What's Old is New Again aka "The Pack Rat Syndrome"

Continuing in the spirit of my "cheap skate" story, I was thinking along the lines of how I tend to be a chronic "pack rat" with equipment as well.  Once I buy a piece of equipment, I tend to hold on to it for a long time, sometimes a very long time.  I still own items from my earliest entry into fly fishing, including a Fenwick 7' 5wt glass rod from 1977 that I ordered from the Cabelas catalog when I was a middle school kid on Kauai.  I also still own old Sage RPLs, a Pflueger Medalist, SA System reels,  Thompson A vise, Thompson fly tying scissors, and even an original SA Mastery Steelhead Taper fly line (circa 1991) among many other vintage items from the late 80s/early 90s.

Even after I have bought some newer stuff that has come on the market with the latest technology, I've kept my old stuff "just in case I might need it someday".  In recent years I've even gone in the direction of deliberately seeking out stuff that is vintage and outdated to begin with - remember those old glass rods and antique clickers I've talked about??

Some of my friends are good with maintaining a better balance in life.  For instance my good bud Keith loves buying new gear each season, but he is good with selling stuff whenever he buys new stuff so he does not continually accumulate more gear.  I do sell gear every once in a great while, but only when I feel pretty sure I'll never want or need it again.  Even then, I can agonize over the fear of regretting letting go of something I might miss someday - irrational, I know.

Of course, there are downsides to being a pack rat: stuff keeps accumulating and finding places to put all that stuff becomes problematic - I tend to be a slob anyway and the more stuff I have, the more cluttered things get to be in my house and garage.  This has been a point of ongoing tensions between Wendi and me since Wendi still doesn't understand my fine tuned sense of purpose in the midst of what appears to be a chaotic mess.  If left to my own devices, our house would be one big tangle of fly fishing gear and fly tying stuff laid out everywhere.  If Wendi had it her way, our counters, floors, and living areas would always be clean and clear of ALL clutter.  Luckily, we find a balance somewhere in the middle (actually off middle, more towards Wendi's side if you ask me) and I feel a healthy sense of discomfort if I leave my junk laying around too long, especially if we are expecting company, so I actually do clean up every now and then.

Symptoms of a Pack Rat

Things getting out of control on the kitchen counter, look out

 One of the "advantages" of being a pack rat is that what is old can be new again.  For instance, I started off chasing steelhead in the late 80's/early 90's so I got myself set up with a SA System II 7/8 reel, Sage 9'6" 8wt RPL (built from a blank for affordability) and SA Mastery Steelhead Taper floating fly line in 1991.  I had been inspired by Lani Waller's 3M steelhead videos so I sought to emulate what seemed appropriate steelhead gear a the time.  Even though I possessed what was touted as a good all around steelhead setup, I struggled casting and fishing with this combo.  I practiced my double hauls, but still felt like I was working harder than I should have been.

Sage 896 with Mastery Steelhead taper, circa 1991

Just recently, a guy who goes by "Speyspaz" on Speypages started a thread on revisiting the use of double taper and longer lines and it got me thinking about how the longer lines force one to focus more closely on timing and technique in casting.  I started off with a double taper and Delta/Windcutter lines in my earliest days of speycasting and remembered the joys of those long casts when executed properly.  While I love the short, heavy Ambush lines that I currently use most often, I have to admit, they are somewhat "dummy proof" as they allow for much leeway in errors in timing and anchor placement and where "brute force and ignorance" can get the line out if one's casting skills are limited.

Luckily, starting off with the longer lines had taught me something about timing, technique, and anchor placement.  I've been a self-taught spey caster since I began spey casting in 1995 while I lived in Hawaii.  I spent hours rewinding and replaying Derek Brown's and Dec Hogan's spey casting videos and practiced my casting at boat harbors on Kauai as amused bystanders (both locals and tourists) often gave me funny looks.  Seems I hadn't picked up too many bad habits and my muscle memory survived the past several years of fishing short lines.

Being inspired by Speyspaz's post, I took out my old Sage 9'6" 8wt and Mastery Steelhead Taper (essentially a single hand long belly line) a couple weeks ago.  The old rod and line felt like a brand new outfit as I single hand spey cast the longer line almost effortlessly as I skated for late winter steelhead on a coastal Oregon river.  Why did this old outfit feel new and more "user friendly" now??  It must be that over the years, I've managed to develop stronger casting skills, especially with single hand spey casting, and my skill set and muscle memory finally came closer to matching up with the capability of my outdated tackle.  I had also seen go pro clips of North Umpqua guide Tony Wratney utilizing "pokes" to help with maneuvering the longer line on a single had rod in tight spots and it was so satisfying to be able to problem solve with this outfit as I never had before.

