Returning to Steelhead Paradise Part 3 - Loaded Runs

Day 2:

We decided to take a float further upriver on this day.  We put in just after dawn and as we began our drift, we were able to take in the beauty of this special place, breath the cool morning air, and our hearts collectively felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude to God for allowing us to enjoy this wonderful experience together.  We were truly in Steelhead Paradise!

Paradise Found

 As we rounded a corner, we eyed a great looking run as we floated down.  I think all three of us were thinking "this looks good, should we fish it??"  We were not far from the launch and had tons of water to cover, but again, my impulsive side came through as I asked Steve to pull in so we could give this spot a shot.  Luckily my request came just in time for us to pull in at the lower section of this run before we would have had to pass it up.

We somehow fell into a formation that almost became standard for most of the trip - I'd hit the top/head of the run, Steve grabbed middle, and Adrian grabbed the bottom.   As I walked to the top of the run, a nice steelhead rolled/splashed in the middle of the run - a good sign for Steve.  Sure enough, not long after Steve started in, fish on!  Steve got a nice steelhead on his beautifully tied Undertaker.  After landing the fish, he went back to his position but this time he decided to try a surface fly.  Steve had been fishing a green butt Little Wang, (size 6, no flash) and this beautiful hen just attacked the fly.  Steve brought this beauty to hand and we were actually able to get our talented photographer in a few pics.

Fish on!  Photo by Adrian Cortes

Early morning delight.  Photo by Adrian Cortes

I went back to the top and continued down and just as I got to the bend in the run, a little hen attacked my new black/blue skater and she got off right at the beach.  It was a perfect one salt steelhead of maybe 4lbs.

As I continued down, I approached the section of the run where the flow straightens out, breaking in from the bend, and I raised multiple steelhead to my skater, but could not get them to stick!   These fish were coming up with a porpoising/gulping kind of rise and I kept missing them.  In retrospect, I should have dropped the rod or dropped a loop when these fish came up, especially once they were located by their initial rises.  When these steelhead stopped rising to my skater, I tied on a beautiful Undertaker that Steve had tied and gifted to me.  On the very next cast with the wet fly, the line came tight and my Hardy was making a joyful noise.  Steve helped me land this steelhead (a hen, maybe 5/6lbs) and we found that it was actually hooked in the belly.  I'd bet the steelhead took the fly on the swing, got hooked in the mouth, got unhooked during the fight, then got snagged in the belly as she turned away.  Seems unlikely that I would have foul hooked a steelhead in the belly on a wet fly swimming in the surface film.

Adrian fished through the bottom of the run without incident, so he rotated to the top and lashed on a Blue Charm that he had tied on the drive up.  In what appeared to the same area where I hooked my small hen, Adrian hooked into his biggest fish of the trip that gave him a strong fight before the hook pulled out as the steelhead was getting closer to shore.  Adrian was thrilled as this was his first steelhead hooked on a Blue Charm.

Bent Cane!  Photo by Steve Turner

A loaded run

By the time we had each completely cycled through this wonderful run, we accepted that these steelhead were done with our games as no more rises or grabs seemed forthcoming.  It was tough to leave a run that had been so generous to us, but we still had the whole remainder of the float ahead.

At the next run, Adrian raised what appeared to be a steelhead near a midriver rock but no comebacks from that fish.  Steve and I fished through the remainder of this beautiful run with no chrome feedback so we moved on.

We came to another run that I called out for and Steve and I started in while Adrian took a break to tie up another greaseliner.  As I came into the heart of the run, a steelhead came up with an aggressive rise my skater, but my best comeback attempts were unsuccessful.

We decided to take a lunch break at a big, beautiful pool.  We had seen a steelhead roll on the far side of the pool, but when we pulled in, we realized it would be way out of casting distance.  After eating, we got into our normal formation.  The run was in full sunlight on this clear day.  As we were just about done fishing this large pool, Adrian hooked up on one of his classic Atlantic Salmon wets in the slow, bottom section of the pool and got to greet the buck below:

Adrian's buck taken on a Blacker #4.  Photo by Steve Turner

Classic Salmon Fly success.  Photo by Steve Turner

 We continued down and came to an island.  A sled had just gone powering through the channel on river right, but this channel had a better head of water going through it than the other channel and it looked fishy, so we stopped even in spite of the disturbance just caused by the sled.  I remembered how steelhead can become rested fairly quickly after boat traffic goes through a run and some have written that sleds going through runs can actually stir up steelhead.  It was time to test out this theory.....

 I took the top, this time Adrian took middle, and Steve took the lower section.  As I  was getting settled into fishing the upper corner of the run and getting to the nice seam where the faster water met the soft inside water, I heard a watery explosion coming from downstream.  When I looked over, I actually saw a very aggressive steelhead that just attacked Steve's skater all the way down at the bottom corner of the run!  Just as it registered of what had just happened, a second explosive rise came to Steve's fly as it came to the lower third of the swing.  Amazingly, this angry steelhead didn't get hooked on either of the two aggressive rises. 

Steve in the surface steelhead attack zone.  Photo by Adrian Cortes

After a few more casts, this steelhead would not come back to Steve's skater, so he walked back up to the boat to fetch his box of skaters, which he had forgotten to carry with him.  He selected a rusty colored skater that looked similar to the Bulkley Mouse style of fly.  Steve went back down to his position and when his fly got into the zone, "his" steelhead returned with another explosive rise and this time, Steve's fly found purchase in the steelhead's mouth.  A breif battle followed with the hook pulling out of that aggressive player.

In the midst of Steve's steelhead encounter, Adrian encountered several players as well.  Adrian tells the story here:

I recall watching Steve raise a glorious surface crash about 75 yards below me as he fished Todd's surface skater. One of those surface I attacks that I envy so much: water spraying everywhere followed by the expected reaction of the angling party in a unified "Whoa!". My recollection on the sequence of Steve's surface commotion is a bit hazy, so he would be best to inquire about that activity. This much I know, Steve was coming back up the bank to exchange some flies with Todd for a possible comeback attempt to the fish that he raised.

 With Todd and Steve exchanging surface flies right behind me, I raised a steelhead on the last quarter of the swing. That steelhead chased down the Grease Liner like a bat-outta-hell. One of the neat things I cherish about surface steelheading in BC is that if you are fortunate enough to fish with your buddies, odds are great that you will visually encounter each other's surface steelhead attacks. And that's what was cool about this specific hook-up. Well that fish missed that initial slash to the fly and not surprisingly I exclaimed "Whoa!" (my exclamation with the dual purpose of being unable to contain my glee and also to notify my buddies that 'Hey! Check this out...I can get surface action, too!"). The rod tip was never raised and I'll be a monkey's uncle if that fish didn't come back 3 more times to that Grease Liner on the same swing finally hooking itself in what seemed like inches of water right next to the bank.  That was a moment of awe and pure joy representing the aggressiveness of these wild BC steelhead.

