One of my most satisfying steelhead was on the OP as the drift boat driver, not the fisherman. Bogey or the Duc. Can't remember. I was the pilot of my buddies drift boat since I was the only experienced rower in the group. We had all fly fished upriver, but we were also pulling plugs in the bigger runs. In a nice run that bends to the left, just before the take out if I remember, I pushed that plug to the far right corner thinking "I've pushed these bastards all the way down the run, it's now or never" and ding dong, rod down. I have a pic of the damn fish & fisherman somewhere, but I wished someone would have taken my pic as I was pumped!
We fly fishermen (and ladies) tend to get in the mindset that our way is the toughest or most intricate. There are many skills out there required to catch fish and there are lots of damn good gear (and bait) chuckers that just want to have fun like us. As long as they are good with the resource I wish them well.
If my shoulders (I will use my left when the right one goes out) ever get to where I can't fly cast I'll be happy to chuck gear.
