First cast

Yesterday the rain finally started.  The rain is a love hate relationship for me.  Love it for bringing the fish in, hate it for having to work in it.  Got off later than expected from work and on the way home was tossing the idea of stopping to get a new 4wt line for my new fly rod, or stopping to toss for some steelhead.  I stopped at the river, half hour after sunset.  20 min to fish is enough for me so I rigged up quickly.  I had gone coastal the day before and left my pliers at home, so I improvised a drift fishing rig.  Got down the slippery rocks to the river, put some ainse on the drift for good luck, and cast.  Plan was to start close and work across the run.  Not to be...drift started feeling funny and I picked up the rod tip to clear the rock.  Only it wasn't a rock and it pulled back.  Set the hook and it was fish on.  Landed this, what I think is a summer, in the dark, on slippery rocks, in the rain.  I love it and hate it.

Now the river is rising, and might get close to bank full, so I'll tie some gear up and wait for it to crest.  Then I'll go see if I can find another.

Mallards on turkey day

My oldest son got his first two mallards today on Poppy's pond.  There's been 30 or so birds coming in every morning so he took his gun up and spent the night at Poppy's for a crack at some.  More to come for sure.

Swinging for steel

Got these new babies tied up and ready for winter steelhead in the Willamette Valley.  Its November 1st and the first of those chrome beauties may show up at any time!!!

The first one I tried swam very well.  Excellent movement says...here fishy fishy!
Lets get it on!!!

Costal kings

Friday I had the opportunity to ditch work and family for a quick trip to the north Oregon coast.  Unfortunately the only option fell on a day rather far removed from rain so I was hoping that there were still a few fish left from the last river rise. 

Of course the rain started falling halfway thru my precious fishing day but I was able to hook up and land a few before the rain started.  The ones I landed were not as dark as I thought they would be and all fought well for me.  I started up at the deadline and soon ran into a few people hammering a hole loaded with fish.  I left them to find solitude which turned out to be a mere few holes downstream.  This king murdered the drifted eggs I was using.

And here's a small jack that took and fought like a steelhead...

I ended the afternoon hooking and loosing two more kings.  Just before packing it in for the drive home I tangled with a 14" cuttie who decided to flop and drop before I could click a pic.  Beautiful little cuttie.
I ended the day trying to look at the Wilson River, which was hard too see thru the heavy downpour.  A few small cutties attacked my offerings but nothing of size was found.  I'm real anxious to get back over here after the success of today.

November will mark the one yr anniversary of the start of my steelhead fishing journey.  One thing I have learned is the importance of visiting the home river as much as possible in order to get a feel for the changing conditions throughout the year.  This is my first fall on the chosen river and with the water so low, I am able to find boulders, runs, and slots that I want to hit this winter as the river rises.  Also it feels good to walk its banks again, and see fall as it begins to set in.

Chasing Fall

Fall brings about a season of sure changes.  Colors explode from the forests, as fish explode from the sea.  Or at least in theory.  I have not found good schools of coho moving thru on my trips out yet, but they are there. 

At least my fly line matches the season. 

It was also worth while to walk the river after not being on it for the last 3 months.  Its still low so I can really cement the spots in my mind that I want to fish for winter steelhead when they start moving in.  Can't wait to see them again.

Sandy river kings

Not too long ago a friend and I had the pleasure of drifting the Sandy River in pursuit of coho and big fall kings with river guide Ed Fast, of Ed Fast River Adventures.  I highly recommend Ed if you are seeking a true professional guide.  What follows is an exerpt from our trip...

Remember, both my friend and I are mainly fly guys, so the casting of spin rods, and baitcast reels took us some getting used to.  I'll tell you the first 8 hrs of the trip seemed like a comedy of errors on our part.  The first run we get to had rods casting lures every which way.  At one point I somehow managed to wrap the line all around my rod tip.  As Ed began assisting me I looked at him and said, 'watch fish on'.  Wouldn't you know it as luck would have it sure enough, a nice fresh coho grabed the bait and as Ed and I struggle with the gear, which won't let drag out as its wrapped, off comes the fish!

Unfortunately most of the trip was like that, bobber downs, fish on, fish off.  However, the last hole it all came together and we got to very solid hooksets. 

Here's my result...

And Chad's...

Chad fighting one that got away...

Overall I loved the Sandy, never fished or floated it before even though its less than an hour from me.  Of course, it lives up to its name, it is very, very sandy.  I can only imagine the wear that can occur to gear if this river is fished regularly.