R.I.P. White Lightning

so long, good friend.



who knew a big piece of metal could mean so much?

winter, weather

not so long ago i was bummed cause i thought trout season had ended. i suppose it never really does, but it does get tougher to get em to eat in winter. lucky for me, a new season started just as the other one "ended".
winter steelheading. a lot can be said about it. there's so much time to think. i guess that's part of the allure. maybe it's because of the locations i've been fishing in lately, but i've really been enjoying the scenery and the weather.
even when the weather is less than ideal, as far as standing in a river goes, it can all be appreciated. sometimes the weather is so "bad" it makes me laugh. i mean, there's a lot worse things to be doing.
i like to think that braving adverse conditions will increase my odds. like the fishing gods will take pity on me for fishing in the rain or the cold and a steelhead will strike. i do believe that those who fish in non-optimal conditions can be rewarded, sometimes extravagantly.
i've yet to personally confirm that while steelheading this season. but as long as you understand that you will, eventually, get a bite, i think that's reason enough to be out there, no matter the conditions.

one bite in the last 4 weekends leave me hoping that it's true.

it is true.

Steelheading guide speech from Charles

Anytime something weird happens, check your fly. If you tick bottom or get hung up, check your fly. Definitely check it on EVERY BAD CAST. Yes, it’s a pain in the ass to check it every time the fly and leader don’t turn over, but it’s a bigger pain in the ass not being ready when a fish grabs. Get in the habit of being paranoid about what’s going on with your fly.

There, that’s my speech. It will likely get stuck in your head when you want it to the least. If all’s well on the leader and you break off another, check your drag. Anything can happen during the fight but breakoffs on the grab shouldn’t happen. That said, it will happen to you now and again for the rest of your steelheading career :)

th'OP, takes two and three

a couple weekends ago i made another trip to the OP to fish. Paul and James both came as well and we brought 7 rods between the three of us. i indicator fished for a couple hours one day but besides that we were swinging flies on two handers the whole time.

the amount of time i've spent casting a single handed rod far outnumbers the time i've spent with a two hander. it's fun to learn something new. sometimes frustrating. when i'm fishing with a two hander i find that my mind goes back and forth between focusing intently on the mechanics of my cast, or focusing on the swing, presentation and a grab from a fish, or something completely non-fishing related. when the latter happens, i'll eventually bomb a cast out there and snap out of my daydream, start thinking about my cast again and then it goes to shit.

just like fishing that pond in the Allagash on slow days, the level of excitement is up and down. sometimes i'm sure that the grab is going to happen in the next second. other times i forget i'm even fishing.
when swinging flies for winter steelhead, one "encounter" per day is considered success. i like this. it really puts things in perspective. it's not all about the fish. it still is a little bit, but when the fish does come to hand, it makes it that much more special. Paul went 1 for 2 and landed this beauty of a fish. a wild buck, fresh from the salt.

on the Peninsula, there are runs of hatchery fish. these fish were stocked in rivers at a young age, they travel out to sea and then come back to the rivers to spawn. hatchery fish have their adipose fins clipped, wild fish do not. wild fish are to be released, but the hatchery fish can be killed at a rate of three per angler per day. that's a lot of fish to eat. i'm not one to keep a lot of fish, but in this case, there is added motivation besides consumption to kill the hatchery fish: preservation of the species. every time a wild fish spawns with a hatchery fish, one might argue the gene pool of the wild steelhead is diminished. "food" for thought anyway.

after Paul had his encounter, i was fishing the same run when i had one of my own. my fly had all but finished its swing and i started to strip line in to cast again when i felt something. i raised the rod to set the hook, but it was too late and/or wasn't meant to be. the fish jumped once and that was that. an exciting "encounter" for sure. i had at least done something right with my fly. so my confidence was slowly building in that my casts were occasionally looking better, my fly was swinging decently, etc. later in the day, on what would be my last cast, i had a great grab and my first dolly varden/bull trout came to hand. a great end to the day. James got one earlier in the day. after a great weekend with lots of laughs and a few fish, i was as pumped as i've ever been for winter steelhead season. with a holiday party coming the following weekend, i wouldn't be able to get back to the Peninsula until Christmas weekend. but then a call at work on wednesday morning would have me fishing again on thursday! perfect.

and then there i was, standing at the top of the same run that had given Paul his fish and my lone encounter the weekend before. it just seemed scripted, and that's not the first time i've felt that was recently. i had confidence in the run and in the cast i needed to make. it was just too perfect. and then it happened. halfway through the run, halfway through a swing came the encounter: the grab, the explosion, the run, the fight and then the fish. my first pacific steelhead. a wild fish. on the swing. in camo waders. i'm spoiled.

we gave some hatchery rats the rock shampoo that day and had a steelhead feast the next night.

bring on the weekend.

hats for fishing

over the years i've acquired a good number of hats and most of them make it to the water with me here or there. i thought i'd talk about some of my favorites. enjoy!

