I spent two days on the water last week guiding Steve Lane. We hit the normal public float first, since Steve had such good fortune on that stretch last year and then we went to the upper private launch on the second day.
Our first day started out slow, considering we had the choice runs to fish with little boat traffic on the water, so we hit a little run and had a solid grab that did not hook up. At the next stop, in a little tail out, Steve landed a chrome bright summer Steelhead! At the last stop of the day he hooked another mint, bright, summer fish that came to the beach! It was cloudy all day and the flows were perfect at around 2000cfs. These fish respond very well in low light. Steve is an experienced Steelhead angler and kept the fly in the "zone" all day. Black flies were the ticket .
Day two was sunny. We both knew the early shade and evening shade would be our best shot. Sure enough in the first run of the day Steve looked back at me and said, "fish on!" A few pumps and head shakes and this heavy fish was gone. The sun came out quick and we picked a few good runs to fish until lunch. At noon we found a piece of shade in a nice run. Sure enough, as soon as the fly hit the water the fish grabbed and exploded into the air. This fish was a darker winter run and lifted off the surface a few more times before coming off. Near the end of the day and with the evening shade on the water, we saw a fish roll. Steve worked his way down to the fish and it crushed his fly! Sorry to say but it didn't stick. We were happy knowing we found action and had chances on such a sunny day. It was great to be on the water!
Hope you enjoy the photos:
