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Featured Article
The Reverse Steelhead Pilgrimage
By Jason Tonelli
Those of you that have spent any time talking to me about steelhead know that I love the Thompson River. There is something about the greasy rocks, dry rolling hills, sage brush, the sleepy little town of Spence’s Bridge, oh yeah, and the largest steelhead in the world too…
With the historic closing of the “T” this year I found myself with a strange void in my angling agenda. For the past 13 years my life revolved around these fish in October and November, often at the detriment of my bank account, girlfriend, and career goals. December usually found me broke, single, and clinging to my job but dam did I have some fine steelhead pictures to show for it and a smile that lasted the winter.
Looking for a fix, Tyler Kushnir, Trevor Welton and I decided to do a reverse steelhead pilgrimage and head south while the rest of the steelhead community was returning from the north. We chose the Snake river area because it looks eerily similar to the Thompson and were inspired by the fact that some 150,000-200,000 steelhead migrate up this river every year. These were numbers that I still have a hard time wrapping my head around but when you look at the number of tributaries and hatcheries that feed into the Snake it starts to make sense: the Clearwater, Grande Ronde, and Salmon, just to name a few.
On a late and rainy Friday night we headed out for the 8 hour drive and ended up rolling into the motel on the lower Snake about 3 in the morning. 6 hours later I found myself casting on some truly sweet water and amazing scenery. To my surprise the river temperature was a tepid 52 degrees. We spent most of the day casting and exploring the river by jet boat with relatively few, make that no, interruptions from fish. None the less there were times where I could have sworn I was on the “T” and working hard for fish made it seem even more like I was on my home river.
The next day we tried the Clearwater River in search of the later “B” run fish which often push the high teens for poundage unlike the earlier “A” run fish which are in the 3-8 lb range. The river looked good to us, a touch of color, much colder than the Snake at 45 degrees but still plenty warm to coax a fish to the fly, yet again after multiple casts in some of the nicest fly water I have fished, no steelhead. Only later did we learn the river had almost doubled in volume, from 3,500 cfs to 6,000 cfs. A rising river can be the kiss of death for interior summer runs or at least we were happy to use that as our excuse for the lack of success. Excuses are something experienced steelhead fly fisherman are very good at finding. You must find ways to rationalize lack of success or you would soon be committed to a mental intuition.
That night at dinner our waiter showed us some pictures of some huge “B” run steelhead he had caught last week before the rivers bumped up. We asked why it was so dark in the picture and he replied, “Well we catch’em at night. The best time is between 7 and about 11 at night.” “In the dark?” I replied, “What the hell are you using?” He was quick to tell us the best fishing is at night trolling “lighted lures” and sometimes first thing in the morning “bumpin' eggs”. Interesting... these guys literally fish for steelhead 24 hours a day. The boats are equally impressive. 26-28 foot cab forward jet boats with hard tops, 5-6 anglers side drifting or pulling plugs out the back. The smaller boats were 18-20 ft open models, ideal for side drifting or float fishing and the guide would be in the back working the 200 hp tiller jet. Every boat, large or small, had a four stroke kicker as well, for pulling plugs or trolling. There seemed to be paved boat launches every 5 or 6 miles. Access was simply amazing.
Still confident in our abilities and the 50 some odd degree water in the Snake we headed out the next morning to see what we could find. In fact we did not feel too bad as the multitude of guide boats that passed, pulling plugs, float fishing jigs, and side drifting roe and shrimp, seemed to be having a hard time with the rise in the water as well. We had only seen one fish on during the entire trip as the guide boats passed, fishing the middle of the river and huge deep tail outs we could not access on the fly. The only bank anglers you would see were the odd Spey fisherman. People just do not gear fish down there unless you are in a sled. A good float fisherman or spoon fisherman would catch a lot of fish from the bank but that is for another day.
The sun was out today and it was warm. I took my Patagonia jacket and fleece off, and the Capilene 2 was all I needed to stay warm. It felt like summer. I heard a few birds start to sing and felt the sun on my back. “Somebody is going to get one” I said to myself. Just about that time I was looking downstream and watched Trevor yell “I’m on” as a steelhead boiled on his barely sunken fly and erupted on the surface once he got tight to it. A sense of relief came over me. We had been fishing the right water, with the right flies. Never mind that 150,000 fish swim past this rock I am standing on, this is still steelhead fishing and they do not always come easy. We all got a few more bumps that day and I had a fish on for awhile that fell off at the beach but at least we had some action and Trev put one on the beach.
