BC Adventure 2015

I had such a great time traveling to Skeena country last fall with good friends Adrian Cortes and Steve Turner, that we immediately began planning a return trip for this year.  Last year's trip produced fond memories of surface steelhead encounters that replayed in our minds throughout the year.

Back in Steelhead Paradise!  Adrian Cortes photo

One of the primary reasons that I started this blog was to chronicle my fishing life so I can keep memories alive of those special moments that I am blessed to experience on steelhead rivers.  This has been an endeavor that I do for my own fun and enjoyment and I have been so honored when my crazed stories are enjoyed by others and when my friends also refer back to these stories to relive the good times we have shared together.

Of course, the fun times that Steve, Adrian, and I had in BC last year produced a series of blog posts and I was blessed when Zack Williams, editor of e-mag Swing the Fly (coming in print soon!), approached me about having an edited version of our story published in Swing the Fly.  The collaborative efforts which included my amateur writing (with excerpts by Adrian), Steve's and Adrian's beautiful photos and even a few of my photos made it to the pages of Swing the Fly.  Zack did a great job of editing my ramblings and he was magical with the layout of the photos.  It was quite the thrill and honor to see our story published.

The past year went by quickly, even considering our levels of anticipation to return to Skeena country.  Last year's trip went so smoothly that Steve, Adrian, and I were able to establish ourselves as a "Steelhead Assault Unit" - a compatible group of fanatics who are able to travel together on a long road trip in pursuit of surface steel without getting on each other's nerves.

The chances of such compatibility seems rather remote when you think about it.  A long road trip is the ultimate test of 3 individual steelheaders' ability to put up with each other in close quarters for a significant period of time.  Annoying character flaws could come to the surface that could ruin a trip, but apparently I've done a good enough job of hiding the worst of mine (or at least Steve and Adrian haven't let on about how difficult I am to get along with).  I had only met Steve last year and never went on a a road trip with either Steve or Adrian before, so they really took a gamble on me.
 
Speaking of character flaws, Adrian and I came clean right off about how we both snore terribly, just ask our wives, so we ended up sharing a room again (ummm, separate beds of course) so Steve could get some sleep.   The strange thing is I never hear myself snore and I haven't heard Adrian snore so it could all be a hoax, this snoring thing.  Otherwise, it really is a blessing how the three of us get along so well and we just thoroughly enjoy each others' company on the road and on the river.  Our temperaments just mesh together so well and our days on the river are always easy and relaxed.  I couldn't ask for a better set of travel companions for such a trip.

Hotel room shared by snoring steelheaders.  Adrian Cortes photo

Our journey to BC last year allowed us to establish some routines so our plans for this year came off without a hitch with the exception that we made different arrangements for lodging.  We again purchased our fishing licenses online, which is a great convenience.  I realized my passport expired in May so I went into our local post office to purchase the cheaper passport card as I don't anticipate flying (rather than driving) to Canada anytime soon.

Anxious emails and facebook messages went back and forth among us as the day drew near for us to gather at Steve's home to travel north.  Our plan again included a stop to visit Bill McMillan on the way and Bill graciously accepted our request to stop by to see him.

As I gathered my tackle and packed the Steelhead Taxi for the drive north, I pondered my game plan for this trip.  My strategy would be to go with "big rods for big water".  I decided to go back to my bigger two handers - my old Sage 9140-4 "brownie" and Sage 8136 IIIe.  I'd be throwing 54' Delta Speys on these rods and I would be pairing the 9140 with a JW Young 1535 and the 8136 with a Hardy Marquis Salmon 2.  While these setups are not as gigantic as what the Clearwater and Spey O Rama crowd use, I would at least be closer to matching my tackle to suit the water being fished.

I fished my Cabela's switch rods most of my trip last year and did fine, but another part of the reason for going back to the bigger rods was to celebrate several "firsts".  This year is the 20th year since my first BC trip in 1995 and during that trip I got my first steelhead on a fly which was also my first steelhead on a dry fly and my first steelhead taken on a two handed rod - the 9140 brownie.  This also marks 20 years since I've owned that old Sage 9140 brownie, and ownership of that rod spans the time on my clock as a two handed caster - I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of it!  I was also hoping to get a "20 year steelhead" on the old, reliable 9140.

Adrian and I arrived at Steve's home as planned and we loaded into Steve's F150, again with Steve's beautiful Clackacraft in tow.  As we made our way north on I-5 we realized that we were encountering the heavy traffic associated with a holiday weekend.  It wasn't long before I was regretting the amount of coffee I drank on the way up as my bladder was telling me to plead with Steve for a pit stop at a restroom.  As it turned out, there were no convenient exits with gas stations in the stretch we were crawling through, so I made due with a drainage ditch alongside one of the exits, ahhh what a relief!

We we were running about an hour behind schedule, but when I called Bill McMillan to let him know of our unexpected delay, he was still agreeable to accommodating our visit.  We indeed arrived at Bill's home about an hour late as we had figured.  After warm greetings, we sat with Bill in his den, the "Inner Sanctum" and got caught up with the latest steelhead talk.  Adrian had been tying more classic Harry Lemire flies and he gifted Bill with a couple - a Thompson River Caddis and a Greaseliner.  As Bill looked over Adrian's flies, Bill noted that Harry had given him some of his flies and Bill remarked that Adrian's greaseliner looked just the way Harry tied them.    On a darker note, I offered Bill some of my latest "stinger wangs" and he smiled and accepted those too.

Bill McMillan looking over and commenting on Adrian's Greaseliner.  Todd Hirano photo

Bill offered us cookies and lemonade as we visited and Bill's wife Lynn briefly stopped by to say hello as well.  We carried on about our excitement in returning to Skeena country and Bill recalled stories about his prior trips to Skeena country as well.  He spoke of a friend who raised and missed a number of surface steelhead on a Skeena tributary and literally had a mental breakdown as he swatted the river with his rod in a frenzied fit.  This story was among other fond memories of surface steelheading Bill recounted.  Another story involved the time when Bill, along with Pat Lee, guided former president Jimmy Carter and his wife Roselynn Carter on the North Umpqua in the early 90's.  Bill's enthusiasm for steelheading, especially surface steelheading is still much in evidence to this day, which is so great see as Bill has rode the waves of some of the best and worst times with our Pacific Northwest steelhead runs over the years.

We ended up continuing our visit on the beach looking out on Bill's home steelhead run on the mighty Skagit River.  As we chatted pink salmon would periodically porpoise and splash.  Talk also touched on the current situation with the wild winter steelhead run on the Skagit and current managment.  Bill reminded of his belief that the current management is backwards in that the early winter season should be closed and the spring catch and release season should reopen.  Bill explained that the above scenario would make more sense since the early return segment of wild Skagit winter steelhead is very small due to years of overharvest and intensive hatchery management, but the later return segment of the run is much healthier, in comparison, at this time.

