This rain is getting old

Time to wet one of these soon.........hopefully.

Some steps in the right direction

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/12/engineering_a_fix_for_salmon_a.html

The Dalles Dam has a new wall that is helping Salmon and Steelhead survival rates.

A few Intruders

Continuing the intruder theme, I thought I'd share a few tied by my brother. I thought I had a favorite, but they all look dang fishy to me.

Still a few fish around

Simon and I decided to stay close to home this weekend instead of chasing a chance at an early winter fish. Lots of rain had come down, levels were not good, and temps were cold. My mind was telling me if we got 1 fish to move to the swung fly in 40 degree water, our day was complete. As per usual, I was wrong.

We both hooked up with fish early and confidence was high. Around the corner was one of the river's "known" steelhead runs. Most of the time during the summer, drift fisherman are parked there, making it difficult to work a swung fly.

Well, being November 27th, the gear dudes weren't there. I started up top and Simon took the bottom. I hook and land a fish about 5 casts in. I go back, work out my line to the same spot and I get grabbed again. Fish to the beach again. Simon has seen enough. He wants my spot. I gladly switch places with him. The homeowner with the riverfront property makes his way down to river and starts chatting with me. Yep, I hook up again, but lose the fish mid battle. The homeowner is frustrated with me losing the fish. We share a laugh, I keep casting and the line comes under tension again. This time I put the fish on the beach. The homeowner looks at me like a begging puppy. I barely finished asking him if he wanted the fish before he responded. I tagged the fish and handed it over to him. He had the thing cleaned out and on the smoker before we left the run! Simon also learned his lesson about switching spots.

We both ended up getting another fish and our day was complete. Simon cleared his schedule to go back for round 2 this morning. Fishing was solid again.

On a funny note: As we took out today at the ramp, another boat was dropping off their trailer. They asked how we did and responded with "we got a few". They wanted to know what was working and we went with "swinging leech patterns". This prompted the long stare and this comment: "Huh, so you were like flossing them then?"

Yeah pal, we were flossing them....................

This small fish was bright and spunky.

Getting the mojo warmed up for winter.

A few nice winter fly links

As we get closer to winter, I start to think about the flies I want to fish this year. Color combo's, sink rates, materials, tube's vs. shanks, etc.

There is some really good info out there on tying different stuff. One of my favorites was put together by Rob Russell for the Caddis Blog.

http://oregonflyfishingblog.com/2009/12/29/tying-shank-style-intruders/

If you've met Rob, you know he's passionate about wild fish. He also a fine fisherman and detail oriented fly tyer. Rob cracks me up ever time I cross paths with him down at the Caddisfly.

For a quicker, no-nonsense look at the intruder, Scott Howell's YouTube video from the upcoming Skagit Master 2 is worth a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1mbHcnY9VY

Another good piece of information can be found via Tom Larimer's outfitter website. He gives a good rundown on a reverse marabou tied on a tube. Very nice.

http://larimeroutfitters.com/ReverseMarabouTubeFly.html

The Best Time to be Sick

I went out fishing 9 days ago and I haven't been back since. I was attacked by a severe cold/flu that left me with no desire to fish for steelhead. Co-workers, friends, and family all knew it was serious, because I missed 2 wide open chances to be on the river(Veteran's Day/Saturday).

I'm turning it into a positive, however, as the best time to be sick is in between steelhead seasons. The summer fish are getting weak and the winters have yet to arrive on our coastal streams.


The last fish landed before the sickness hit.

Sometimes I'm lucky

I've been trying to use the single spey exclusively from both sides of the river lately. The single my favorite cast when done right. Of course, I don't hit it all the time, and I guess it doesn't always matter. As I stepped into the run, my 5th cast lost power and my fly sloppily fell upstream and short of the end of my scandi head. I stripped back in my running line and picked up the line with the rod for another cast. My line suddenly stuck in the water and the unmistakable steelhead boil appeared on the surface.

Unreal. I landed the thing and just laughed to myself. My fly couldn't have been in the water for more than 3-4 seconds. Sometimes you just win some.

I ended up getting another a bit later on the 3rd strip in. Not exactly a textbook way of taking steelhead, but I won't complain.

Love this dude's cheek and bottom jaw.......