name: old school 4UR captain's hat
acquired: at the 4UR ranch two summers ago, a gift from head guide Andy
notes: a favorite hat to be worn by Dale Moon or Tony Champion, this hat was reserved for special afternoons or the bar
notable trip: Dale Moon's all-day video shoot on Goose Creek, catching numerous rainbow trout

name: 4UR guide hat
acquired: first season at 4UR
notes: my go-to guide hat for both seasons at 4UR. quite faded from high Colorado sun and visibly dirty from my left hand removing hat in frustration while on guide trips
notable trip: first and last guide trips in Colorado. netted a LOT of fishing wearing this one
name: Welcome to Colorful Colorado hat
acquired: at the welcome center in eastern Colorado on my first time entering the state
notable trips: great trips to Gunnison, Lake Fork and San Juan rivers, among others
name: Bates Fly Fishing hat
acquired: senior year at Bates from bookstore
notes: while not official BFC apparel, this hat has been a great friend
notable trips: worn during my New Zealand trip, 2010 road trip with Boone and pretty much every trip in between. love this one.
name: RIO hat
acquired: last month at RIO
notable trip: spent a day with this hat on the Henry's Fork by myself, landing numerous rainbow trout, including one stud
name: Patagonia fleece ear-flap-thing hat
acquired: at Patagucci outlet in Freeport during college
notable trips: first trip to Salmon River, NY where first ever steelhead was landed. first trip to XXXXXXXX pond in the Allagash, landing stud brookie
name: The Fish Hawk hat
acquired: at The Fish Hawk fly shop in Atlanta, GA
notable trips: worn on 2010 road trip with Boone from Georgia to Maine and also 2011 road trip from Maine to Colorado with Lucas. lots of fish
name: Garden & Gun hat
acquired: through a care package, courtesy of Jessica from G&G
notable trip: guided in this hat for the week that Jessica and Kathleen visited the 4UR. a great trip to the Lost Lakes and five other phenomenal days of fishing on the Creek

name: Carhartt fleece hat
acquired: Reny's, Belfast, Maine, 2008
notable trips: ice fishing trips, winters, 2008 - 2010
name: Dorfman Pacific hat
acquired: from Uncle Frank, summer 2000
notable trips: northern Quebec trip, New Zealand. Chappie Chapman wears the same hat

saw a bunch of wildlife on the Yakima River this weekend. it seemed like everyone was out and about, even though it was kind of cold. i was there because i wanted to go trout fishing. so was the eagle.
for the first time, i saw a herd of elk. i spotted them moving along the river's edge in the trees and then they came out of the trees into a small clearing. a few looked at me, but they didn't seem to pay much attention. i whistled to try and turn some heads, but it didn't work.
when i was leaving the water i came across a couple blacktail deer. we all stopped and looked at each other. i tried to be as quiet and un-dangerous as possible in an attempt to not make them run and it worked. they watched me come, and watched me go. i often wonder what goes through a deer's, or any other animal's mind when they encounter me.
this one was a bit of a surprise. i've been in rivers that salmon spawn in, and i've seen lots of dead, post-spawn salmon around, but usually where there's one, there's many. i saw a lone coho salmon on sunday. fairly fresh too.
the fishing was solid. on average, much larger fish than my last trip to the Yak. i didn't catch any fish on the nymphs i tied with the new variety of rubberlegs. that was a bit of a disappointment.
i've been missing trout fishing in rivers. the Yakima is 100 miles from Seattle. it feels like it's in a different state. once you get over the pass and out of the Cascades, it's the west. that's a nice feeling, that "the west", and trout fishing of "the west" is near.

pond

when i began my relocation to Bainbridge Island, a co-worker put me in touch with a couple who had a room for rent in the basement of their home. it was furnished, cheap, and available immediately, meaning it was perfect for a broke and homeless fishing guide who was about to re-enter the real world. in one of my last email correspondences with the landlord before arriving, she mentioned that there was a pond on the property that she thought had some trout in it too. i was intrigued by this statement but questioned the validity of it. i arrived, moved in and found the pond.
shortly thereafter, i found its inhabitants.
the pond is maybe half an acre in size. according to the landlords, the pond has never been stocked, which would mean the cutthroat living in it now came are of a coastal variety, becoming landlocked some time ago. very cool. there are even rumors of salmon reaching the pond on spawning runs of the past.

i've got to know a handful of waters pretty well by visiting them often and i'll add this one to the list. it's a pleasure to get to know a water, and this pond is no exception. on windy days, the leaves and duck weed flow across the pond and back, opening and closing areas to cast to. sometimes on windless days, rise rings dimple the pond all day long.
the fish aren't the most sophisticated i have dealt with. to use a phrase of Keith's, the fish are very agreeable to most fly presentations. any small mayfly will work. hoppers will rise fish, but the fish have a hard time getting their jaws around bigger bugs. small streamers work well also.

picky eaters or not, they are very beautiful.
when i first arrived i was fishing with my 490. it obviously over-gunned the fish, but it was fun to launch 70 foot casts across the pond to risers. at some point it occurred to me to size down my stick. i was able to find a perfect tool at work, and i've had it on loan for a while now.
what fun. a fiesty, 11" native coastal cutthroat will put a good bend in a double-aught!

from my seat at my computing/tying/dining table, i have a perfect view of the pond. ducks frequent the pond, as does a heron. last week while James and i sat outside on my patio eating breakfast sandwiches, a blacktail stag walked out of the woods, down to the pond for a look, then continued on his way.
when the rises become too frequent to ignore or when i just feel like fishing, i grab the double-aught from its perch and in 50 steps or less, i'm there. i'm lucky to have the pond there. hopefully i'll get lucky again someday.