Marty's Drift January 2005

Winter Shows

Well, that time of year is fast approaching. The show season will begin in less than a month. Our first show will be in Denver on January 7th. Our crew from Idaho Falls will staff that show. The first show that I will attend is the ISE in Sacramento on January 20th. My next show is in Puyallup, WA on January 26th. During February I'll be in Eugene, OR the 4th through the 6th, Bellevue, WA the 11th through the 13th, Roseburg, OR the 18th through the 20th and Monroe, WA the 23rd through 27th.

We have about 10 more shows throughout the country where we will display boats this year. Check our show schedule link on the home page to see when we will be in your area, then come by to say hello and order a boat at our low show pricing.

Twenty years ago I was a steelhead fishing maniac. Frosty or even snowy winter days didn't faze me, but that was twenty years ago. I still enjoy fishing for winter steelhead. At this age, I try to pick drier, warmer days, but I do honestly still enjoy the winter fishing. However, my favorite time of year is the fall. This past fall I had a couple of trips that I really enjoyed.

Sea-Run Cutthroat

In early October my wife, Joyce, and I spent some time on the Oregon coast. We focused on fishing for sea-run cutthroat trout. These fish are somewhat mysterious. You never really know where you might find them. They move from bays and estuaries into the freshwater of coastal rivers and streams. In past years we have found them in the salmon spawning redds and in dead water pools under overhanging alder trees. This year we found them in runs that would be more typical of steelhead holding water. Finding them was really an accident. By the time we launched the boat and got the dogs loaded, it was nearly 11:00 am. A light rain was beginning to fall. I was looking for spawning Chinook salmon with intentions of fishing behind them. I could not find any salmon so we tried fishing the slower pools and pockets up against the bank. We caught a few fish in these spots, but they were mostly on the small side. I had a new rod with me that I wanted to try. The rod is a two-handed steelhead rod, so when I saw a nice-looking piece of steelhead water, I set it up and got out of the boat to try it. With the third or fourth cast of the Muddler I tied on I had a solid pull. At first I thought I had a small steelhead. It was heavy and pulling hard. Then I saw the spotted sides and I knew it was a cutt, and bigger than any I'd ever hooked.

Joyce started to fish behind me with a Borden Special; our favorite cutthroat pattern, and she hooked fish. As we floated down river, we began to hit the runs more than the slow water and we found cutthroat in nearly all of them. The rain increased substantially as the day wore on. The clouds grew darker, and we were getting wetter. We agreed we should call it quits, go home, light a fire in our old Earth Stove and dry out. I started pushing for the take out, then I saw a run that begged to be fished. I dropped anchor and told Joyce, "just a couple of casts." Before I could get my rod out of the rod holder, Joyce was fighting a cutthroat. Before she could get hers landed, I had one on. And that's the way it went for 30 minutes. With rain running down my neck and wet hair matted all over Joyce's forehead, I pulled anchor. Now it was Joyce asking for just a couple more casts.

In the 1930's and 40's sea-run cutthroat fishing was at it's peak. Coastal towns had "harvest trout" specials at hotels and auto courts (motels). Those fish fueled a tourist economy. Today salmon are more popular than cutthroat. And that's okay with me, but it is nice to have a trout alternative.

California Steelhead

I started fishing for steelhead in the early 1970s. A lot of the books dealing with steelhead fishing at that time were written by California fishermen, Jim Freeman, Claude Krieder and Clark Van Fleet, to name a few. Nearly every book I read had information about the Trinity River. The descriptions they provided made me want to fish that river in a bad way.

In October this year I finally got my chance. The Northern California Conclave of the Federation of Fly Fishers produced a fly fishing show in Redding during the middle of October. I took a boat for display and attended the Fly Fishing Festival.

Bob Norman lives in Anderson, California and guides on many of the waters around the Redding area, including the Trinity, and he invited me to fish with him on the day after the show. Bob Norman: 530-365-6495, email: flyfishingrmn@pon.net, web: www.bobnormanflyfishing.com

I left my motel in Redding just before 6:00 am. By the time I reached Weaverville, daylight was beginning to break. Bob and I made a quick run through a grocery store to pick up some lunch, then headed for the boat launch. The morning was overcast with the threat of rain, but the Trinity was very clear. Bob manned the oars and off we went. The river had quite a few Chinook salmon that were staging to spawn, so we rigged a Glo-Bug with a size 14 Pheasant Tail Nymph dropper. The Glo-Bug I could understand, but the nymph surprised me. I had never fished for steelhead with such a small fly. About seven feet up the leader we attached our strike indicators. Even though the salmon were present, none were yet spawning. We concentrated our fishing in runs that were typical of steelhead holding water.

Bob hooked the first fish in some fairly fast water below an island. The fish wasn't huge, but very pretty and a strong fighter. It was a hatchery fish, still nice and bright. It had taken the nymph and I was impressed that it had chosen that fly. As we drifted I continued to fish, but I didn't hook anything until we stopped at another nice run and began to wade. A large log lay parallel to the bank with a deep slot under it. Bob worked his casts beneath the log and came up with three or four strikes that were on only briefly. I was working further down the run where the water slowed and flattened when I hooked my first fish. It too was a hatchery steelhead of about six pounds. This fish also had taken the Pheasant Tail Nymph pattern. When I removed the fly for the fish's release, I noticed the hook had a severe bend so I replaced it. The great Atlantic salmon angler, Lee Wulff has written about catching Atlantic salmon on size 16 and 18 flies and I always wondered how. Now I was getting a taste of how it is possible.

Some weather began to move in on us as the day progressed and rain began to fall, but that fact didn't put a damper on the fishing. We continued to hook fish from the different runs that we stopped to fish. All the steelhead took the Pheasant Tail Nymph. Around 3:00 or 4:00 pm I landed a fish that was bleeding. It was another hatchery fish so I kept it. By now the rain was coming hard. A chill had developed in the air and I think we both were satisfied and ready to call it a day. I'm used to being happy with one or two steelhead in a day. To me this was an exceptional day of steelhead fishing.

Give Marty a call at: (503) 655-9532

You can also call Idaho Falls at (800) 394-1345.