I played that steelhead for quite a while as it zigged and zagged with the fury of a trapped animal. As remarkable as her take was, her release was anticlimactic as she jettisoned off to safer water without us handling her - the hook popped out near the bank as she was nearing the end of her fight. It would have been nice to tail her, but that is a formality that I can overlook seeing that I am addicted to the surface crush. I raised two more steelhead in that run with the same Grease LIner. Both of those fish felt the hook briefly and made a short racket on ye olde Dingley reel before spitting the hook. 

As far as Steve's fish, he went back down to where he had first raised the steelhead and I believe proceeded to stimulate another surface crash with another pattern from his fly box. But that is not my story to embellish. Interestingly, what is remarkable to me about those BC steelhead runs is that you can pretty much call where a steelhead will rise and there is a good chance of that happening. I've tried "calling" those shots down here on our rivers in the Pacific Northwest and success rarely happens for me. I guess wild BC steelhead can make one an instant expert in steelheading...I don't quite yet know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Adrian hooked up at Treasure Island.  Photo by Steve Turner

Adrian in action

Oh yeah, so seems the theory about steelhead not being phased by boat traffic or maybe even stirred up by boat traffic proved true on this day!!  With all the action that Steve and Adrian had at this run, we came to give it the nickname "Treasure Island".

Last run of the day.  Photo by Steve Turner

We fished a few more runs before realizing that we needed to make some time to get to the take out before dark.  Adrian had another pull on his greaseliner at the last run of the day, but didn't hook up.  Thanks to Steve's GPS we were able to time our drift so we wouldn't get caught in the dark.  What did we do without such technology in the old days??

All in all, the steelhead were very active to the surface this day!!

Adrian concludes:

We all fell into that comfortable routine of preparation, angling, breakdown, tying/toasting, crashing, waking-up to do it all over again. By day 2, I personally developed more confidence in the surface fly than ever before, that it was almost a surprise when a swing would end without some sort of activity. Admittedly, my goal of fishing vintage Atlantic Salmon patterns I tied for this trip was seriously hampered...I truly believe that these BC fish cannot accept that surface disturbance and WILL go out of their comfort zone to try and destroy that surface fly. Thus, the wetfly ended up staying clipped in the Wheatley for I had more confidence in the waked swing. 

Have rods, will fish.  Photo by Steve Turner

Road trip ties.  Photo by Adrian Cortes

Spirits and Flies - Adrian's Classics.  Photo by Adrian Cortes

The Black and Blue Little Wang - approved by BC steelhead.  Photo by Steve Turner

Day 3

We tried yet another different drift on this day.  I had gone on this float in the past and knew of at least a couple productive runs through it's course.

At the very first run, a nice long one, Adrian briefly got a hook up on his greaseliner.  This is such a gorgeous run that fishes a skater so nicely that I couldn't believe that I couldn't raise a steelhead through there.  Steve came up empty as well.

The start of another great day.  Photo by Steve Turner

It would turn out to be a day where I would fish many beautiful pieces of water with no result.  Not the first time for such an event to occur for me and never a loss or disappointment in such a beautiful place.

It turned out that this stretch was the busiest one we floated for some reason.  Of course there was plenty of good water to fish and we even got to fish a run I knew of that produced fish for me in the past.  I didn't recognize it at first due to the lower water this year, yet it still fished nicely, but seemed to be fishless, for us at least.  Adrian had an across the river conversation with a fellow who went fishless for four days and then got two steelhead that morning.

We came to a run that went around a corner and Adrian had a good pull on a General Salmon Fly that didn't stick.  Steve was fishing around the corner and reported that he had a fish come up with a massive rise to his skater.  He hooked into the fish, got a few thrashing headshakes and it was off.

We saw a guy fishing below us that seemed to have waded halfway across the river, that hooked into multiple fish.  We also witnessed another fellow that was hooked up to a nice steelhead in another run downstream as we drifted by.


 All in all it was a tough day of fishing for us, but still another great day in paradise.

Enjoying the rhythm.  Photo by Steve Turner

Keeping an eye on the prize.  Photo by Steve Turner

Waiting.....  photo by Steve Turner

Day 4:

On this day, we decided to float the same stretch that was productive for us on day 2.  We stopped at the first run just below the put in, where we had all the action on our prior float - it's loaded again...........

We decided to rotate our positions in this run so Adrian took the top, I got the middle, and Steve took the bottom.  Just as was the case a couple days ago, a fish rolled and splashed. as if on cue, in the middle of the run - I had that feeling....  On my first or second cast, a fish exploded on my skater and was off to the races.  After a quick paced fight with some head shakes and short runs, this little fighter gets off, maybe a 4-5lb fish.

I continued on, getting more line out and started  gently twitching my skater.  I couldn't really see it in the early morning glare, but I heard a rise, kept twitching, and found a fish on and running.  This nice buck came tight, went airborne and abruptly broke off at my loop knot.  I'm not sure how this happened except to surmise that there was some sharp edges in the eye of the hook.  Evidently, the steelhead didn't know that he got free because he jumped again further downstream, probably trying to spit my skater from his jaw.    This looked like  perhaps a low to mid teens steelhead, a buck, judging by it's darker silhouette that could seen in the arch of it's jump.

With my adrenaline still flowing and my heart beating in my throat from the excitement of hooking and losing perhaps the largest steelhead that I've hooked on the surface, I managed to settle back into my rhythm.  I made a few more casts and a fish came up with a jack in the box kind of rise - the
line briefly tightened, then nothing.  At that time, Steve was walking up after fishing through the bottom of the run.  I told him I just lost my third fish, then I cast again, and surprisingly the steelhead came back and gulped the fly down and took off.  This fish bulldogged  and made short, stubborn runs, eliciting sweet sounds from my Hardy Perfect.  I ultimately landed him, a buck that measured 33", again, validating my new blue/black skater.

Living the Surface Steelhead Dream.  Photo by Steve Turner

The luxury of having a fishing bud to help with a quick measurement.  Photo by Steve Tuner

Perfection......  Photo by Steve Turner

The release.   Photo by Steve Turner

Live long and prosper.  Photo by Steve Turner

A few minutes later, Adrian hooked up down low on a riffle hitched muddler, a fly given to him by his friend John from Idaho.  He nearly landed this fish and then the hook pulled out.  After fishing through the bottom, he went to the top and hooked/landed a little buck on one of the black/blue wangs that I gave him.

Love at first sight.  Photo by Steve Turner

Our game plan was to cover water more quickly so we took off for "Treasure Island", the name we gave to the run where Steve and Adrian had all the action a couple days ago.  Adrian raised a fish on a greaseliner, hooked up and nearly landed it before the hook pulled out.  No other action here, but Steve and I saw a cow moose and  her calf cross the river and walk up the bank.

As we floated down, we saw a huge 6x6 bull elk along the river.  We floated slowly towards it and Adrian got a quick shot as it took off up the bank.

