several different spots on the River at least morning & evening without a single bite! Tough fishing in the waist deep strong currents and without any action!
The folks in the area were nice, and the local guides floating the river pointed out that the steelhead bite is really in the fall. They were all out for trout. The highlight of the stay was spotting this merganser mom with her many chicks.Oh well, nice stay along the river, at a free city park in Estacada, a quaint little town with a great “Harvest Market” near the park.
