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I'm sure guys who fish over 75 days a year have seen something this, but it was a first for me. Made my season. I pass it along for your vicarious enjoyment.
I was fishing the soft inside of a long, bend in the river. Facing downstream, I've got the main current on my right, bank on the left. With about 60 feet of fly line out, I'm watching the line make its gradual sweep from current to bank. The fly is about 2/3 of the way through its sweep when there's a explosion on the surface about 7 feet to the left of my fly, that is, in the water the fly is moving toward. It's the unmistakeable blast (and back) of a steelhead in about 2.5 feet of water, but my fly isn't even close . . . .Half a second later and the fish was on that fly like white on rice. Big wild buck, B-run headed for Idaho I'm guessing. I won't forget that scene for a while.
Speaking of wild fish, everyone knows that though hatcheries outnumber natives, the natives dominate the hook rates. But this year it's been especially noticeable. Out of the 11 fish I've landed on the D this year, only 1 has been a hatchery: everyone I've spoken to has a similar story.
Anyway, you guys have any especially memorable takes from steelhead, wild or otherwise, over the years?
I was fishing the soft inside of a long, bend in the river. Facing downstream, I've got the main current on my right, bank on the left. With about 60 feet of fly line out, I'm watching the line make its gradual sweep from current to bank. The fly is about 2/3 of the way through its sweep when there's a explosion on the surface about 7 feet to the left of my fly, that is, in the water the fly is moving toward. It's the unmistakeable blast (and back) of a steelhead in about 2.5 feet of water, but my fly isn't even close . . . .Half a second later and the fish was on that fly like white on rice. Big wild buck, B-run headed for Idaho I'm guessing. I won't forget that scene for a while.
Speaking of wild fish, everyone knows that though hatcheries outnumber natives, the natives dominate the hook rates. But this year it's been especially noticeable. Out of the 11 fish I've landed on the D this year, only 1 has been a hatchery: everyone I've spoken to has a similar story.
Anyway, you guys have any especially memorable takes from steelhead, wild or otherwise, over the years?