Majestic animal heading for cover.  Photo by Adrian Cortes

We continued down and fished another promising looking run that started at a slight bend in the river.  I started at the bouncy top section and was loving that water.  Adrian continued around the corner into this huge, wide, soft glide.  I could see that he was "feeling it" with the water he was fishing and he waved me over to come join him.  As I got around the corner to start in above him, Adrian hooked up on his greaseliner.  After several good runs and a scrappy tug of war, that fish got off.

After a few minutes, Steve brought the boat around to the lower section of the run.  Adrian hooked up again shortly thereafter, and again, got a good fight out of the fish before it also freed itself.

Steve started in low and the next thing I knew, a steelhead was thrashing at the end of his line.  This nice hen gave a scrappy battle and Steve landed this beautiful steelhead that grabbed a green butt little wang (one with no extra flash, as Steve prefers).

 

Steve utilizes his underwater housing on his Nikon digital SLR for this cool shot of his steelhead.   Photo by Steve Turner

After settling back into my position in the upper part of this long glide, I approached a spot where I noted some subtle wakes in the midst of the otherwise smooth flowing run.  I was fishing one of my green butt skaters with an inverted hook due the wind blowing some leaves onto the water and also to see how well this skater would do in hooking up with a steelhead, if given the opportunity.

As my skater swung over this area which apparently contained some rock structure below, a steelhead came up with a gulping rise, but missed the fly.  I went back a few times with the same fly with no result.  I switched to a greaseliner that Adrian gave me and figured with the success he had been having with this fly, it would be a no-brainer on the comeback.  I took a couple strips of running line back onto the reel and worked my way back down to the steelhead's position.  As my cast swung over the rippled surface, my nerves tensed, but nothing happened.  I changed to a smaller "micro" version of the green butt wang tied on a Mustad 3906 #6 wet fly hook.  Same comeback routine, same result - no response from Mr. Steelhead.  At this point I figured to go to a wet fly in the film to "close the deal" on this steelhead.  I chose a #2 Yogi that my friend Keith Tymchuck gifted me with several years ago.  I shortened up and worked back down and figured a pull was surely forthcoming................ well, I might have gotten a slight tap on the dangle of one of my casts, otherwise, nothing definitively steelheadlike happened with the Yogi.

By this time, I was about done messing around with trying to get that steelhead to comeback.  For all I knew it may have continued migrating upstream or died of boredom while watching my parade of flies going over it.  On a whim, I tied on a #4 Black/Blue wang which just happened to have been the very first one I created as I sat along the banks of the North Umpqua several days prior.  I was about ready to move on as there was a lot more water to cover in this large run.  I didn't bother shortening up, I just went back with my 10 strip cast and as my black/blue creation skated over the subtle ripples that marked where the initial rise happened, the steelhead broke the surface film with a bulging rise and was soon causing my Hardy to make a sweet sound.  A few runs and surface thrashes later and I had the steelhead over towards the bank where Steve and Adrian were able to assist me with getting a grip on the steelhead for some celebration and photo ops.

Hooked up to my comeback Steel...  Photo by Adrian Cortes

In the "Happy Zone"........  Photo by Adrian Cortes

The result of persistence with the comeback.  Photo by Adrian Cortes

Comeback flies - Mr. Steelhead finally decided to eat the Black/Blue Wang.  Photo by Adrian Cortes

Every fishing trip calls for healthy snacks, chips anyone??  Photo by Adrian cortes

We moved to one last run before taking out with no further action for the day.  We concluded the day feeling an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the wonderful fishing we were able to experience in this special place.  We couldn't have imagined a more perfect day - fishing in beautiful surroundings, the fellowship of great friends, and unforgettable surface steelhead encounters.  The rises and hookups we encountered would live long in the memory and yet the pace at which we were receiving these blessings was where each and every rise from these wild steelhead required enough effort and persistence as to keep them from becoming too commonplace and taken for granted.

Adrian couldn't figure out why the tip of his thumb turned black until he realized it was from rubbing off the leading on his Dingley after fighting so many steelhead!  Photo by Adrian Cortes

Adrian baptizes himself at the end of a memorable day of surface steelheading bliss.

Day 5, the final chapter

We floated our favorite drift on this day.  As we put the boat in, we sadly realize that "our" favored loaded run is taken!!  A guy has a fish on in "our" bucket as we float by.  Bah humbug... oh well, we'd try to find fish elsewhere.


We fished a couple spots including an innocuous looking flat that we'd seen a fellow fishing in prior days.  This run was more interesting than it looked which one would not have realized until actually stopping there and wetting a line.  Adrian ended up raising a steelhead in the lower section of this water on a black/blue wang.  The fellow that we had seen fishing this water was traveling via jet ski.  This was the first time I'd seen anyone using a jet ski to get from run to run and it turned out that this guy was a very friendly and helpful fellow named Ed.

On this day we came upon "Jet ski Ed" at another innocuous run and got to chatting as we slowly floated by.  Ed had mentioned that he had hooked 3 fish in the other spot a couple days ago so we asked how he was doing this day.  He noted that his back hurt and Adrian asked if it was from fighting too many steelhead and Ed remarked "no, it's from being on the wrong side of 70".  Ed then suggested that we pull in and fish the bank opposite of him.  He noted that there is a nice trench running all the way down along there.  This is the kind of thing that casual visiting fisherman like us would never have picked out otherwise.

Ed assured us that he wouldn't mind the across the river company, so we pulled in as he suggested.  The fact that Ed told us that he has returned to Skeena country every year for the past 25 years gave us confidence that he knew what he was talking about.  We already got that sense when we fished Ed's other spot earlier in the day.  The "featureless" glide Ed had been fishing actually had more depth and structure than we realized when we floated past it previously.  Fishing that run shed light on just how much one can discover if one is allowed to fish a given watercourse long and often enough and we surely wished we could spend a greater part of our existence up that way!!

As we got into formation in our new found run, we discovered that Ed was true to his word, this was fishy looking water that swung great.  We also knew that we were in line with Ed's methods as he had asked us "you guys skatin'??" and he informed that all he does is skate a riffle hitched buck bug.  It was pure joy to watch Ed's relaxed and confident style of fishing.

As I began walking upstream to my typical position, I found myself wanting to keep going and going as the water kept looking better and better.  I noted a midriver rock and Ed simultaneously yelled across to me "be sure to fish around that rock, it fishes good".  I continued up until I was a ways above the rock in some nice choppy riffle water.  I feel most confident in broken water for some reason - maybe a sense of security that the bouncy water will hide all my casting and other blunders.

