In the spirit of OMJ I figured I'd post a report. Steelheaders know the true value of "useless" reports.
Of course, Jim would tell me I was an idiot for driving 4 hours Friday night, fish all day Saturday and then drive 4 hours home that night. And ride your bike 5 miles in and back out? When you put in writing like that it does sound pretty stupid. Who does that? Well, steelheaders that no longer have a home river do that. If you don't go, you'll never catch em.
All signs pointed to decent fishing, but sometimes the fish just don't cooperate. And I thought I was escaping the crazy winds of Puget Sound, but alas, had to fish most of the day in howling winds. I even got a nice spritz from a water devil. The river was oddly cold given the mild weather we've had and had quite a bit of junk in it. I'm puzzled at which trib did this, but this time of year it could have been any decent trib that got a nasty hail or snow shower that melted just a few hours later. I saw 1 other angler on foot pitching spinners, 1 drift boat throwing jigs and nymphs and 2 rafts throwing all sorts of gear. No fish for any of us despite seeing 3 fish roll throughout the day. They were there, but not in the mood.
The good news is it didn't rain, I was able to fish great runs all day and didn't have any major issues. Although I did break the tip of my switch rod. The good news is I can just put a new tip top on it and it will now be a 11' 2" rod instead of 11" 6". The canyon was gorgeous as always and I was thankful I have the opportunity and means to make such a, as Jim would say, dumbass drive.
This big guy almost hit me on the trail. I was doing about 18mph when he jumped out onto the trail right in front of me. He ran down the trail, took a right back up the hill to be next to his companion and then just started chowing down on some new grass like it was no big deal. He must know he's in the state park.
For some reason, the zoom on my phone camera makes it look like a fake.
Of course, Jim would tell me I was an idiot for driving 4 hours Friday night, fish all day Saturday and then drive 4 hours home that night. And ride your bike 5 miles in and back out? When you put in writing like that it does sound pretty stupid. Who does that? Well, steelheaders that no longer have a home river do that. If you don't go, you'll never catch em.
All signs pointed to decent fishing, but sometimes the fish just don't cooperate. And I thought I was escaping the crazy winds of Puget Sound, but alas, had to fish most of the day in howling winds. I even got a nice spritz from a water devil. The river was oddly cold given the mild weather we've had and had quite a bit of junk in it. I'm puzzled at which trib did this, but this time of year it could have been any decent trib that got a nasty hail or snow shower that melted just a few hours later. I saw 1 other angler on foot pitching spinners, 1 drift boat throwing jigs and nymphs and 2 rafts throwing all sorts of gear. No fish for any of us despite seeing 3 fish roll throughout the day. They were there, but not in the mood.
The good news is it didn't rain, I was able to fish great runs all day and didn't have any major issues. Although I did break the tip of my switch rod. The good news is I can just put a new tip top on it and it will now be a 11' 2" rod instead of 11" 6". The canyon was gorgeous as always and I was thankful I have the opportunity and means to make such a, as Jim would say, dumbass drive.
This big guy almost hit me on the trail. I was doing about 18mph when he jumped out onto the trail right in front of me. He ran down the trail, took a right back up the hill to be next to his companion and then just started chowing down on some new grass like it was no big deal. He must know he's in the state park.
For some reason, the zoom on my phone camera makes it look like a fake.
