Jeremy and I were on our own today. We decided to head west to find some different water. After an hour and a half drive we ended up at a creek with little water making it difficult to fish. We had a quick discussion over a cup and back tracked 30 miles to some water that was very technical to work. Fast deep runs, pocket water, and changing water levels. Upon arrival things seemed to be very promising we got wind that many people we hooking large browns and steel. Like two children at Christmas we hustled to the waters edge with great anticipation of hooking into the days first fish. I was up stream when I head “Joey I got a huge …” I turned around to see a violent splash and Jeremy’s line go slack. Fish on fish off was the way it went for us all day. Frustration hit its peak in the afternoon as the sun crept towards the horizon, there were steelhead everywhere but just out of our reach. The water level started to go down and we were able to wade a bit further out into the river. This changed the whole dynamic of our drifts. Runs that were fast before were slow, rocks that were submerged made bigger pockets and our options opened up. We knew it was our final chance for a fish. Jeremy made a long cast to an outer seam, he mended once and boom fish on “Joey, big steel…” slack line. I walked down to see the commotion and started making drifts above Jeremy. The sun was creeping lower bringing our self-esteem with it, when I felt the tug. My line shot across the water and the fish was on, finally. I played the fish toward the shore and landed him with Jeremy’s help. A huge weight was lifted off our shoulders and the smell of skunk was washed down the river. Tomorrow is another day with high hopes of chrome in our hands. The weather is going to be cold and nasty it might be just what we need to heat the steel up.