Now that's what I call steelhead weather...

I headed out to the river this afternoon despite a steady light rain.  The river was stained and running a little high, the flow was around 425 CFS or so.  I fished a section of the river that I have been fishing frequently in the last couple of weeks, so I know it well.  We had a bunch of rain earlier in the week and the rivers have been all blown out and unfishable.  Today was the first day the river had dropped to a fishable flow.  I’m going to be out of town this weekend, so this was the only chance I was going to have to fish until next week.  I geared up and headed out.  When I arrived, the rain was coming down a little harder than when I left the house.  I had the river all to my self.  I fished down through a nice run that usually holds fish and nobody was home.  Another angler showed up just and as I began to fish a shoot near a downed tree.  I hooked a freshy between a bolder and the tree on the second drift.  I fought the fish in and was lucky to have the guy who just arrived take a picture of me with the fish.  I don’t get many “hero shots” because I’m usually by my self and I like to a secluded spot to fish.  I released the fish and continued to fish down stream into a fast, turbid run.  I fished through most of the run until I came to a nice soft spot between currents.  This spot just looked so fishy.  The rain had turned to snow.  I drifted through it and BAM, FISH ON!!!  This was a big angry fresh chromer.  It thrashed, jumped, ran this way and that… the fight was on.  I ran downstream chasing the fish as it ripped line off my reel.  The drag on my reel was screaming.  I was 50 yards down stream from where I hooked up; all I could think about was landing this hog for a photo.  I was doing everything in my power to bring the fish in and prevent losing it.  The fish was tiring and I began working it to the bank.  I finally landed the fish a got a couple of pics.  I was very pleased with the fish and my angler skills.  A year ago I would have broken this fish off trying to muscle it in.  Landing this fish took patience and finesse as well as a good bit of skill.  When I hit the river today, I didn’t have very high expectations due to the rain and high dirty water.  I had a much more successful day than I expected.  Today I was one serious angler landing two fish despite some tough conditions.  I was proud.

                                                                    "Hero Shot"

                                                                             Hog

Spring is in the air

I fished all day yesterday and this afternoon.  It was a tad chilly and sunny.  The river was in fine shape yesterday, a little low and starting to clear today.  yesterday, I swung streamers and drifted nymphs and egg patterns.  I had a few nips on the streamers, but no hook ups that way.  Yesterday I hooked a beast of a fish!  This buck steelhead was over 30 inches with big shoulders and was probably close to 12 lbs.  It was pretty fresh, still mostly silver, just starting to get red cheeks.  It ran hard and fought a good fight.  It must have taken me over 10 minutes to bring this fish to hand.  I caught this fish in the bucket below a big riffle in the current brake between fast water on a small black stone fly.  It was definitely the fish of the week; there is a pic below.  Today, I swung down stream and drifted back up.  Again I had a nip or two at the streamer and no hook ups.  I hooked into two fish today and lost both.  I was pissed!  The first fish was a “skipper”.  The second fish felt bigger, but I didn’t get a look at it.  It was a good week on the river.  It started slow before the river dropped into shape and then heated up nicely. 

An afternoon full of sun and steel!

I hit the river again today. The river finally dropped into shape, the color was decent and there was reasonable visibility. There were a lot of anglers out and it was hard to find a decent spot to fish. Finally I found some open water, it was a good run that I’ve fished before. I worked it hard, dissecting every nook and cranny of the run. I caught a “skipper” and kept fishing through.  The fish was dime bright.  At the head of the run I hooked into a real bruiser, the fish fought so hard it broke my tippet. I was pissed. I continued to fish up stream and caught another fish, a little larger than the first, near a tree in the water. I continued fishing up stream until it was time to head out. I hooked up one more time with no success. All in all it was a beautiful day on the river (65 degrees! and sunny) and I caught a couple of steelhead. Who can complain about that?

River conditions have been less than ideal

Despite high muddy water, I fished the last two days. The weather was excellent! Tuesday I went to the main branch of the river and got smacked by the skunk. Yesterday, I drove out to a trib of a larger river that usually fishes before the main rivers drop. I hooked up twice and lost both fish. There were a ton of anglers on the river; it was more like NASCAR than fishing. I saw some fish spawning already. A lot of these anglers were flossing the spawning fish. The rivers continue to drop into shape, the rest of the week and this weekend should be good fishing.

Did I hear someone say spring?

