salmotrutta
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2010
- Messages
- 1,747
Today's fast flowing water did not lend itself well to my style of fishing, because I don't like to use split shots.
I walked the entire open section of a trib...and back...in search of slow enough water, needing not one, but two power naps along the way (seated on the conveniently located commemorative benches.)
For a while, I threw on a spinner, but perhaps there is some truth to steel not caring much for hardware in the coldest months, as I got no bites.
I got my hands on one but not as I had hoped - and I feared it was going to be the only 'bow I was going to pry from the river for the day. A dark male came frolicking downstream in a frenzy, almost like it was trying to shake off a lamprey but with no aerials. I watched it come right into some shallow rapids where I picked it up for examination (water was *ultra* cold). No lamprey, no unusual marks, and no obvious signs of trauma, so back it went without leaving much of a clue of what was wrong with it.
I was doubling up on my already large roe bags, to attempt to compensate for my bait not being weighted down. Earlier in the day I felt a fish on for a second but it quickly spat my two roe bags out, leaving some crushed eggs as evidence that it was not a stickerel. Shortly thereafter a brilliantly coloured trout rose to the surface, perhaps the very one I had on.
Day eventually turned to night, as ice started forming on my guides. I was making some last casts at my favourite pool. I became distracted for a moment mending my line, and began haphazardly reeling it in when the telltale tug took me by surprise.
This is my favourite pool not because it is the most productive, but because of its unique setup. When you hookup here, the fish almost invariably gives a few headshakes and charges for the air from the slack water behind the beaver dam, followed by a rapid turnaround to shoot down the rapids as you scurry after it. The descent is rocky as you chase it down fast rapids, accentuated today by the higher water levels.
And so chase I did, in spite of the nearly unnavigable waist high current. An explosive start and ensuing challenge culminated 20 yards downstream, where this male steelhead was sufficiently fatigued to lay relatively still on the bank for picture taking before being sent back on his merry way.
My first steelhead (and fish) of 2013.
I walked the entire open section of a trib...and back...in search of slow enough water, needing not one, but two power naps along the way (seated on the conveniently located commemorative benches.)
For a while, I threw on a spinner, but perhaps there is some truth to steel not caring much for hardware in the coldest months, as I got no bites.
I got my hands on one but not as I had hoped - and I feared it was going to be the only 'bow I was going to pry from the river for the day. A dark male came frolicking downstream in a frenzy, almost like it was trying to shake off a lamprey but with no aerials. I watched it come right into some shallow rapids where I picked it up for examination (water was *ultra* cold). No lamprey, no unusual marks, and no obvious signs of trauma, so back it went without leaving much of a clue of what was wrong with it.
I was doubling up on my already large roe bags, to attempt to compensate for my bait not being weighted down. Earlier in the day I felt a fish on for a second but it quickly spat my two roe bags out, leaving some crushed eggs as evidence that it was not a stickerel. Shortly thereafter a brilliantly coloured trout rose to the surface, perhaps the very one I had on.
Day eventually turned to night, as ice started forming on my guides. I was making some last casts at my favourite pool. I became distracted for a moment mending my line, and began haphazardly reeling it in when the telltale tug took me by surprise.
This is my favourite pool not because it is the most productive, but because of its unique setup. When you hookup here, the fish almost invariably gives a few headshakes and charges for the air from the slack water behind the beaver dam, followed by a rapid turnaround to shoot down the rapids as you scurry after it. The descent is rocky as you chase it down fast rapids, accentuated today by the higher water levels.
And so chase I did, in spite of the nearly unnavigable waist high current. An explosive start and ensuing challenge culminated 20 yards downstream, where this male steelhead was sufficiently fatigued to lay relatively still on the bank for picture taking before being sent back on his merry way.
My first steelhead (and fish) of 2013.