As I worked my way down, a rise came to my fly just as I began to strip in for the next cast.  I dropped the strip of line and the steelhead rose again, but missed.  I drew the rod back upstream a bit and the steelhead rose yet again and I was able to time dropping the rod on the strike.  As I drew the rod back, I felt tension and the fish was on.  I initially stripped in line to keep tension on this fish and realized this steelhead was not exactly a monster.  I got him on the reel and he gave some stubborn bursts in close and I was able to land yet another one of these small, but perfect one salt steelhead. 
Smaller steelhead have seemed unusually abundant on this trip and I hope it is a sign of a strong run of larger steelhead in the future.

One salt steelhead

When I made my way down to the boat, we compared notes and Adrian informed that he raised a steelhead down low in the run.

We hit our "lunch run" next.  Steve raised one down low in the run, but could not elicit a comeback.

Peeking at Adrian's fly box

Green Highlander

Underwater shot of Adrian's Greenhighlander - irresistible!  Photo by Adrian Cortes

We hit a couple more spots new to us then we hit the "Treasure Island" run.  I decided to try the other channel.  When I was done and got back around, I found out that Adrian hooked and landed a nice buck up high in the run on a prototype fly we had named the "freebird".

Steelhead on the freebird.  Photo by Steve Turner

The release.  Photo by Steve Turner

Take that, evil human!  Photo by Steve Turner

The story on the "freebird":  On the evening of day 3, I had been at the vise tying up more of my foam skaters and Adrian started making "tying requests" such as "hey, can you tie a Wang, but with out foam??".  Huh??  How do I tie a foam skater without foam??  What Adrian conceptualized ended up being somewhat of a merging of the little wang with the greaseliner.  The fly ended up with natural Elk tied in front of the black elk and a topping of white skunk hair for visibility.  I am continuing to tinker with the design of this fly and am close to being satisfied with the version I have recently come up with.  The name "freebird" came to mind for the fly because as I sat there with Adrian making "tying requests", it reminded me of my days as a drummer in club bands in the late 80's and it seemed that the most requested song from our typically drunken (no, Adrian wasn't drunk) audiences was "freebird" by Lynrd Skynrd.

Freebird prototypes.  Photo by Adrian Cortes

 We finished off the trip at the long glide that produced my most memorable comback steelhead the day before.  We confidently got into our positions with much anticipation as this had been among the "loaded" runs we had encountered.  We fished as determined as ever as we knew this was our "swan song".  I approached the gentle rippled spot that produced my comback episode and nothing happened.  Adrian fished his hot zone with no result.  Steve fished his sweet spot down low with no response.  As we reeled up and gathered at the boat, we reflected on the most perfect and blessed trip that could only have been orchestrated by our God, the creator of the universe, and to Him be the Glory!

Blessed Friendships!  Photo by Steve Turner

For those equipment junkies out there:

Steve's setup (used most of the trip):  Sage One 6126, Bauer Rogue reel, and SA Scandi Extreme head.

Adrian's setup:  JM Reid Summer Run - 12' 6/7wt cane rod, 4 inch Dingley lined with a Vector Ballistic.

My setups:
most used - 11' 6wt Cabelas TLR switch (an 80 dallah rod), Hardy Perfect 3 7/8 narrow drum, 350 gr Ambush head, Rio Powerflex .030 running line
My second setup:  11.5' 7wt Cabela's TLR switch (another 80 dallah rod), SA System 10 (same as Hardy Marquis Salmon 1), 390 grain Rage head, 25lb Ridge running line.  Hand tied Maxima Leaders.
Briefly used:  Original Echo Classic 6126, 4" JW Young Beaudex, 390 Airflo compact Scandi

Even on the big water we fished, I found my two Cabela's switch rods to be totally adequate for the casts I was making.  I continue to be amazed that how those inexpensive TLRs perform.  Goes to show that one doesn't have to spend tons of money to have fun in this sport.

Coffee:  Seattle's Best
Chips:  Lays and Ms. Vickies

A Fly's Significance

by Adrian Cortes

Having recently returned back to Oregon from a steelhead trip of terrific proportions, I find myself attempting to reconcile my extraordinary experiences on a magnificent river and the day to day drama that is required by life. I am not complaining but grateful to have enjoyed something so noteworthy, however, so brief.  The challenge lies in the transition to also relish in what I have in the present. My daughters are getting older and their conversations are colored with names of school friends, and who did what, and guess what she did, and also sprinkled with "Minecraft" vocabulary such as "blocks"/"creeper"/"soul of light". I face a dilemma that I am sure will find its own course and I must be content with the journey.

With that preface completed and no one else to share my BC steelhead experience, I will indulge myself with the memory of my first BC steelhead:

I was accompanied by two wonderful steelheaders and friends in Steve Turner and Todd Hirano. Both gentlemen were strangers to me just a few years ago but for some reason God weaved His tapestry so that we could take this journey together. I will skip the fantastic beginning of this trip and will fast forward to the significance of my first steelhead on our destination river. On our way up to Skeena country, we planned to stop by James Reid's Bamboo Rod making shop in Vancouver, BC. James gifted me with some vintage English irons and I was more than ecstatic to tie some dressings on them.

With the BC rivers being known for dry fly steelhead, I planned to tie up a pattern by Harry Lemire called the Greaseliner. Mr Lemire is an icon of the sport and one who inspired me to tie flies without a vise. I only met Harry briefly at a tying event and shortly thereafter found out that he had passed away from illness. Somehow, I clung on to the spirit of Harry's tying and made it an enjoyable effort to tie classic patterns without a vise. Well, that Greaseliner pattern found its way to the hooks gifted to me from James Reid. I tied my first Greaseliner in hand while on the drive up to Skeena country, but I did not know how it would fare on our destination river.

The first day on the river float found us experiencing beautiful surroundings of evergreens with the autumnal splattering colors of aspen, cottonwood, and alders. Hudson Bay Mountain towered on the horizon as we drifted on. Bald eagles and ospreys screeched their disapproval of our intrusion as the gauntlet of crows harassed those regal birds of prey. But we weren't there for sightseeing, we were on an adventure to angle for the finned unicorn of these majestic rivers. Todd and Steve had already hooked steelhead on a dry and wetfly respectively, while I had just a pull on a Jock Scott. While we floated a stretch of water, Todd mentioned that he witnessed Harry Lemire fish one of these runs when Harry was still wading the rivers. That was all I needed to tie on the Greaseliner.

The sun was high on the water, Todd was at the top of the run fishing the faster chop which he enjoys fishing. Steve took the lower chop where it transitioned into the seam (truly fishy water). I took the lower run with a downed tree resting near where the water formed some sort of a tailout. Now before one was able to get a full head of flyline out, Todd had already hooked up and landed a nice fish on his skater at the top of the run. That just amped up the intensity level of my angling. After congratulations and quick pictures of Todd's fish, we all settled back into our positions. I stripped enough line out and fired a cast directly to that downed tree. The fly was roughly 10 feet above it and swung to the hangdown untouched. With a few steps downstream, I launched another single spey. The Greaseliner sat bobbing on the surface waiting for the slack in the leader to straighten from the current to get it skating. Approximately 5 feet above the downed tree, the fly started its surface wake. I wasn't expecting much this early in the game, so when a steelhead crashed on that Greaseliner I am sure my heart went into conniptions.