I had no choice but to buy a new fly rod, so I did.  I bought a 10' 7 weight, Scott A3.  The 10' 7 weight is considered the perfect steelhead rod.  The A3 is a fine rod.  I’m very happy with the purchase. It is a much better quality rod than my first fly rod.  It casts like a dream.  It’s very easy to cast and extremely accurate too.  The extra foot makes long drifts and mending effortless.  I took it out for a spin last weekend with no luck.  I got out again today and really put the A3 to the test.  It was a gorgeous sunny day.  It was about 45 degrees or so, the warmest it’s been in a long, long time.  I didn’t have to wear a coat or winter hat, just a light weight fleece.  I fished a beautiful stretch of river that I had all to myself today.  I spoke to a couple of anglers on there way out as I arrived; they had no luck.  Not an encouraging sign, but I hit the river in good spirits anyhow.  I fished a deep hole below a riffle right where the bottom dropped off.  First I fished the seam nearest to me, then the fast water with no luck.  I began to work the outer seem where the fast water merged with a large eddy near the far bank.  Second drift through and I thought I snagged.  I gave the line a tug and it tugged back!  I had a fish on.  This fish went nose down into the current; it felt like I was trying to drag an old boot off the bottom.  I finally worked the fish in and got a few photos.  This fish hit a small black stone fly.  No surprise as the stonefly hatch was in full swing.  The snow on the banks of the river looked peppered with little black stoneflies.  After releasing the first fish, I began working the bucket below the drop off.  Not three casts later bam, fish on!  The second fish was real hot; it jumped and ran like a September fish!  It put up a spectacular fight complete with aerial display.  I felt like I was on fire.  It was shaping up to be an excellent afternoon.  I had about an hour left before I had to head back.  With a couple of fish under my belt, I decided to swing a black marabou fly my friend tied up.  I swung through a couple of runs with no luck so I decided to walk up river and explore a bit.  I ran into a couple of anglers who looked to be father and son. One was swinging the other was drifting egg flies.  Neither had any luck, I told them about where I caught my fish and sent them on their way.  I walked a bit further and decided it was time to head back.  Before I headed out, I took a couple pics of the scenery since it was such a beautiful day on the river.  I noticed the first buds on some bushes… spring is coming.  I really broke in the new rod today; it was a perfect day on the river. 

        

 

  

Hot Fish!!!

 

Picture perfect day

Old man winter strikes again...

After a couple of sunny warmer days, I decided to head to the river to check out the conditins.  Sure enough there was a lot of ice, but I fished where I found some open water.  The only areas where the water wasn't locked in ice had fast currents or were really shallow riffles.  In order to fish I had to walk out on the shelf ice, a dangerous venture.  I fell through in a couple of spots.  I was fishing a section of river that I was intimately familure with so I stayed on ice that I knew was over shallow water preventing a real catastrophy.  When I went through the ice, my feet would hit bottom before I was knee deep.  I fished for a few hours with no success.  On the way back to the car, I was walking on some ice that was frozen over a really shallow flat to avoid walking in the snow that was on the river bank since the snow was about 14" deep making it tough to walk through in wading boots.  I had been on the ice all day with no real problems.  Suddenly, my feet were above my head and I was on my ass before I knew what happend.  I landed flat on my back crushing my glassies case in the back of my vest, it litterly just blew up.  I threw my rod to prevent it from being broken by landing on it.  I got off my back, gathered up my rod and moved to the next open hole.  I cast my line out and noticed a stick that must have been hooked by my fly when I fell.  I brought the fly closer for inspection and to remove the stick when I notticed it was not a stick, but the top 8" or so of my rod's tip!  I was out of business.  I packed it in and headed home.  I was devistated by the idea that my rod might be a complete loss.  After all this was my first fly rod, I learned to fly fish with this rod and it had really become an extension of my arm while on the water.  I called White River Fly Shop at the Bass Pro Shop to see if they could fix the rod or if I could buy a new tip section.  Sadly, the answer to both of those questions was no.  My first fly rod was done, it was a complete and total loss.  I had been thinking about upgrading and buying a new rod, now I have no choice in the matter.  The real bummer is that I was hoping to build a "quiver" of rods.  The idea being that I would have differnt length and weight rods for differnt fishing situations.  For example, the rod I broke was a 9 foot, 8 weight rod which is perfect for large mouth bass in ponds or from a boat in a river and for great lakes salmon.  The rod worked well for steelhead , but was not ideal.  I used it for smallmouth and trout, which was complete over kill; but, it worked.  I plan to by a 10 foot, 7 weight rod for steelhead.  This is regarded as the perfect single hand fly rod for steelhead by most ooutfitters and guides.  The extra foot gives the angler much more reach to mend and make long dead drifts and a 7 weight is more fit to the size of the steelhead I'll be fighting with this rod.  I also plan to buy a 9 foot, 5 weight for small mouth bass in the summer which will pull double duty as a good rod for PA trout in the spring.  Eventually, I intend to buy a switch rod too.  Switch rods are a little longer at 11-12 feet and feature a second grip behind the reel seat so the angler can make two handed casts.  The advantage with the switch rod is the added length which allows for a longer reach for nymphing techniques and when combined with the two hand grip allows the angler to spey cast throwing long casts and big flys.  The switch rod is a good fit for bigger rivers like Ohio's Grand River where the angler needs to cover a lot of water.  Now in adition to all the rods I intend to buy, I have to replace my 9 foot, 8 weight too.  I'm going to do it so I have a back up rod, and so the new 8 weight line I bought a few months ago and the reel are not left idel.  This experience has taught me a valuable lesson regarding warranties.  The rod I broke had a 1 year warranty and was about 3 and half years old when I broke it.  I was stuck like chuck.  I have no choice but to buy a new rod.  I want rods that have a life time warranty; that's the way to go.              

Cabin Fever

It's been about a month since the ast time I was able to get out on the river.  After the January thaw we went back into the deep freeze.  The last time I drove over the river it was completely iced over with about a foot of snow covering the ice.  Not what you want to see if you're itching to get out there and hook into some steel.  To scratch the itch, I've gone to a bunch of shows and presentations by local guides hosted by the area's fly shops.  It's fun to see all the new gear and talk to guys who guide in the area.  It not fishing though...  Hopefully we'll start to get into the mid 30's and low 40's sometime soon so the ivers will thaw.  Until then I'll be at home tying flys and dreaming of spring steelhead!!