The last day we decided to go further up river and explored the area on the Snake where the Grande Ronde comes in. There was some sweet water up here and a lot more pressure and maybe more fish? Perhaps we should have come up here earlier but these are the things that take a few trips to figure out. There was a lone and rare bank angler working the point where the Ronde flows into the Snake. About 100 yards downstream was another run we wanted to fish so I walked up and asked him if we could fish that piece with our fly rods. He looked perplexed and said “sure”. He mentioned fishing had been slow and he had not hooked anything that day but hit 3 yesterday. He was bottom bouncing a pink corkie and roe. As I was walking away he shouted “Thanks for asking man. They are rolling everywhere out here”. Cool…
I put on a small green intruder type of fly that William Chalcraft had tied up for me. More of a Dolly than steelhead fly, but I figured these fish were pretty “trouty” by the time they got up here and they have never seen anything quite like this before. It worked. I had a fish on about half way down through the run. Another small fish about 6 pounds, likely heading for the Ronde, but a steelhead on the fly nonetheless. By then we had all seen multiple fish roll. The dam things were everywhere. I don’t know how many fish were in that run but I have never seen that many steelhead roll. We only had a few hours to fish that morning but Kushnir ended up putting one on the beach as well and we all had more than a few grabs that did not result in solid hook ups. By the end of the mini morning session it was pouring rain, the confluence pool was on the rise and the water was 47 degrees, and we had put two steelhead on the beach. I can only imagine what it would be like if the water table was on the drop and storms were not rolling through. We loaded the boat and gear and jumped in the truck for the 8 hour jaunt back to Vancouver already looking forward to next year’s trip.
The Fish & Timing:
The earlier fish are generally smaller and come in all summer but late Sept and early October are good months for the fly fisherman. The locals told me that time of year there are lots of 3-8lb fish and they just fish dry lines and catch lots on dry flies. These fish are commonly called “A” run fish. The water is warm, sometimes too warm in the Snake and the fish will at times pull into the Clearwater for cooler temperatures. This time of year there are lots of fish migrating up the Snake on the way to the Clearwater, Grande Ronde, and Salmon Rivers. If you want a great dry line fishery this is the time of year to go.
The later run fish or the “B” run fish start to trickle in late October and through Nov. The Snake is still in the high 40’s or low 50’s this time of year so you can get fish on dry lines and even dry flies. The Clearwater and Grande Ronde are much cooler, in the mid to low 40’s and you will catch more fish on tips.
Next year I plan on going back in late September or early October to fish dries for the smaller but plentiful A run fish. That same waiter that caught some B run fish at night on lighted lures said he did very well with his fly rod on dry flies in early October.
The Gear:
The runs are big and sometimes huge on the Snake and Clearwater. I found that a rod that can cast a long belly line is best suited to these runs as 100 foot plus casts were often needed. I was using the G.Loomis GLX 15 foot 8/9 Greased Liner with a CND GPS line. This rod loved that line or vice versa and allowed me to consistently get casts out in the 100 foot plus range. The line also turned over tips, all the way up to a type 8 and a weighted fly on the Clearwater when I tried to get down in the dirtier and cooler water. If it was earlier in the season when the B runs are not around and you are fishing dry line only for A run fish go for a lighter rod like a 7. You will want the longer belly line as well unless you like Scandi heads and stripping in 50-70 feet of running line. A shorter 6 or 7 weight Spey is a good choice for the Grande Ronde as well. This river is much smaller and the fish are small but they make up for it in numbers and there affinity for dry flies. I know some anglers that fish 10 foot 6 or 7 weight single hand rods for skating dries on this system.
The rivers are normally very clear so smaller darker wets are a good choice most of the season and you should definitely have some dries. We fished some bigger flies but we hit high water which is pretty rare out here, just like the Thompson, you are in desert country.
Accommodations & Access:
There are numerous motels and hotels to stay at in the $50-$100 range in Lewiston where the Snake and Clearwater meet and lots of places to eat as well. We stayed in a large room with double beds and a cot for $65. There is also lots of road access to all the rivers and more launches than you can imagine. A raft, drift boat, or jet boat will get you to some of the spots but the gear anglers do not seem to fish the classic fly water that can be accessed by road so boats are not a necessity for success.
We are offering a new section in our monthly newsletters for questions & answers. In this section we are looking for readers to write in with interesting and challenging fishing related trivia-type questions. The Pacific Angler Team will select the top three questions and scour the Earth for complete answers to your questions. Answers to selected questions will be posted in the following months’ newsletter. In order to give us time to find you the most complete answers possible, please have your questions submitted to info@pacificangler.ca by the 15th of October. Questions received after the 15th will be considered for the following months’ newsletters.