A blessed time spent with Bill McMillan as we sat along his homewater:

  Adrian Cortes photo

Adrian Cortes photo

Steve Turner photo

Todd Hirano photo

Bill McMillan, a great friend, mentor and steelheading icon.  Todd Hirano photo

By the time we prepared to leave Bill's home, we realized that we had spent 3 hours in the great company of a wonderful man and steelhead icon.  We were extremely grateful for the enriching visit we had with Bill.

We got back on the road, survived the border crossing and spent nearly twenty continuous hours on the road as we swigged coffee, tied flies, and traded driving shifts as we traversed north past Vancouver and up the Frasier Valley.

A midnight pit stop for gas, coffee, and taking a leak.  Todd Hirano photo

After what seemed like an eternity, we pulled into our destination the next morning.  We grabbed some provisions in town and we also stopped to picked up Steve's custom ordered landing net, a beauty big enough to fit around any Kahuna sized steelhead we might encounter.  We settled into our living quarters for the week and ate dinner at one of the local restaurants before turning in for the night.

On day one, we floated one the the popular stretches, one that we went through on our first day last year as well.  We stopped at familiar spots with great expectations.  I started to get my casting ironed out with the longer rods/lines and when I was lucky, I'd even get a decent cast out every now and again.  It felt good to see the "long" line roll out on the big runs we fished.

Every now and then, I'd get a decent cast out
Adrian Cortes photo

This stretch of river was fairly busy as it is one of the more popular drifts.  It appeared that a couple guide sleds were out, but it was all good, as there was plenty of water to go around.  We remembered regretting spending too much time in the upper half of this float last year so we made better time in getting to the lower section before dark.

We saw these beautiful creatures every day.  This spectacular shot was taken by Steve Turner  with his Nikon DSLR, 400mm f/4 and 1.7x teleconverter, right Steve??

Another beautiful shot by Steve Turner.  Adrian firing line out with a spectacular fall BC backdrop.

There was a particular run that I remembered from a prior trip and I was hoping we would be able to stop and fish it.  When we were fishing one of the other runs, I realized we were just above the water I had in mind, but before we got done fishing the run we were in, I had seen two sleds stop at the run I wanted to fish by the time we were ready to move on.   As we got into the boat, I saw that the run I had my eye on was vacant.  I suggested we fish it anyway, despite the prior commotion from the other parties who had already stopped there.

I walked down,  taking the bottom third, Adrian took middle, and Steve took the top.  I moved through quickly since this is a big. broad run where steelhead could be sitting just about anywhere.  As I was starting to make my way down, a fellow in a pontoon was floating by and yelled over and asked me if I was fishing some foam skater that I had designed and I said yes and the fellow mentioned about meeting me on the North Umpqua at some point in the past - small world.  Unfortunately, I didn't remember who the guy was.

Steve making some great casts up high in the run.  Todd Hirano photo

As I continued down, I heard Adrian holler and I looked back to see a hot, bright steelhead putting a good bend in Adrian's JM Reid Summer run cane rod.  This steelhead had given Adrian some strong runs and surface thrashing and I was surprised when Adrian got the beautiful steelhead to the bank with the help of Steve and his new net and found the hen to be of only "average" size.  Regardless, this was a good start to the trip.

Fish on!  Todd Hirano photo

Adrian validates the Thompson River Caddis.  Todd Hirano photo

Headshot.  Todd Hirano photo

Adrian's Thompson River Caddis.  Adrian Cortes photo

Adrian explained that he had been fishing a riffle hitched Thompson River Caddis and raised the steelhead but didn't hook it.  Adrian then unhitched the "TRC" and went back through and the steelhead grabbed his fly in the film.

We continued through the float with no other action and with being near the end of our drift as we fished our last run, we were comfortable pulling into the take out close to dark.

We spent our second day fishing through the float that was most productive for us last year.  We stopped at all of the runs that were loaded during our prior trip.  Our anticipation for surface grabs were high.....but we found none.  The three of us did not raise a single steelhead this day.

Misty morning awesomeness.  Adrian working through prime real estate at first light.   Todd Hirano photo

Steve and Adrian starting the day.  Todd Hirano photo

Steve's custom engraved Hatch reel sitting on his Burkheimer.  Photo by Adrian Cortes

Adrian captured this image of me with my favorite fly silhouetted against the river that has captivated my soul for the past 20 years.  Adrian Cortes photo

We spent day three fishing an upper stretch of river that none of us had ever fished before.  Improved put ins and take outs are few in this part of the river.  Being that we were in a hard boat we were left to use a put in further upstream than we would have liked and this involved Steve mostly rowing through the upper half of this float.  Steve is such a gracious host that he only let me row for a total of about 15 minutes the whole week!

Got Mud??  Leslie Flint photo

Going down the river.  Leslie Flint photo

When we reached the lower half of the float, which actually would have been our preferred area to put in if it had been possible, we slowed down and stopped to fish at runs that looked good.  As it turned out, there were plenty of runs that looked good through here.  It seemed that great looking water was continually strung together as we floated down.  We would fish a nice run formed by a gentle bend in the river and when done, we'd float down and find another nice run formed by another gentle bend, and so it went until we reached the take out.  We got aced out of a few runs by other fisherman, but it didn't matter as the great water just kept going, leaving ample options available.

One of many beautiful runs strung together on this float.  Adrian Cortes photo

As we stopped at each run through this float, our hopes ran high with every piece of water looking so good.  I fished my foam/hair creations with supreme confidence as I watched them skate though fishy looking seams throughout the day.

The day was uneventful, steelwise, until were about 3/4's of the way through the float.  We came to a run with some nice structure in it as we noted boils formed by big boulders.  Steve was coming through with a freshly tied muddler gifted to him by Mr. Cortes.  Steve was also going "retro" on this trip as he was fishing an old school Sage 6126-3, Delta Spey line, and classy, brand new Hardy Taupo.  Steve was fishing his muddler damp in the film when he got a solid grab halfway down the run with a great fish solidly hooked and running.

Steve with a bruiser on the line.  Todd Hirano photo

The steelhead gave Steve some powerful runs with his Taupo making a sweet sound and putting a deep bend in his classic rod.  From the flashes and surface thrashes we were seeing, it appeared that Steve was tied to a mid teens steelhead that was pretty bright and appeared to be a hen.  Adrian had Steve's Kahuna net in hand and the steelhead came close to netting range a couple times.  The last time the steelhead got close to Adrian, the hook pulled out.  When Steve reeled in, we found out the cause of the lost steelhead - the hook on Steve's muddler got straightened by the great fish.  We took a breath, high-fived, and toasted to the blessed excitement that steelhead provides us.

