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[vlad777]

shouldl the chehalis be fishable after this weeknend since alot of rain is expected to fall?

Yes fingers definitely crossed .

[cohoking]

Regarding the Canyon.
Is there another way up there besides walking up the hill and hike to the second pool. Last time I fished there was 7 years ago. During the last year at the Canyon I fell into the river at the cliff area near the bottom where you have to climb near the straight edge of the cliff. Lucky I didn't go down the river as I fell into the u section of the cliff edge. I was kind of twirling around until my hands caught the cliff.
There is another way to get up there by driving and all you do is a little hike down to the pool. Getting older now I don't think I want to try the cliff again. Don't want to look for my flashlight as its probably still there at the bottom of the pool where I fell in.
Can some one pm me and give me a detail description of how to drive to the area and do a small hike. Rather than parking below at the camp ground area and the 30 min hike up and down the mountain to the second pool and the risk of falling in again.....getting old now.  I appreciate the help.  Thanks, cohoking

[BooBooBear]

  With all of the rain forecasted over the next few days the water must be really running fast in the canyon... I would not want to hike the steep trail up there.  There must be an alternate route with the 4x4 getting in...

[Chromie]

There is no easly way into the canyon ...... thats why it's call the canyon lol and not park and fish ...... all the hike in areas i have been to and found in my fishing time are hard to get at.

[fishfinder]

Don't go alone. One slip and you could really injure yourself badly, and if you don't have someone to help you out you will have a hard time climbing out. Also good felt or aquastealth soles on a pair of boots with excellent ankle support are mandatory in the canyon.  I have seen too many fishermen with lousy boots slip on the way down or slide off slippery rock and injure themselves. 

[bigsnag]

Years ago about this time I was fishing the Chehallis between the Easter seal and the Hatchery. A guy and his buddy went into the canyon and one of them slipped off his perch and was swept away. I remember that day the river was dropping fast from the last days rain. I remember the search and rescue helicopter buzzing up an down the river at what seemed like 30 - 40 feet above me. The noise was short of deafening.I could see the prop wash  churn up the water when the pilot flew low over the places where there was no one fishing.  3 divers swam down past me looking for the guy in the log jams  and boulders and the overhanging brush. They found his body caught up in log boom cables near New Westminister in March. He was only 32 years old.

[bmynbr]

I was up at chehalis this afternoon, just up from the morris valley bridge, and fishing was no good.  I was there for about three hours, and only got a couple of nibbles and one fish that spit my hook in like ten seconds.  The river seemed hgher that I am used to seeing it, but that is normally when I am there to rockclimb in summer
Dave

[bmynbr]

Oh ya and I forgot to mention that the river looked like neo citran with not enough water.  Cloudy

[dnibbles]

Has anyone drifted the canyon from Statlu down? At normal water levels, is it do-able? I know it gets kayaked from higher than that.

[dnibbles]

I have a 10' raft, not just a pontoon. Water levels this weekend are ruling it out for me, but it's something I would like to try this year. I've hiked a good chunk of that canyon over the years, but there are definitely areas I haven't been.

[Robert_G]

I replied on another site with this
*cut and paste*

 99% of the river upstream from the Morris Valley Rd Bridge is canyon water with deep pools and runs. If the fish are in, each pool will have Coho in it from about now till March.
Most of the canyon is inaccessable unless you bushwack and then descend with ropes.

I've tubed the entire river from the bridge below the lake all the way to the bridge at Morris Valley Road.
It was a 10 hour tubing trip.
Both times were in early August. I looked into the water in many pools and runs and counted numerous Summer Run Steelies. As we got towards the end, there were several pools filled with Summer Red Chinook. One pool over 30 feet deep we counted over 70 Chinook alone.

I've thought about tubing the river and bringing fishing gear, but its pretty unrealistic. A few kms above the Statlu Creek confluence is an impassible waterfall that must be hiked around. This hike took about 40 minutes with our tubes.
The second time we tubed, we walked down Statlu Creek and tubed about 10 kms to Morris Valley Rd. There are actually more fish in this bottom half of the river then the upper 10kms...or at least going by my counts. This trip only took 5 hours to tube.

Just a word of caution. There are some beautiful pools directly above and below the Statlu Creek confluence, but once you go down the creek you CANNOT get back up. Towards the bottom of Statlu Creek, you must float from wall to wall in a canyon that has a 30 foot + deep pool. Its easy to get down, but you'll never get back up...if there is any current at all. I suppose super low water it might be possible.

Anyways....the rest of the pools below Statlu Creek would require bushwacking and/or ropes to get into.
There are a couple of secret spots that guys go into, where there is 'reasonable' access, but good luck finding someone to tell you where they are. You can go up the west side too, and there is a logging road that will bring you close to a few spots as well.