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February 5th I had Barney Saunders and Dave Hubbard on the river with me. We explored some new pontential holding water. There are many changes to the Sandy River this year due to floods earlier this winter. The river has lots of sand that has shifted into the deeper channels. Lewis and Clark passed the Sandy River on November 3, 1805, and called the river "Quicksand River" it was easy to see why they choose that name last month. The low water has settled the sand and new channels have formed. With many of the deep holes gone the Steelhead have taken new resting stations. Dave to the right with a nice fish.
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February 6th we fished all the usual water and came up empty handed, though managed one grab in a likely run. The weather and conditions were very good and luck was not on our side. (JDRC curse?)Sorry guys about the rest of this report.
February 7th I guided Paul Bjork and Tim Crane. They are cousins and neither had every landed a steelhead on the swing. Both of these guys are begining a passion for the "spey" rod. They caught on very fast and in our second spot of the day, Paul hooked and landed this acrobatic chrome hen! Very sweet!
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February 8th I had Tim Crane again and hid dad Doug Crane. Tim was ready today after making tremendous strides in his speycasting yesterday. On our float down we ran into my good friend Josh Linn. He was tucked into a steep bank, with overhanging trees, and a very bent, throbbing rod. The place looked tight and any reasonable fly angler would not even think of fishing this spot. We helped Josh tail the fish in tight quarters and I snapped this shot to the right His skills pay off consistently.
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Pumped up, we headed downriver to a classic piece of steelhead water. Today was Dougs turn to learn the art of speycasting. Tim was in his groove and casting some super long casts! While I was teaching Doug the ways of a circle cast he had a Steelhead eat his fly and he instantly set the hook. This rarely ever works. I advised him to let the fish take and then wait until you feel a heavy and steady pull. Next cast in the same place.... Fish on! It eventually came off on a charging tail walk across the river. Bummer. I walked upsteream and was talking with Tim and boom! Hard grab! One of those hot fish that rips the rod out of your hands and screams straight down stream way into the backing. Tims first Steelhead on the fly is a great memory! |
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I love this photo above with that "I'm addicted" grin and his dad in the background casting. Nice first fly caught wild buck! The Steelhead to the right rolled three or four times lower in the same pool. The second time the fly swam into its territory it attacked it! This fish was holding in the sand behind a group of large boulders in a tailout. We saw many fish today holding in tailouts. The water temp is warming and todays weather was cloudy and mild. The daylight is longer everyday. Fishing should remain steady if the current conditions remain stable. A little rain will help move fresh fish into the system through out the next few months. Thanks Tim for a fun couple of days!
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February 9th Kevin Mather and Dan Brosier visited from Sacremento, California. This was a business trip mixed with a little pleasure. These guys came ready and were tuned up very nice with their casting and it payed off fast for them. Kevin was into a hot wild buck in the first run of the day! We first fished the run through with a type 3 tip working the soft water close in. Dan had a grab but it did not stick. We then made a second pass through the run with a type 8 wading way out and concentrating our efforts in the faster, deeper channel. This fish rolled twice, way out in the run. I asked Kevin if he thought he could cover that fish with such a long cast required. He stepped up and put the fly way over to the far side of the river. |
| The reward is, Kevin holding his fish in the photo above with Dan assisting him as his rod caddy. These guys do a lot of striper fishing down in the Bay area. I have to try that someday. Dan moved a Steelhead to the fly in the second run. It came back again a few cast later and pulled his fly so hard on the take that it broke 12 lbs of maxima tippit! 5 minutes later he was solidly hooked up to a brute of fish that jumped way out of the water twice. Ten minutes later Dan landed this very nice wild fish to the right. Today Kevin and Dan moved over 6 fish to the fly. Very fun day! Lots of laughter. Thanks guys. All of the fish hooked this week were on the "metal detector" pattern. Find it here! |
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