The end game of Steve's encounter with a crazy, angered steelie.  Todd Hirano photo

A Toast to Steelhead Blessings!!   Todd Hirano photo

Steve taking five after battling the hook straightening steelie, unwittingly getting photobombed by my foam skater to the left of him.  Adrian Cortes photo

 We continued through the float with no other steel encounters.  After taking out we headed back to town and talked of how this stretch of river would best be fished in pontoons or in a raft where improved put ins are less critical.  We talked of plans to use pontoons next year to better take advantage of fishing this great stretch of river.  There we go - always scheming for "next time"!

On day four we again floated the "2014 loaded run" stretch of river.  We had the chance to speak to the fellow we referred to as Jet Ski Ed that we ran into last year.  We had chatted with him at his camper and found him to be an interesting, yet opinionated fellow.  He talked of Echo and Sage rods as being "clubs" and that all one needs is a riffle hitched buck bug to catch steelhead on this river.  However, Ed also generously gave tidbits of information on some of the runs we were about to fish and he spoke about fishing into the very bottom section of a run he described to us.

When we got to "Ed's run", we certainly found Ed's advice to be sound.  The lower section of said run didn't look like much when we had passed by it in the past, but on this day, we put our lines in the water there and found the lower section to be very fishy.  Unfortunately, we found out too late that we didn't fish the run far down enough.  After we had fished as far down as we thought we should have, we got in the boat and continued floating through.  As we floated past where we had stopped fishing, we noted several steelhead, including a nice big one, laying just above the lip of the tailout, in water we assumed to be too shallow to hold fish.....wrong!

A guy can only take so much.  When little branches start catching your D loop, it's time to bust out the pruning saw!  Adrian Cortes photo

Ms. Vickies - chips of champions!  There I go passing on the bad habit of eating junk food on fishing trips.  Adrian Cortes photo

 We continued floating down and stopped at the "Treasure Island" run.  I was fishing behind Adrian and as we got into the lower third of the run, I was half asleep from going without surface action for so long, when I was awakened by a loud "slurp".  The steelhead's rise was noisy enough that Adrian even heard it from his position below me.  When I came to my senses, I realized that a steelhead had attacked my #4  charteuse/purple Little Wang skater as it came into the shallow near shore water.  I lifted the rod and the steelhead was on the line.  This was not a super hot fish, it looked to be a hen in the 26/27" range.  After a few short runs, I had this gal close to shore and was anticipating getting a head shot as this would be my first surface steelhead landed of the season.  However, my thoughts were too far ahead of reality as the hook pulled out at that moment.  Oh well, at least I didn't have to get my hands slimy on the release, but of course a little bit of  fish slime wouldn't' have bothered me either.

Greaseliner tied in-hand, streamside by Adrian Cortes.  Steve Turner photo

Streamside fly tying jam session.  Look at this guy's intensity - lighten up Adrian, it's just fishing!   Steve Tuner photo

We hit another run that was loaded last year and no one home this day.  The remainder of the float didn't produce any further action as well.

As we were approaching the take out, we saw a group of anglers gathered on the bank alongside a large, walk in run.  Just as we got past this group of anglers one of them yells out "Adrian??"  We realized this was Peter Pettos and his friends.  Pete is a steelheader/fly tyer from Ontario who has been communicating with Adrian via Instagram and Facebook.  Also in the group was Larry Halyek, also of Ontario.  Larry is a fellow I've communicated with through Speypages and Larry had contributed to my blog with a story on Dry Fly Steelheading in the Great Lakes.  Also in this group was Allison Oliver, a California native who is currently a resident of BC, and Pete's friends PJ and Stevie.  Steve Turner pulled back on the oars and we were able to pull in about 50 yards below and we then walked up along the bank to meet up with Pete and company.

PJ had just gotten himself a CF Burkheimer 15'2" 8wt before coming on this trip and he kindly allowed Steve and me to test cast it.  Steve fell in love with the rod and planned to purchase one before returning to BC next year.  I loved the rod as well, but with the meager earnings of a Child Welfare caseworker, all I can do is dream of owning such equipment.  Luckily, I'm content with my array of "cheapskate" gear.

We later met up with this group at a local establishment for dinner and drinks that evening and we had a great time visiting and talking dry fly steelheading.  Like Adrian, Pete is a dedicated fisher of the greaseliner.  However, Pete has a different take on going after steelhead on the comeback.  Pete related that if he raises a steelhead to a greaseliner and the steelhead won't comeback to the same fly on the next couple casts then "too bad, the heck with em" and moves on.  No multiple fly changes in seeking the comeback for Pete.

PJ bought us all a round of shots before dinner, and not being much of a drinker, I downed my drink and my throat burned and my face got hot for a few seconds as I regained consciousness and went back to jabbering about surface steel.   We had a great time visiting with this group as we marveled at the unique niche of people us steelheaders are.

On day five, we fished the same stretch of river yet again.  We had the boat in the water just after dawn and we hit the first run we come to just after the put in.  This had been the most generous run we fished last year and thus far it had not given up a single rise.  As I fished through the lower half of the run, I kept hoping that today would be the day when a few steelhead moved in to the holds we found them in last year.

The fresh start of a new day.  Adrian's D loop caught by the lens of Steve Turner.

Hope runs through Adrian's line...............  Steve Turner photo.

By the time I got through the tailout of the run, something told me to just keep going down through the shallow riffle that formed below.  This seemed like low percentage water, running maybe a foot deep over a cobbled bottom, but the inner voice said to move fast and just keep covering water.  I figured with the overcast weather and slow fishing, it couldn't hurt to cover as much real estate as possible, even some in between, marginal stuff.

Covering water.   Steve Turner photo

After getting about a 100 or so feet down into this riffle, I was making about 80-90'(when lucky) casts with my 8136 and 8/9 Delta spey as I went for "greased line" type casts to present my stinger wang broadside in the shallow, choppy, but even flowing riffle.  On one of these casts, I was watching my skater coming across when a steelhead came up with a cross stream launch at my fly.  I simply did noting and the steelhead came tight and was off and running.  After a few runs that produced that classic Hardy scream from my Marquis, I had this little buck near shore and by that time Steve had arrived on the scene for pics and landing of the steelhead with the Kahuna net.  This was my first surface steelhead to hand since last November and it felt great!  This was also my first steelhead taken on the stinger wang.  After some minor celebrations, Steve, Adrian, and I returned to our stations and I decided to just continue on down in the water I was fishing to see if any other players could be found in the "marginal" looking water I'd been fishing.

Finally, a surface steehead to hand for me.  Steve Turner photo.

Keep em' wet.  Steve Turner photo

As I continued down, I found that the water deepened as I came to a corner down low in this run.  I noted that this section swung really well and I felt like steelhead could hold down there, even though we had never seen anyone stopped there fishing before.  As I contemplated the potential of this water, I realized that I had made my way pretty far from Adrian and Steve and it was just then that they arrived in the boat to catch up with me.  I apologized for getting so far away from them and when they arrived I described how I felt like this water could hold steelhead.  Adrian agreed and we decided to continue fishing through this water.