When I took up the two handed rod in 1995, I largely left single hand rods for steelhead behind at that point.  From that time forward, I was totally immersed in the spey culture and never looked back.  Then sometime around 2009/2010, I started seeing posts on a fly fishing message board by a guy named Randy Clark.  This guy was using old glass rods and having a blast using them for bass, trout, and even steelhead. 

The gears in my head started turning and I decided to bust out an old 7'6" 6wt glass rod given to me by my father in law in 1989 while I visited him in Montana.  I put a new inexpensive 6wt WF line on  an old 1494 Medalist and hit the Willamette town run one day in July 2011.  I was fishing a #6 Borden special figuring to split my chances between trout and the unlikely steelhead.  I was on my lunch hour so I hurriedly fished through the top of a riffle.  When I got my cast out to about 30 feet, my line suddenly snapped tight and I felt the surge of a fish that was surely not a trout.  A large silvery flash on the surface told me that I had hooked into a steelhead during brightest part of this clear summer day.  A few blistering runs that nearly spooled the little medalist kept me on my toes during the fight and I was able land this beautiful hen steelhead of about 8-9lbs on the little trout outfit.  I also noted that this steelhead had an adipose fin - one of the few non-finclipped steelhead that come up during the summer season on the Willamette each year.  (They are wild to me, but that's a whole different story).

Old Glass, Pflueger Medalist, and a "Wild" Town Run Steelhead

 After getting that steelhead on that old glass rod, the hunt for more vintage steelhead weight glass rods went on until I accumulated more vintage glass than I could possibly wear out in my lifetime.  Getting these used gems for as little as $40 and seldom more than $90 kept me shopping.  There was even a model I liked so much (a 9' 9wt configuration) that I kept jumping on good deals when I came across them.  I became friends with that fellow Randy Clark who had inspired my interest in old glass through his postings on the fly fishing message board.  I ended up getting another one of those 9' 9wts from Randy Clark for $40 and I got yet another one for $75 off ebay from a guy who lives here in town and who delivered it to my home!

My love affair with old glass continues to this day.  But I have to admit, this was interrupted last year when bamboo rod maker James Reid loaned me a single hand cane prototype for a 9wt line to field test that I just fell in love with.  I never saw myself ever owning a cane rod and thanks to James's kind offer to allow me to field test the rod and seeing how I loved the rod so much, he worked things out so a blue collar guy like me could own such a beautiful piece of steelhead equipment.

I've gone through phases with the equipment that I've used and sometimes, for whatever reason, I take out stuff I haven't used in a while and rediscover the joy and utility of those setups that I was using regularly in seasons past. 

My past few years of steelheading has been dominated by the use of single hand rods and the short, heavy Ambush lines.  However just the other day, I revisted one of my older outfits that I had not used in a while - my Sage 13'6' 8wt and Airflo Delta Spey 8/9 line purchased in 2004.  Using a longer line is a whole different deal compared to fishing short lines, but my muscle memory from my earlier days of speycasting with longer lines came back to me.  The lift, sweep, d-loop/anchor, fire routine and the larger strokes and movements that go with fishing the longer line were a pleasure to execute as I watched the line unfold with my newest pink skater trailing behind for the ride across the river.  I was reminded of the pleasure that comes from fishing big water with longer lines and vowed to air out my longer lines more this season.  I plan to bring out my Sage 9140 brownie (circa 1995) and Windcutter 7/8 soon and I just spooled up my CND 7/8/9 double taper to be put back into use as well.

Sage 8136 IIIe and Airflo Delta Spey 8/9, circa 2004

One thing I've learned is that over the years, when I have gone through various phases of my preferences in steelhead gear, is that I've tended to "overgeneralize" the use of whatever class of gear I've preferred at given times.  For instance when I discovered the two handed rod, I figured they were appropriate for being used everywhere.  I even resorted to squeezing a 14' two handed rod onto a small coastal river.  When I discovered single hand glass rods and the Ambush lines, I also tried to use them everywhere, in rivers both both big and small.  At this point in my journey, I'm learning to match my gear to the water.  Smaller rods for shorter casts on smaller water, maybe switch rods on medium sized water, big rods/longer lines for bigger water and lots of room.  Of course this doesn't mean I can't leave the option open to use whatever setup I'm in the mood for no matter where I happen to be fishing at a given time - that' why it's a good thing that I'm a pack rat so I can cover all those bases!!

 So there you have it, all my rationalizations of why it is worthwhile to be a pack rat.  Your mileage may vary and beware that most spouses won't tolerate this kind of BS, I'm lucky that mine does the best that she can - I am blessed!

Cheap Skate

Steelhead caught on inexpensive gear - Echo Classic Rod and old JW Young Beaudex

I gotta admit, when it comes to steelheading gear, I tend to be a "cheap skate".  I believe I may have gone down the road of the frugal initially out of necessity.  I remember when I first got serious about fly fishing in the late 80's, my first yearnings for higher end gear started when I spotted some Sage RPL fly rods on the rack at the old Larry's Sport Center in Tigard, Oregon.  When I wiggle tested those Sages, I was amazed at how light and lively they felt in my hands.  I had to have one, but at the time the $350.00 price tag was way out of my range.

