Summer took its sweet time but, it's here. The rivers are higher than usual and the fish are later too. They are coming though.

Now, I love winter steelhead and the the grab on the tip, but fishing a floater and summer steelhead is where it's at. Summer is when we as steelheaders get to make up for those fishless winter days.

Though few and far between right now, free rising early summers are the best in our sport. Many are un-landable and the search is more like winter steelheading. The days are long, in both day-light and time spent on the water, cast after cast upon more casts after cast. And it's always a little funky changing up to a Scandi from a 20' Skagit and 15' of "T" and lead-eyes to however deep you wanna get.

Then it all comes together.

The feeling:

The fly coming into water you just know has a player in it. Like when you have a winning hand in poker, you don't bet too big or too little and you never call it out.

The Shakes:

When a good fish erupts on your fly and misses. You're left with a mind game of, wtf do I do? Change? wait? or throw right back out there???....

Lost time:

When you see the out of the water "gimme that f**king thing", and you're waiting ever patiently for the line to come tight, yeah right, right.

Oh yeah, and everything that happens during the fight, landing, release and about 15 minutes afterward or enough time for a smoke.

Everything that is going on in the world and your life fades away, it's gone. Nothing else matters then.

Why we fish.

There were a few more eruptions but, like your first high, it don't get no better. We're lucky enough to get this first high with each changing season, dry, tip, winter, fall brutes, re-uniting with rivers, new rivers, coastal, we're pretty damn lucky.

And the chase goes on...

Steamboat Falls ladder is once again blocked, as I type, ODFW hopefully should be clearing it. Works are in progress to rebuild the Steamboat ladder for next year.

The rebuild is in thanks to these great organizations:

www.steamboaters.org

www.northumpqua.org

These organizations have and still help out the river we love and enjoy, and will continue too. You can help them out by becoming a member of one.

Photo courtesy of the North Umpqua Foundation

Once upon a time steelhead could clear Steamboat Falls and make it to their summer refuge. Then we came along and could "make it easier", right.

I've spent many hours at the various falls along the creek and have yet to see one make it. I was lucky enough to see one make it over Little Falls and was also lucky enough to get it on film.

In this video there is about a 30 second flurry of activity, scroll to about 2:20 and wait, the first fish to jump makes the falls. It was incredible to watch first hand, hope the video does it justice.

Cheers to summertime,

Rich

Holy crap, the weather sucks. It's been a long wet spring and there is no end in the 7-day forecast. Typically I like April and May, just sandals, shorts, t-shirts and catching up on things I'd let go to long during the season. But I think we've had like 2 nice days here in that time. Enough of my weather smack, who really cares anyways, right. I have been wearing sandals for the past month, just 'cause though. Longing for a weekend away on the river, despite a marginal forecast and high winter-like flows, I sped off.

: Feathers, stick and line winder.

When I made it to the river, it was nearing dark. Being May, I didn't rush to the water to get a run in before dark, hell, I rarely ever do that anyway. Opted for a few cold beers and well over 10 hours of sleep, it was awesome. Fished about 5 pieces of water the next morning. A good friend saw my car and clambered to the river, to see how many steelhead I'd caught, ha. It had been a good 8 months or so since I had seen him last. I reeled in and called it quits for fishing that day.

It was nice to feel the power of the river again and she smelled amazing in her spring green. I got no bites this day, not even a trout, I thought for sure I'd get a nice trout or two.

Steaks & beans for dinner and another night of 10 hours of glorious sleep.

Brewed coffee in my palm and the truck defrosted, Bo and I drove down river 'till a run begged to be fished. Again it just felt really good to be standing in the rushing current and swinging a fly and fishing it well. There is something to be said about the satisfaction of fishing a run well. You know what I'm talking about.

I have an idiosyncrasy when I fish, most of us do and no, 'one more cast' doesn't count it's over used and played. So when I fish through a run thoroughly and am working a long line. I reel in half of my running line and stop, strip the rest in and make another cast and swing. Does it work?, it hasn't yet and my clients can attest to that, as I put them through it as well. I knew one day it'd work.

With Bo sleeping, in the sand bed he'd made, I finished the run and did my thing. As the fly made it's turn to swing, it hesitated, knowing there is a bedrock reef there, I gave the rod tip a quick 'pop' to lift it off the reef, the reef 'popped' back. The reel, out-goingly clicked a few times. The line slackened, confirming my suspicions of the reef. A nanosecond later the reef peeled off well over 150 yards of running line and baking, this ain't no reef. Gathering myself and tight to nothing but backing, the fight began. This fish had no give, I couldn't turn him. I saw him a hundred feet out and thought it was a chinook, cool I thought, but not what I was after. With the head of my line gaining ground, he surfaced again, this ain't no chinook. After an epic battle, and yes 'epic' is over used and played, but it fits here, I brought him to hand.

After a few quick shots and a tape, I picked him up and faced him up-stream, I did not tape his girth, never cared to much for it. Looking down on his back, he was thick. Facing back upstream, with a firm grasp on the wrist of his tail, he shook from my grasp, literally, my arm waved back and forth until I released. Nose headed upstream, this guy powered against the current, far upstream, of me and a very happy black-lab, out of sight. I think he was more annoyed with our brief encounter than anything.

I've done as much I know to do to help preserve these fish. This fish alone, nailed a railroad spike into the foundation, as to why for me.

Thumbing through the vast ocean of what is the internet. And reading that, "Steelhead have enough friends", makes me sick. You may get a swift upper cut to the chops, if I hear that face to face.

If that was true, we wouldn't have the problems we are seeing now.

Over this past winter I heard a phrase that has stuck with me, " to study depletion is to perpetuate depletion" Think about it.

These fish can be saved, their survival is in our hands.

On the 26th of May, the commission of Medford voted to pass the 7.6 miles and 50' buffer zones, of the small but invaluable tributaries of Bear Creek to the city comp-plan. A meeting date has not been set for the Medford Council meeting, that would write it, in the city code. Good things are happening on the Rogue, let's keep it rolling.

If we give the fish a little, they'll take a lot.

Apologies for the small rant at the end of this post, why I need to stay away from internet chat rooms.

Hope all is well with you and yours,

Rich & Bo

The feeling, shakes and lost time...

Feathering the rough...