Steelhead stuff.

[DanielOcean]

Hatchery on the sky. If you're into crowds, it's pretty sweet. Better gear spot than fly spot.
Sometimes you can wander down to cable hole and get away from a few folks, but it's rarely a spot you get to yourself.

Are you going to be focusing on any particular river? Or just wanting to get into some chrome on the wet side?

Hey bud. Once im fixed and out of this chair ill be hitting it pretty aggressively. I have always know whewre Reiter Ponds are (home waters) but, being down here in olympia area now I will focus heavily on rivers closer to my area and even down into Oregon which reminds me i need to deal with licensing soon.

 

[Long_Rod_Silvers]

Hey bud. Once im fixed and out of this chair ill be hitting it pretty aggressively. I have always know whewre Reiter Ponds are (home waters) but, being down here in olympia area now I will focus heavily on rivers closer to my area and even down into Oregon which reminds me i need to deal with licensing soon.

Im not great at picking up sarcasm on the internet.

 

[skyriver]

Pay Mike Sturza to take you out on the Cowlitz when it's hot. Even if you don't catch one that day it will be well worth the $$. Google will find his Lost Creek site. He's also on Facebook. He set me up with some musky flies, but he also guides on the Cowlitz.

 

[DanielOcean]

Pay Mike Sturza to take you out on the Cowlitz when it's hot. Even if you don't catch one that day it will be well worth the $$. Google will find his Lost Creek site. He's also on Facebook. He set me up with some musky flies, but he also guides on the Cowlitz.

I know Mr Sturza very well. Don't know why I always talk to him as Mr Sturza but he has not corrected me so yeah. Doing this one guide free on my own bud. Just a matter of getting out there broski. Your help is great appreciated though.

 

[DanielOcean]

Im not great at picking up sarcasm on the internet.

And I am no expert on sarcasm delivery sir!

 

[skyriver]

I know Mr Sturza very well. Don't know why I always talk to him as Mr Sturza but he has not corrected me so yeah. Doing this one guide free on my own bud. Just a matter of getting out there broski. Your help is great appreciated though.

I totally get it. I have only hired a guide a couple times and that was for salt water stuff in foreign lands. Never hired a trout or steelhead guide. There's been more than a few times I probably should have! Good luck!

 

[DanielOcean]

Im going to come clean. It sucks. But i gotta increase my good juju. Okay here it goes.
Buying a 1000 dollar fly rod was the dumbest fucken thing i have ever done in my fishing adventures. Top 10 probably for life overall. I should have passed on it. Instead i should have dropped 500 of it on a steel guide and then the other 500 on some kickass lodging, food, drink, and weed.
Ok. See ya.

 

[skyriver]

Im going to come clean. It sucks. But i gotta increase my good juju. Okay here it goes.
Buying a 1000 dollar fly rod was the dumbest fucken thing i have ever done in my fishing adventures. Top 10 probably for life overall. I should have passed on it. Instead i should have dropped 500 of it on a steel guide and then the other 500 on some kickass lodging, food, drink, and weed.
Ok. See ya.

You're not wrong in that assessment, but hey...now you have a really nice rod. And the steelie gods might appreciate you coming clean.

My most expensive rod I ever purchased was my Redington Chromer 7wt switch that I bought from Red's as a setup with a Behemoth reel and OPST Commando line & backing installed. That was $549.95 in 2017. So the rod was probably about $375 or so. I've cast some really nice rods. Are they $500-700 better than all my $180-375 rods? Nope, not IMHO. But to each his own.
I'd rather spend $$ on making the fishing more accessible and enjoyable, which is stuff like rafts, new waders, new boots, better oars, better anchor setups, etc. And more rods.

So sell your Cadillac rod, buy a $200-400 stick and then explore your options. I caught the most steelhead when I lived in a town where I could be on the river, fishing, in 15-20 minutes. That increases your odds big-time with steelhead. Trips are cool, but I feel way more confident fishing my home water at first light than anywhere else.

 

[Bob Rankin]

If you haven’t sold it, I say keep the $1000 rod. I mean ya…, it cuts down on other things you could have bought including the Devils Lettuce, but hey… The fish pic will look so much cooler with that $1000 dollar rod in it no regrets!


Bob

 

[SculpinSwinger]

I with Bob, you already own the rod.
One of the secrets of steelhead fishing is sticking with it. Same rod, same line, same river - it will happen

 

[skyriver]

I with Bob, you already own the rod.
One of the secrets of steelhead fishing is sticking with it. Same rod, same line, same river - it will happen

I would second SculpinSwinger's 2nd point here. And add... learn 1 run that is known to be productive. If you learn that run really well, you'll learn which line works best, how it fishes in low or higher water and where the fish like to be. This will help you translate that to the next run. In fact, I would suggest 1 run that fishes well in regular flows and 1 run that fishes well in higher water, preferably with your same line setup or minimal adjustment.
Just pound those at first light, if you can, and you'll catch one eventually. I'll shut up now.

 

[DanielOcean]

I would second SculpinSwinger's 2nd point here. And add... learn 1 run that is known to be productive. If you learn that run really well, you'll learn which line works best, how it fishes in low or higher water and where the fish like to be. This will help you translate that to the next run. In fact, I would suggest 1 run that fishes well in regular flows and 1 run that fishes well in higher water, preferably with your same line setup or minimal adjustment.
Just pound those at first light, if you can, and you'll catch one eventually. I'll shut up now.

No totally good pointe man. @Salmo_g actually has a great write up on the 101 stuff. I actually only created this thread as a test when when the site was first created thus why i renamed it to just steelhead stuff.

 

[Rvrfisher360]

I say buy more weed, then you won’t care that you spent 1k on a steelhead rod, or that you don’t catch any fish.

 

[FinLuver]

Is this like season 12? Can you be a rookie on season 12?

Maybe not a rookie, but still a virgin after 12 seasons.

 

[DanielOcean]

Maybe not a rookie, but still a virgin after 12 seasons.

I don't like you right now.

 

[DerekWhipple]

I haven't followed this saga for a while, is DO still swung-steelhead-less? Or just swung-summer-steelhead-less?

 

[DanielOcean]

 

[DerekWhipple]

Just quit your job and camp out at blue creek from March-November this year.

 

[SeaRunner]

Im going to come clean. It sucks. But i gotta increase my good juju. Okay here it goes.
Buying a 1000 dollar fly rod was the dumbest fucken thing i have ever done in my fishing adventures. Top 10 probably for life overall. I should have passed on it. Instead i should have dropped 500 of it on a steel guide and then the other 500 on some kickass lodging, food, drink, and weed.
Ok. See ya.

You're learning.