When I did get my hands on higher end rods, I ended up rolling them from blanks so that I could afford them.  My first home built graphite fly rod was a G. Loomis 9' 5wt IMX that Wendi ordered from Cabela's for me as a gift.  I got my wish with owning Sage RPLs, again by rolling them from blanks.  My first Sage RPL was the 896, 9'6" 8wt.  While living in Montana from 93-94', I had also obtained several Sage "factory second" RPL blanks from the River's Edge fly shop in Bozeman, which reduced the cost of my rods even more.  These included the 490 (9' 4wt), 790 (9'7wt), and 279 (7'9" 2wt).  I also built my two Sage two handers (the 9140-4 brownie and 8136-4 IIIe) from blanks and components purchased from Angler's Workshop to put them within range of my budget.

By 2008, the trend in two handers began to go in the shorter direction and I was in the market for a 12'6" 6/7 wt.  By then, makers like TFO and Echo had come on the scene and great two handers at low prices were on the the market.  I read great things about the Echo Classics and I ended up with the 6126 for $270.00.  I liked that rod enough that I purchased the DECHO 6126 when it came out as well and paid just a bit more for a rod with some nicer cosmetics.

In 2011, I discovered the fun of old vintage single hand glass fly rods.  I began regularly shopping on ebay and bought several of these rods until I ended up with a pretty large collection of glass from yesteryear.  I got another one of these rods from a friend and another was on consignment at my local fly shop and I couldn't pass it up.  I paid as little as $40.00 and as much as $150.00 for these outdated wands.  I was having a ton of fun with fishing these relics and I had also discovered the Wulff Ambush fly lines at the same time.  The Ambush lines made single hand spey casting with single hand glass rods smooth and easy.  I found myself fishing these rods for all my steelheading whether skating for summer runs or fishing Winter's Hopes on heavy irons on a dry line in winter.  I also added short lower handles to some of these rods and turned them into mini switches.

Old Glass and Pflueger Medalist

Just last year, I happened to be visiting with a friend who works at our local Cabela's and he mentioned the TLR switch rods were on sale for $79.95.  I gave the 11' 6wt the wiggle test and being the cheap skate that I am, grabbed one one the spot.  After fishing with this rod, I loved it so much, that I ended up grabbing the 11' 6" 7wt and the 11' 7wt before the $79.95 sale ended.  I was simply amazed and continue to be amazed at the performance of these rods, especially for what I paid for them.  I took the 11' 6wt and the 11' 6" 7wt on my trip to BC last fall and used them for the whole trip.

Cabela's TLR and "home repaired" Hardy Perfect with a 33" BC surface steelhead

Many other items in my aresnal of steelhead equipment would be consdered low budget as well.  I've been known to use Pfluger Medalists, SA System reels, JW Youngs and other relatively low cost reels.  I do own one Hardy Perfect, a 3 7/8 narrow drum trout model.  I got this reel at an affordable price due to it being somewhat of a beater, which lots of enamel scraped off, bent winding plate and slightly bent frame that caused some interference during winding.  I was able to fix these issues on my own, giving me my "status" as the owner of a serviceable Hardy Perfect.  All of the other reels I have owned have been "consumer grade" models with modest to lower end price tags even when they were brand new.

I've also been a cheapskate in the wader department.  I've owned my fair share of Cabela's neoprenes purchased for as low as $39.95.  Even at that, I still wore them to shreds until no amount of aquaseal could keep all the major leaks at bay.  The same is true of breathable waders.  The models I've gotten have been under $100, usually much less when found on clearance.  Again, these waders are worn to the point of being nearly completely covered on the inside with aquaseal.

This past year, I finally decided to upgrade my current wader purchase and looked into brands like Simms and Redington.  I was told by some local guide friends that the Redington Sonic Pros were tough as nails, especially at their price point, which was at the low end of the higher grade waders on the market.   In cheapskate style, I found them at an even lower price through a retailer online and have been very happy with them.  Unlike some of my cheaper waders, some of which should come with two tubes of aquaseal and directions that read "coat all seams with aquaseal before using", the Sonic Pros have kept me dry and after a full season, show very little signs of wear.

I'm hard on waders, especially during winter as I bushwack through blackberry bushes, looking for the ideal casting station that will give up a winter chromer and not even my tough Sonic Pros are completely immune to such mistreatment.  As a result, I have some pinhole leaks in the knee areas, but they are not substantial enough for me to search for them and patch them as they are just a bit beyond the condensation that forms inside waders anyway.  One of these days I'll get to that patch job.

