Gold

Lee Lashway playing hookie

I recently spent a wonderful day on the famous North Umpqua river with fellow surface steelhead enthusiast Lee Lashway.  Since Lee and I began connecting through my blog last year, I have had a negative impact on his work and eating habits. Lee ended up shirking off a couple meetings so he could fish with me this day and his healthy diet gave way to Lay's potato chips and  Chunky Chips Ahoy cookies that I always take with me to the river.

We got a reasonably early start, leaving town at 4am and arriving on the river just after first light.  We hit some of our favorite runs until the day developed into it's normal summer routine turning bright and hot by late morning.

My good friend Keith Tymchuck was camping on the river so we stopped in at his campsite for a lunch break and to compare steelhead notes.  It turns out we were all having the same degree of success on the river, that is, no love from steelhead all around.  No grabs or rises for any of us.  Not unusual on this often finicky body of water.

Lee has been a long time member of the Steamboaters and has served on their board for a number of years.  Through this association, Lee has been close friends with Frank and Jeanne Moore.  After lunch, Lee and I drove over to the Moore's log house above the river to see if they were home and up for a quick visit.

As luck would have it, Frank and Jeanne were home and they welcomed us with the graciousness and kindness they are known for. Previously, I had briefly met Frank and Jeannie at the Steamboater's winter event in 2011 when Bill McMillan came to speak.  Frank commented on how Bill McMillan is a wonderful man.

Our conversations ran the course from North Umpqua steelhead, to the immensity of what Frank and Jeannie have meant to the North Umpqua basin and beyond.  I mentioned having listened to Frank's Ted Talk and having seen trailers from "Mending the Line" and being deeply touched by his conveyances of the value of marriage and his love and dedication to his wife Jeanne, whom he always speaks of with much love and adoration.  He said "she's a great girl".

We talked about fishing of course.  I mentioned having heard that Frank's favorite summer flies were small muddlers.  He confirmed that he liked to fish muddlers in size 8 and 10, surprisingly on a dead drift!  He noted that he often used a dead drift presentation because "after a while we all now where these fish lie".  He recalled hooking some steelhead with just a few feet of fly line out of his rod tip, on very short casts.

Frank reminisced about the old days and told us that "when the fish were in, there could be 10-15 steelhead in each pool".  He mentioned about double digit steelhead days, just in the campwater, in the years after WWII.  I surmised that if the river historically held that many steelhead at one time, then it is very far below it's carrying capacity today.  I think of such things when I can go day after day of fishing numerous runs and pools that could potentially hold large numbers of steelhead.  I often wonder "How can so much great holding water be seemingly empty so much of the time"??

I looked around the Moore's living room and saw the banner from when they celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.  Many historical North Umpqua photos could been around the home as well.  Their home was much like a museum of this special place loved by so many of us.  My eye was drawn to the photo of the "plank pool" (the Station) with the plank actually there - must have been before Frank pulled it out.

Jeanne and Frank Moore's 70th wedding anniversary banner.

The plank at Station

I talked of some runs that I have been fishing and like and described them to Frank and blurted out what I thought the name of said runs were.  Frank stated that each of the runs on the North Umpqua have a proper name and the names I was told were incorrect.  Live and learn.

Frank told the story of when Roderick Haig Brown came to visit and fished the North Umpqua and he proclaimed his belief that steelhead don't feed in freshwater.  Frank later caught and kept a wild winter buck whose belly was filled with many tiny insects so he sent the steelhead's entrails packaged in dry ice to Roderick Haig-Brown as proof of a steelhead feeding in freshwater.  Mr. Haig-Brown later conceded that some steelhead do indeed feed in freshwater.

We appreciated the Moores' accommodating our visit with out notice even though they are known to tell folks to come by any time.  We did not want to overstay our welcome so we tried to keep our visit brief.  I got a few pictures with the Moore's and said a quick prayer with them before heading off.

A visit with Frank and Jeannie Moore is good as Gold.  Photo by Lee Lashaway

 When we stepped outside, Frank showed us his famous trout pond.  Numerous steelhead sized rainbows swam about happily in their safe sanctuary.

Frank's Rainbows

The Original Steelhead Taxi, Frank's VW

 After leaving the Moore's home, Lee and I decided to brave the early afternoon heat and fish one last run before heading back to Lane county.  We hit one of the lesser fished runs that is a tough wade in typical North Umpqua style.  In maintaining normality, we didn't find any signs of willing steelhead and left the river by mid afternoon.

I arrived home by about 5pm, went into my house, fed our dog, then I remembered that new local piece of water that yielded a rise for me the other day.  I was tired, but I am also a guy who often "just can't get enough".  With the frustrations of fishing the "empty river" that day, I decided to jump back into the Steelhead Taxi for an effort at some evening redemption on my local flow.

I arrived at my homewater in no time, jumped back into my waders and went back to my new found spot.  No one else was about fishing and I felt thankful to be afforded solitude close to home.

I began at the top of the fishy section and after a few casts, I was back in the zone where I raised a steelhead a few days prior.  I carefully fished the section where the two mid river breaks form the cushion of soft water that yielded the recent rise to my new gold waker.  Apparantly no one was home this day as my waker swung through this water without any interruptions from rising steelhead.

I continued down, still optimistic for a rise, but still unsure as I was still new to fishing this run.  The full potential of this water was yet to be discovered.  As I worked through the run, I continued to note surface indicators of good structure below and enough depth for steelhead to feel secure.

As I neared the end of what looked like promising water, the currents slowed, but still fished my fly nicely.  I continued to survey the water and was adjusting to the slower swing afforded by the softening flow.  I was making casts straight across since the surface textures invited a broadside swing.

As I watched my waker coming toward the end of a broad swing, a soft, but substantial  gulp came to the fly.  As I did nothing and held on, my line tightened with a slow solid back and forth pull.   I simply kept my line tight and transferred the rod to my left hand  and began reeling tighter to the steelhead with my right hand.  The steelhead did some stubborn tug of war with a few short runs.  Not a reel screamin' steelie but he gave a strong battle nonetheless.  The optical illusion of water originally made this steelhead appear to be much smaller than I realized it to be when I got him in close.  With no convenient gravel bar to beach the fish, I was able to put my rubberized Cabela's sun gloves on which gave me enough grip to tail the steelhead.  I got a few photos of my hatchery prize and headed home shortly thereafter since I did not have a cooler nearby on this warm day.

More Gold.  Hatchery buck taken on my new gold waker.

After a tough day fishing the North Umpqua, I was feeling blessed and redeemed by my two golden encounters.