Anonymous Waters

I might be done fishing the Deschutes but I’m not done steelheading on the east side.

For the past number of years my friend Doug comes out from Colorado and his cousin Brad comes up from Salem and the three of us go on some sort of steelhead adventure. And this year would be no different. 

Doug was flying in from Colorado and they were getting pounded with snow. They were expecting 30” around Colorado Springs and Denver. The plan was for him to get here on Friday but with all the snow the plan didn’t materialize. He ended up getting here late Saturday night and we headed east. 

Doug is a steelheader stranded in the Rockies; he loves everything about steelheading, Spey casting, tying flies, the lore, the history, and all the minutiae that goes along with it. So, it’s an understatement to say he was excited. We finally got to sleep around 1:00 a.m. and we were shooting for a 5:00 wake up. 

We got on the road with my drift boat in tow. We had a caffeine-fueled drive to the boat launch with high hopes and anticipation of steelhead eating our flies. 

We launched the boat early Sunday morning to quickly realize that there were 5 other boats putting on with us. We pushed down river to get out in front and space ourselves out.

the weather was nice and we saw a lot of wildlife.  If born sheep, deer, herons, pheasants, and chukars. It seemed like everyone was visiting the river today.

Doug stepped in to the first run right in the bucket, Brad started above him. This spot is normally where we have lunch and we call in the lunch spot. Last year Doug hooked a big fish here and he was no match for it. Doug was looking for redemption. All three of us made a pass through the run and we all ended up fishless.

We kept going with our hopes high, hitting our favorite spots. This time of year, on these smaller rivers, we typically fish short sink tips like the RIO MOW 5x5 and the 2.5x7.5 with a smallish fly like the Klamath Intruder. These shorter sink tips don’t fish very deep, and the floating portion really helps to grab what little current there is. 

We finished the day with a big donut but had high hopes for Monday. Hopefully, it would be less busy, and some fish might be willing participants. 

Even though our dreams might not have come true, we still had a great time. Steelheading and fly fishing aren’t necessarily about catching fish. The experience, your friends, and the camaraderie are really what make the trip.