The tendency to wear things to shreds and get every last penny's worth out of things applies to all my gear, but is especially apparant with wading shoes.  Of course, I always look for stuff on sale or consumer grade if not.  I've had wading shoes that are worn to the point of literally falling apart - holes on the sides, seams coming apart, soles falling off or held by sheet metal screws or duct tape, etc.

I've already talked about my fishing car so no need to go there, but one get's the point - it doesn't take a lot of cash or high end gear to make me happy in this sport.

I'm just content with being a cheap skate....

Skating for Rainbows

I'd been driving by a neglected stretch of river near my home for the past few weeks while on work assignments and kept thinking that I needed to get up and wet a line for trout there sometime. I noted that several stretches of river were nice big gravel bar runs and I visioned swinging these runs like I would for steelhead, even knowing there are no steelhead up this way.

My opportunity came today, with my grandson's morning soccer game to watch and the afternoon available to drive to this new to me stretch of river. With the mild conditions and with my twisted mind, I wondered if I could skate some of those resident trout up to the surface. I had some of my yellow stimulator colored foam skaters on hand and hoped that the trout might mistake one for an early golden stone.

I started a the very top of a large gravel bar run and due to the wind, I started off with my 11' 6wt Cabela's TLR switch with a 350 gr Ambush head and mono leader setup. I had a small yellow stimulator "wang" on the line and worked my way down. I was swinging the skater and twitching it gently, just like I do for steelhead. By the time I was about a quarter of the way down the run, I began to question my theory that these resident trout would mistake my foam skater for a golden stone on speed.

Just as I was about to change over to a bead head wooley bugger, a fish attacked the fly and missed. It attacked and again and was on. Hey, my theory worked. I landed this bright little rainbow and it didn't even feel too over powered on my switch rod.

Just as I was hoping for more surface action, they sky darkened and some rain came. I tied on a pair of wooley buggers and got several more trout on a #8 black/olive bugger with copper bead. These fish grabbed on the swing just like steelhead and a few of these fish were pulling line from my clicker instantaneously on the grab - I was having fun!

The sun came back out and so did the skater and a few more surface grabs and another nice rainbow came to hand on the yellow skater.

With the slow winter steelhead season I've been having, it was great to actually be able to catch something and getting these resident trout on the swing and on a skater to boot was refreshing. Discovering these steelhead-like runs which hold nice resident trout will keep me occupied until the local hatchery summer runs show up in fishable numbers.

Attached Images

Big Water

Yellow "stimuwaker" does the job

A Rainbow of a different kind

   

Summer During Winter

It continues to be an unusual winter steelhead season.  Much of the past couple months have been more like summer in my part of the world.  Water levels and weather have been unseasonably mild.  While I love the summer like weather and warmer water temps, I worry about what summer will bring with little to no snowpack in the mountains.  I vision low running streams in the summer and high fire danger.

I haven't "seriously" swung a fly for steelhead for the past couple weeks due to my Honda breaking down as I rounded the last corner before arriving at home from my last trip to the coast.  With a slipping transmission, it was time to grab a used replacement from a local wrecking yard and I ended up spending all of last weekend wrenching on my Honda.

I got out to the North Umpqua today with my friend Craig Coover as we ventured forth to seek our favorite prize.  We decided to fish some water less frequently used by the mob and enjoyed relative solitude in this beautiful place.

Of course with the mild weather, the water temperature was 48 degrees first thing in the morning and was up to 50 by noon.  This could only mean one thing - time to fish a skater for winter steel!!  In fact, I fished a skater with confidence all day.  For most, this would be insanity, but for me, I feel confident of being able to move even winter steelhead when water temps are 48 degrees and above (also noted in Bill McMillian's temperature date).  Some may ask:  "why fish a skater for winter steelhead?"  Instead, I ask "why not fish a skater for winter steelhead?"

I spent some time today fishing my newest color combo on my skater design - "Baby Blue".  I had found some baby blue Globrite floss at a local fly shop and loved the color, but had trouble putting a color blend together to make the floss pop just right.  I finally tried using an orange butt and pink cactus chenielle up front and I think I have a winner!

Unfortunately, I didn't raise a single steelhead today, but these mild conditions will keep me trying!

That seam fished a skater nicely

A beautiful day in a beautiful place

My latest skater - "Baby Blue"

Top View

The Fishing Car

When I moved back to Oregon in January 2009, I was faced with needing to find a cheap running car that I could use for commuting to work, and of course for the "occasional" trip to the river.  Driving my beloved 74' Bronco with it's big  V-8 engine full time was out of the question with it getting only 10-13 miles per gallon.  As luck would have it, I was able to find a decent 1990 Honda Accord with only 179,000 miles and some custom body damage on the rear quarter panel included for no extra charge.

