Springerfest 2011 Part 2

Well, we had hot fishing for an hour and a half. The weather started to cool and so did the bite. We moved up river to what is now referred to as the "Otter hole". We didn't hook anything that night, otters or fish.

The nights were cold, especially the 2nd, where the low was set to drop to 34 degrees. Not a welcome temp when you are worried about cold water. The next day pretty much went like the first. We got up early and waited.......and waited. Nothing. By 11am, the sun finally broke over the canyon walls and the water started to get warmer. Just after 2, on of our rods went down and another hatchery fish was in the cooler. It is amazing what 1 fish can do for the mood in the boat. The feeling was eerily similar to a winter steelhead trip where 1 fish makes you feel successful.

The pressure was off for the day and we hooked up a half hour later 1 final time for that day. Luckily, we were running into hatchery fish, which always makes family and co-workers happy back home. The weather that night was predicted to rain, so we decided to break down camp a night early and go sleep in a dry hotel. We were not going to repeat our soaked camp experience like last year.

In the middle of the breakdown, Chad's buddy Ron came up around the corner in his boat. We thought he'd be around, but hadn't seen him either day. After he gave us a profanity laced hello, we agreed to meet up with him later and fish until dark.

We came up empty in the evening session and left Ron to spend the night on the water in his favorite corner. Chad and I got to the boatramp as the sun went down and decided we should just transfer our gear to the car and sleep on the boat. It all seemed like a great idea to idle downstream until we realized that it was not only dark outside, it was really dark outside! Luckily, my little headlamp was bright enough that alternating shots of each bank kept us safe. We got positioned next to Ron, who was just finishing up a bottle of wine. Listening to him tell his stories was ten times more entertaining than any basketball playoff game we would've been watching at the hotel!

The last morning, we scored first with a small hatchery fish. While Chad was fighting that fish, Ron got ripped across the river by a busty native. After that, nothing. Chad and I tried a couple of other spots, with no luck. We loaded our gear up and went home. My only regret was that we missed the fight later that day between Ron and an 8 foot sturgeon!

In the meantime, its back to the 2 hander for me. I even did some dry line casting last night!


The Camp

Ron hooked up in his sweet boat.

Springerfest 2011 Part 1

It was time to put down the 2 hander for a brief moment and get down and dirty for Spring Salmon. The levels were on their way down, water temps appeared to be moving higher, and the weather looked good. Chad and I carved out a little time away from work and hit the road with high hopes. I even brought my spey rod and chunky flies................

As soon as we got the boat in the water, the rains came in and got us a little wet. We were able to find a decent camp and get things set up quickly. Thankfully, one of Chad's neighbors hooked us up with a rain canopy. It kept our kitchen and firewood dry.

No luck on the first night. Water temps were colder than expected and the weather was predicted to drop into the mid 30's at night. Not a great outlook. We woke up the next morning to rain, but it eventually the clouds parted and the sun was hitting the water. I swear we probably checked the water temps on the depth finder no less than 36 times. We tried a few different spots and eventually settled on a previously successful area.

Around 2pm, the water temp started to climb a little. Then we had a good line bump. Then, one of the rods buckled and it was on. As we pulled off anchor and were giggling like school girls about being hooked up, Chad noticed the float that holds our anchor rope was actually floating down river with us. Uh.........not a good thing. How were we going to get our anchor back? Chad's face looked like someone just stole his lunch money. He couldn't even enjoy our first fish. We netted and bonked the hatchery fish and had 1 in the cooler.

Luckily, I was keen on getting a Springer on the fly, so I had brought my waders. I slipped them on, waded out into the off color water and probed the bottom with a rope hook. Low and behold, I found our anchor and rope and we were back in business!

Over the next hour, we hooked and landed 2 more fish! It was game on. The hot bite didn't last long, but we were fully content. The sun was out, fresh salmon for dinner, and we still had all our equipment. More to come.........



Fresh fish and freshly recovered anchor

Love these tails

Terrible picture from Chad, but excellent fish. Back in the water to do its deal.

You bet it was good

You might have a winter steelhead problem if....

While at work, you look down and notice Blue Arctic Fox remnants on your suit sleeve. People just don't understand. That is all..........

As March comes to a close

Last week we had a few times like this.................. That turned into things like this............. That make days like this..................worth the trouble.

BC Fishing Van

I spotted this sweet fishing van while on my way for a coffee refill. Cool rides like this don't swing through downtown Eugene very often. The skull and cross bones constructed with a switch rod and surfboard is about ten times cooler than any stoned hippie I come across down here. Add in the beefy tires not seen in the picture and you have yourself a mobile fishing unit. Very nice!

I get skunked and still love it

If you can't repeat the post's title, then winter steelheading with a swinging fly just ain't for you. I'm serious. Most of my fishing days in the winter come on the weekends. I strategize all week, bargain with my wife, and always maintain high hopes. I'm cautious with those hopes because I know what's coming next: High wind warnings, heavy rain, suspect river clarity, and probably a skunking. If you fish for winters with the fly then you know, there is a lot more to it than results.

If it were all about catching fish, I'd sidedrift, or plunk, or plug, or nymph. Those techniques are great and can all be fun, but there is something unexplained about swinging a fly. I don't know what it is, but I get excited just peeling line off my Hardy Salmon 2 as I start into the run. As the angler, you are doing so much more than just fishing. You've watched the levels all week, poured hours of your life into the flies you use, cast multiple lines to dial one in, spent hundreds of dollars on equipment and gas money. And its all worth it.



This last weekend, Casey and I nervously watched levels go down and bounce right back up. We made the call, the drive, and did a bunch of hiking and exploring. Well, the exploring was a bust.......scratch those rivers off the list. It was time to drive back to Portland to re-group. We decided to check on our options over some food and brew. We first tried HUB(http://www.hopworksbeer.com/), but it was super crowded and had a cast of characters straight of our "Portlandia". The second choice hit the spot. There was still a wait, but Apizza Scholls is the real deal (http://apizzascholls.com/). New York style pie and a couple of Ninkasi Spring Reign's really hit the spot after a long hard day. Plans were made for the following day and virog was renewed.



We opted for a float. We swung flies to sweet runs all day long. No grabs, no fish, nothing. And then it happened......no, not a fish.....the nastiest wind storm I've seen since a similar whitecap incident on the Yellowstone River. The river was a white squall. I crouched low in my seat and Casey rowed us out of there before local timber blocked off any escape routes. The shuttle back to my car revealed downed trees and limbs everywhere.



Another weekend in the books, and it was a skunking. I don't really care, I still love it.

Field testing

Casey shot some video with his waterproof camera. Looks juicy to me?