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Spring? It feels like mid winter with the drastic change in weather; snow, rain, hail, sun, and wind. I guess this is Oregon and..... I love it! Water temps have remained low and this has seemed to prolong the winter steelhead from spawning.There's a good early return of summer steelhead so far and I hope this is a good sign for May. Reports of the first Spring Chinook are showing up too. When the water warms a bit they should be coming in strong!
I spent three days out guiding last week. The fish have been really active in the mornings. All three days we had some action from first light until about noon. Last Sunday, the fish were really rolling in the first run of the day. No takers though, I assume they were on the move. In the second run we had a nice pluck and a chrome bright steelhead flashed as it turned without the fly connected. We did not land any this day as the fished seemed to play hide and seek. We searched hard but they stayed hidden.
On Monday, in the first run of the day, Paul was out for redemption. He had lost a fish earlier this winter with me and was out to even the score. In almost the exact same place from earlier this winter Paul landed a very fresh hatchery fish on this day which happens to be his birthday! I really want to encourage the retention of hatchery fish. Its a good thing to remove all of them from the gene pool and here is a good read on why.
Tuesday like the previous two days started out really fishy. The first fish took Petes fly and sulked in the pool like big bucks do, then it decided it was time to leave! It took off down the rapids and we had no choice but to chase. Ater a hard wade down stream in fast water, under overhanging branches, over big boulders, and over a downed tree it shook the hook. This fish wanted no part of us! Petes second fish was a red cheeked wild buck; this one battled too but Pete was able to hold this fish and land him. Petes photo below shows the way we should treat all wild steelhead by leaving them in the water. The rest of the day, like the others, was slow.
The water is low and clear and I believe the fish are on the move in the really low light. Even with cloud cover they must be shy, going deep, and sulking in the afternoon. The mornings have been good!
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