Of note to those that do not fish for steelhead on the swing, one does not set the hook when a steelhead takes. The proper angler reaction is to wait until the fish starts taking line off the reel and then to smoothly swing the rod to the bank. Well I didn't even have this chance. The fly was gone, the line never straightened from the weight of a fish, and obviously the old vintage reel was as quiet as a church mouse. What the heck just happened, I screamed in my head. I could still see the ripples on the water, I raised my arms up in perplexity then I dropped them to my knees in anguish, of course holding on to my rod this whole time. I looked upstream to my buddies and yelled I just had a huge take. They both had that look of What? I can't hear you. Did you get one?   That all-too-familiar searching expression that elicits the I-can't-hear-you-pal-because-I'm-upstream-aways-and-the-river-is-loud reaction.

Nothing to do at this point but to keep fishi....wha?! Why's my line taking off?! Well I'll be! There's still a fish on this line! The line tightened up to the Dingley reel and then the old winch started screaming. Lovely! After a brief battle with jumps and runs, a beautiful hen came to hand. She glistened in the sun and showed off the few spots that she had on her back. Oh, was it glorious. My first BC steelhead caught on a skated dry pattern originated by Harry Lemire and tied in hand the old way on an old vintage iron. She was released back to her lie and this to me was an event worth celebrating. A toast with my steelhead friends ensued with fine single malt and coffee.

In regards to the steelhead take, all I can theorize is when that fish crashed on that Greaseliner, she went straight back down to her lie with the fly in her mouth. In the meantime, I was on the bank with all the angler gyrations of a missed fish. Little did I know that the current was slowly taking the leader downstream gradually lodging that Greaseliner in the fish's mouth. When that hook stuck, the surprised hen ripped line off upstream and captured my attention once more.

I have retired that Greaseliner just like I do with all my significant flies. And I hope to be able to tell this story to all who would be interested in a personal quest that was achieved. Many more fish were taken on this trip with such extraordinary grabs that more notes will have to be written. But for now, that first Greaseliner hen on one of Harry's runs deserves a toast.

A Greaseliner tied in hand on the river

Greaseliner that took my first BC steelhead after the fish release

The first and last time I met Mr. Lemire, a fine angler and exquisite tyer

Returning to Steelhead Paradise Part 2 - Day 1

After visiting with Bill McMillan and James Reid, we continued on with our non-stop drive to Skeena Country.  We drove through the night without incident except for being briefly pulled over by RCMP in Cache Creek at about 1am during Adrian's driving shift.  The officers claimed that they pulled us over because they had difficulty reading the license plate number on Steve's boat trailer and because they wondered what folks with Washington plates would be doing passing through town at 1am.... guess it wasn't obvious enough that we were on a mission after steelhead!

We knew we had arrived when we pulled into a place proclaiming itself as "Steelhead Paradise"!  We had finally made it to the spiritual center of our worlds.  We proceeded to grab some coffee and breakfast, anxiously milled around town, grabbed some groceries and then drove up and down the river to scope out put ins/take outs until it was time for us to check into our quaint motel.

Since we had some time, we took a drive over to look at the Kispiox.  It was running low, but it's potential could still be seen as we watched a nice steelhead roll in a pool as we looked down from a bridge.

Kispiox River.  A Black Bear can barely be seen in the background.  

Don't tell James Reid about this scene.

 After checking in and getting settled into our steelheadquarters for the week, we ran back to town for dinner, then came up with our game plan for the next day when we would begin our 5 days fishing during the weekdays allowed to us "NRAs".

I had "hyped up" the guys on dry fly steelheading in BC with stories of aggressive wild steelhead that would often come to the surface multiple times on the swing, explosive rises to skaters, loaded runs that provided multiple hookups, etc.  Memories from my prior trips were vivid in my mind and my excitement had rubbed off on Steve and Adrian.  I prayed that our fishing would play out with at least some semblance of the surface steelhead successes I had experienced on some of my prior trips to BC.  Of course, there are no guarantees in steelheading and slow fishing for no apparent reason in what appear to be ideal conditions happens often enough wherever one chases these unicorns.

I got back to tying skaters in the motel room before going to bed, since for all I knew, my newest black/blue creations could be the ticket on those BC steelhead.  We slept restlessly in anticipation of our first day of fishing, but we managed to get up at the appointed time, loaded the boat and got to the the put in at dawn.

Preparing for the first days fishing by tying more skaters.  Photo by Steve Turner

We were floating a stretch of river I am most familiar with and early in the float, we stopped at several runs that had provided some memorable fishing on my prior trips.  The first run yielded a rise to my new black/blue skater, but this steelhead would not come back for any of my followup attempts.  Steve got a pull on one of his wets and Adrian also got a pull on a Jock Scott.

First run of the first day.  Photo by Steve Turner

Adrian rocks his JM Reid "Summer Run".  Photo by Steve Turner

At the next run we stopped at, memories of consistent, multiple hook ups replayed in my mind and I was somehow able to convince Steve to go through first.  I pointed out "the bucket" of this juicy run and anxiously watched Steve fish down into the zone.  Steve fished the water well and surprisingly, no steelhead came to his fly.  I went through behind Steve and noted the features of this piece of holding water did not appear to have changed much in 7 years, probably due to it's bedrock nature.  Neither I nor Adrian moved a fish in this run as well, so we moved on.

A rare sight, Steve Turner going through first.

 As we floated down, I rather impulsively suggested that we fish the very next run.  Being that it was a clear day, the sun was bright and shining directly on the the water by the time we began fishing this run.  As I surveyed the water, I noted that it appeared shallower than I thought compared to how it looked as we floated down to it.  We decided to fish through anyway.

Adrian took the top, Steve the middle, and I fished the bottom third.  As I fished down, I still thought this water looked marginal at best, especially in the bright conditions.  My casts were landing in water with some chop and then coming into softer shallow water near shore.  As I approached an exposed boulder, a buck in the 9-10lb range came up with a broadside rise and took off with my new skater in it's jaw.  I got a couple headshakes and the fish was gone.  A few casts later, I raised another steelhead but could not get it to comeback.

As Steve came down behind me, he apparently found "my" fish.  Steve was fishing a small steelhead coachman and it did the trick.  Steve hooked and nearly landed the beautiful hen that looked to be about 5-6lbs.  The hook pulled out just before Steve could get his hand on her.

Steve picks my pocket

We continued down and we passed through some water I vaguely remembered from my prior trips, then we came to a bend pool that I readily recognized.  I took the top, Steve the middle, and Adrian took the lower section.  The beauty of these luxurious big river runs is that they generously afford enough room for three anglers to spread out and fish.