New Found Water.   Todd Hirano photo

Adrian headed a ways downstream below the boat and Steve would be walking above to start back through the corner.  I decided to just continue on from where I was.  I figured to switch up my equipment so I grabbed my old 9140 and gave it a go.  I had just started back in with my normal casting length out and was chatting with Steve when during one of my casts, a steelhead came up to my skater with a quick rise and was on immediately, just as I said to Steve "there he is".  This steelhead fought similarly to the one I had just landed and as I was playing this fish, I realized that I got my wish as this was my 20th anniversary steelhead hooked on the old 9140.  As the steelhead got close, I noted it was also about the same sized as the other two steelhead I hooked into, in that 26-27" range.  Steve again stood by with the net and just when the steelhead got somewhat close in, the hook pulled out.  This was another "slime free" release, but I was Immensely pleased to find more surface steelhead action, anyway I could get it.

Steve and me celebrating hooking my "20 year steelhead" on the ole 9140.  The steelhead escaped the net, but raising and hooking them counts for me anymore.  Adrain Cortes photo.

Chartreuse and Purple Stinger Wang did the trick.  Adrian Cortes photo

Big rods for big water.  Todd Hirano photo

When Steve came back through the water I just fished, he also hooked up on a surface bug.  Steve had tied on a yellow/orange wang that I had given him last year and the bright fly did the trick in bringing another steelhead to the surface.  This steelhead gave Steve a spirited battle but it also escaped human handling as it got off the hook after several good runs.  Steve then decided to try a damp Thomson River caddis in the film and quickly hooked into another steelhead not far from where his last steelhead came from.  This steelhead also gave Steve a strong fight and also managed to escape the Kahuna net.

A view from the office.  Todd Hirano photo

We watched Adrian fish the lower section of this water and we were surprised that Adrian's water didn't produce a rise as Adrian later reported that it looked good and fished well.  We were greatly pleased that we had sniffed out a "new spot" on our own.  Our only regret was that this was our last day in paradise and we would have to wait til next year to try this water again.

We continued through the float with no other steelhead action and Steve finally allowed me to give him a short 15 minute break on the oars as we neared the take out.  As we loaded the boat, the familiar feelings of saddness in ending a week in paradise came over us, yet we felt so greatly blessed for being able to enjoy a week chasing after surface steel in the midst of God's glorious creation.

My 15 minute shift on the oars for the week.  Adrian Cortes photo

Overall, we experienced slow fishing on this trip, but being with great friends on a great adventure to steelhead paradise was more than enough to leave us with great memories of wonderful times fellowshipping on our favorite steelhead water.

The Dry Line Swing in Winter Part 2

Fresh winter steelhead that munched on a 5/0 Winter's Hope

 It seems the winter steelhead season has come upon me suddenly with low summer rivers quickly giving way to rain swollen flows as the new normal.  Since the beginning of the month, my efforts have turned to chasing winter steelhead on my favorite coastal haunts and I've been reconnecting with my usual winter steelheading companions Craig Coover and Keith Tymchuk.

With a few early season trips already under my belt, I'm coming to terms with what appears to be effects of an el nino year, with above average rainfall and rivers running high.  I got out on a coastal stream yesterday and with all the rain we've been having, flows were "marginal".  Keith and I found a few soft inside cushions, but options were limited so we quit before noon and made a quick retreat to town for a late "breakfast" at a local diner.  Sausage and cheese omelets never tasted so good to a couple of rain soaked steelheaders.

As I begin another winter steelhead season I ponder my prospects as a dedicated dry line steelheader.  Of course I plan to stick with the dry line throughout the season.  I anticipate rivers running at higher levels this year which means I'll most likely spend more time on smaller streams that drop and clear more quickly than larger systems.

Fishing smaller water means busting out the single handers and switch rods as long casts are not needed in close quarters.  My JM Reid 8' 5" 9wt "Wee Heavy" has already got some airtime and my single hand glass rods will also get out as well.  My 11' Cabela's switch rods will see some use too.  Ambush lines and Rage heads will be my dry lines of choice with tapered Maxima leaders delivering Winter's Hopes tied on heavy irons the primary set up used most often.  I'll be tossing skaters when flows permit, especially in the early afternoons.  Front weighted MOALs, sparse intruders, and simple lead eyed rabbit strip flies will come into play in snaggy areas where "disposable" dry line flies are needed.

This chunky winter buck dwarfs my 7wt single hand set up

As usual, I know my talented, sink tip-equipped friends will fish circles around me, but I will continue seeking to make improvements in my technique within the limitations of my chosen method.  Getting a winter steelhead on a skater is always a goal as well and I'm hoping the 2015/2016 winter/spring season could give up a second winter steelhead to a surface fly for me.  My one and only winter steelhead landed on a skater was taken in late March 2013, but I seem to at least raise a couple winter steelhead  to the top each year.

It will be interesting to see how the winter steelhead season develops this year.  Wishing you all a great winter season!

A Little Hope is all I need!

Black Friday Steel

A non traditional fly does the trick, a memory from a winter's past

Winter's Hope in the corner of the jaw, where it belongs

A Happy Place

A "Collaborative" Summer Tradition

This has been the third year of gathering with my good friend Adrian Cortes, Keith Tymchuck and others on our favorite Oregon summer steelhead river.  I'm not sure if this qualifies to be called such, but it is becoming a summer tradition for us to schedule this gathering each July, It is always a great time of getting like minded souls together to obsess over this obscure niche known as steelhead fly fishing.  Hanging out with others who actually understand the language and thought process that comes through our unique passion is so refreshing.

Adrian initiated the planning and logistics with our "raising a ruckus" get together this year.  Bucky Buchstaber, Executive Director/founder of the Fly Fishing Collaborative (FFC) and Dave Fineran, Communications Director with the Fly Fishing Collaborative joined us, along with Josh Browning, a prolific donor of classic flies to the FFC.  Dave's fiancee Lindsey Wayman was even brave enough to join a group of crazy steelheaders for the weekend.

Keith and Adrian were the first to arrive at the river and staked out a campspot.  I arrived on the evening of that first day and caught up with Keith during his evening session on a favorite run.  It was a beautiful time on the river and a great pleasure to watch Keith fish a promising tailout that has been a well known producer, but has yet to yield a steelhead to either of us to date.

Upon arriving back at camp, Adrian soon arrived from his evening session and reported that he had not encountered any steel yet either.

Guide Mark Stangeland was also camping and fishing the river as well.  He came over to visit and we stayed up later than we should have as we caught up with the latest steelhead talk and we tried to absorb every possible bit of river wisdom that we could from Mark as he shared of his years of experience on this famed river.

