I was just wondering what qualifies as a home river? Fishing a river for a week or two a year for a few years will give one some experience on that river. I have been fortunate enough to fish "my" river for over 50 years. This mostly has been concentrated on a 20 mile stretch or so. The memories of the great runs and the great fisherman along the way give this river a very special meaning.
Home River
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That's always been a tough one for me too. Although I have a striper pic this time of year a big part of my heart is in steelhead country still.
I would have to say that I lived closest to the Green, but the Snoqualmie was a home river too. I would have said the Sky and Stilly but I always stopped at the Green or Snoqualmie before I would drive that far on half day outings. I would hit either before or after work. I knew them in detail and had great success on them.
I would have endeared the Sauk and Skagit, but there was not enough summer run presence to be my home rivers, because much of my "hominess" was crazy spontaneous mid-summer antics like catching a nice summer run hen while standing on a rock with dress shoes, suit and tie before a big meeting with Boeing execs.
Another river 2 hours away also got many of my river days, and I knew it very well too - but it couldn't be a home water to me because I could not fish it before work, or take a peek while out picking up eggs and milk.
My home water status was shared between the Green and the Snoqualmie for a dozen years; now it is Chatham MA - a little drinking town with a fishing problem on Cape Cod (since moving east).
I still feel very connected with my years in the PNW and am happy to visit every year. Even happier that I've never gotten skunked for steelhead when I come back to fish over seven years since I moved!
I would have to say that I lived closest to the Green, but the Snoqualmie was a home river too. I would have said the Sky and Stilly but I always stopped at the Green or Snoqualmie before I would drive that far on half day outings. I would hit either before or after work. I knew them in detail and had great success on them.
I would have endeared the Sauk and Skagit, but there was not enough summer run presence to be my home rivers, because much of my "hominess" was crazy spontaneous mid-summer antics like catching a nice summer run hen while standing on a rock with dress shoes, suit and tie before a big meeting with Boeing execs.
Another river 2 hours away also got many of my river days, and I knew it very well too - but it couldn't be a home water to me because I could not fish it before work, or take a peek while out picking up eggs and milk.
My home water status was shared between the Green and the Snoqualmie for a dozen years; now it is Chatham MA - a little drinking town with a fishing problem on Cape Cod (since moving east).
I still feel very connected with my years in the PNW and am happy to visit every year. Even happier that I've never gotten skunked for steelhead when I come back to fish over seven years since I moved!
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Home Rivers
Your home river is the stream that most regularly comes to mind when you think, "I want to go fishing" and that you do fish regularly. It needs an active component, not just a wish. Your home river may flow through town, or be time zones away, so long as you regularly make time to fish it. For me, it used to be the Big Wood River (which flows through Ketchum, Idaho, a few blocks from where I lived), or Silver Creek, a half-hour drive, and one of the main reasons I lived in Sun Valley for a few years... But although they're often in my thoughts, I haven't been back there for a decade, so they no longer qualify. Two of the Northwest's most famous steelhead rivers are 80 minutes from home, in different directions; I regularly head to one or the other, depending on the season.
Your home river is the stream that most regularly comes to mind when you think, "I want to go fishing" and that you do fish regularly. It needs an active component, not just a wish. Your home river may flow through town, or be time zones away, so long as you regularly make time to fish it. For me, it used to be the Big Wood River (which flows through Ketchum, Idaho, a few blocks from where I lived), or Silver Creek, a half-hour drive, and one of the main reasons I lived in Sun Valley for a few years... But although they're often in my thoughts, I haven't been back there for a decade, so they no longer qualify. Two of the Northwest's most famous steelhead rivers are 80 minutes from home, in different directions; I regularly head to one or the other, depending on the season.
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I to would characterize my home river as being the river that I most often fish, especially at times when I'm sitting at home wondering what to do, and decide to go fishing whether it is for the whole day or half-an-hour.
I am very lucky since I live only 15 minutes from my home river, and have fished it and know it well enough to be able to catch a fish or two even on those days when conditions are poor at best. However, I am still frequently surprised every season with finding fish holding in a new spot, employing a new technique or catching something that I did not expect to find!
The best way that I could describe how I know my home river is my home river, would be that if someone were to mention the word steelhead, and then ask me the first thing that pops into my mind, it would most likely be the name of my home river.
My home river, the Credit River, is certainly not the best river within an hour of where I live, but it is where I essentially learned to catch a steelhead and then to catch more and more steelhead refining my techniques and trying new things etc. The fact that the river lies within 30 minutes of Toronto and 4+ million people does not in my eyes diminish the love and respect that I have for it.
I guess basically what I'm trying to say is that a home river may have more to do with feelings than fishing, for me at least.
Mike
I am very lucky since I live only 15 minutes from my home river, and have fished it and know it well enough to be able to catch a fish or two even on those days when conditions are poor at best. However, I am still frequently surprised every season with finding fish holding in a new spot, employing a new technique or catching something that I did not expect to find!
The best way that I could describe how I know my home river is my home river, would be that if someone were to mention the word steelhead, and then ask me the first thing that pops into my mind, it would most likely be the name of my home river.
My home river, the Credit River, is certainly not the best river within an hour of where I live, but it is where I essentially learned to catch a steelhead and then to catch more and more steelhead refining my techniques and trying new things etc. The fact that the river lies within 30 minutes of Toronto and 4+ million people does not in my eyes diminish the love and respect that I have for it.
I guess basically what I'm trying to say is that a home river may have more to do with feelings than fishing, for me at least.
Mike
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MikeB has brought this one to hand. The identities of individual choices may differ but the essence of what constitutes ones home waters has been clearly stated. It is the one that first comes to mind, and in my case, the Skagit River.
ws
ws
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I think every one would know which one is my home river.
hint (PM)
There was an eight year or more when this was the only river I would fish. No reason to go anywhere else, when you know there are none better in the region. :chuckle:
hint (PM)
There was an eight year or more when this was the only river I would fish. No reason to go anywhere else, when you know there are none better in the region. :chuckle:
I seem to develop a very emotional tie to my home river. The slot before the 75 flood still has memories even though it is now on dry land. How about the rock before the 90 flood which is now on the left bank. I cannot remember a more beautiful fish then then my first steelhead in 47. A native buck. They were all natives then. How about my first 20 pounder caught in a tail out in February of 68 that is still a very fishable lay hole. The hole has a little more moss around the edges and the alders now hinder my back cast. Each morning is still a new experience as I enter the fog shrouded water. Jerry
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