Bright day steelheading

As I fished the upper section as the river comes into the bend, I was making short casts with my skater into the chop of the faster main flow with the lower third of the swing coming into the softer inside water.  As I got my full casting length out and had just started taking steps down, a steelhead charged after my skater on the soft inside water with it's broadside form clearly seen in the sunny conditions.  I made the same cast, nothing.  I shorted up a couple strips of line with the same fly and a couple casts later, the steelhead came back with a slashing take and was on solidly.  After a spirited battle this little buck came to hand, validating my newest black/blue creation.

Photo by Steve Turner

I had mentioned to Adrian that I recalled seeing the late great Harry Lemire fishing this stretch of river during my first visit in 1995.  This inspired Adrian to tie up some Greaseliners on the irons gifted to him by James Reid.  I happened to have some natural deer hair in my tying kit, along with some loose grizzly feathers given to me by a co-worker who raises chickens at his home so I passed these materials over to the masterful tyer of flies "in hand".

Adrian tying a Greaseliner streamside.  Photo by Steve Turner

After I landed my steelhead, we returned to our stations in the run.  Adrian had a freshly tied Greaseliner on as he fished the slow, quiet, lower section.  He was fishing some soft water near a log laying in the water.  As his Greaseliner approached the log, a steelhead exploded on his fly, but due to not feeling any initial resistance, Adrian throught he missed the fish so he dropped his arms in despair as he motioned to us that he just missed a fish.  Before Steve and I realized that Adrian was trying to communicate with us with his contorted body gestures, Adrian's Dingley was singing!  He didn't realize that he had a fish on the whole time - his "delayed strike response" was the perfect medicine on that steelhead take in the slow water.  This hen gave Adrian a spirited battle and we celebrated with high fives and a toasting of single malt and coffee (for the wimpy Asian guy, name starts with T).

Adrian doing battle with his first surface steelhead in the bright of day.

Adrian's first steelhead taken on his greaseliner.  Photo by Steve Turner

Adrian's Greaseliner.  Photo by Steve Turner

Adrian's take:
 While I hooked up on a few different patterns, Lemire's Greaseliner was my go-to pattern this trip. Part of the allure was that Todd had mentioned that he saw Harry fishing one of the runs we would float by. Being an in-hand flytyer myself - with Mr. Lemire as one of my inspirations, it was only proper to swing the Greaseliner. That hen steelhead "shark-attacked" that Greaseliner for my first BC fish to hand. As Todd and Steve can attest, I went through a lot of emotions on that take that may have to be re-enacted over a steelhead camp.

 (Adrian wrote a wonderful piece on this special encounter which will be posted up very soon)

We continued on and fished several more runs over the course of the day.  Some of these runs were just as they appeared on prior trips.  We basked in the luxury of having the space to spread out in these large, gravel bar runs that seem to go on forever.  It turns out that we took too much time in the upper half of the float and as we tried to time our fishing to get to the take out before dark, we realized that we had to pass up a ton of great looking water in the latter half of the float.  Note to self: move more quickly through the float to be able to fish some of those great looking runs in the lower section next time.

Photo by Steve Tuner

Big Water.  Photo by Steve Tuner

Interesting to note that the action we had took place during the bright parts of the day.  As time goes on, I am coming to realize that bright conditions are not necessarily a dealbreaker when it comes to surface fishing for steelhead, especially in Skeena country, but I've also noted the same on my local waters in Oregon.  I continue to fish with more confidence during bright conditions and our fishing during our first day in BC validates this notion.

It was great to be back in Skeena country after a 7 year hiatus and I was thankful that I had decided to fish the same area during my prior trips which lended me some familiarity, even as a visiting fisherman.  We felt so abundantly blessed to be in such a beautiful place with a few fish encounters as a great bonus.

Adrian's beautiful box of Classic Atlantic Salmon flies tied in hand.  This box of flies taunted Adrian with conflict because of his crazed addiction to surface steelheading!  Photo by Steve Turner

Returning to Steelhead Paradise Part 1 - Making the Journey

I first traveled to Skeena country in late September 1995 after reading magazine articles and stories in steelhead fly fishing literature about the free rising, surface oriented steelhead in the famous Skeena tributaries.  I managed to encounter my first steelhead on a surface fly on that first trip along with several more that came to an ugly modified Waller Waker I was tying at the time.

My early successes in surface steelheading could directly be attributed to and inspired by the writings in Bill McMillan's book Dry Line Steelhead.  As noted in a prior blog post, Bill has been my hero and mentor in the realm of steelhead fly fishing and steelhead conservation.  I have been blessed to have become friends with Bill through ongoing email dialogue and a few meetings in person.

Since that first trip to Skeena country in 1995, I have taken subsequent trips there in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007.  On most of those trips, I traveled solo from my home in Hawaii, on a very frugal budget, for jaunts lasting 10 to 12 days.  I had become acquainted with Cary and Collin Shadrech, who at the time, were the owners and operators of the Frontier Farwest Steelhead lodge, during my trip in 2006.  I had been walking past the Frontier Farwest Lodge (as my economical means of transport to steelhead runs was strictly footpower) and I got to chatting with Cary Shadrech as she was mowing the lawn in front of the lodge.  She was very warm and friendly and we got to talking about my love of surface fishing for steelhead.  She said "you've got to meet Collin" and a minute later, Collin pulled up in one of their Suburbans after returning from town to repair a tire.  As dry fly steelhead enthusiasts, Collin and I spoke the same language and his legendary stature as a steelheader who had a feature chapter in Trey Comb's epic book on Steelhead Fly fishing was not lost on me either.   I was delighted to find Collin to be a very humble and warm hearted individual.

Collin and Cary invited me to the lodge for dinner and informed that they were planning to sell the lodge and retire after completing their final season the following year, 2007.  After being treated to a wonderful gourmet meal and great visits with the guests and guides there, Collin told me he'd like to offer me a week at the lodge the following year at a "brother in law rate".  He took my contact information and stated that he'd get a hold of me prior to the following season.

I returned to real life in Hawaii after that trip and surely enough,  Collin called me in the Summer of 2007 and offered me a significant discount off the normal weekly rate at Frontier Farwest.  I was deeply appreciative of Collin's generous offer, but I had to decline due to the fact that I didn't have enough mad money on hand to even make the plane fare to Canada, much less the added expenses once I got there.  It was most difficult to decline such a wonderful offer and all I could do at the time was dream of what a week at a steelhead lodge would be like.

At the time, I did a lot of car repairs at my home as favors to friends from my church and as a side business.  Folks would generally insist on paying me, even when I was extending my services as favors and I also had ongoing car repairs that allowed me to earn some extra funds.  In addition, I was sometimes given broken down vehicles that I would repair and sell.  As the summer of 2007 progressed, through the car repairs I had done and used cars sold, I unexpectedly ended up being able to accumulate just enough cash to make one of my "super cheap" trips to BC - enough to cover plane fare, fishing license/classified waters fees, and enough junk food for 10-12 days.