Custom body work

As a avid home mechanic, I knew those Hondas were fiercely reliable and I was glad to have the title to this functional car.  As it turned out, the transmission began slipping after owning the car for a couple months so it was time to search the local boneyards for a used replacement.  One was quickly found and after a weekend's worth of work, my beater was back in action.  That was back when the car only had about 185,000 miles.

In 2009, I worked in the Albany DHS office so this required an hour commute to work and again at the end of each day as I commuted back home to Springfield.  Along with all the fanatical fishing I was doing, the miles piled on quickly on my little Honda.

My faithful Honda just kept going and going and has been very reliable for the most part.  There was one was one time when it failed me on the river when it would not start.  Luckily I had stopped to visit with my good friend Keith Tymchuck who was fishing one of our favorite runs.  After some quick troubleshooting on the car, I surmised that I must have a bad distributor.  Every car model has an "Achilles Heel" and the distributor is something on those older Hondas that can give out randomly and unexpectedly.

Keith was kind enough to stop his fishing to give me a ride back to town to check the local boneyard for parts.  Luckily, I saw a Honda engine sitting on the floor right when I arrived and was able to purchase the distributor for $60.  Keith drove me back to the river and I popped the new used distributor in it's place and my faithful chariot fired right up.

Another time, a year or so ago, I was happily driving down I-5 when my fuel pump suddenly gave out.  A friend helped me tow my car back to the house and after the back breaking fun of dropping the fuel tank to change out the fuel pump, my fishing car was back on the road.

Any 20+ year old vehicle will end up needing occasional repairs and this is to be expected, but my faithful Honda has overall, kept me stuck in the garage wrenching less often than any vehicle I've ever owned.  It has taken me to the river without fail more times than I can count.  There have been frequent local trips to the Willamette in summer and fall and also regular trips to the North Umpqua during the same time frame.  Winter brings regular trips to the coast for winter steelhead.  Along with my normal haunts, there have been trips to other rivers which have included the Siletz, John Day, Salmon, Santiams, Deschutes, and Siuslaw, among many others.

The result of a run in with a guardrail a couple months ago (headlight replaced)

Along the North Umpqua in July 2013

Frozen car and rods on the John Day in October 2013

Along the Siletz Gorge, August 2010

My faithful Honda has given me so much trouble free service that it has become part of who I am as a fisherman.  My local network of fishing acquaintances readily recognize my car and frequently know where I've been and what I've been up to, depending on where my fishing car is seen.  There have been many fond memories made with trips to rivers near and far in my trusty Honda.  For my friends who have been willing to brave the ride in my smelly, messy, fishing car, there have been many fun trips with great conversations about fishing, family, and life.

I'm not a high maintenance kind of guy, so my Honda, which looks like it has been the victim of many beatings and battles has been the perfect car for me.  It's so ugly and beat up, there's no point in washing it every week, or every year for that matter and it's lack of bling has definitely been a theft deterrent.  Knock on wood, no one has ever attempted to vandalize or break into my chariot because it already looks too run down and beat up for anyone to bother with.  No one would think the owner of such a beater would keep anything of value in it so there would no point going through the trouble of breaking in.

Needless to say, I absolutely love my humble Honda.  However, with 328,000 miles on the clock, I realize that I will either come up against needing an engine/transaxle replacement in the not so distant future, and/or having to consider looking for a suitable replacement car.  I figured since my Honda is a 1990 model, finding a 1992 or 1993 Honda would feel like having a new car!!  But heck, I've heard of folks who have gotten over 400,000 miles on the original engines in these Hondas, with regular oil changes and maintenence, so I may still have more life in this car!

I'm not sure why I'd get so attached to an inanimate object such as a beat up fishing car.  Guess I just have a hard time with change and the thought of my poor Honda going to the salvage yard is a sad thought.

Sometimes things come about which help one in deciding what needs to happen next in a given situation.  This was the case last friday.  I'd had a pleasant afternoon fishing a favorite river on the coast with mild conditions that just begged for fishing a skater the whole time.  This little river is two hours from my home with no cell service.  I've sometimes wondered what I'd do if I ever got stranded along the river with no one around.  I'd have to wait until the odd vehicle came by and then beg a ride from someone to an area where I could call for help.

Anyways, those "what if" thoughts had long since passed through my mind as I was rounding one of the last corners before arriving back at my home.  As I came through a corner, I noted the transmission shifted weird and realized it was due to slippage.  Uh oh.....  I gave a little gas and noted that the engine revved up without the corresponding increase in vehicle speed.  Bad news, my transaxle was slipping and was basically toast.  I was luckily able to make it home and I was so thankful my tranny didn't go out at the river, two hours away, with no cell service.  God was watching over me.