Adrian and I fished together the following morning and we hit some of our favorite spots with no action until we got to the last pool.  Adrian was fishing through with one of his classic wets and halfway through the swing, line started slowly pulling from his reel, then nothing.  Most likely, a steelhead stopped his fly and started to slowly turn with it and the hook pulled out.  We surveyed the water and there didn't appear to be anything that would have snagged his fly in that area.

Bucky arrived that afternoon and Adrian introduced him to me and Keith for the first time.  I spoke to Bucky about the FFC and how I remember the time a few years ago when Adrian had mentioned to me about when it was just being birthed as a concept ministry to enlist fly fishers to come together for the cause of stopping human trafficking in third world countries.  I admired Bucky for the visionary he has been and praised God for bringing Bucky's visions to fruition as the FFC is a thriving ministry today.

Kudos must also go out to Adrian Cortes, Josh Browning, Matt Zilliox, and others who have generously donated their time, skill, and resources by tying beautiful classic salmon flies that get packaged in classy leather fly wallets that are much in demand by discriminating classic fly lovers around the world, with proceeds going to support the FFC.  Several guiding operations contribute guided trips to the FFC as well, including Marty and Mia Sheppard of Little Creek Outfitters and others.

During the evening session, I took Bucky out to some of the famous pools on this beautiful river.  We hit some of my favored spots with no steel action, but Bucky was in awe of the beauty of this place.  I pointed spots out as we drove by and gave some history on the river along with any personal stories I happened to have about runs we passed by or stopped at.

Bucky fishng a famous pool

Back at camp, we settled in, ate dinners of a simple sort, tied flies, and again stayed up visiting until later than we should have.  Mark Stangeland joined the crew again and talk of steelheading began flowing again.  A major topic of conversation was the upcoming emergency closure issued by ODFW.  The river would be closed to fishing from 2pm until and hour before sunrise the following morning each day until further notice.  We lamented the elimination of our evening sessions, especially in light of the fact that the river has been running at normal summer temperatures after we came through the heat wave earlier in the month.

The following morning, I took Bucky out to some of my other favorite spots on the lower fly water.  One of the spots I took Bucky to was an obscure out of the way, single person deal.  I pointed out the holding lie for Bucky and watched him swing his fly into the zone.  Bucky covered the water well and by the time he reached the limit of the holding water we accepted that there was no one home.

When we arrived back at the rig, a fellow had stopped by and said hey.  We realized it was Josh Browning, a friend I had made through Speypages and Facebook and a very talented tyer who has been donating some spectacular classics to the FFC cause.  We decided to escort him back to camp so he could drop off his car and fish with us for the remainder of the morning.

After getting Josh situated at camp, we jumped in my trusty Honda and headed back to the river.  As we drove along the river, we ended up at a run that is still fairly new to me, but was selected since it still had some shade on it.  This run had a riffly head that deepened into a slow pool and the lower section formed a tailout below a rocky break.  I gave Bucky and Josh the choice of water to fish and I'd just get in behind either one of them.

A beautiful freestyle tied by and gifted to me by Josh Browning

For no particular reason, Bucky ended up at the riffly head in and Josh ended up in the tailout.  After getting the guys set up in their respective positions, I decided to take a break on a convenient log as I watched Bucky fish his water.  After a few casts, I hear Bucky yelling over to me that apparently, Josh had raised a fish, which Bucky surmised from Josh's hand motions that he could see from his position.

I decided to grab my camera and head over to Josh's position in case he was able to get the steelhead to come back.  When I arrived on the scene, Josh informed that he raised a steelhead near a boulder in the lower part of the tailout on a little wang skater that I had given him.  When I asked if the steelhead came back on successive casts, Josh stated that he had made a same cast a few more times and there was no response from Mr. Steelhead so I suggest that Josh shorten up and go back with a different fly.

Josh reeled in 10 or so feet of line and I grabbed his tippet and tied on a greaseliner tied by and gifted to me by Adrian Cortes.  By this time, Bucky had come over to watch the events unfold with Josh's steelhead encounter.

Josh cast the greaseliner out and I was explaining that the riffle hitched fly sits lower in the water than the foam skater and can be more difficult to see.  I was trying to locate the greaseliner in the chop and had just spotted the fly as it started to come into the slower inside cushion.  Just as I said "there it is" and pointed to the riffle hitched greaseliner coming across, the three of us witnessed the open mouthed attack of a nice steelhead as the greaseliner disappeared in a great rise followed by three jaws dropped!

Josh was expertly able to delay lifting the rod until he felt the weight of the fish and the fish was on and fighting.  The mighty creature gave at least 3 clean jumps as it cavorted up and down the tailout.  Bucky and I gave encouragement and affirmations to Josh as we shared and relished in the excitement of this special moment.

After several minutes, Josh had the beautiful steelhead close to being in range to be tailed.  By the visual glimpses we got of this steelhead during her jumps and flashes during the fight, we judged her to be a fairly bright hen in the 10-12lb range, and a nice hefty, larger than average steelhead for this river.

Just when we thought Josh would get his hands on this beauty, the fly pulled out.  A brief moment of disappointment was followed by true joy as the three of us collectively felt enormously blessed to be able to witness and share in a very special experience together.  As we thought about it, we realized Josh's grand steelhead encounter was a "four way collaboration" in that Josh raised the steelhead, Bucky alerted me to the situation, I played amateur fishing guide and tied on a comeback fly for Josh, Adrian Cortes had tied said fly, and then Josh was able to raise and hook the steelhead for the three of us to witness and enjoy, with a grand tale to tell.

Fish on!  Josh hooked up to surface steelhead - a collaborative effort! 

Back at camp, we compared notes with Adrian.  It turned out that Adrian found some surface excitement as well.  He told the tale of fishing a favorite run when he raised a steelhead halfway down.  Just as he was about to make his comeback attempts, a flotilla of rafters went through happily waving and talking as they passed.  A little frustrated, but not dissuaded, Adrian decided to rest his fish while responding to a call of nature and changing his fly.  When he got his greasliner back in the zone, a nice steelhead came up with a confident rise and took his fly solidly on it's way back to where it came from.  Some headshakes and reel screaming followed until man and fish parted ways as Adrian proves that a guy shouldn't be discouraged by the "rubber hatch".

Dave Fineran and his fiancée Lyndsey Wayman showed up in the afternoon and with the 2pm closure and no more fishing to be had for the rest of the day, we went to work tying our favorite flies and visiting.  I got a few more of my foam jobs tied up and Dave tied up a deadly looking marabou fly on a shank.

With time on our hands, we decided to visit Lee Spencer on big bend pool.  There was approximately 160 summer steelhead milling around in the pool and we would watch as one would randomly jump for no apparent reason.

I got to chatting with Lee and we talked of the futility of having a broodstock hatchery summer steelhead program on the North.  Lee reminded of how wild steelhead populations have particular habitat niches within a given watershed so randomly pairing steelhead from different habitat niches can't be good.  I mentioned about how hatchery summer steelhead stray all the way up and down the fly water and likely reduceds spawning productivity as these hatchery strays surely intermingle with wild steelhead on the spawning beds.