I thought to give Collin and Cary a call to let them know that I was coming over on one of my spartan trips and asked if I could stop by to say hello when I was over there.  Collin offered, or I should say, insisted, that I stay at Frontier Farwest in their final season of operating the lodge.  I explained that while I had enough funds to make it over to BC, that I still fell way short of the generous discount he had offered me for a week at the lodge.  Collin and Cary persisted and basically told me "tell you what, whatever you pay for your inexpensive trip is what you can pay us instead, we want you to come stay with us in our last season".  In the end, I was getting a week of guided fishing in a posh lodge setting for the cost of what I'd normally pay for my prior trips to BC  which would consist of staying at a cheap motel and eating a lot of junk food!

When the time came in mid October 2007 for my week at Frontier Farwest, I felt like I was living in a dream.  Spending a week under lodge accommodations with first class guides, gourmet meals, and access to prime steelhead water, including remote sections of river not frequented by the general fishing public was such a blessed experience.  Unfortunately, it was the year of a 100 year flood and the river was running higher than normal.  Fishing was tougher than average, but guests fishing sinktips were getting into a few fish.  True to style, I persisted with the surface fly with no feedback for the first several days.

The guides were feeling pressured and nervous over my lack of success.  Even Collin was telling me "hey Todd, you might try the tip tomorrow".  Understanding the pressure fishing guides feel to put clients into fish regardless of whether a crazy client (me) is fully content to fish surface flies with or without success, I relented.  On the fourth day of fishing, I took out a light Skagit head with an old Type III sinktip made out of a 9wt Scientific Anglers shooting head.  In a quiet pool, I hooked and landed a nice 16-17lb hen on a red/orange marabou spider tied on a plastic tube.  A fish this large is big enough to actually scare me a bit with it's sheer size and power and I was thrilled to encounter that steelhead, but of course the question lingered - "wonder if that steelhead would have taken a skater?"

At least getting that fish took the pressure off the guides and I happily went back to fishing surface flies for the remainder of the week.  On the last run of the last day with the lodge, I raised and briefly hooked a steelhead on a skater.  Shortly after that, my late friend Bob Cherry hooked and landed a "Kahuna" (20lb + steelhead) on a skagit/tip/tube fly in the upper part of the run we were fishing.

Since that trip in 2007, I have yearned to return to Skeena country.  In the meantime, our family moved from Hawaii to Oregon in early 2009 and finances have been a limiting factor in planning a return trip.  Of course in the ensuing time, I have fished like a maniac in Oregon steelhead water.  However, the dream of returning to the steelhead paradise of Skeena Country has never died, even with the wonderful year around steelheading opportunities afforded to me in Oregon.

Beginning sometime in 2009, I communicated with and became friends with phenomenal in-hand classic Salmon Fly tyer Adrian Cortes through the Spey Pages and Westfly forums and we began fishing together in the winter of 2012.  During one of those winter trips, Adrian asked me if I had ever fished BC before.  Of course, such a question led to retelling of stories from prior trips to Skeena country and the warm memories generated from encountering the best surface steelheading I've ever had, beautiful country, and wonderful people.

A scheme was hatched out of that conversation with Adrian and we vowed to put a plan into place to go to Skeena country in the fall of 2014.  This would allow us enough time to massage the idea to our significant others, work out logistics, and save for such a trip.  Along the way, Aaron Ostoj and Steve Turner came into the picture as we paved ahead with plotting for our trip north.

Time passed by quickly and we all secured our wives blessings and solid dates were put on the calendar.  A motel was booked well in advance and I got in touch with a local contact I had met on my prior trips.  Unfortunately, several months prior to the trip, Aaron informed that it was necessary for him to bow out of the plans due to changes in his life circumstances.

Before we knew it, the time to check off the final items on our travel preparation to do lists came and Adrian and I were driving north to meet up with Steve Turner.  We would be traveling together in Steve's new luxury Ford F150 with his Clackacraft in tow.

Our plan was to take turns with driving and we had scheduled to stop by and visit Bill McMillan at his home in Concrete, WA and we would later stop in to visit bamboo rodmaker James Reid in Vancouver, BC.

Steve took the first driving shift and Adrian and I got right to work tying flies during the drive.  Adrian got to work on tying a Major in hand and later realized that he forgot his Argus feathers.  As for me, I had just devised the Black/Blue Little Wang the day before so I had a grand total of one of them in my box - time to get busy.  I placed my vise on a pedestal base which was then placed in a plastic tub to minimize the mess in Steve's truck.  Tying on bumpy stretches of road and around corners was a challenge, but I was on a mission.  I needed to have enough black/blue skaters for backups and to share with Steve and Adrian.

The "Asian Sweat Shop":

Photo by Steve Turner

Photo by Steve Turner

We were right on schedule when we pulled up to Bill McMillan's home.  Bill had kindly agreed to have us stop by to visit him on our way north.  Bill's place was just as he described - a quaint cabin at the end of the road, on the banks of the mighty Skagit river.  It was great to see Bill again as I had not chatted with him in person since the time he was at the Northwest Fly Tyers Expo in Albany, OR in March 2012.  Adrian had met Bill at the Fly Tyer's Expo in 2012 as well, when I introduced them to each other.

Steve had also previously met Bill in the early 80's and had actually fished with him one evening on the Washougal, an arrangement made via family connections through Steve's wife Debbie.  After Steve became acquainted with me through Adrian last year and also knowing of my ongoing communications with Bill, I put Steve in touch with Bill through email.  It turns out, Bill had a journal entry recalling that evening of fishing with Steve which included a fish risen to a Bomber and Bill tying a General Practitioner that he gave to Steve.  Steve still has that fly and took a picture of it to share with us.

Bill met us with warm greetings and we visited with him in his den which he calls the "Inner Sanctum".  We marveled at being in the presence of a true icon of our sport and we felt so abundantly blessed that Bill took the time to be with us.  We were flattered and humbled when Bill told us "Lynn told me to clean this place up before you guys got here".  Stories were shared and token items that had been discussed during my ongoing email exchanges with Bill came to life as they were seen right in front of us.  Such items seen around Bill's den were: Conservation Awards including the Roderick Haig-Brown Award recognizing his life's work in conservation activism, wooden Peet's reels that Bill used on his two handed rods, scores of vintage Hardy's, bags of fly tying materials accumulated over years of fly fishing and working in fly shops, etc.

In fact Adrian had mentioned that he had forgotten his Argus feathers and Bill kindly offered him anything he wanted from his collection of materials since he does not tie flies very often, much less classic Atlantic Salmon patterns.  Adrian found a bag that contained some Argus feathers, among some other select materials that had come from another famous tyer.  Bill generously offered the entire bag of materials to Adrian, who was grinning from ear to ear at that point!

