Also worth noting, I actually fished with someone else for a change. Ted and I met early in the morning somewhere near Hwy 5. It was a brisk day, with morning temps in the 20's. Stupid me forgot a hat, luckily it wasn't windy and although a bit nippy, it wasn't all that bad.
We suited up and got into the cold river. We were both swinging flies with our two handed rods. After a few minutes of floundering around with a 7ips sinking poly leader that seemed to hang up on every cast, I got into some fish. Most of them were quite small. Either smolts or small trout. I don't believe any of them were much over 10 inches. What they lacked in size, they made up for in aggressiveness. At one point, I caught two fish at the same time, one on each fly.
| Access | Along Hwy 96 | |
| Air Temp | Low 24, High 47 | |
| Water Temp | ~49 F | |
| Weather | Sunny/Partly Cloudy | |
| Flow | ~1400 cfs | |
| Time in/out | 7:30am, 5:30pm | |
| Leaders/Lines | Compact Scandi | |
| 7.0 ips sink leader | All day | |
| 12 lb FC tippet | ||
| Flies | Size 12 soft hackle | One half pounder, 22" |
| 3” black intruder w/ dumbell eyes | Several half pounders, 15-18 inch | |
| Size 8 blue steelhead spider | Smolts/small trout/half pounders | |
| Various steelhead patterns | pulls only | |
We explored this part of the river for a few hours. Eventually we decided to move downstream. I had picked out some possible locations via Google satellite maps. The first location turned out to be a dud. However, the second spot was a good one. We worked our way to the water and we both were getting bumps and pulls. As time went on, the bumps and pulls turned into caught fish. Most of them were in the 15 inch range. When I hooked one of the decent fish, Ted was nice enough to come quite a ways downstream to take the picture you see below. As someone who normally fishes alone, it was great to have someone get a picture.
She was around 17 inches and actually put up a decent fight. As with the others, I caught them with a 3” Intruder style fly. You can see it hanging out of her mouth if you look close enough. After trying out each others fishing rods, I went downstream to fish a hole at the end of a short section of rapids. I caught a few more fish, but access was difficult and I wasn't in the mood to balance on slippery rocks to try and get the fly into the only small seam that looked only slightly productive.
I walked back upstream, passing Ted that was now fishing where I caught that fish you see above. Went around the corner and proceeded to fish a section from earlier. On one of my casts, I was daydreaming when I felt about 7 inches of the dangling loop pull through my fingers. I set the hook and felt a sizable fish on the other end. After a few minutes, I had a nice 22 or so inch hen in my hand. Surprisingly enough, this bright steelhead took a small size 12 soft hackle. Not the trailing size 6 steelhead fly. This is one of the reasons I fish with two flies at once. You never know what they are interested in.
Continuing to step downstream, I rounded the corner to see Ted in the middle of the river fishing the far seam. I later found out that he caught some fish here. As I was swinging, I looked over at one point to see that Ted hooked a fish. It must have been a big one, because his rod was bent far over. The following is an excerpt of Ted's story. Read the rest in the comment section!
The last fish is the one that got away. And, surprisingly, it followed my fly bumped it a few times during the second half of the swing. As soon as the fly dangled, my line started to pull. I dropped the loop and waited, and waited. The reel sang for at least 10 seconds which seemed like eternity. The rod finally bent, but, I couldn't gain an inch of line. All I could do was to keep the side pressure on. After a few wraps of line in, it started running again...It was now getting pretty late. I stayed until dark, but only caught some more smaller half pounders. What a great day. All in all, I think I brought around 18 fish to hand. Granted, a lot of them were small fish, but a good number were decent sized half pounders. I'm sure glad that Ted and I went to this river. Certainly one of the more memorable fishing trips in quite some time!
p.s. Thanks Ted for taking the photo.
4 comments:
Indeed, what a memorable day it was! Frigid water, overcast afternoon, not another fisherman in sight.
I didn't do quite as well as Rick did, but, managed to hook 4 fish. All happened within 20 minutes as I put on T-11 with a black leech and started fishing the outer seam on the opposite bank. The last fish is the one that got away. And, surprisingly, it followed my fly bumped it a few times during the second half of the swing. As soon as the fly dangled, my line started to pull. I dropped the loop and waited, and waited. The reel sang for at least 10 seconds which seemed like eternity. The rod finally bent, but, I couldn't gain an inch of line. All I could do was to keep the side pressure on. After a few wraps of line in, it started running again, then stopped. After the third run, I felt my rod going kaput, and saw one of my worst nightmare unfolding before my eyes. My whole fly line began to drift away with the fish. This was a brand new line built by Steve Godshall for my 5wt. spey. I had tied a quick albright knot instead of the usual and more laborious splicing in excitement to test cast the new line. As people say, the whole system is as good as the weakest link. What a painful way to learn the lesson.
I began to chase after my fly line, hoping I would grab it with hand, and still land the fish. :-) But, it wasn't worth risking my life, and I gave up the chase after about 20 yards.
That was good enough for me to end the day. I was hoping Rick would somehow hook that fish again, but the fish won the day.
The picture of Rick with the beauty was also the last picture my camera took, as it died soon after taking that picture. Watch out for grass bed on that river. One mis-step, and I was in the chest high water. The environmental seal on my D200 was not good enough for that.
Despite the lost fish, line and a dead camera, I have no regrets. Such is steelheading, and the fish that got away will long be remembered.
Thanks, Rick, for doing all the research and inviting me to come along. You were an outstanding fishing buddy.
Thanks for coming Ted. Had a great time. I'm still sorry about the line and camera. Hopefully it will dry out okay.
When I saw your rod bent over, I knew it was a big one. I just stood there debating if I should head your way or not. Then, when I saw you running downstream... I had a bad feeling.
We'll have to do it again when time permits.
Sounds like you guys had a great day. Can't wait for the American to pick up. Patience is a virtue, so they say. Patience Mark, Patience.
Mark (Shoreman)
Sound like a very nice day, never been there myself and hope to go someday, but not as a day trip.
Great report with photo of fish and fly. Really like your new reporting format.
Getting spooled by a big hot fish happens to all steelheaders at some point. Something I'm sure you'll never forget, and will be better prepared for next time.
Lee
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