Month: December 2011

250 meters of hope

~ SamF ~ 1 Comment

Water temp: 2.5C @ 2,480cfs

It dawned on me on the way home that the obsession with steelhead fly fishing is driven, in part, by the threat of missed opportunities. Each season, each storm, each day creates a set of conditions that becomes a must-participate scenario in my mind. Today was no different… I probably should have stuck with popular christmas tradition and visited friends, family and enjoyed the gala day of the season. But the scenario was set: a week of wet weather looming, meaning that I faced a now-or-never proposition. Further, the light rain forecast for today might bump up the water temperatures a bit, thereby reinvigorating the fish; or perhaps the barometer would throw the fish off balance and send them into new lies where they would forcefully hammer any intruders swimming into their new winter home. Plus, there was the larger scenario of record low flows presenting a near once-in-a-lifetime chance to be a part of this – to be able to one day say “yeah, I was there…” Finally, the simple lure of fishing a big, empty river at the extreme end of the temperature scale could not be dismissed.

All viable opportunities not to be missed.

So… I do a pass through the boulder house run where the depth and substrate make for an enthralling aquascape of dark boulders painting shadows in the clear water. Nothing doing, not even a grab. On to the main act. Ferry across to the far side and repeat last week’s perfectly choreographed session with hard-bodied wild steelhead. Here the broken skies begin to close in and the gray mist of light rain can be seen coming up the valley. The water temperature hasn’t budged, the air temps still hover near freezing and the threat of snow seems very real now. But there’s nothing like wading into the top of a long run set up perfectly for swinging long casts through water that moves with purpose around each and every boulder along the way. It’s the view of all those slicks painted across the water’s surface from bank-to-bank, the kind of water where you swim flies through each swing, and every moment is as real as the next. Standing at the top this place is a sight to behold. This is water so good that it is 250 meters of hope flirting with absolute promise.

An hour into it, the cast-swing-step falls into the rhythm of a winter river. The fly glides though a world of dark waters,hinting at light and shadow. Every nook and cranny of this place holds a secret of silvery ghost fish. Everything seems to move in one long fluid motion. It might be tempting to call this the “trance swing,” something akin to a runner’s high were everything just becomes effortless and present. But there’s more, it’s a very real connection to a cold, dark world unseen by most, with the angler teetering on the edge of fantastical, fish filled worlds, habitually refusing the harsh notion there might be nothing at all down there. All this tethered to the end of a long line dangling some god-awful concoction of fur and feathers. This is presence, meditation and thrill all wrapped into one package, tempered by ice cold river, and fed by the movements of water that will not wait.

Time is different now. Three hours passes and 250 meters of water has been covered as best as possible without even a grab. Regardless, the entire experience – fish or none – becomes embedded in the simple, quiet pace that settles in.

One more stop: Slate Creek and the promise of biting half-pounders if nothing else. A quick pass through the top yields nothing – not even a grab. Wow! What a difference a little weather, a degree colder, cloud cover, barometer … what is it? The lower half fishes silently until a soft, kissing grab yields a briefly hooked half pounder near the bottom. Ice rings portions of the river’s edge – a reminder that, indeed, things have gotten colder since my last 3.5C outing here. I go for broke and tie on the largest, darkest intruder I have to swim down deep – if this thing gets touched, it will be for real. Down through the run again and 2/3 of the way through the intruder swims trough the slicked water and there it is: the slow tug from down deep – leaving me with goose bumps and no more.

Scenario over.

The frozen edge of the river.

Post-solstice note

~ SamF ~ Leave a comment

Water temperature: 3.5C @ 2,400 cfs

Night after night the frost accumulates here ... never seeing the sun

Flirting with lowest flow on record for this time in December. Wade across to fish through Slate Creek where the ice has been accumulating on the bar for days. The backwaters are frozen solid. The sun will never see the ground here until late January. But the half pounders are positively ON from the get-go. Wanted to do a pass through and move on to sunnier places, but ended up doing four passes through the lower half and two passes through the upper piece with a steady procession of grabs from top to bottom. The upper part was fun because I could swing through the right side then turn, cast and swing through the left trough before stepping down. 50/50 split on fish from both sides with most coming in the merging seam at the bottom. Mostly swung a purple bunny leech, deep and slow with many, many, many grabs. Some solid grabs, but lots of butterfly taps with an equal number of missed slow tugs prompting a muttering stream of obscenities. Mixed it up for a bit with a big orange/red prawn and then a purple rhea spey, but the purple bunny took top honors, though it also saw the first passes through the water. Who knows if one of those tugs was the bigger winter-run fish? Several fish to hand, and a day to rival any early fall day here. I was reluctant to go this morning on account of the water temps, expecting maybe the hard-earned grab here or there. I think the air did get above freezing for a bit in early afternoon – right about the time a bird across the way broke out into loud song – but short-lived. The right foot of my waders is on the verge of wearing through …. ugghhh.

Will probably pass on this water next time … too many half pounders, though super fun…. have my eye on a certain far-side run and a repeat performance on adults….

Countdown to winter solstice

~ SamF ~ Leave a comment

Certain parts of the river never see the sun all day. Each night, the freeze returns, frosting over everything again. Those dark pieces of river never quite thaw during the day, and after a week of this, the river bar looks like a page out of christmas – frosted thick white, waiting for santa’s sleigh to zip across at any minute. Then there are the more open bits of river, where the river heads in a more southerly direction. Here the sun makes it above the ridge for a good six hours. On a sunny day, this could be October. Bugs come alive, birds dance in the trees, and sometimes the tiniest breeze announces afternoon before quickly passing. Otherwise, this place is like perpetual morning. The sun seems like it struggles to rise all day, just burning off the valley fog, before giving up and falling back behind the ridge. One long morning, dark at 5:00pm. How was it that I fished this place in a sweat bath barely three months ago?But this year is turning out to be an anomaly – the driest December on record marches on, leaving a river low and clear – barely higher than early fall flows, though much clearer and certainly one hell of alot colder.

With all the worry over a critically dry year looming, this does give the opportunity to maybe see winter fish working there way up this river when, otherwise, it would be too high to fish. However, in hand, they seem like fall fish – bronze backs and compact size. Not the sleek and shiny winter fish seen on the coast. They are classic inland river fish and I think if you showed me a photo of just the fish, many of us diehards could name the river and time of year within three months with only a  snapshot. They take a swung purple leech – a nice, long slow swing – the grabs are firm and whole-hearted, but not freight train swipes.

Although we are desperate for rain, this does provide the opportunity to explore a completely new river. Curious if those silvery sleek winter fish that are just a rumor will show?