Steelhead Video

Last week, I had a great time chasing steelhead with my friends Tom and Dave (Waterwhippa). It was a typical couple days of winter steelheading with disappointments, surprises and last minute fish. Day one found us on a great section of river that typically fishes very well at 350 cfs. Unfortunately for us, the dam keeper opened the gates and decided to raise the water to 1000 cfs while we were sleeping. So, our visions of hot chrome in easy to fish pools were crushed by an extra 750 cfs. Of course, we still fished this section and covered miles of river on foot. The hook ups were few and far between to say the least. We all decided to try our luck on some other rivers. We showed up to one of my favorite drifts. Notice, that I say drift and not pool. I have come to believe that knowing the location of any given pool or run is not enough. The truly valuable knowledge comes from knowing the exact drift. Dave told me something a few years ago that I believe to be true. He said, “If you catch a steelhead in a certain spot, it is a pretty safe bet to assume that a steelhead will always be holding in that same spot.” Of course, he was speaking in generalizations and did not imply that “always” actually meant “always.” Anyway, Tom had never fished this drift before and he stepped into “my” slot. I took a less than favorable slot down stream and watched with envy as Tom drifted “my drift.” Tom moved upstream a bit, and I scooted into “my drift”. I cast upstream and my fly drifted back towards me. Bang! Hot chromer! Right where I thought he would be. We made a few more drifts and moved on to another one of Dave’s spots. I call these Dave’s spots because he was the first one to introduce me to these rivers and the many coveted drifts that I have come to know so well. We all entered the water and we brought Tom to the honey hole. Well, it’s usually a honey hole but on this day it was a dud. In fact, none of the go-to runs and drifts were producing as they should. So, every man was left to his own devices and it was every man for himself. Dave crossed the river and worked up while Tom and I worked upstream on the opposite side of the river. I had an upstream destination in mind and could not wait to get Tom and I positioned for the perfect drifts. While in route to the “perfect spot” Tom saw a piece of water and said, “I can’t pass this up.” It was a section that I had seen so many times before, but never paid much attention to. Tom eased into the water and onto a submerged rock and started making his drifts. I impatiently fished up and downstream of him. Tom continued working every square inch of his little area from his rock. A fair amount of time had passed and I was just about to suggest that we move upstream when Tom said, “Fish!” Tom’s fly rod bucked and the battle was underway. We were getting ready to land the steelhead and the fish spit the hook. We made our way upstream to the “perfect spot.” Unfortunately, it wasn’t so perfect on this day but that was not the case across stream. Dave locked horns with a big steelhead. I bolted across stream to help Dave land his fish. But, after some serious team work and a mind boggling battle the steelhead got the best of us and spit the hook. The “perfect spot” was not so great and Tom said, “I am going back down to that other spot.” I replied, “Oh, your going back down to Tom’s Rock?” Tom replied, “Yah.” So, that is what Tom did, and he ended up hooking a few more steelhead while Dave and I watched with analytic eyes. Needless to say, Dave and I watched Tom to see exactly how Tom’s Rock was meant to be drifted. We both took some mental notes and I know for certain that Dave and I will be re-visiting Tom’s Rock on future steelhead outings. It was a great trip with lot’s of laughs, good company, disappointing drifts, surprising drifts, old drifts, new drifts and a few nice steelhead.