Finally, after a few tormenting, fishless weeks I was bound and determined to get out and get my fly line in the water. Between, work, kids and wife my time has been seriously limited this winter. (I know, who cares!!) Anyways, after I finished my husbandly chores around the house I finally got to break free and go fly fishing. Since I only had a couple of hours I decided to not drive the distance to the Salmon River in Pulaski and instead I headed the five minutes down the road to a small creek. As I approached the creek I saw that five vehicles were already parked there. Disappointed I just happended to look to my right and I saw a road that looked like it ran down to the river. As I pulled onto the side road it turned into a back country rough road where the fields had actually flooded across the road making travel a very sphincter puckering affair. The road was a deadend and ended right at the river and I very gratefully exited my truck and geared up. The road had actually lead me to a little split off of the river which, from the bank, looked like it had a few promising looking runs. The wind was calm which made the 34 degree temp comfortable enough. I tied on an organish-pink egg pattern that I had butchered trying to tie, as well as a single split shot and headed to the first run that I spied. After a few snags off on the bottom I headed over to where the main river and this stream branched and decided that since it was getting late that I would just fish back to the truck. I found a spot that had deeper, faster moving water that backwashed into a slight whirlpool before rejoining the stream. I thought that if I was a steelhead I would be hanging around that seam waiting for something to wash in to me. So I threw in my line and watched my floatline dance along the top of the water as it made it’s way down towards my intended destination. As soon as it reached the whirlpool area my floatline just stopped. I thought that I was snagged again so I gave the line a little tap to get it moving again when I felt the tell tale tug of a fish on the other end. There’s nothing like the feeling of a steelhead shaking it’s head vigorously underwater, trying to throw your hook! The fish immediately took off up stream before jumping up into the cold air and headed back down towards me. It tried a few more runs before I was able to coax her onto a weed/rock bed on the bank. I snapped a couple of pictures and sent her on her way. What an afternoon. I fished all the way back to my truck but I think that I only half-assed it because I kept thinking about the beautiful chrome that I had released. Sometimes by playing a hunch and going off the beaten path great things can happen.
beautiful looking fish. healthy looking and cool colors. looks more like a typical “rainbow” than a typical “steelhead” … and that is what i love about steelhead fishing … that fish, compared to let’s say .. every other steelhead you have ever caught .. is unique in it’s own ways .. the shades of red cheeck plat, the dot formations, the white tips on the fins, the lack of any flaws, the shades of green on back and top etc…. point being is that steelhead are spectacular in the sense that no matter how many i catch (and lately, it hasn’t been many:)) each and every one is unique in and of itself .. so many folks seem to put all the emphasis on “big” ….. certainly that is one metric that i value …. but some of the most memorable steelhead i have ever caught were not “big” at all … for me, the most memborable are those where i “followed my hunches and went off the beaten path” and i caught fish that were “spectacular” to me, within the many changing variables of which i “measure” and “spectacular fish” …. with that said, some of my most memorable and “best” steelhead ever, were not “big” at all …. nice work jinxed. spectacular fish! .. great tips … going “off the beaten path and following hunches” is the funnest part of all …
Nice looking fish jinxed. I love the pig egg right in its grill.
i like the fact that a random side road leading to a side channel produces a fish like that one. nice man
sweet steel! now you have a close to home “honey hole”! tight lines to you my friend!
Nice work jinxed! i love finding those special honey holes……beautiful steelhead!
austin .. you must mean ” i live it when jeremy finds those honey holes for me.” … just kidding, not really.:)
Thanks guys…I thought that it also looked more like a rainbow than a typical steelhead. It certainly is one of the most picture perfect fish that I have caught.
The run should start by me later on in March. I can’t wait!