I headed down to a well loved river for a couple days, one day dedicated to giving a guide some spey tips and another to fish for both Steelhead and Trout. Had my Euro rod as well as a 11' 3wt trout spey and my regular 12' 6wt summer spey.
There were two things I noticed that were more prevalent than I expected. First, there were a LOT of anglers. Parking lot filled with walk in anglers. One camping spot on the river had 6 or 7 boats moored in front. The other was the number of these bugs - they were everywhere but nothing seemed to be chasing them.
The weather was volatile, from cold and windy to warm and then back. The trout didn't seem to like the bouncing barometer much. We spent most of the early part of the day nymphing. Hooked a couple decent fish that we both lost. It was really slow, the residents weren't coming out to play.
We've fished this stretch many times before and this was the slowest either of us have experienced at any time of year.
I gave up and decided to swing the 3wt trout spey with an october caddis soft hackle just for fun.
Sure enough, the only serious action of the day was a nice Steelhead that snarfed the bug on the last part of the swing. I had 10lb tippet and was able to put decent pressure on the fish and land it after 3 spirited runs. It helped to have a partner that was good with a net.
It was nice to get my 'Tangerine Dream' Catchercraft raft out on the water. I bought it just before the pandemic and it hasn't gotten much use since then as I've been mostly solo floating in my Watermaster.
There were two things I noticed that were more prevalent than I expected. First, there were a LOT of anglers. Parking lot filled with walk in anglers. One camping spot on the river had 6 or 7 boats moored in front. The other was the number of these bugs - they were everywhere but nothing seemed to be chasing them.
The weather was volatile, from cold and windy to warm and then back. The trout didn't seem to like the bouncing barometer much. We spent most of the early part of the day nymphing. Hooked a couple decent fish that we both lost. It was really slow, the residents weren't coming out to play.
We've fished this stretch many times before and this was the slowest either of us have experienced at any time of year.
I gave up and decided to swing the 3wt trout spey with an october caddis soft hackle just for fun.
Sure enough, the only serious action of the day was a nice Steelhead that snarfed the bug on the last part of the swing. I had 10lb tippet and was able to put decent pressure on the fish and land it after 3 spirited runs. It helped to have a partner that was good with a net.
It was nice to get my 'Tangerine Dream' Catchercraft raft out on the water. I bought it just before the pandemic and it hasn't gotten much use since then as I've been mostly solo floating in my Watermaster.
Attachments
Last edited: