The weather is amazing. The rain did ruin quite a few days of fishing. It looks like the fish are already spawning which will not leave me much longer to chase them. If the Steelhead are spawning now it means that they will leave the river about a month earlier that normally. This means that I have very little time left to get out there and fish. I plan to fish till I drop. The rain play tricks on the weekend anglers such as myself making the best fishing windows during the week. I tried to salvage last week by getting out there on Friday. The flow was very high (in 1100's). Clarity was non-existent but I've tried anyway. Tried both float fishing and fly fishing. Nothing on the float but managed to hook one on a fly but lost it very quickly. But managed to land a quite sizable white sucker which did manage to pull some drag set for a steelhead. Overall it was a very nice learning experience. I've had much better success earlier (end of FEB and beginning of MAR). I am doing so much better then at the beginning of the season. Now I manage to land at least one fish and hook a couple. On one occasion I have hooked and lost 5 steellies, but all broke off. I did some research on the fishing lines I was using. With a suggestion from Mike Durkalec of MetroParks I have purchased a Canadian brand called Ande Premium Monofilament line 8lb test and my success rate went through the roof. It is very durable and most of all scratch resistant. I've learned that all of my other lines were breaking because of scratches and nicks done by bouncing off the bottom rocks. I plan on venturing out this weekend with a buddy of mine. We'll try to get him his first Steelhead. I plan on getting one over 30 inches long. We'll see. Tight lines.
Went out on Friday by myself. Did not expect a lot of people on the river in the morning. To my surprise the river was already crawling with fly fishers but my fishing spot was deserted. I started casting a white marabou jig. After about 5 casts the float went down and I've set the hook. I was expecting a steelhead but to my surprise I've noticed a huge small mouth bass at the end of my line. He gave me a lot of attitude during the landing. Boy was it fun! I've started casting again. The action stopped for an hour and then I've hooked 2 steelies. Landed one (make sure you retie after every hook up as the fish will damage your line and you will have only yourself to blame for the lost fish). After that I did manage to hook up and land another feisty bass. The place was loaded with suckers and some other fish but I did not target them specifically. Noticed that a fellow angler started to hook up some nice steelies on a fly not too far from my spot. I've decided to switch to my fly rod but did not have much time left. It was amazing to see some huge steelhead males fight over the spawning spots. They totally ignored the anglers around them. Not a bad day. Till next time.
