I was able to get out steelheading on the local rivers recently and found some fish! The rivers were all pretty high this weekend but most of them had good clarity and there are lots of fresh steelhead coming in! Many of our customers reported good steelhead action over the weekend and on Monday. Here is one of several chrome steelhead we hooked up over the last couple of days in the high water.
A fresh steelhead buck caught in high water
The rivers are all dropping right now, and if you are lucky enough to have the chance to head out mid week, you are going to have some good fishing. Later in the week it looks like we are in for some more rain. That will mean more high water, but I would rather have that than low and clear conditions. Just remember to fish big, so big presentations like pink worms, spin n glos, large gooey bobs, and big bright flies.
My Patagonia Guidewater Jacket pictured above performed flawlessly this weekend as well. It kept me bone dry when the rain showed up and it breathes well to keep the mositure and heat down while hiking down the steelhead trails. I like the cut on it as well, not too short, and the pockets aren’t too “fishy” so you can wear it around town as a shell and it doesn’t look like you are on the way to the river.
We had a saltwater charter over the weekend and the fishing was pretty slow. Mostly just undersized chinook. The prawning and crabbing was excellent though, and our Russian guests had a great adventure and enjoyed the scenery and seafood. We should see some larger chinook show up any day now, so if you are heading out, I wouldn’t be surprised if you did well.
Jason Tonelli