All this means is that it was time to search for another used transaxle to get my Honda back on the road.  I located one in a local wrecking yard for $300 yesterday and I'll have the pleasure of changing my transaxle out this coming Saturday.  I'm hoping to get this job done on Saturday, of course so I can fish on Sunday, but I know my fishing time on Sunday will come at the expense of bruised knuckles and sore arms and shoulders.  Such is the plight of the fly fisher who cannot afford to pay someone to do all their mechanical work.

Wendi finally told me that she thinks it's time to start looking for a new beater after I get my Honda running.  I'll be in the market for another Honda, probably mid to late 90's vintage.  When I someday get a newer car, folks won't recognize my vehicle for a while so I might be able to get away with flying under the radar when I'm out fishing, but I'd still miss my faithful Accord and I'm not sure if I'm ready to give her up!

Winter Skating

Since my local rivers have dropped and cleared following our big water event earlier in the month, mild, pleasant conditions have prevailed on my recent days astream.  Can't complain of warm, clear days on the river, making for satisfying fishing, despite my inability to get any steelhead slime on my hands yet this season.

With recent water temps ranging 47 degress in the am to 52 degress by midday, I can't help but spend some time skating flies for my local winter runs.  In Dry Line Steelhead, Bill McMillan's data of steelhead activity to the surface in relation to water temps continues to play out in my mind when I get out.  I have a new, reliable stream thermometer, so I've been back to taking water temps first thing in the morning and at midday or in the afternoon.  I'd also take a water temp reading at the time of hooking a fish, whenever that may happen someday.

I got out last monday with it being the President's day holiday.  Great to be a state employee at times...  The water temps were 47 degrees first thing in the morning so I elected to wait until mid day to try skating.  I had skated through a couple runs and by about 2pm, I settled into a little run that was perfect for the skater with good structure, nice soft chop, and perfect depth.  By the time I was near the bottom of the run, I was near to being out to time to fish and having to pack up and leave for home.  I was approaching some overhanging branches that marked the limit of how far I could continue down (I was longing for my pruning saw at that point).

As my big #2 purple/green butt skater came into the upper third of the swing, I was giving it some gentle, pulsating twitches when a surface attack came.  A fish exploded at the fly, but I felt nothing on my end of the line that correlated with the aggressive rise and my heightened level of  sensory awareness.

I went back with comeback attempts without success, but I was overjoyed to have raised what I assume must have been a winter steelhead to the surface.  I say I assumed it was a winter steelhead based on a internal process of elimination:  I did not actually see the fish, but.... there would be no salmon around and the rise was too big of a surface disturbance to be a trout.  The only other possibility was if it was a trophy sized sucker.

I got out again yesterday and the conditions were perfect for skating.  48 degress first thing in the morning, 50 degress by midday.  I skated for most of the day.  The water levels provided many shallow lies that could have held a surface friendly winter steelhead.  But alas, my visions/fantasy were interrupted with reality as no steelhead came up to play.  Still a pleasant day and I will continue to try for the elusive winter surface steelhead attack as conditions allow.

Hopefully folks who actually want to catch steelhead will not follow my crazy example!

Winter Skating

Armed and Ready

JM Reid 8592 Wee Heavy

Skaters En Masse!

This must be a sickness!!

High Water Cane Clave

It was to be a blissful weekend spent fishing coastal Oregon winter steelhead streams with a couple friends.  The plan was to fish with cane rods the whole weekend, specifically cane rods built by contemporary bamboo rod builder James Reid of Vancouver, BC.  The plan was hatched a couple months ago.  James had contacted me and mentioned that he was coming to Oregon in early February and asked if I would fish with him.  I did not have to give much thought in my response to James - of course I'd take him out to my local water. 

I would also be getting the 8592 "Wee Heavy" - 8'5" 9wt single hand cane prototype back in my hands when James came down.  I had stopped the rod off at James's shop in September on our way up to Skeena country.  James needed to make final inspections of the rod and tweak if necessary.  It turned out the "Wee Heavy" prototype passed James's inspection and had fared well in surviving a hard winter of dry line steelheading while on my watch last year - no tweaking necessary.  As a blue collar steelheader, being able to wield a custom built cane rod is a great luxury and has been an opportunity I never would have had if it weren't for James thinking to build a rod for the kind fishing that I do and inviting me to field test the Wee Heavy last year.

Adrian Cortes would be meeting up with us saturday evening and fishing with us on sunday.  James was also bringing down a replacement tip section for Adrian's 12' 6/7 weight "Summer Run".  Adrian had broken the tip of rod while fishing in December so he was glad to have his beloved cane two hander back in commission.

My dear wife Wendi gave me her blessing to fish saturday and sunday with James (and Adrian on Sunday), in addition to my regular friday fishing day.  Wendi also blessed us with welcoming James and Adrian to spend the night at our home (Wendi and I have been "empty nesters" for the past several months!) along with preparing "Steelhead EnCroute" for dinner on saturday.  I married well!!

As we approached the weekend before James's arrival, I began watching the weather and river level forecasts.  Things were looking good.  Forecasts called for a bit of rain that would bump the rivers just enough to bring them to a good level, then flows would be on the drop during James's weekend of fishing with me.  Anxious emails and texts went back and forth between James and me as we anticipated great conditions with chrome rewards.............

As the week progressed, things started to change.  We realized that weather reports are not written in stone and can be subject to variation, whether we like it or not.  By mid week, more and more rain became part of the weather forecast.  I remained optimistic and undaunted even with the predictions of increased precipitation.  I'm a steelheader afterall - I've got a backup plan - hit smaller flows that still fishes in big water and drops quickly - no problem! 

Closer to the weekend, things started to look grim.  Big rains were coming with the lines on the river forecasts pointing straight up in the coming days.  I still remained optimistic, but started to warn James by text that fishing conditions might be "marginal".  James is no stranger to tough fishing conditions on his homewaters on the lower mainland of BC and Vancouver Island.  I was pleased to hear that he remained game even as we looked at the prospect of fishing a blown river - the question soon became whether we would be able to find any fishable water all!

On the friday before James's arrival, I got out to our smaller ditch with Craig Coover, with river levels already on the rise.  As we descended through the coast range, to our great dismay, we found our ace in the hole high water stream dirty, and growing in size.  Craig looked at the river and made the call to ditch it.  Craig was the one driving and I was along for the ride.  I was then along for the ride home.

When I got home, I checked the river graphs and the forecast called for a slight drop in the levels for Saturday.  Things could work out for James and me after all.

I met up with James in Springfield Saturday morning.  James had made the drive from his friend's home in Portland that morning.  James arrived in his cool 94' Jeep Cherokee that he had modified himself.  James told me of fabricating his own bumpers and roof rack, installing a lift, and boring and stroking the 4.0L inline six.  We briefly traded gear head stories as I also shared about my beloved Classic 74' Bronco with a 351Windsor under the hood.

James talked of monsoon rains all along his journey south from Vancouver, BC and that he felt like he tends to have rain clouds following him whenever he made trips to go after steelhead.  I was reminded of his stories of blown rivers during his prior Skeena trips and started to wonder if he was the cause of all the rain we were getting!  We jumped in my venerable 1990 Honda Accord (only 327,000 miles on this beater) and hit the road.

Upon arriving at the river by mid morning, we were looking at the prospects of fishing what amounted to be a blown river.  Most sane souls would have considered it a lost cause - probably the reason we didn't see any other maniacs out fishing this day.  A running joke came at my expense as James would periodically laugh during his time with me, whenever he would reflect back on my text warning him that river conditions might be "marginal".

Marginal??

 

 

Look Fishable??

So much potential here

I admired and respected James for remaining steadfast, even in the grim conditions we were faced with.  We both have the inclination to "make the best of things" even when we were looking upon a high, dirty stream, with our only option to eek out any bit of soft, inside water we could find.

We hit some of my usual spots and we were surprised and glad that we were actually able to find a few inside cushions of soft water to fish.  When we had initially stopped to look at the water James was ecstatic as he looked into the brown flow and exclaimed "we've got a foot of visibility"!

A foot of vis??

We both adapted to the tough conditions by squeezing into tight spots with brush at our backs and often times, branches overhead.  Creative casts were in order and I think we each may have even invented a few new casts.  James only fell in once when he stepped off an unseen ledge that he couldn't see in the colored water.

Watch for the ledge James!

The Winter's Hope - one of about three fly patterns I know how to tie

The 8592 Wee Heavy felt at home in my hands again and it performed flawlessly in the impossible places I was casting from.  It's firm, crisp action, along with the short, heavy 350 grain Ambush line made this tough game a lot easier.  I readily fell back into the rhythm of casting and fishing this fine piece of steelhead equipment.

On top of it all, it was so cool to be fishing my home water with the guy who built my one and only cane rod.  James and I fell into a comfortable pace with our fishing and I commented to him that I somehow felt like I'd been fishing with him for a long time.  Our levels of determination, tempered with realistic expectations under the adverse conditions, were in sync during our time together.

We even decided to explore some water I'd never fished before and I was pleased that we found a couple more nice swing spots to add to my quiver.  Sometimes it takes having a guy from out of town to get me to think outside of the box and learn new stuff even on my homewater.

James and I actually managed to find enough soft inside water along the flooded river to make a full day out if it.   The isolated places where steelhead could conceivably be holding actually gave us some confidence that we could find a resting chromer somewhere in the compressed zones we were fishing.

Despite our best efforts, we found no willing players.  By late afternoon, we called it a day, satisfied and content that we successfully fished as well as we could in the near impossible conditions we were faced with.  There is a certain joy in being able to take conditions as they are and doing better than just making the best things.