Photo by Steve Turner

Photo by Steve Turner

Photo by Steve Turner

Photo By Steve Turner

Photo by Steve Turner

Bill kindly signed our copies of Dry Line Steelhead:

Photo by Adrian Cortes

Steve was able to reconnect with Bill for the first time since they fished together in the early eighties:

Photo by Adrian Cortes

After visiting in Bill's den, we moved over to the beach out from Bill's home which fronts a prime steelhead run.  Many of the fishing stories Bill has shared with me have taken place in the beautiful piece of water we were looking upon.  We pulled out lawn chairs and partook of lemonade and fresh cookies baked by Bill's wife Lynn that Bill generously offered to us.  Bill described landmarks in the surrounding area and their signficance to the Skagit ecosystem.

We talked about the immense body of scientific work Bill has done over the years in the name of protecting wild salmonids in the Pacific Northwest.  We also reflected on the exciting changes coming about with fisheries management, namely the 12 year moratorium on hatchery winter steelhead plants on the Skagit, wild gene pool designation on SW Washington rivers, etc.  I extended kudos to Bill for playing no small part in the wave of positive changes that are coming about for wild steelhead in the Pacific Northwest.   

As we visited, I remembered another story that Bill had told me about a vintage Hardy St. George fly reel that he had lost after it got swept away when the Skagit flooded.  (A photo of this reel appears in Dry Line Steelhead)  Bill had left the reel, mounted on a Sage rod, leaning on a tree near the river for ready access for fishing.  He had forgotten about leaving the rod/reel near the river and when he realized this, it was too late.  Several years later, his neighbor saw the tip of a rod and some fly line buried in the dry riverbed downstream from Bill's home.  The neighbor dug the rod/reel out of the riverbed and it turned out to be Bill's rod and reel!  The rod was broken, but surprisingly, the St George had survived the ordeal with only some slight pitting and a missing handle to show for it's misadventure.  Bill was able to get the reel back from his neighbor by trading another working reel for it and he was later able to get a repair person to replace the handle on the reel.  Bill showed us this reel when we stopped by his shed on the way out to the beach and we marveled at the journey that St. George took.

Our visit with Bill was very special and will never be forgotten, as two hours have never gone by so quickly for me!  We weren't anywhere near Skeena Country and our trip was already memorable! Beyond Bill's vast knowledge of steelhead, foundational writings on steelhead fly fishing, and tireless conservation activism, Bill is above all else, genuine, humble, warm, and kind - just truly a great man.

After bidding farewell to Bill, we were back on the road with hearts warmed from our wonderful visit with an icon.  Our next stop, James Reid's bamboo rod building shop in Vancouver, BC.  We managed to get through the border crossing without any trouble and pulled into James's shop, nearly on schedule.

Adrian had met up with James a few months ago when James came to Oregon to fish the Deschutes.  I have been corresponding with James by email since James had graciously provided me with a single hand cane prototype to fish all of last winter.  I had a blast with the 8592 prototype and I needed to return the rod to James for some final tweaking.  Adrian had a 13' 7/8 Spey Classic prototype that he was returning to James as he contemplated ordering a current model of the same rod.

It was great meeting James in person and very cool to see his shop.  James is a talented cane rod builder whose meticulous attention to detail can be seen in his finished products.  We chatted about cane rods and current conditions on the river.  James had a friend who was fishing our destination river at the time and fishing was good.  That was all the encouragement we needed.  I gave James a few flies and James gave Adrian some vintage English irons for tying some summer flies on.

Adrian's take:
James Reid, was just as welcoming and a true craftsman with a contagious passion in his trade. I've enjoyed fishing his spliced cane two-hander for over a year now, and it was terrific to visit his shop and see all the cool vintage reels & rods he had on site. Along with some guidance on fishing those BC rivers, James gifted us with some vintage irons. Now, I don't deserve all this kindness, but I excitedly accepted the gift! On our way to Skeena country, I finished tying in hand the Major, Harry Lemire's Greaseliner, and AHE Wood's Blue Charm with Bill's material and James's vintage irons. I was a kid in a candy store.

Photo by Adrian Cortes

Photo by Adrian Cortes

 

Wild On the Willamette

A quick fishing story...

I had a small window of time to fish today between the time I got off from work at 5pm, until 7pm, when I'd need to leave the river for my men's bible study.  Of course I'm always prepared for any opportunity to fish, so my waders, rod, reel, and flies were already in my car.

I got suited up and hit my fav little run.  I started a bit higher than usual, just to be sure to cover all the holding water.  I made casts and extended each one until I got my Rage head and nine strips of running out as my working length of line.  I had just started stepping down and a rise came to my #6 purple/black LW.  The size of the rise said steelhead to me.  This steelie actually made a second grab at the fly on the same swing before the skater settled at the dangle.  I made the same cast and the steelhead came up again and missed.  I made another cast and the steelhead came up yet again and this time it had the fly.  The line came tight and I held on, feeling a few headshakes, anticipating the reel to bark and any moment.  Instead, the fly popped out of the fish's mouth, fish off.  I was disappointed that I missed an opportunity.

I figured that there was no way that fish would come back after feeling the hook.  However, I remembered a story told by my friend Mark Stangeland, of a steelhead he hooked/landed after it had previously come to his fly and pulled 10' of line from his reel.  I thought, well, anything's possible.  I took a few steps upstream and reasoned that if nothing else, another steelhead might be laying near the one I hooked into.  As I got back to the zone, another rise came!  The steelhead missed the fly again - same fish??  I got the idea to pull one more strip of line before making the next cast and I would hold a loop and release it if the steelhead came to the fly again.  The next cast went out and in the same spot, a steel form came up and I was ready - the loop was dropped and the line almost immediately came tight as the steelhead made it's first run.  Hey, this loop dropping thing can actually work!  The steelhead gave a spirited battle despite the absence of reel melting runs as she fought mostly in close.

I managed to get this beautiful hen to the bank and as I reeled in to get a hold of her, for some reason I thought to be sure her adipose was missing as she was such a perfectly formed fish.  To my surprise, this steelhead had an adipose fin!  I got a few photos and by the time I was done, she set off on her way with a flip and as she swam off I noticed a blue tag near her dorsal, probably indicating she had made it to the hatchery at Dexter and been recycled downstream.

After landing this steelhead, I went back up and started in again.  With only five strips of running line out, another steelhead came up for my skater, in water I had already covered.  This steelhead came back after the fly multiple times and several fly changes could not put this player on the hook, but lot's of fun nonetheless.

It is believed that non-finclipped summer steelhead on the Willamette are either "misclips" or feral offspring of hatchery parents that have successfully spawned in the wild.  I tend to entertain the possibility that these "wild"  steelhead are remnants of a run that had been there all along.  Why would there never have been a wild summer run on the upper Willamette??

So, I just got a "wild" steelhead on the Willamette - a hatchery fishery - and just last week, I got my second hatchery steelhead of the season on the North Umpqua fly water - a wild steelhead fishery.

"Wild" Willamette Steelhead:

Hatchery steelhead on the NU: