The HeadHunter

The Aleutian Islands - Unalaska, AK

2011-11-14T09:15:00.007-06:00

In the Summer of 2003 my wife Liz and I, Just married, honey-mooned in Alaska. Which is where we had met 5 years earlier while in college. Liz suggested that we could go back to Alaska for our honey moon and mentioned that I could put the trip together. I went a head and planned out two weeks of fishing. One fishing for Salmon on the rivers of Unalaska on the Aleutian Islands, and another week fishing the Naknek and its tributaries in Bristol Bay.

The Aleutian Islands were our first destination, but due to foggy conditions we spent two-and-a-half days just waiting for a plane to be able to fly into the Dutch Harbor airport. We finally made it to the Island. Unfortunately we were not able to go with the outfit that we had planned on also due to the weather, which was a shame as to get there we would have taken a Grummin Duck which is a plane I have not yet flown on.

I explored fishing oppotunities that were road accessible. The local chamber of commerce and the hotel took really great care if liz and I. even lending us a vehicle to explore the island with. They also got us out on the harbor to fish Bass and to see them pull a few crab pot. The Sea Bass fishing was great.

I also caught a good number of Pink Salmon in the salt water bay behind the hotel. They were a ton of fun.

Eagles were seemingly everywhere.

Unalaska has been a continuos human settlement for the last 9000 yrs. people have called the harbor part of the island home for as long as people have inhabited Damascus. It is very possible, if you believe that the first peoples to the Americas could have traveled by boat rather than land bridge, that the first immigrants from Asia to America came through Unalaska and the Aleutians.

Snake River - 2011

2011-11-13T22:08:00.003-06:00

2011

In 2011 Rusty and I both drove out and met on the Salmon River in Idaho. We had done well there in 2010 and the condition on the river seeemed great. there was a little rain but the river looked and fished great. The wildlife was supurb, lots of deer came down to the river to drink while we fished runs. I saw a breeding pair of Golden Eagles, but we caught nothing in two-and-a-half days of fishing.

We did not have as much time to fish as we have the last two years. so we decided to go see what the Snake looked like. I was worried because when I drove over the Snake near Boise, Idaho, it look big and dirty, but I learned when we arrived to Asotin, Washington and the stretch of river upstream of there, I learned that you can judge the Snake by what you see in Boise. I looked great and the water was cool.

It was 2pm when we arrived. Cloudy with a light to medium rain. We drove up-river to our favorite run. It didn't take long for things to start. On a run that we know for being great right at the end, just as the body dumps into the tail; we were suprised by fish sitting up at the top of the run.

Rusty let me fish through first because I was jumping out of the car before it was even in park. I could see a seem that was out guite a ways, but I thought I could reach it if i pushed. I was fishing a 13'3" 7wt and a Scandi head so big distance took alot more work than when I was using a 15' on the same run the year before. I was able to fish the seem though and and within 20' of the top of the run I hooked a fish on a #3 Yellow Jacket.

It was a hrd fighting fish and a wild one to boot. You cant beat that. I got out of the run and Rusty

fished through. When he was about half way down, I jumped in at the head of the run again to follow him down. I hooked another fish in the same spot. It was another hard fight and I got the leader into the guides, but the fished threw the hook mid-river after a final run, and an epic jump (that I swear was 5'-6' out of the water vertically). It ate a size 6-8 Purple Green-Butt Skunk

That evening Rusty and I fished another of our favorite runs on the Snake. I had gotten our first fish there the year before and Rusty the year before that. and always in the evening. I was following Rusty down the run. I started at the top of the run. There is an eddy up at the top but the water just out-side of it looks good. So even though we had never even had a grab at the head, I fished it. you never know. And guess what... I got one this time. It came just as my line could swing below the eddy.

This was another hard fighting fish. Just take a look it was a good sized fish. I think this is the biggest Steelhead that I have caught on the Salmon. It went for the same little Skunk.

We fished the run until dark. Shortly after landing my fish, a family of otters came floating down river and the male chased me out of the river after I teased him

by returning his hisses with myown. Before the day was over, However, Rusty hooked into a good sized fish at the lower end of the run. It was dark and try as we might we cought not see the fish even when it was right in front of us.

Finally, we got the fish landed. It was a wild King Salmon, healthy and wild.

The next morning was bright and sunny and windy. We didn't touch a fish on our first two runs, so we decided to try a run that had been in the running for being the best two years earlier. Its fast waters across a wide rocky flat and the heavy flow in the channel beyond brought fish into a small area on the rock bar where the current is bearable to rest. depending on the rivers flow rate this spot can be too far out to reach.

It was bright and sunny. with the sun at my back, and to me that means in the fishes eyes. I was not thinking there was much of a shot. and I wasn't even sure if the run was even fishing that well. Then my line came tight and my tiny little size 8 skunk was sucked up by a ripping fast hatchery hen. Fish can really burn you up on some of the Snakes faster runs and this run is a fast one.

Snake River - 2010 & 2011

2011-11-13T20:27:00.005-06:00

Snake River: 2010

In October 2010 Rusty and I headed back the Region of the Nez Perce. Travel was tough this year with cancelled flight and unplanned detours, but we made it to the Salmon only a half day later than expected.

Our first evening was great despite the water being a bit warmer than desirable. the weather was

mild and we got one of our favorite runs, a nice long easy wade with a rip that sits about 80' from knee deep the whole way. I wore a T-shirt since the weather so fine, feeling good to be done traveling and finally fishing. The run we were on produced rusty's first fish last year... and mine this year.

I fished a Thompson River Caddis down the lower half of the run and, just as day tipped to twighlight, the fish took. It was on the strip, but it still took.

I had gotten a 15' TnT from poppy the previous fall and this was my first fish with the rod. I was worried that a 9wt would be too much rod for smaller fish, but this fish I caught our first night was 5-6 lbs and it was a great fight and I, don't think a smaller rod would have made the experience any more fun.

We camped around a bunch of other fly fishers, but apparently what we fish and what they fish is different, as we almost never seemed to see these guys on the water we fished. Although there is more pressure this year than last. The guys at camp were having a tough time with the warm water. Over the next few days we fished some very good water and struggled to find fish. we ran up to the Clearwater a few times but it had alot of people on it.

We did connect with two more fish. Both under pretty bright conditions. Both also came off what was our most productive run last year. I caught a small fish under a bright/partly cloudy midday sky. It ate a yellow/Orange/ Natural Married wing spey, my first married wing fish, and some how that matters.

A day later on the same run, Rusty hooked our best fish of the trip. It was late morning. I am not sure what fly rusty was fishing but I would wager it was 3 or 5 Yellow Jacket (last years magic fly).

Though the conditions were not as perfect as the year before. we found fish when fishing was tough and the Snake continued her kind and generous tradition.

We fished our 2010 trip fishing the Salmon River in Idaho, which is a tributary of the Snake. We had a great time.

The Salmon River

2011-03-08T19:45:00.009-06:00

In the fall of 2010 my friend Rusty and I made our trip out to fish the Snake, Grand Ronde, and Clearwater. River conditions on the Snake were a little tough with some pretty high water temperatures on the Snake and a frustrating number of people on the Clearwater. We caught a few fish on the Snake, had a few early grabs on the Clearwater and that kept us fishing there longer than I wanted, but other guys were getting fish. One guy got a fish on a popular run that I had just told Rusty was a pure shit of a run. I guest don't get the Clearwater.

After about five days jumping between the Snake and Clearwater, we decided to try some new water and headed down to the Salmon river near Riggins, ID. On the drive down I realized the down side to the Salmon is that if you get there and it is not fishing, you will have a long drive to find them. The drive down was really neat though, as you come south down 95 from the Clearwater you a following the route that Lewis & Clark used to return to the east, after reaching the Pacific Ocean. Rusty has read the accounts of that trip and was able to tell me about some of their adventures as we headed through passes and valleys of Idaho.

We passed through a town on the way that had the full skeleton of a mammoth in a glass house. I am often looking for spots where ancient people would have traveled or lived in the lands I fish and here was a sign of the truly ancient, the prey of America's first humans. The slopes around us were wooded with several streams and they over looked a great grassy valley. I imagined people gathering fire wood and being able to see the mammoth in the distance, across the valley 8,000 years earlier.

Anyway, we had to get licenses in Riggins as well as camp supplies so we got to the Salmon too late to fish, but were able to identify a few good looking spots to start on the next day. As we made camp we had a Small doe wandered by our beautiful and relatively solitary camp and that was just the beginning of the deer we saw over the next day and a half. We saw lots of "small" bucks(according to Rusty that is, to my whitetail eyes they looked huge) and does along the banks and hillsides of the the Salmon.

This year Rusty brought a camper, and it was really awesome. We got camp set up pretty quick and efficient, as Rusty got me in line with camp chores and trailer moving, although I was the one who encouraged all the moving...but that another story. The point is that the trailer was great and that we had a good camp there on the Salmon.

The next morning we were up bright and early and on the river. We marked a few spots on the GPS on the way down the Salmon the day before. I started, what I thought was about half way down the run, but this run like lots of runs we found on the salmon are just a little different. I was at the head of a little twelve-to-twenty cast spot, but it only took three.

I hooked and landed a pretty bright hatchery hen, especially for being over seven hundred miles from the sea (I will double check on that number)

The Margaree River - Nova Scotia

2009-07-04T19:38:00.000-05:00

This summer I spent some time checking out the Margaree River in Nova Scotia. Unfortunately Nova scotia does not have a 1 day license, so I had to drop $50 for the week license, But it was worth it to discover this river.

The Margaree is a beautiful little river. The water is very clear, so clear infact that on one run I saw a salmon resting in the middle of a pool as I fished it. The river can easily be fished with a small two handed rod. I had many runs that I fished without getting my whole scandi head out of my guides.

The fishing was good when I was there in late July. I think this was mostly due to the rains that had just come through Cape Breton, and brought the river up and the fish in. The first evening I fished a couple runs that a Halifax fly shop employee had shown me. The first was incredibly narrow with a big back eddie that swirled along the near side for a good hundred feet, I wasn't to impressed with the run, but the angler that fished through it before me and who waited to fish it again, said it was good and that he had seen a guy land a large salmon from the run the morning before. The run below was more to my liking, alot more like a classic Steelhead run, but no grabs on either run.

The next morning, I started on a run called Long Pool which is really the Head and bog of a good sized run. The tailout of the large run is called Snag Pool, these seem to be the two most well known runs on the Margaree. There is a bench at the start of Snag Pool and anglers will wait on the bench for their turn to fish the run. I am not into waiting, so I fished Long Pool.There was an angler on the other side of pool from me . I fished behind him but not as far as I would if he were on my side. He landed a grilse pretty quick and it was dime bright. Long and Snag Pools are not even a mile from tidewater and the rains were moving fish in.

Seeing the guy across hook and land a fish gave me confidence, beyond what I already had. I fish down the riffle at the head of the run, when a older local angler came by and spoke to me, about nothing important, where I was from and such. He was waiting for it to be his turn on Snag Pool.

I fished as we spoke andwithin a few casts of the start of our conversations start my line snap tight, the rod bucked and the line came loose again.

"Did you see that?" the Local exclaimed "You just got a take!"

"Yeah" I said, I had gotten nothing but "takes" all week on the Miramichi.

"What fly are you fishing?"

"a number eight Blue Charm."

"Well, get it back to that fish. You may get him"

I was pretty excited now. His enthusiasm and the delayed excitement of the grab were settling in. I threw out another cast, and another, the fish didn't come back.

"What else do you have in your box" The Local asked, and I opened my flybox to show him.

The Local said "Tie on that Night Hawk, thats a good fly that should bring him back"

It didn'y and neither did any other fly I tried over the next few minutes, so I tied the Blue charm back on and kept fishing down.

The Local got in behind me when I had moved down far enough and in a few minutes he was hooked up just where I got grabbed. I ran up to my bag to get my camera and got a few shots of the fight before the fish came off.

I met a guide as I finished my second pass through the Long Pool. While every angler flyfishes on the Margaree, Spey rods are not common, and I don't any one around there was even aware of switch rods, so my equipment was a source of much conversation. Anyway, The guide I met talked to me for a while about two-handed rods and then he told me how I could get to a section of river that had very few anglers on it, and not as many salmon either, but I was interested. He let me park in his yard.

The section of river was beautiful, I only wish I had had more time to fish. After a couple of fishless hours I headed back to the car, and then down to the Margaree's Tidewater. I fished the tide water for a couple hours. I hooked nothing, but I saw a few salmon sitting in the run, suspended in water that seemed as clear as air.

Miramichi River - July

2009-07-03T14:57:00.000-05:00

I headed out to the Miramichi in late July of 2008. I had come up with a plan to have customers join me in the pursuit of salmon. I arrived on July, 23rd and spent the 24th visiting customers in the New Brunswick Provence and getting every thing organized for the trip. I stopped in at the local fly shops (WW Doak & Curtis) to get fishing licenses, flies, and the skinny on the river. Word was good, Lots of fish were entering the river and the recent and ongoing rains were moving fish into the system.

I stopped at the Miramichi Salmon museum in Doaktown and enjoyed the day, anticipating the next.After getting some food at the grocery I headed for the cabin that I had reserved at Country Haven Lodge.

I met up with Byzee, the lodge owner, who informed me that while the current group of anglers had not yet landed a fish, they were rolling fish on virtually every run, more good news. I took a nap and got up to make the 2 hour drive back to the airport to pick up Bob, the customer that I would be fishing with, I had another customer lined up as well but, he had to cancel.I met Bob at 11pm and we made it back to the lodge by 1am. We had a drink and hit the hay we had to meet our Guide Jeremy at 7am, so we could get time in before the heat of the day rolled in.

We fished two runs that first morning, we had just settled on one when we got word that one of the guides who was not working, had a large pod of salmon on the run behind his house and he had just landed one. So we headed over.

The run we fished was called the Warren Pool, it is across the river from Ted Williams Cabin. We got there at the same time as some other anglers, and since warrens is public water that is how it goes, but a really heavy shower of rain drove all of the river, excepting me. The rain stopped and Bob jumped in a head of me and the run was all ours. In not too long a fish boiled my fly, never to return. It was a long run and took nearly two hours to fish through, so then it was time for a midday break. After a lazy afternoon, we headed out with Randle, another guide, at about 6pm to fish a run about ten mile up stream from the lodge. Randle polled a boat over to an island in the river from which we fished. Randle actually owned the island, and it was obvious once he began explaining the run, intimate details breaking down each part of the run, specific direction where and how to wade the run, how to line your self up, where to stop and take a couple casts, etc. and in my first pass through the short run, I goy a solid yank, a surface explosion, the fish came unplugged and was gone.

Bob was having some trouble casting the 10’ 8wt that I had brought for him, his arm was getting tired and he was not happy that we had not yet landed a fish, I reall wasnt either. Bob’s salmon experience was thirty years old and it was catching Sockeyes in Alaska, so what we were doing was very different. I gave Bob the two handed rod I was fishing to see it would not be so tiring and I thought that even a bad two handed caster can consistently get the fly thirty or forty feet from their body. The instinct was correct, Bob fished out the evening with the two hander, and while he still had some misgivings about the whole salmon fishing idea in general, he at least liked the rod better. I think Randle kind of fell in love with the 11’ 8wt switch rod and scandi head I was fishing as well, he kept telling me how amazing the cast was and kept quizzing me about it.

The next morning, I rigged Bob up with my 6126 Sage and a 6/7/8 windcutter, and it is a good thing, because the run Jeremy took us to, Mid-way Bar, had virtually no back cast. I gave Bob a quick casting lesson and headed down stream. There were some guys upstream and in a short time one of them got a fish, and just as that saga was over Bob hooked a salmon. The fight covered 200-300 of river bank, and took over 30 minutes, before the fish made an escape. Aw well crap happens.

Bob now got it. Even though the fish got away he now knew why the wait and effort were worth it. And that is good be cause in the next day and a half we rose nothing more. The river was high and the fish were blowing right through the lower river. We checked out some of the Miramichi’s tributaries, the Cains and the Renous Rivers. Both were enjoyable we found a large pod of salmon on the Cains and fished the run with a moose who stayed within 30 meters for over 2 hours. He was a big bull and wasn’t going to let some anglers interrupt his plans.

I gave Jeremy a Winston Spey rod as a tip, as he had guided me on my last trip, and I thought it would be good for him to know and understand two-handed rods and casts and fishing, as it is growing in popularity. But not too much around the Miramichi yet, I got a lot of comments and stares.

I ran Bob over to the Aiorport on Monday and then shot down the road to visit with customers in the Halifax area, and then to visit another near the Margaree.

I got alittle fishing in on the Margaree after my visits and even got a grab out of the first run I fished which was near the tide water, but I caught nothing. The Margaree is really beautiful and the regulations are great for the on-your-own type guy, meaning no guide needed, no beats to buy, just a license and you can fish.

Grande Ronde River

2009-06-27T07:26:00.003-05:00

I have fished the Grande Ronde a few times. I have always fished it on the road program, I have not floated it. I have fish this river both upstream by Boggans Oasis and Down by it's confluence with the Snake River. It is a river of different charactors, it changes as it flows away to miles from where the Wallowa joins it near Troy to it's meeting with the mighty Snake.

I definitely have a prefence for fishing the Ronde from Troy to Boggan's Oasis. Part of the reason for this is that it is road accessible, and the river from Boggan's down it primarily accessed by floating it. There are other reasons for my preference, the shear number of runs on the river, so many I can't imagine that they could all be named, and they can all hold fish. There don't really seem to secret spots on the Grande Ronde, you pioneer your own water and you may find fish, sometimes alot of them.

The Vistas and the wildlife that the Grande Ronde canyon present can be amazing. There are also numerous deer and Bighorn Sheep around the Ronde, as well as a great variety of birds. On my last trip I was fishing on of my favorite runs as night was setting in and from up the canyon wall, not far away, an owl began to hoot, it had a deep, low quality to the sound and sent shivers down my spine.

On my first trip to the Boggan's area I fished a 13'3" 7wt which was fine for the size of the river, but I would have preferred a lighter rod for the diminutive size of the fish, 4-6lbs on average. In my recent trips to the Ronde I have fished either an 8110-4 Sage switch rods which fishes much smaller than an 8wt and is alot of fun on smaller rivers, or a 6126-3 Sage, really this rod can do anything.

My best luck on the Grande Ronde has been on muddlers, Specifically a brown/pumpkin colored muddler, but my experience is very limited. On the first run I fished, on my first morning fishing the area around Boggan's Oasis. I landed three steelhead all on a brown muddler, so since then I have had a disproportionate level of confidence in this fly, and I have hooked fish on it.

There are several guides that work the Grande Ronde, such as Scott O'Donnoll, Ed Ward, and Mike McCune run Spey Water Guide Service, I know that John Farrar is also guiding the Ronde and has done so for a long time. I guess guides could be really good especially when fishing is tough and when a person wants to float the river, and I guess it is a great way to improve a persons spey/skagit casting techniques in a fun and fishy environment. I don't know that I would want to be guided on this river though, because to me the Ronde is a great river to pit your own skills against, as there are many classic runs on the river, all of which can hold fish, and there is an opportunity to find a good run on your own, on your own ability of reading the water and then going in and hooking a fish (if it all works out) it's kind of like matching the hatch without a guide for you trout guys.

Not all my fishing partners are as in love with the Grande Ronde as I am. They like the river, but they have other rivers that trrump it in their minds and hearts. For me the Ronde is just what a Summer/Fall river should be. The fish are smaller, but they are grabby and a very long way from the Ocean. They capture my imagination with there long travels and my heart with their lively and aggressive natures.

The Deschutes River

2009-06-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

The Deschutes is a truly unique Steelhead river, it can be the sweetest most friendly river you've ever known on one trip and then leave you beatdown and fried the next. The fish can be aggressive and trouty or they can be virtually non-existant. Some times it seems you can make the best casts of you life into a full on gail, other time a slight tease of wind knock down every cast. The river will love you and then toy with you.

The Deschutes River in Oregon is like a steelheading mecca in so many
ways, not the least of which is that everyone goes there. Yeah it gets a little crowded there sometimes, at least the road access does, but the River and the Steelhead that run it do really deserve this fond attention of Steelheaders when it's on, and it is on alot in the past few years.
Sometimes it is not on, however. I have fished it for both, hot and cold, on and off. Un fortunately last time I was on it it was off. It was so off that when My friend Charlie and I headed up to fish the water between Shear's Falls and Mack's Canyon there was no body there. This section of river usually houses hundreds of anglers at this time of years (sept), but it was empty. We were thrilled, all the runs were ours; Windknot was ours, Hole in the Wall all ours, we even had the pipeline(and I mean the whole thing) to our selves. The problem was there were no fish grabbing the flies. we talked to guides across the river, they hadn't been hooking fish for several days. this was this year 2008, Dam counts were huge, but the fish just weren't there the days we were.
Charlie and I fished the Deschutes for a few days in 2007, and we (mostly Charlie) did great we caught 4 fish in just a few days of fishing and lost others. The dam counts weren't nearly as good as in 2008, but we were finding fish.

The good times are possiblibe on the Deschutes, maybe more than anywhere else. In 2001, on my first trip to the Deschutes it felt like the fish were every where and I know from BR who hit it again in 2002 it was epic again. Even this year I heard stories of guys hooking 10 fish out of a run in a single morning or evening.

I think that it is because the Deschutes can be so giving, that getting skunked on this river can hurt so much. When you are catching fish, the sun is friendly,Camp is perfect, the wind is a fun challenge, and wildlife is abundant, the Busch lights even taste better if that is even possible. Things just go your way, or maybe you just going there way, but you're happy. When the skunk is on, this Oregon blast oven has no soul, the barren landscape is deviod of life. The sun burns down on camps that have no shade and the ones that do are taken. The Busch light, gone already. The wind, in your face.

I have caught fish on the Deschutes on both big and small flies. Fishing smaller flies (3-8) flies on a Scandinavian head is my favorite way to fish the rivers, but I have had success and been able to take fish in broad day light using Skagit heads and big flies (3"-5" long). I have ussually used either my 7133-3 Burkheimer or my 6126 Sage both are great for smaller flies and the smaller fish that are common on the Deschutes, but the 7133-3 the more versitile of the two. I will however try an additional rod next time, my 7141-4 Sage while it may be stouter than the smaller fish warrent, it casts a great long line such as a Hardy 65' MachII 570grn or a Rio Power Spey 7/8 and these long lines and way fun to fish, the Loomis 15' 7/8 grease line would also be fun. One down side to these longer rods and longer lines is that they run into trouble when conditions get tough, like a rough wind or a tight bank, but I have found that while they are limited it is not nearly a limited as most people believe now days.

The flies I like for the Deschutes are the Green Butt Purple Skunk, the Max Canyon, and Muddlers in purple and brown, after that it is all about finding or making up stuff you like. Check out Tom Larimer's web site for great Deschutes patterns, there is a link on this page. Tom also guides the lower river and He seems to get his clients alot of fish more consistently than anyone else I have heard of. Also check out Kent Helvie's book on steelhead flies, there are some great Dec Hogan patterns for the Deschutes in it.

The Oconto River - Wisconsin

2009-06-22T07:53:00.004-05:00

The Oconto river is, I guess, my home river. I live in Green Bay and the Oconto is only a 20-30 minute drive depending on which water I want to fish. There is about 15 miles of river that anadromous fish can travel on the Oconto. The river enters Green Bay at the town of Oconto and the fish can travel up to the dam at Stiles.

The Oconto used to be a fairly good steelhead river, never great in my time, but in recent years steelhead fishing on the Oconto has gone down the crapper. Lake run Brown Trout fishing has, however, steadily improved each season for a while now. It has become nearly common place to go out and get a couple of trout in a days fishing and now we even have guides working out of Tightlines Fly Shop in De Pere, WI.

There is a good amount of water to fish up and down the river's length. The gradient of the river is pretty tame, and there are no rapids, but there is the occasional riffle and pool. The river is a good size for two handed rods and swinging flies will catch you fish.

Clearwater River

2009-06-12T18:04:00.000-05:00

The Clearwater River has its head waters in the Bitterroot and Clearwater mountain ranges. The river produces a run of summer steelhead that are the largest in the United States. Unfortunately these large steelhead that were once wild and prolific, now struggle as primarily hatchery reared fish. In addition to the loss of the wild giants, there is a popular catch and kill fishery on the river for the giant hatchery fish. Though despite these issues, the Clearwater is one of my favorite rivers ( my most favorite is only an hour from it) and for good reason.

I have fished the Clearwater several times. I first fished the Clearwater in 2001 in mid-September. I travelled out there with three friends from Milwaukee and we met another friend out there. On that trip we fished a few runs between Lewiston and Cherry lane. Over the following years I have been able to expand the range of water that I fish on the river. In fact on my last trip My friend BR and I fished nearly 30 different runs.

A great thing about the Clearwater is that it has both obvious runs, and runs that are hidden and must be discovered. There is currently no book or map of the river that gives a fly angler a yellow brick road to the steelhead, nor could there be. Experience is the key to success and difference between success (catching fish) and failure (not) is razor thin. Clearwater steelhead are hard to come by even for the true experts of the river system, but it is the difficulty of catching a fish that makes it so valuable. A fish in a week is all right.

Of course any trip to the Clearwater must include several stops at The Red Shed fly shop in Peck, ID less than a mile off the river between Lenore and Orofino. Poppy owns and runs the shop, which is a shop uniquely dedicated to Two handed/Spey fishing. Poppy not only carries the standards such as Sage, GLoomis, Rio, Airflo, etc., but also alot of the less common equipment such as Guideline, Hardy, Molin, Sarcione, and many, many more.

Flies for the Clearwater are often considered small. I have spoken to several river experts and I have heard the same thing over and over again "This is a small fly river". Now I remember that used to be what everyone said about the Deschutes, and everyone was wrong. Well, I have hooked and landed fish on the Clearwater on flies as small a #7 but I also landed my last Clearwater steelhead on a #1/0 General Practitioner tied in black. With this said It is probably best to focus your fishing on smaller flies and use big flies as something different.

Clearwater steelhead can grow very large, as big as 20-30lbs, these big fish are known as "B" run, there is also a smaller group of fish known as "A" run steelhead these fish run 4-10lbs. this mix of fish makes tackle an interesting choice. The river is large and there are many runs that will fish with a 100' plus of line out of the guides, and you can hook fish out that far, you can also get them in closer as well, but a big cast is fun to make so why not.

I like to fish with either my 13'3" rod with a Scandinavian shooting head, or I like to fish a longer rod with a 65' - 95' head line such as the Nextcast 75' or the Scientic Anglers XLT, as for rod size I have fished up to a 9wt but I think the new 7wt rods can make the A runs fun and the B runs manageable. So the three rods I will call out as awesome: the first is a Burkheimer 7133-3 (my favorite rod, for all steelhead angling), Next is the Thomas & Thomas DH1409-5 (easy for travel and very versatile), and last is the G Loomis 15' 7/8wt Greaseline (this rod is awesome, it fits the bill)

The Cleawater river is big and the scenery changes as the it descends toward it's meeting with the Snake, 463 miles from the ocean. The river goes from a high gradient mountain forest to an arid expanse of rolling hills.

St. Jean River - Quebec

2009-06-07T11:19:00.005-05:00

In late September of 2008, My friend Rusty and I, after attending a convention in Ottawa, On. made a fourteen hour drive east along the great water of the St. Lawrence River to the tip of the Gaspe Peninsula. We were here to close out the season in the low waters of the York and St. Jean rivers fishing for the Atlantic Salmon that had taken up residence through out the summer.

We spent days 1 and 3 fishing on the York river, which we liked and Days 2 and 4 on the St. Jean which we loved. While it was easy to spot fish in the the waters of the York, The St. Jean had a water that was so clear that it almost seamed like a thicker version of air.

We only ended up fishing one pool on the St. Jean, The Bluff pool, as there were not fish scattered through out the river system, but rather all grouped together in a few certain pools, and bluff was one of them.

Bluff, as the name suggests, has a large bluff that comes down into the river. From the bluff you can look down at the fish that have packed into the run, in this case 80-100 salmon. there was a hen sitting far back in the pool. our guide told us that she weighed around 50lbs and had been sitting in that exact spot since the beginning of July.

Rusty and I fished two days on the St. Jean and it was by far the most enjoyable water for us. On our first day Rusty hooked and lost a decent salmon on a Laxa Blue #6, and I may have had a grab but nothing was for sure. We could see fish both lying in the run and jumping. the weather was warm, which was great since we froze the day before on the York.

Our guide coached us to really slow down and be methodical with these fall salmon. He had us take two casts from each position and then to only take one small step. He also was adement that we not use a cast such as the Snap-t with our spey rods and really wanted us to stick with single speys. His advise proved to work on the St. Jean and I should probably slow down on other waters as well.

On our next day, we went without our guide and got to the water right at daybreak. I went through the run first as I was still without a fish and Rusty had landed a big Cock on the keg pool of the York's 9th Sector. I was just stepping into the spot where rusty had hooked up two days before, when I felt my #8 Blue Charm get grabbed and some line was jerked of the reel, then it was gone. I was bummed but excited that we got an early grab.

I went through again after Rusty and then as Rusty was starting on his second pass I decided to wander down river to see what other runs were nearby. It had been a mistake, because just as I was out of ear shot, rusty hooked the fish of the trip. A fairly bight salmon of about 13-15lbs. His fish from the day before was bigger but this was better.

This was our last day on the Gaspe. the weather was great, our guide came down to hang with us for several hours and we really enjoyed it. Then we blew off the river a little early to get over to the ZEC for a few souvenirs.

Matapedia River - Quebec

2009-06-07T10:05:00.006-05:00

This year at the end of May, my friend BR and I headed to southeastern Quebec to fish the Matapedia and Restigouche rivers for some of the biggest salmon that swim often mere hours out of salt water. We split our time between the two rivers, fishing with a guide, Rick, who we hire through the Motel Restigouche, where we stayed while fishing. Though the fish were in the rivers, people saw them from the bridge in the town of Matapedia each day, no one hooked any large salmon while we were fishing, including us.

The Matapedia is an amazing river. It flows to the south from Lac Matapedia in the Chic-choc Mountains at the base of the Gaspe Peninsula. The Matapedia is the largest tributary of the Restigouche River which forms the border of New Brunswick and Quebec. The Matapedia will run a hair cooler than the Restigouche in mid summer due to its course through wooden valley and canyons, as well as the cool natural lakes which provide a source to the river.

The Matapedia is a river with a rich history. There is a very famous (and expensive to fish) section of the Matapedia, known as Glen Emma in Sector 2. This canyon area of the river seems to attract good numbers of fish in June and early July. It was on this section of the Matapedia that the most famous of all atlantic salmon guides, Richard Adams, made his living during the summer. Adams guided exclusively on Glen Emma with a few other select guides. During the early season Richard Adams guided for Kelts and the early bight Salmon through The Motel Restigouche.

BR and I fished only the Restigouche on our first day of fishing (notes on which can be found on the Journal of the Restigouche). We had come to the rivers with the impression that we would mostly be fishing the Matapedia and that we would even be able to get up into the Glen Emma water but neither was the case. We fished a couple runs at the mouth of the Matapedia on our second morning before meeting Rick, Our Guide. The two runs were great to fish and I felt confidence with every cast, but staying consistent with our trip no fish was hooked. He fished the mouth of the river again over lunch after spending 4 hours fishing the same water that failed to produce the day before on the Restigouche. After lunch it was back to the Restigouche to check out the lower river.

The next morning, Our last day to fish, we finally got to spend some real time on the Matapedia. We started at St-Alexi about 5 mile up from the rivers mouth. The runs up there were great and we got some really good grabs, but no salmon. I landed a Trout that weighed a couple pounds and it took a Green Highlander, not full dress, but with married wings and JC eyes, but I skipped on alot of the veilings like the Wood Duck and Teal and the Indian crow, etc. It is still cool to have gotten a fish, be it a trout, on a fly like that.

The day wore on us a bit as we again were coming to the end of a trip with out having hooked a salmon. Both BR and I have been skunked on trips before. Heck, last year I had 4 atlantic salmon rivers skunk me, as well as 4 steelhead rivers, and I was with BR last year as he got a skunk spray upon him in the Nez perce region. Getting skunked gets less upsetting with experience, but it still has a slight burn, especially when you imagine how great hooking a big fish feels.

I am planning to return to the Matapedia to fish. Possibly later this summer as I need to return to Quebec in August. The rivers were so beautiful, It would be sad to never see them again. Both the Matapedia and the Restigouche are huge rivers and they celebrate long casts. I fished a 15' Loomis with a Nextcast WinterAuthortity, a big cast combo I was fishing with 100' out of the guides cosistantly, the rivers are really that big. It is made for spey. Anyway, I like to always go back and beat the skunk that sprayed me.

The Restigouche River - Quebec & New Brunswick

2009-06-07T06:38:00.005-05:00

I fished the Retsigouche and it's main tributary the Matapedia in the last days of May this year. I had headed out with BR and we were looking for the first bright Atlantics to enter the river. These fish are usually the biggest fish of the run, often clearing 30lbs and rarely smaller that 20lbs. Of courses sizes like that rarely come in decent numbers and this was no exception. On the best days fish are few and far between and it is rare for an angler to average better than a fish every couple days. We were no exception our selves and struggled to find any Salmon we got some nice Sea trout (Brook Trout).

BR and I hired a guide through the Motel Restigouche, named Ricky Gray. Rick's father had guided the Restigouche and the Matapedia and in due course Rick and his brother both followed the path of occupational inheritance and began guiding as well. Rick had spent a summer guiding for Loomis on the Ponoi River in Russia. It sounded as though the process of becoming a guide on the Restigouche and or the Matapedia was a long and tiring process.

Despite all of Ricks years of experience, I did find the a familiar problem arise. The problem being that rick wanted to fish BR and I out of the boat, a Gaspe Canoe, one at a time, slowly down the run. The first run we pulled up to was perfect for us to fish from shore, yet he dropped anchor about 50ft from shore. It took a fair bit of conversation to get him to let one of us out to fish from shore but we were able to get that done in the end.

We spent our first day and a half fishing some water a few miles up from the town of Matapedia which is where the Restigouche is joined by the water of the Matapedia. The water we fished was a giant run, very similar to the Mixer on the Skagit. A small river entered the Restigouche on the south side of the river, just below was a big riffle which created the run's head. The run it's self could be fished on either side the north side was the inside of the the rivers curve and had a soft current that went on for several hundred yards over a rock bar. The south shore was the outside of the immense bend and also went one form several hundred yards, but this water was deep and while the current nearer to shore was softer the main current was really pushing near close. The water look so perfect, and we had some great grabs, but no fish, with the exception of two trout that billy caught.

Our first day was marred by heavy rains nearly all day, luckily Rick was able to get a decent fire going on the immense rock bar on the rivers north side, that and a great flock of swallows eating the largest mayfly hatch I had ever seen made that after noon a blast. There were lots of memorable moments, many including birds. A small brood of abou 4-5 baby mergansers mistaking my body waste deep in river as their missed mother and swimming to with in a couple feet before realising there sad predicament. A pilliated woodpecker and then another. twenty ruby-throated hummingbirds all gather together at the Motel Restigouche competing for feeder time, or as I said before a thousand or more swallows so close on all side hovering dipping and skimming for a feast of BWOs.

On the afternoon of our second day we head down river to fish the Restigouche below Matapedia. A lot of the water on the Restigouche, Maybe even most of the water belongs to a group of the US's and Canada's Richest people, all of them belonging to the Restigouche Salmon Club which was started in the 1880's. Because of the Salmon Clubs vast holdings, it can be a pain to find good fishing water, and a lot of time is spent running the boat across private water just to find water that can be fished. To get to fishable water below town took a bout a mile and a half run down stream to the InterProvincial Bridge.

We fished the water immediately below the bridge while one of fished from shore. I had a few soft grabs fishing from the boat but no fish. We then headed down river to a big bar that we fished out our evening on, me from shore, BR from the boat. Rick showed us a down river spot where powerlines cross the river and there was a great run there where fresh from the sea Atlantics were known to stop and aclimate to fresh water. We barely beat a big storm in as we headed to Matapedia. A black wall of cloud and showers came rollong down the Matapedia valley as we turned up it, and as the boat was being landed the sky opened and lightening came with it, we cracked opened a few beers and hunkered under the bridge until the worst of it passed.

That night as on the night before BR and I grabbed our dinner at the small store in the Village of Matapedia. We ate at the Hotel the first night but the prices were alittle high for us to make a habit out of it and the hours of operation were not condusive to fishing the best times of the day.

We started our last day on the Restigouche fishing one of the lowest runs on the river, right where some major power lines cross the river between Campbellton and Matapedia. The towers are red and white and this is good info to have as this part of the river can be fished with out a river pass up until the 1st of June. The run was great and there was plenty of good water for a few hours of fishing, but our time was limited as BR and I had to get back to the Hotel to meet Rick for a day of fishing on the Matapedia.

Snoqualmie River, Washington

2009-05-11T14:54:00.006-05:00

I fished the Snoqualmie for a day in 2006 in late October. I had just fished the Clearwater with Billy and had to head up to BC to do some work. I found out that a road call something "Powell" was the way to access to river, so I pioneered for a day.

The Snoqualmie is very close to down town Seattle, but it didn't really seem like while I was fishing. Acording to the guys I had spoken to Most people were heading down to the Deschutes which was fishing great, so not many people were hanging around to fish the Snoqualmie which was not in prime shape.

The river was low and clear and fishing was not suposed to be very good. I fished with small flies most of the Morning, and then on a whim I changed to a #3 orange spey, and Hooked a solid steelhead in a really flat tailout.

It is a beautiful river I would like to see it when conditions are right.

The Eel River - California

2009-04-26T07:16:00.008-05:00

In late January of 2009, I head to Claifornia's Eel River. I headed out with three friends that I know through work Rusty, Tony, and Mark. Rusty and Tony both live in Nevada, and Mark lives in Sacremento. I flew into Sacremento, where I met Mark, we then made the 5 hour drive north to Humbolt county and our camp on the South Fork of the Eel. We hung out for a couple hours checking out the redwoods, fishing and drinking a couple beers while we wait for Rusty and Tony's arrival and with them the tent.

And what a tent it was. It was really more like a cabin built of nylon. It had a large main room and four small off shoot rooms for us to use as sleeping areas and to store our individual items. It even had a wood stove in side so that we could be nice warm and dry after a cold, wet day of fishing winter steelhead.

We knew that the river was low when we started out on the trip and there had been some debate as to where we should ultimately head. Possiblibly the Rouge in Oregon or the Smith in Nor Cal or even heading all the way up the north coast of Oregon to hit the coastal rivers that Rusty and I had done so well on the year before. In the end though we decided to stick with our original plan of fishing the Eel. Reports for the previous week were promising with guys get a fish or two per day, but there had been no rain since and the fishing had really dropped off, our hope was that rain would come and even if it didn't we would find a fish or two.

Even a single fish on the Eel would be great. Eel River steelhead, which used to be rather abundant, are now a rare fish on the fly. A large reason for this is the difficulty in being in the right place at the right time. Too much rain and the river blows out for a long time. Too little rain and the steelhead sit out of the lost coast and wait for the water level they want.

A fish or two was really more wishful thinking than anything else. The fishing was very tough or more to the point, the fish were almost non-existent. We fish hard and we fished lots of good water, but there were just not any steelhead around in the low, clear river.

After several tough days of fishing we did take a day trip the Matole River just south of the Eel river. and we checked out the Trinity river for a few hours. We got no steelhead, but I realized just how magnificent Northern California is.

The Thompson River

2008-12-08T15:37:00.005-06:00

I always wish that there could be a way for me to accurately retell every detail of a steelheading trip, or even just a single moment of it. Unfortunately every way I try to explain what it is like to be there falls utterly short. Journals and stories can only tell others so much, and photos can only rarely describe the underlying and intangible spirit of the country they were taken in. Occasionally a story or a photo will hit the nail on the head and for a brief moment we are let into the true nature and feeling of being part of the experience.

In the Fall of 2002 some friends and I traveled to the Thompson River in British Columbia. The Thompson is a river that flow through the arid hinterlands of the Canadian Coastal Range. The river is not known for it's kindness anglers, or for it's numerous Steelhead. The Thompson is however known for being a river where devout anglers can test there faith and grit against tough wading, freezing nights and mornings, and a strong possiblity of going a week or even two with not so much as a grab. But if the steelhead gods smile and the stars aline you may just hook the fish of a lifetime.

I went with my friends Dave and Billy and we spent a week fishing the runs around the town of Spences Bridge by day and hanging out at the Log Cabin Pub by night. In the frigid nights that haunt the Thompson's steelhead season, the pub is the best place to escape for warmth, food, and to hear stories of the rare fish told by some of the greatest Steelheaders on the planet. On our trip Billy, Dave, and I spent our evenings hanging out with two guys from the U.S., Steve Choate and Bill Williams, Steve had just won the world spey casting tournament in the UK and was busy helping to design fly rods and spey lines, in between floats down the Thompson. Bill was Steve's mentor, or that is what I gathered. We also Ran into many faces to put with Spey pages names. I also struck up a small friendship with an angler named Jon Barlow, and now I hear his name all the time, every body seems to know and like Jon.

So the nights were fun, Having beers and ripping on every one else for either fishing or not fishing long belly lines, or big or little flies, weight or no weight since we fished two-handers, what else was there?

The first day we fished hard and got nothing. We got to see a young Canadian guy land a nice fish in front of us. As the fish ran, his friend encouraged him to palm the reel, and he shouted, or maybe he whined, "I Caannn't it's a Haaaarrrdyyy". Billy and I love our hardys, but that is still one of favorite shout outs.

The next day was also an exhausting sun up to sundown seige on the river, and at the very end of the day Dave stuck our first fish. He was behind me on the Grease Hole and I heard his reel screaming, I turned around to see the last of his fly line slip out the tip of the rod. Dave ran down stream, hopping boulders, and even managed to save him se;lf from a gnarly backlash. Then it ended with me tailing a great big buck in the shallow water as dark rolled in. It was an amazing fish.

The next morning Billy and Dave headed down to fish the River right side of the Hotel Run. I chose to stay and fish the Grease Hole again. I did not get any thing on my first pass throught the run, but as I neared the tailout, I saw a few fish slowly roll, so I decided to go through again. The first pass I fished a large Black G.P. now I tied on a big orange intruderish fly and fished through again. This time it paid off. half way down the run the rod bucked hard and backing was racing off the reel, I don't even know what happened to the loop I was carrying or the rest of the fly line. The fish was instantly into the backing and going through it fast aqfter about 75yards or something in that area the fished slowed and I was able to turn it. over the next 15-20 minutes a game of tug o war was held between us, an finally he was less than a rods length from my feet, but I could not see him yet, so close, any second now. A head shake and the hook came loose, it was over and I never saw the fish. We fished hard the rest of that day, but found no other fish.

On the fourth Day it was Billy's turn, and though I led the way through the Grease Hole, and Dave followed me, It was Billy who got the fish. I was at the camp when I heard the sound of Billy's reel, so I grabbed my big camera and ran down, I went through 3 rolls of film on the fight and landing of the great fish, and it was truly great 43" long with a 26" girth, the biggest steelhead that any of us had ever seen.

As we were looking at the fish, I noticed that even though it had been hooked in the lower jaw, it had a big red red bruise on its upper lip. I mentioned this to Billy, who imediatly saw where I was going with this line of thinking and told me that this was absolutely not the fish I hooked yesterday, and to guit trying to horn in on his fish. Yeah, he read me pretty well on that one.

Well, after the rest of day four slipped by with out another grab, I started feeling pretty desperate. Both Dave and Billy caught fish and I had lost my only opportunity. On Day five I again hooked nothing a repeatedly fished the grease hole in the morning and the evening, while Dave and Billy had gone out to fish other runs, that evening when Billy and Dave returned from fishing John's Rock, they told me of the great Hen that dave had brought up to and landed on a skater, a greased liner.

I was happy for Dave, but mostly sad for myself. How could he be so lucky? I now know, after several years have passed that he was and is just that good, and that I cursed my self by narrowing my focus so much. I started realizing this while we were hanging out at the pub, with Bill, Jon, and Steve. Dave and Bill had a great plan for some diiferent water we should pioneer the next day, and Jon who seemed to be catching more that anyone that week, was encouraging me to try some smaller flies, and I decided that I would at least get the mental monkey off my back, stop worrying and start having fun, whether I landed a fish or not.

The next morning we all got going a little later than usual, alot cause we were tired and a little cause it was cold. We rolled in to the local gas station on our way up towards the Martell Islands section of the River. When we arrived we stopped at an orchard to buy some cide and fruit and asked the owner if we could hike through his orchard to get to the river. He said sure and even let us drive a good bit of the way on his property.

We fished across the river from a run that, I now know, is called Fantasy Island. Steve Choate was across the river on that run, a great soft water bay that takes a huge cast to fish right. The water I was on almost seemed too deep and structureless, the bank was steep and I could only stand ankle deep, any more would be a drop over my head. I thought I might have a chance on the hang down, but the grab came on beginning of the swing.
The Grab was the softest I have ever felt, like the weight of a small leaf. The fly kept swinging the small weight unchanging, then there was the slightest TICK, so small it was almost nothing, but I set the hook. nothing happened, I set right into a rock, way out there in the deep water with a floating line and a #3 spade, but I couldn't see a rock. Then the shit got started, the fish just ran and ran my line racing down stream, and the fish jumped 30yards up stream, then again 50yards up stream, but the line was still racing out down stream, pointing unchangingly at the boil of a yugo sized boulder. In the end it I was able to get her around the boulder and in, I can hardly remember it. Some moments last and others fade.

Dave helped me land, photograph and release the fish. Steve Shouted and gave a fist pump from across the river, Billy gave the steelhead fist pump that is truly unique to him, and I got all giggly cause I caught a steelhead. That night Dave and I fished the Orchard Run and each hooked and lost big fish both fishing the surface. When mine took it was getting dark and Dave had finished the run and was talking on shore with Bill. I was fishing caddisy/muddlerish thing and just like that morning a slight weight just started swinging with the fly, I set, and the fish just sat there. I called to Dave and Billy. They stopped talking looked up, saw me, rod bent, but the fish didn't move. Assuming I was up to my usual antics the went back to talking. I screamed "come you f&%*ers, I'm serious" and right then the fish bolted to the other side of the river. The fight was dramatic, The fish was huge, Billy later said that he saw it from the high bank and thought it would go an easy twenty, but at the end I went stupid and pointed the rod at the fish and it broke off just before we could land it.

We partied that night an in the morning, our last morning, Steve and Bill came by to teach us about casting long bellies. It was great and Billy and I really were sold on it. I would have told you then that I wasn't and for years after I went to shorter and shorter line, but My imagination was captured, and now I love fishing and casting long bellies when I can.

So the Thompson was good to us on that trip, we hooked 7 fish in 7 days. One fish was the biggest any of us had ever seen. I went back a couple of years later for four days, the trip was great with tons of memorable people, and animals, and events, but no fish. Thats the Thompson I had always heard of, she'll lure you into loving her and then and then make you watch as she loves some undeserving bastard.

The Klickitat River

2008-11-25T07:00:00.000-06:00

The Klickitat is a small and beautiful river in Washington State. It is often overshadowed by the near by Deschutes River which is across the Columbia in Oregon, but the Klickitat is a great river with good access along the lower 20 or so miles. The steelhead of the Klickitat can get to be pretty good sized (20lbs) with very few small fish, but in my several trips to the river I have never, nor have I seen, a fish landed over 10 lbs, I have hooked some nice fish though. I have only landed smaller fish.

It is only a short (20-30min) drive from town of Hood River in Oregon. It is also close to the Dalles. There is the town of Lyle at the mouth of the river and The town of Klickitat is about ten miles from the mouth. Klickitat has an OK market, but a person is probably better to have there stuff purchased before they arrive, I like to stop in Hood River and then License up at Bridge Mart just across the Columbia from Hood River.

Floating the Canyon from Stinson Flat to the takeout at around rm20 is a great way to see the Klickitat river. I believe that Larimer Outfitters out of Hood River, Oregon does float trips down the Klickitat, I know that those guys guide the river and know it well. There are also some primitive boat launches above Stinson Flat that can be used to float down to Stinson.

The float from Stinson to rm20 is a great float with lots of fishy water and not alot of guys on it. My friend BR and I floated this stretch with Tom Larimer. We turned it into a two day float and had some good fishing, at least we all got fish.

I have fished the Klickitat in early September and in early October and have found fish at both of these times. It did seem like there were more fish around when I was there in October. I have only fished the river on three ocassions, for maybe a total of eight days, so there is a whole lot I don't know, but I have heard that fish will start arriving as early as July and the river fishes good until it closes.

I have heard that skaters and big flies out-perform classic wets on the Klickitat, but I have done as well with a #3 spey as about anything else, although I haven't been all that successful on the Klick either. For good Klickitat patterns check out Larimeroutfitters.com, tom knows what works there it is his home water.

I have stayed at two campgrounds on the Klickitat; Ice house & Stinson Flats. Icehouse is a few miles up stream of the town of Klickitat. Stinson Flat is on the upper river and getting there from the lower river requires going up a single lane switchback to a plateau, from which you can see both Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood, and then back down a switchback into the canyon. Stinson is quieter than Icehouse, ordinarily, maybe even too quiet sometimes. I spent a night at Stinson and it did get a little lonely.

The Klickitat is not a very big river so there would be no reason to try to fish it with a 15' rod and 90' line. I think that and angler would be best served with a 11'-13'6" 6-8wt rod, and throwing either a Scandi or a skagit based on conditions and/or fly preference.

The Snake River

2008-11-10T07:03:00.013-06:00

Even though the Snake has been massacred by dams, it is still incredible. In many ways that makes it worse. The Snake was a national treasure, it carried steelhead and salmon so far inland that Nevada once had native fish populations. Those unique populations are now no more, but the Snake still exists and fishing her waters is humbling.

The Snake is a very big river. Only the experience it self can describe what it feels like to cast out from the rivers edge. Many anglers that have fished the Deschutes would agree that it is a big river, and yet the Dechutes is but a quarter of the size of the Snake.

I spent a week on the Snake recently and when I took an afternoon off and drove up to the Red Shed Fly shop on the Clearwater, the river looked absolutely small in comparision to the Snake.

From the town of Asotin up to Hellars Bar, Where the Grande Ronde dumps in, The Snake fishes well with a fly. All though the river will seem crowded, with all of the jet boats and roads anglers aroound, I have found that an angler looking for classic steelhead runs will often find this water open. Most of the anlers I have come across focus either on the slow, laminer runs of the lower snake or they are fishing Hellars bar. The boats will mostly avoid the fly runs because of how shallow they are.

I like looking for shallow runs that have some chop on the rivers surface. This is not hard to find on the Snake. On my last trip my friend Rusty and I were able to find several spots that fit the bill perfectly. And once we found a few of these spots it was not long before we started finding Steelhead.As for flies on the Snake, I have caught fish on every thing from a 1/0 black Marabou to a #7 purple green-butt. My go to fly however, I quess would be a #3 Yellow Jacket. This is a spey fly that uses a dyed yellow pheasant rump for hackle over a black body and uses a black wing, I think it is both buggy and pretty so I fish it, but I have also caught Snake steelhead on Akroyds, purple speys, black speys, Harry Lemire patterns, you name it. it seams like they like flies.There are classic runs and bars, and lots of spots that look like nothing from a distance, but are epic and fishy when you are on them. Alot of these hidden gems fish like classic water allowing for long casts and will often take an hour or more to fish through.
The big runs and relatively small fish that are common on the Snake, left me looking for just the right two handed rod. The river handles a floating line really well in late October. I ended up getting a Loomis 15' 7/8wt Grease Liner and have paired it up with a couple of long belly lines, so now I can launch a long line and enjoy a 5-6lb fish, which is great. On my latest trip I caught several steelhead on this 15' Loomis, they were great. I also fished a Thomas & Thomas DH1409/5 with the same Nextcast 95' 8/9 line and I found that it was even easier to cast and the little bit of extra power was great when it was time to land a fish, and I would say that no enjoyment was lost from the fight. Now, due to the success of the T&T DH1409/5, I have picked up a DH1509/3 for next years trip.

The Sandy River

2008-11-10T07:03:00.007-06:00

The Sandy is a river that I have fished this river only twice and I found it to be pretty tough to discover via the road program. Not that there isn't great water to fish that is accessible by road, It is that the dense forests and the question of private vs public property makes knows where to go and finding a way there tough. So over all, I think the best way to discover the Sandy is with a guide. With a guide you can float the Sandy which I think would be the best way to see it.

Two good friends of mine , Tony and Rusty, floated the Sandy with Tom Larimer out of Hood River, OR and they loved it and learned lots. They were new with two handed rods and got lots of casting instruction from Tom, who really is an expert, and they were able to get this education while fishing great runs and searching form big fish.

I have not floated the Sandy, I have gone with the road program. I have found some great runs, been told of a few others and the waters of Oxbow park are pretty obvious. I have not caught a steelhead on the Sandy, I have hooked some, I have had bone jarring grabs, but no fish.

I know that the Sandy has a summer fishery, for both salmon and steelhead, but I have not fished it.

The times that I have fished the Sandy, I have primarily fished a 13'3" 7wt Burkheimer (which is my favorite rod for everything but small fish) with a 540grn compact skagit, but I think that alot of the runs on the Sandy would fish a longer head 55-68' well, like a Delta or a PowerSpey, especially on the runs around Oxbow State Park.

There is a really major spey clave held at Oxbow Park on the Sandy river each spring, because of this the Sandy is really well known among spey guys. The Flyshop in Welches is a good place to get some info and shit, they also have guides, but I know Tom Larimer and he is who you should get if you get a guide.

When I have been on the Sandy, Oxbow park has been my point of focus. This is mostly be cause there are some pretty obvious runs in the park and there is good camping as well.

As with any time that you are fishing for Spring/Winter Steelhead be ready for swiftly changing weather. Rain jackets are a must, cleats are a plus. Another key piece of gear, a headlamp it never hurts to be the first through the run.

York River - Quebec

2008-09-28T19:02:00.006-05:00

York River -Zone 4
Day 1Rusty and I fished Zone 4 of the York River today. There were about 70-80 Salmon in the pool we fished today, but they were what are called "dour". We put wet and dry flies over these fish in sizes 10-2/0, every imaginable color, and you've got it, we were skunked.

The river is beautiful.

York River - Zone 9
Day 3
Rusty and I fished Keg Pool on the York River today. Quebec Sporting also booked one of their guides and a Client on this water with us. There is not even enough room on this run for 2 people to fish it at the same time so the third angler was not welcome, and it was not what we had paid for.

This short run was certainly full of fish and on his second pass through the run the other angler hooked and landed a small salmon, figures. He kept the fish and called it a day, which was awesome.
We rested the pool and then I fished through with a #8 low water Black Bear Green Butt and just a jolting grab, I am so sick of grabs with out a hooked fish. I am ready to feel a fish.
Rusty followed me through and hooked a solid fish. It fought hard, getting tangled in a beaver dam, but Wayne (our guide) and rusty crossed the river, got the fish free and landed the big guy. Wayne said the fish was around 25-30lbs.

The North Umpqua

2008-09-12T15:08:00.006-05:00

I first visited the North Umpqua in 2004. I instantly realized that it was likely the most beautiful Steelhead River in the world, But I did not like fishing it. often the fishing would consist of standing on a rock and methodically lengthening my cast as the cast and step technique was not an option. Wading on the Umpqua is tougher than on any other river I have seen. As John Shewey says in his Umpqua river Journal, you may as well just jump in the river first thing in the morning and get it over with, or something to that effect. I love casting and step fishing like on the Deschutes and figured that the umpqua and I were just not a good match.

Despite this I did catch a very big fish on the Umpqua in '04. It was right at Mott's Bridge and I local had taken me there with the promise that we were about to light up the steelhead, and we truly were. He then tied a wholly-bugger on to my leader and had me cast up stream and stack mend, and led the fly fish deep. I did this and on the second drift through my line came tight and after a long battle, I had landed a Buck the was fat as hell and over 36", and I felt dirty as hell. This was not how I had imagined hooking my first Umpqua Steelhead and In short order I realized this was not the type of guy that I wanted to fish with or near when I saw him spay crayfish scent on his fly. Well he hooked a fish and I got out of there.

I got one grab on the swung fly in 04 that was it , and I wrecked my rental as I was leaving the Umpqua. So I didn't have the best flavor for the Umpqua, But over time the river grew in my mind and I knew I must go back.It was only this last week end that I did finally return to the Umpqua. My friend Charlie and I had just fished the Deschutes for 4.5 days and had landed about .5 steelhead, tough to explain quickly, but we were jonesing and sick of the desert. The Umpqua was as I remembered but also better. The River was the same, but I had changed a bit and this time I discovered more about the river and I liked it.

I found that standing on a rock and working your way out to you biggest cast can be really fun, and some runs can be rolled with the standard cast and step as well. Big flies are effective and I like that. and there are lots of wild steelhead in the river, even though catching one is a miracle.

For Charlie and I a Steelhead was not in the cards. I got a really solid grab and I caught a 17" sea run cutthroat on a skater. Charlie got our Deschutes Steelhead so I didn't feel too bad for him. If you are going to get skunked, this is the river to do it on.

The Miramichi River, New Brunswick

2008-06-01T11:24:00.005-05:00

I drove down to the Miramichi from the base of the Little Gaspe in Quebec on Wednesday night. My GPS, set to take the most direct route, chose that I should travel southeast on old Highway 108, A remote two lane road that travel straight through the Canadian Bush, the Forest primaevil. I was very excited about this route, thinking that this was finally my chance to see a moose again, all the signs were there, Literally.

Well I saw a moose and, I hope I never see one so close again. I had to slam on my breaks to keep from being killed by the furry, forest giant. I thought that a moose was about the size of a large horse, but that is far from reality, that first moose was so large that I am sure that with careful practice and cooperation on both of our parts I could have driven that rented Toyota Corolla right through his legs, and have tickled his sensitive belly on the way through, using the sun roof.

More likely scenarios have the moose crawling off the road with broken legs and damaged ribs, looking for a place to die and I would just float there watching the seen from the spirit world. Any way, it turned out to be a long stressful, terrifying ride in which I saw about a half dozen Moose, none as big or as close as the first.

So, I made it to Miramichi and met with a customer who has a plant right by the river, Good stuff, good stuff. And then I was off to Blackville, for my license and groceries, and then to the lodge were I would stay in a separate cabin and do my own cooking. It was truly and amazing cabin.

The first night I had trouble getting to sleep as I kept thinking about Moose and Bears, and how I was afraid of the on that night. Yeah, I used to sleep in an army tent when I was guiding the Talachulitna, saw bears from it a lot and I slept just fine at nite, but now I am a citified chicken.

The first morning of fishing started at 8 am, and we took the boat up to where the Barthalomew
River dumps into the Main Southwest Miramichi, here we cast from the boat using truly giant (5/0) salmon flies. I was using my 13’3” 7wt two hander, and I am not used to fishing with a two hander from a boat. We fished from spot to spot, doing the same thing until just before lunch we let out a lot of line and trolled around the river a bit.

After lunch my guide, took me to a run just down from the camp called Mountain Channel, and we trolled it. Then it was down to White Rapids, Which had beautiful shores for wading on each bank and awesome step and cast water for a good two hours on each back. We fished from the boat! But, we got a salmon. Then I asked that I be dropped on shore. My guide conceded and took me over to the inside bend.

I started at about the middle of the run, working a major current seam, and I mean rough water with standing waves meets smooth soft inside flow. It took about twenty minutes to get a grab once I was calf deep and fishing how I was comfortable. That first grab was a good sized hen, around 34". This fished jumped at least six times made strong, fast runs, I think more than that and it's body was rock hard, this fish was definitely a Kelt, but "black" really does not decribe this fish.

From that point on the trip totaly turned around. My guide, Jeremy, saw that I was happier wading he was all for it and we started looking for runs that would fish from shore at high water levels, and we found them. I really thought that lots of people would be fishing kelts with two handed rods already but aparently it is really an almost boat and one handed afair, but really I think that the early season is great for our style of angling, since the whole river is open for anyone to fish, while it is mostly private pools once June comes, and the fresh salmon fishing begins.

Anyway, I landed a grilse just after the first salmon on the same run. That was it for the first day.The next morning started out great. I hooked a salmon at the very top of White Rapids, but it came off right away. Then I landed a big Sea Trout (Sea Run Brook Trout) and Grilse, both on the hang down. Then at the very low end of the run I got a solid grab mid swing and then saw my backing head through the guides, on out for a solid hundred yards, followed by several
minutes reeling it all back in with a large salmon in tow. The fish rolled several time and made several other short runs, but never jumped. I got the fish in, and removed the hook which was in the fishes tounge. This fish was the biggest of the trip at, 36".

I landed another salmon on the outside bend, below White Rapids. It grabbed on my first stip as I finished the hang down. another Hen of around 34". This was it for the trip for me. My guide, Jeremy, landed two grilse from the boat one at White Rapids and one at Mountain Channel.