We met up with Adrian back in town and John Sherman of Corvallis also came down to join in for dinner at the house.   John is the owner of one of Jame's custom made bamboo switch rods that he had James make for Oregon coastal winter steelhead.  A tweaker had stolen the extra tip section of John's rod from his rig, so James made a replacement and brought it down for John.

The four of us enjoyed the wonderful dinner that my dear wife prepared for us and we stayed up visiting until about 2am.  We would have just enough time to get a bit of sleep before our 6am wake call for the start of another day of Oregon winter steelheading.

The rain had briefly slowed while river levels crested and a slight drop was predicted for our day on the water.  Upon arriving at the scene of yesterday's crimes, we found the river had dropped about a foot, with visibility of about 2 feet, a great improvement over the day before.  Don't get me wrong, the river was still running high, but compared to the prior day, conditions looked perfect.  Of course, levels were still much too high for sane people and we had the place to ourselves.  Can't complain of having solitude while showing off my homewater to my friends.

James was fishing his newest salt water companion rod that he just built for a bonefish trip he was taking to my former homestate of Hawaii in a couple weeks.  With this companion rod, he is able to fish it as a 8'9" 8wt single hander and with the longer butt section, it fishes as a switch rod.  With the short casts we often needed on the swollen river, James fished the single hand configuration both days.

To the promised land

James fishing his bonefish rod while Adrian looks on with anticipation.

Adrian was happy to have his 12' 6/7wt "Summer Run" back in commission and he fished it throughout the day.  He was able to work his longer rod in the tight spots pretty well and he was firing off tight loops as well as ever as he fished his classic irons on a dry line.

I continued fishing my 8'5" 9wt "Wee Heavy" throughout the day and even James commented on how well that rod fished my coastal winter steelhead haunt.  It was the perfect tool for the job at hand.

At the first pool we fished, I actually spooked a little buck of about 5lbs out of a nearshore side channel that I typically traipse through without giving a thought.  This little colored buck simply glided over to the adjoining larger side channel and James actually tried swinging his fly to where we thought the steelhead settled to but James's fly remained untouched. 

Perfect conditions - cane magic by James Reid

Adrian working his "Summer Run" for winter steel with a dry line and classic flies

We fished through runs that we covered the day before and manged to find yet another new pool that swung our flies nicely.  At one of the pools that had produced mutiple steelhead for my buddy Craig last year, I had James and Adrian fishing the upper and lower sections of this water while I took a break from fishing and was able to scan the water from a higher vantage point.  As I looked into the lower section of the pool, I recalled the little buck I saw earlier in the day that was sitting literally right next to the bank.  Accordingly, I focused on the nearshore water that I could see into and lo and behold, I spotted what looked like a bright steelhead of about 12lbs in a nearshore slot on river left in a spot that seemed impossible to swing a fly to.

I alerted James and Adrian of what I saw and James decided to try for the fish with a skater while I watched from above and helped guide his swings.  James tied one of my foam skaters to the tippet section on my Wee Heavy and gave it a go.  Adrian and I watched anxiously as we found that James was actually able to get the skater over the lie.  James was able to make multiple swings in front of the steelhead, but it wasn't a taker, even in the balmy 52 degree water.  As it turned out, the surface fly was the only presentation that could have been put over the fish without hanging up.

James fishing a skater to the steelhead spotted in the slot near the bank, see it??  Photo by Adrian Cortes

We ended the day fishing through the same pool where we started the day.  My pet steelhead was not in the shore side channel but the river had continued to drop over the course of the day.  The run fished beautifully for the three steelhead fanatics waving beautifully built cane rods that were created by a true contemporary master - James Reid.  It was akin to an art aficionado being able to hang out with the master artist himself, pretty cool stuff and quite a privilege.

The drive back to town went by quickly despite our sleep deprivation and lack of steelhead hookups.  Excited talk about our favorite fish, cane rods, and places we've fished and wanted to fish flowed easily.  Our plans for our next BC trip in the fall was discussed and tentative plans to meet up with James again, possibly at the beginning or tail ends of our travel through BC were contemplated.  James offered Adrian and I the opportunity to taste of his homewaters and we spoke longingly of intimate waters with free rising summer steelhead - images that were kindled by steelhead literature I had read.

On arriving back in Springfield, we unloaded my trusty Honda and celebrated over having a wonderful day of doing what we love.   Adrian and I would be getting back to daily life and James was headed back towards Portland with plans to fish the Sandy River the following day with mutual friend and guide extraordinaire Marty Sheppard.  (I later found out that James got a beautiful chromer during his day with Marty)  James harvested a handful of skaters from my box to share with Marty and Mia Sheppard as a token gift from the dry line steelheader in Springfield.  I bid the guys farewell for the time being, and left with the great satisfaction that comes from fishing with wonderful like-minded friends in the beauty of God's Creation.