Lee and I also talked of our shared respect and admiration for Bill McMillan and all Bill has done to teach an angling ethic of self-restraint and respect for wild steelhead.  Lee  has also had communications with Bill and they have discussed the historic carrying capacity of the Umpqua watershed among other conservation related issues with the wild steelhead populations on the North Umpqua and beyond.

Lee also talked of angling with surface flies with the hook points cut off so that when a steelhead comes for his fly, he just feels a headshake and a few pulls before the steelhead is off after a second or two.  What led him to this point, is that Lee felt that even while utilizing a surface approach, that he was still making too big of an impact on the wild summer steelhead population with the hookups he encountered,so he starting angling with his hook points cut off years ago.  Even then, Lee told us stories of actually landing a couple steelhead with no point on his hook!  He was apparently able to keep enough tension on the blunt end of the hook bend of his fly to bring those steelhead to hand.

Another reflection that Lee shared that I can totally relate to is his how the North Umpqua has a "personality".  He talked about recently going an entire season without "hooking" a steelhead, yet he often fished with others who were doing fine hooking into steelhead.  I've gone through similar dry spells down there and have similarly been with others who nonchalantly raise and hook into steelhead, seemingly at will, while I examine myself and wonder if I ever really knew what I was doing in this endeavor to begin with!

That evening was spent with mine and other's typical eating of junk food, with the exception of Dave Fineran's camp which was rumored to have produced a gourmet meal of salmon and other high end camp fare.  The caliber of Dave's camp cooking was confirmed when Josh Browning brought over a sliver of Dave's salmon for me to sample - what a tease after eating canned chili!

Camp talk again centered about the 2pm closure and a group of steelheaders lamenting the temporary loss of our beloved evening sessions.  While we appreciated that ODFW was taking measures to protect wild steelhead in light of the warm weather, the emergency closure came after the fact, when there was no longer a threat to willd steelhead due to excessively warm temperatures.  We hoped that this emergency regulation would not set a precedent for future seasons, especially if no threat is present due to warm water temps.

The next day was spent with me taking Dave Fineran out and Adrian, Josh, and Bucky fishing together.  I took Dave to some of my favorite spots and by mid morning we were still seeking the prize.  Dave had never fished this river before and he had never really tried skating for steelhead before either so the whole experience was new to him.  Dave watched me as I fished through a couple runs to get a sense of my casts and method of fishing the skater on this river.  I tend to make more cross stream casts to put some speed on the fly with gentle twiches to simply pulsate my skater.  As Dave watched me, I explained that this is not an exact science and folks have gottten steelhead while employing everything from frightening, aggressive twitches to using no twitch at all - in the end it becomes all a matter of personal style.

Foam skater with weird name coming across a pool in the morning sun

Dave and I ended up at another run so I put Dave through first, advising him to start at the very top and to work all the way through to the tailout.  In the meantime, I walked above to a minor run upstream so I could fish through the lower section and tailout of that run, giving Dave some space before coming in behind him.

By the time I reached the upper section of the run Dave was fishing, he was about halfway down, looked over his shoulder at me and was pointing to the water behind him.  Even from the distance, it appeared that Dave was wide-eyed as he was motioning over to me.  I had a feeling something exciting had happened for Dave....

When I caught up with Dave after he fished through the tailout, he came up and told me the story of his happy encounter.  He was fishing the upper section of the run and during one of his casts, he was watching his skater as it came across on it's mid river swing.  He was concentrating on getting a rhythm with twitching his skater during the swing, when he just saw a mouth appear behind his skater with his fly disappearing in a showy rise.  Dave's jaw dropped as the sudden, unexpected appearance of a hefty summer steelhead on the surface brought on such surprise that all Dave could do was ... nothing.  When Dave came to his senses, he raised the rod, felt a couple headshakes and the pull of the steelhead starting to take off on a run when the hook pulled out.

Dave was still visibly shaken in the recounting of his first surface steelhead encouter.  I was so happy to see a fellow steelheader experiencing the thrill of the surface take for the first time.  It was so great to have put  Dave in water that produced such an adrenaline rush and in hearing about it from Dave, I was just as thrilled as if it had happened to me.   Again, this river produces and rise and hookup to a fella new to the river and new to surface steelheading, leaving me to wonder how a guy like me who fishes this river regularly all season can go trip after trip with nary a rise.  I guess if this wasn't such a beautiful place to get skunked, I'd probably be fishing elsewhere by now!

By the time we returned to camp, we waited for Adrian, Josh, and Bucky to return.  With the summer heat, Dave and I threw in the towel by about 1pm.  Apparently the guys fished right up to the 2pm closure as they didn't show back up in camp until about 2:30pm.

When the guys returned, they told the story of Adrian hooking into a little hen behind a boulder on his greaseliner in the bright sun just before the 2 pm closure on one of the famous campwater pools.  In the meantime Bucky had been fishing another famous spot, also in the bright sun.  He saw a steelhead flash under his fly as his sparkly skunk swung by, but the steelhead would not commit to his fly.  He did a "reverse comback" by tying on an early version Little Wang that I had tied, gifted to Adrian, who in turn gifted it to Bucky.  When the vintage foam skater came over the lie, the steelhead returned with an explosive rise, took the skater, but did not get hooked.  Who says steelhead won't take skaters in bright sun??

I left for home later in the afternoon and Bucky and Adrian stayed on through the following day.  Adrian later reported that Bucky had a surface hookup on the far side on the upper section of one of the newer runs we've been fishing and Adrian had another steelhead on his greaseliner that came unpinned on another one of our favorite pools.  These are some fishy guys!!

Bucky Buchstaber, executive director of the Fly Fishing Collaborative - a worthy cause.

Check out the FFC website and pledge your support to this wonderful ministry: http://flyfishingcollaborative.org/

Going East

My good friend Adrian Cortes had hatched a plan to visit a famous eastern Oregon steelhead river after driving by it's lower section with our mutual friend Steve Turner this past August.  Adrian was taken by the beauty of the place and vowed to put a plan into place to make a fall trip a reality.

I had previously visited this river in October 2008 and fished it's lower section with my father in law Jim Jones, his brother Mel and his friend Toby.  Reportedly, the fishing had been good before our arrival, which happened to coincide with a sudden cold snap, which of course put off the fishing.  None of us landed a single steelhead that trip and I only manged to raise one steelhead to the surface.  Not even Mel and Toby dredging with Teeny lines did the trick.

Adrian's and my plan came together in early October with Adrain showing up a day before me.  I used Google directions and got put on a long gravel road.  I'm surprised that the Steelhead Taxi's suspension didn't fall off going through the wash boards, but I managed to make it to the bottom of the grade in one piece and met up with Adrian by 8am.  I was running about an hour behind schedule due to the unexpected gravel delay.  I figured I'd find Adrian to be on the river fishing when I arrived and in fact Adrian was near the top of a nice run when I pulled in.  I waved over to Adrian and he quickly came over to greet me.