The Miramichi reminds me very much of the upper stretches of that great river in Wisconsin where Angler X guides smallmouth. Now it looks like the Menominee in may when the water is high and form the pictures I've seen, It even resembles the menominee in low water, which is most of the season on the Miramichi.I think I would like to try the Miramichi in summer for the bright salmon, but it sounds like it will not be remotely similiar to the spring. low water and tiny flies are apparently the rule.

New Brunswick Flag

Bristol Bay, Alaska

2008-05-19T05:18:00.014-05:00

The Naknek River:

Flowing west from Naknek lake for 35 miles before dumping into the Kvichak Bay Branch of Bristol Bay. The river is known for having the largest run of Kings in Bristol Bay and this is probably due to the rivers emmense size. There is also a great population of large Rainbows.

I headed for the Naknek in July of 2003. My Wife and I made a visit to Rapids Camp Lodge for the second leg of our honeymoon. We landed in King Salmon which is several miles down stream of the lodge and then took a long van ride down the dirt road (King Salmon has no paved roads) to the lodge.

We took several day trips to other rivers and streams, taking one of the lodges float planes to rivers such as the Lower Morraine, and several others, but nearly every evening included fishing the Naknek with two-handed rods. Most of this was for Kings on a run across the river from the camp, usually fishing until midnight. While I really didn't land any big kings, I did hook a few big guys and I brought a few smaller fish, up to about 13lbs, to hand.

Even the Smaller Kings fought incredibly hard, incredibly similar to bright steelhead. They would go on screaming runs and jumped with abondone.

We also fished two handeders for the rainbows of the Naknek. One evening, I fished with Clayton, one of the guides, in the rapids that the camp is named for. We landed lots of rainbows in the low 20" range as they chased down bait fish.

I also Fished one morning with Scott O'donnoll the Head guide, we fished runs up river from the camp and Got some really great fish including one truly big bow that he landed.

Scott O'donnell lands a solid July Rainbow

The Naknek has a considerable bear population, as does the whole area of Bristol Bay.

The Lower Moraine River:

This is a small river that flows into Lake Illiamna. We flew into to the river from Rapids Camp Lodge and then floated several miles of river in inflatable rafts called Water Masters, I have since bought three of these wonderful little boats.

We fished big rainbows on swung flies. The largest fish that I got was about 26" and the fight was great.

Chris Anderson and Scott O'donnoll guided my wife and I down the river and fished with us.

We saw lots of bears.

Headwaters

The Coast

2008-05-13T18:26:00.004-05:00

In four days of fishing Rusty and I covered a lot of ground, going from the Sandy to the Coast.
Rusty and I started our trip fishing the Sandy River. We rolled tent camp and Fished the runs around the Ox, but we just weren't feeling it, even though all the talk was that the river was fishing. So we called up Kaufman's to see where the run was hot. Dude there turned us towards the Oregon Coast and a no name river there, said he had just had some great fishing there and, since we were up for adventure, we headed to the coast.
On the first afternoon on the coastal river, we stumbled around looking for good water, and we eventually found it, and on our second run I got a tug. On our third run I hooked steel and it broke free. Then it was dark so we headed for the City and got a motel in town. Great town with one of the coolest rock island right off the coast, called the haystack.
Our second day on the river went real cool. We drove from Pacific City to the run I hooked up on the evening before on some increasingly snow covered roads and ours were the only tracks. Rusty led the way and half way through the run he hooked and landed a solid wild hen.
We then fished a few other runs, aand next we headed over to the rivers around Tillamook. Both those rivers had so many private property signs and it seemed impossible to get on decent water with out a raft, so we hit a run on each and head back to the our previous coastal river.

We hit some real small spots, 10-20 cast runs. I got a reel zipping grab on one but no fish. Rusty and I headed back to the run where he got his fish that morning, I led this time. I worked through the run and when I got to the spot where rusty hooked up I got a grab and again no fish. Rusty followed me through and picked up the fish 20+" wild buck. I had been using Gami B10S size 6 hooks on all but the fish that broke me off, so I switched to dropshot no.2 hooks.

The fish seemed to be holding in pretty slow water, so we headed for a run below an old defunct bridge, that had a heavy head and a good sized creek dumping in on the wadable bank the other bank was an unfishable sheer cliff. I was able to pick up a decent sized hatchery fish, the hook worked out. That was it for the day and another night in Pacific City.

The next day we hit the river early. No fish on Rusty's hot run, which we called "Red Hook". I did get to watch a large, 15-20#, beat up buck partol up and down the run several times. He stay close to shore in shallow water to he was easy to see with battle scars and all.
We hit another favorite run to no avail, then we hit the short runs we check out the day before and again I got a solid grab and no fish, I checked the hook and, guess what, B10S. Then we went back to the run where I got the grab on day 1. I worked the same far trench as before and fish on, drop shot awesome. then, fish off.

From here we headed up the coast to check out the the Little Nehalem River, it was a bust. So we set up camp at Nehalem Bay State park and we called it a trip.

Well, we got nine grabs in less than two full days of fishing, not bad. There are so many rivers to fish on the coast, I have only seen a few. One thing I really have learned from the ones that I have fished, is that if a person shows up with the wrong gear fishing can get really frustrating. There were runs that we fished where you would be waist deep in the river with your butt touching the bank and trees a few feet behind you, and the far slot that you know holds fish is an 80' cast away. Thank God for Airflo Compact Skagits and the new rio Skagit Shorts, I have been using a 540 grn Compact on my 13'3" Burkheimer 7wt, I might change to a Sage 6126 or 8110 as it seems that shorter rods are easier to use in such close quarters.

Thanks to Rusty for taking the pictures.

The Menominee River

2008-01-12T08:09:00.000-06:00

This is one of my home rivers and this last season its the one I put the most time on. About an hour north of Green Bay, WI, it cuts a course along the boarders of Wisconsin and the U.P. of Michigan. It is, I think the largest of Wisconsins steelhead rivers with a flow of 2000-2500 CFS in the fall an daround 3000 in the spring.

The section of river in which you can fish steelhead is pretty short, maybe two mile long, and most of this is not all that fishy, but the runs that are, are. There are only limited runs on the river and it gets crowed some times.

The river receives planting of steelhead and seeforlen brown tout from both the Michigan and Wisconsin DNRs. This can lead to some really great fishing, although I have had some very depressing years on the Menominee.

We only started fishing two handed rods on the Menominee River in 2000 and didn't really learn the short rivers potentially until 2001. We have some really good and really shitty years since.

As far as steelhead go, the rivers south of Green Bay seem to consistently fish better when the water conditions are right. So it i9s usually a better better to go south when the rivers are in, but the runs on the menominee are big and deep compared to most of the runs in the state and the Menominee is the only river in the state where I have been taken into my backing by a steelhead, and that has happened many times.

The Skagit & The Sauk Rivers

2008-01-11T09:03:00.002-06:00

In early April of 2005 I fished the Skagit & Sauk rivers in Washington. It was an 8 day beatdown. For the three out of the first four days I fished with the stickiest of the ickies, the mega-mykiss him self, but for proprieties sake I'll just call the guy "E-dub", so he can enjoy true anonimity. E-dub guides these rivers in the spring and knows them like no bodies business, but despite this we both rolled no fish in four days, other than Dollies. The river was really low and really clear.

I had two days to explore the river on my own and was able to find some really sexy water road side, especially on the Sauk. E-dub and I also looked around up there using his boat.

Then on day five BR showed up and we spent three days fishing. Day one with E-dub and days two and three on our own.

On Day one E-dub schooled us, getting two skagit fish to the bank. the second one was a straight up pimp on me, I mean right out of my back pocket. Both fish came out of runs that anyother angler, and I mean every other, would over look.

For day two, BR and I fished on our own, but hit some key spots E-dub had keyed us on to. Our first run Chuckacabra, there was a key bucket right at the top of the run. I got a little weasely and convinced BR not to fish the first bucket but to let me have it and he headed down to a point down stream were ther was a break. Not five minutes later BR was fighting steel. I got weasely on the next run too, and again BR hooked steel this one got away. That should teach not to be a prick.

On day three, our last day of fishing things were slow. Br and I had been up and down the Skagit and the sauk hitting any key water we could find, but no more since BR's second hookup early the first morning. We hiked out to the Mixer on the afternoon of the third day and fished through behind a guide and his client, we got some nice dollies and I finally hooked a steelhead, and lost it on a bent out hook, shit. two days later I lost a fish on the Vedder to a bent out hook again, now I keep a closer eye on that.

E-dub, BR, and I stayed at both the hotel in Concrete or at Howard Miller Steelhead Park in Rockport. Howard miller had great structures to stay in. and Br and I stayed one night on a rock bar by Chuckacabra, the first van camp.

To checkout the Skagit & Sauk you can get the Steelhead River Journal on these rivers by Dec Hogan, But I know that on our trip it was all about being able to search for and identify good water, and alot of local help. A guide would be a key element for a newbie.