Adrian had actually been waiting in his rig since daylight in anticipation of my arrival and while waiting, he got some tying done.  He tied a beautiful Thompson river caddis in hand which he gifted to me shortly after I arrived.  Adrian had only stepped into the run a few minutes before I pulled in when it became apparent that I was delayed longer than expected.

When we greeted each other I told him that I  felt badly for rushing him, but he mentioned that he was happy to wait for my arrival until seriously hitting the water.  After our greetings, Adrian calmly told me about the incredible evening session he had the day before.  The events that unfolded involved 7 to 8 rises, 3 hookups, and two nice wild steelhead landed!  I was tired, but ready to fish!!  Adrian tells the story in words and pictures below:

"First fish on this particular river. Spent all day skating dries with nary a rise. After a beer, I find a run that is tough to wade in...and then it becomes magical...numerically magical."

"The second steelhead on this river was memorable. Big surface crash...and nothing. Dangle...recast...nothing. Shortened up, recast progressively to the zone...Kaboosh! Then nothing. #@$%&*! That fish missed the fly again! Dangle...single spey...in the zone...Kaboosh! ZZZZZZzzzzzzzz......I put the glass to it in a spectacular battle of jumps and runs. Beautifully wild, big, and full of vinegar and piss. Bent out my dryfly hook"

Lemire's Thompson River Caddis tied in hand by Adrian Cortes.  Adrian Cortes photo

Greaselined.  Adrian Cortes photo

Wild and Free.  A hefty buck that ate Adrian's Greaseliner.  Adrian Cortes photo

The result of Adrian's battle with a wild and hefty buck.  Adrian Cortes photo

Wild and Free of another type.  Four legged critters seem drawn to Adrian's presence on rivers.  Adrian Cortes photo

After getting the skinny on Adrian's encounter with the loaded run, I quickly wadered up and we fished the nearby water.  This was a big run and we spread out as I re-fished the choppy head and Adrian went to the lower section of the run.  A couple gear guys ended up between us so I ended up moving towards Adrian in the tailout.  We examined the fish holding possibilities of this water, but with sun directly on it, we decided to move on after fishing it just briefly.

We then headed to camp where I quickly set up my tent so I wouldn't have to worry about it after our day's fishing.  We then hurriedly packed into Adrian's Land Rover and hit some water that Adrian fished the day before.

Adrian and I were blessed to have gotten some intel on spots to fish from our good friend and steelheading icon Bill McMillan.  Bill had lived on and fished this river a good deal back in the early 90's.  Bill was excited to hear of our trip to this special place, a location that has much spiritual meaning to him.  As we drove along we sought out some of the spots Bill described for us.

We hit a spot with three distinct runs strung together.  The short run directly out from the trail called out to me so I waded to mid river to hit the slot on the far side.  In the meantime, Adrian walked upstream to the uppermost of the three runs, leaving the middle one for me to hit after I got through with run I was fishing first.

I quickly fished through this short riffly run with no result and looked upstream to see Adrian fishing the upper run, but with a raft and three guys right by him also fishing the run.  I figured that the raft must have been carrying a guide and two clients and Adrian gave them water to fish.

Rather than heading up towards Adrian, I decided to just re-fish the little run again to kill time.  With all the October Caddis fluttering about, I figured to change to an October Caddis version of my foam skater.  As I got into the lower section, I made a cross stream cast in front of an exposed bankside boulder.  The main current caught my line and leader, causing a belly and pulling my skater briskly down and across the face of boulder.  A small steelhead of maybe 24" launched across the top after my skater.  This little fella missed his target, but I was pleasantly surprised by it's sudden and aggressive response to the surface.  Of course I went through my comeback dance, but no followup  rise came about.

I ended up fishing the middle run and it swung my skater really nicely, but no foam eating steelhead appeared.  Adrian and I caught up with each other shortly thereafter and Adrian reported that indeed, the folks in the raft was a well known PNW steelhead guide with a couple sports.  Apparently said guide liked the run Adrian was fishing well enough to have been willing to park and wait until Adrian fished through.  Rather than looking over his shoulder while the guide and sports waited on him,  Adrian let them have the water and then fished through behind them.

Adrian then took me to another spot he fished the day before.  This was one of the spots that Bill had described to us.  Adrian reported that he had raised a steelhead low in this run but did not hookup.  I started at the head of the run and Adrian walked further up and fished the run above me.  As I got about a third of the way down, a steelhead came up with an aggressive rise to my skater.  Again, this steelhead responded to a fast swing facilitated by a cross stream cast bellied by the main current.  I made the same cast and this steelie actually came up a second time but the hook point didn't find purchase in steelhead matter.

At the next run, I started at the riffly top end and worked my skater along the broadening seam as I got into the heart of  this fishy looking piece of water.  About a third of the way down, a steelhead came up and charged up after my skater as it came out of the chop into the seam.  I shorted up and started back in with my foam skater hoping for a come back and just then, the famous guide we saw earlier came through the top of the run with his two sports and politely rowed his raft quietly behind me as Adrian had been able to alert him that I had just raised a fish.

As I went back with my October Caddis Wang, the guide and sports also watched the bright "indicator post" of my skater as it came through the choppy main flow.  After a couple casts, no return appearance of steel appeared.  As the guide and sports were getting past my position, the guide remarked to Adrian with a wink "steelhead on this river think foam is gay".

I changed over to a riffle hitched greaseliner and gave it a go.  On the first cast with the greaseliner, the steelhead returned with a bulge at the fly as it came into the soft seam.  Unfortunately, further comeback attempts were unsuccessful.  I continued down the remainder of this beautiful run with no other feedback to my surface presentations.

We concluded our day at Adrian's "loaded run".  Being the gracious friend that he is, Adrian insisted that I go through first.  Adrian grabbed an IPA and took a seat on an exposed boulder as I started up high in the run.  I decided to give my Fenwick 8.5' 6wt glass rod and 6wt Ambush line some air time.  I was getting back into the rhythm of single hand spey casting as I chatted with Adrian about the potential of this juicy run.  We noted current seams created by the bouldery structure and commented on how all that structure provides great cover for steelhead while also providing for the difficult wading I was experiencing.  These characteristics probably attributed to Adrian finding multiple steelhead holding in it the evening before.

The upper section of the run called for short, controlled casts in the conflicting currents.  I was casting the Ambush head with maybe six strips of running line and was just starting to step down the run.  Adrian and I were both watching my baby blue foam skater coming across the current when a steelhead made a broadside launch across the surface and solidly grabbed the skater.  I simply did nothing and the steelhead came tight on the line and began making some short powerful bursts on runs that made my cheapo ebay special (battered Shakespeare Beaulite 3.5") create a joyful blue collar racket.

Fish on!  Adrian Cortes photo

Taking a load off while Ms. Surface Steelhead bores down stream.  Adrian Cortes photo

The hook held and I eventually got this beautiful little hen to shore.  Adrian and I high fived and Adrian got some photos of a happy Asian holding a steelhead.  We were delighted that both of us had the blessing of witnessing a beautiful surface steelhead grab and I thanked Adrian for his generosity in putting me through his new found loaded run.

Chunky hatchery hen that obliged to a "baby blue" wang.  Adrian Cortes photo

Baby Blue Wang does the trick.  My angry hen chewed hard enough to open up the stinger hook a bit.  Adrian Cortes photo

I was quite surprised to find that this perfect steelhead was of hatchery origin.   It just happened that an ODFW creel checker was driving by when I had the fish on so she stopped to check in.  I decided to harvest this steelhead so she took down data that she needed and returned my fish in a tidy plastic bag.  When Adrian and I commented that we were impressed with this steelhead even considering it was a hatchery steelhead the creel checker responded "of course, they're all from native stock", reminding me that the hatchery program there comes from wild brood stock.

ODFW creel checker taking stats on my steelhead.  Adrian Cortes photo.

We went through the remainder of the loaded run and we were surprised to find no one home as we fished in to evening's darkness.  We then headed back to camp where stories were shared and a few more foam skaters tied as two crazed surface steelheaders ruminated over the wonder of steelhead that come to the surface for our chosen patterns.  Gourmet dinners that came out of cans and packages were prepared and eaten before we turned in for the evening.

We spent the next morning fishing some of the same runs and we also walked into another run described to us by Bill McMillan.  We had an enjoyable morning expoloring new water and I bid Adrian farwell by mid day.  I fished the evening session and a quick morning session the following day and continued to find surface steelhead elusive.  Such is the surface steelheading game, you may not get into topwater steel on every outing, but the journey is always satisfying.

Unwinding after a memorable day of surface steelheading.  Adrian Cortes photo

The Steelhead Taxi parked along a morning steelhead run

Dry Fly Steelhead Window Of Opportunity

Being in the midst of the fall season, I have gotten into the rushed, frantic mode of trying to get every bit of steelhead skating in that is humanly possible.  It is a mixed blessing to have a hatchery home water in my backyard.  The convenience is great, but it makes me extra obsessive each Fall.  A sense of urgency is felt with the shorter days and with the weather and water temps cooling.  The inevitability of winter coming around the corner puts me in a state of mind where I am always scheming for every window of opportunity  during this most wonderful time of year when steelhead will be most willing to break the surface to grab my weird pieces of foam and hair surfing across my favorite runs.

In my experience, Fall is consistently the very best time of year to get into steelhead with surface methods.  I suppose it is a variety of factors that seem to consistently make fall the prime season to skate steelhead to the surface including the lower angle of the sun, rivers filled with the majority of the summer run, fewer anglers out (on my water at least), cooling water, steelhead secure in their lies, and frequent overcast weather.

I love steelhead rivers in Fall as well with the brilliant colors as leaves turn, softer lighting, and no longer having to deal with the blistering heat of summer.  Fall conditions also allow one to fish throughout the day if one pleases.  Summer tends to be a morning and evening show and with the shorter days of fall, I am able to get a bit more sleep and still make it to the river at sunrise.

However, the shortening days of Fall creates a nervousness in me as I am constantly calculating how much daylight I'll have left when I leave work to get out on my evening weekday sessions.  Wendi has been promoted as a manager at her workplace this past year which has been great for her, but she tends to be a workaholic so she often works late.  This creates more windows of opportunity for me to get out on my evening sessions.

As noted in my prior posts, the numbers of fish around have been small, but it appears that small pods of fish must be coming into my local water which is enough to keep me interested and obsessed.  Since getting the steehead in my prior post, I had a multi hookup session (both got off)  the following day, then things went dead.

I figure the only way to get into surface steelhead is to keep a hook in the water so I've persisted with my efforts even when it seems the few fish around have left town.  Yesterday was a typical day of going to work with my thoughts going on about how to get an evening session in.  Turns out Wendi was not working late, but had errands to do so she suggested I go fishing afterwork - great advice!

One problem, my daughter had texted and informed that her car wouldn't start.  I ran over to check over her vehicle at the end of the day and determined that her starter was binding up.  I did the tapping the starter with a wrench trick and got her car started so she could drive it to my house for me to repair that evening.

With the impending car repair weighing on my mind, I debated on whether to fish for a bit then run home to work on my daughter's car, or forget fishing all together and just get right to work on the car..... of course, fishing won out.

I rushed to my favorite little run and started at the top.  Feeling hurried while fishing is not my favorite mode to be in while pursing the surface steelhead prize, but obviously, I have a problem so I kept at it anyway.  I tried to move through more quickly than I normally do, but there are multiple spots that have given me fish out of this special place so I found myselft having a hard time just rushing through.

When I had arrived at the run, I noticed that the Army Corps had raised the water just a bit, usually a good thing on this river in my experience.  Sure enough, about a third of the way down, a steelhead came up and charged at my skater with a quick rise.  Went through the comeback routine and no sale.

I continued on down the run and as I got towards the bottom I was thinking how the holds through there are filled in now and could hold fish.  As my skater came through the braided currents a steelhead came up to the skater multiple times as if it was a dolphin playing with a ball on it's nose.  I expected my line to come tight, but no.  With a fish this active, I felt pretty confident about a comeback so I cast again, nothing.  I tried a riffle hitched steelhead caddis - nothing, then a smaller skater - nothing, then a riffle hitched wet - nothing, then a wet with no hitch - nothing!

My time was just about up before I had to get home to get my hands greasy, but something told me to just walk back up a little ways and start back through with a different skater.  I had been fishing my current favorite chartruese/purple job and I then decided to tie on my blue/purple skater I call the "Summer's Hope".

As I got my casts back out with the Summer's Hope, I pondered over my frustration that both of the fish I raised this evening were "one timers" and that I'd have to leave after making a few more casts.  When I got back to where I raised the second steelhead, he came back with a confident, porpoising rise and I simply did nothing until I felt the steelhead pulling.  I slowly raised the rod and the steelhead was on and the stinger hook did it's job in taking immediate hold in the jaw of this buck.

This guy gave a few headshakes and like the last steelhead I got, just came right in and then batlled in close with a few short, stubborn runs.  When I got him in, I found the stinger hook lodged firmly in the lower jaw of the fish.  I got a few photos with my phone and felt overjoyed that the Summer's Hope had proven itself for the first time.  Apparantly, that steelhead wanted the Summer's Hope and not my Chartruese and Purple, go figure.  I'm just glad that the dry fly steelhead mystery is one I'll never completely solve.

The Summer's Hope Proves Itself