If it was always easy, it wouldn't be rewarding. If everyone could do it, it wouldn't be special.

It's the constant challenge that drives this machine and keeps me coming back for more.


5:10 AM-10:30 AM
Skykomish River

Back at it, chasing swimming metal beneath the clear waters of the Sky. Exited, geared up, and ready for the chance to finally get into some steelhead, I made my way to the river.

The day had not started well, and the constant theme of "are you kidding me" kept hitting me over the head as the day went on. First off, I had managed to oversleep my alarm by an hour.... even though my alarm is the radio played through car speakers right above my head. Oh well, I awoke at 4AM listening to the sound of Zach Brown on the radio, and shot up and departed as soon as I could.

The drive up was as good as it usually is, I love the serenity of the open roads in the early dawn hours. The Okee Dokee Brothers sang a little Riddle n Rhyme through my speakers the way up, filling my ears with the sounds of joyous harmonies. As I neared my spot, a small deer paralleled my on the side of the road and almost led me right to the river before darting off into the forest. Finally I arrived, unpacked my gear and headed towards the river.

Before I even started, line got tangled around one of my rodtips, and when I applied a literally miniscule force to remove the braided line, the tip snapped off. Are you kidding me. At least I hadn't lost it on a fish.

Well, float rod down. Time to do this on hardware. First cast with a spinner, and upon hooking into a loose bit of mesh on the riverbed, the knot loosened and my spinner slipped off. Are you kidding me. The knot just failed in front of my face. I even checked it. Oh well, new spinner, new cast.

Next hurdle. The weather called for rain, all day long. I packed a relatively heavy rain coat, and with my waders and other clothes, I was pretty snug. Wasn't it funny when it sprinkled for two minutes and then the sun came out and shone bright for the rest of the day! Are you kidding me.

Oh well, there's no success without sweat. That goes for a lot more than just fishing.

The kings were active today, lots of kings rolling in the deeper pools. Some looked to be 20+ lbs, pretty nice fish. Caught a couple 5" cutts on a #3 vibrax, lord knows why they hit something so big. Meanwhile the rolling fish teased me, unwilling to bite my hardware no matter how I fished it. I fished for two hours, not receiving any sign of life on the end of my line. I knew there were fish in there, but the circumstances seemed against me. I began to lose hope, but something strange caught my eye along the shoreline........

What the heck? There was a lightsaber-shaped squirt gun washed up on the shore. I found it pretty amusing, and even sheathed it around my waist for "yips" and giggles. Ironicly, the "force" was with me, and I found myself more focused and confident in my fishing. I continued on.

8:00 sharp. Cast three into a pool, #3 vibrax- black speckled body, silver/chartruse blade. I was essentially just swinging the spinners through the runs much like a fly angler swings flies, keeping the blades spinning and close to the bottom. At the end of the swing, the rod tip thumped in an unmistakable fashion.

Headshakes signaled a solid hookup, and the cry of "fish on!" reverberated throughout the river valley, even though no other fishermen were there to be alerted by it. Keeping my rod tip low to prevent the steelhead death jumps, I battled the beast in and out of the current. My greatest efforts could not prevent it from finding the surface and thrashing furiously about, but my 10# trilene withstood the shock.

Only one could emerge victorious, and I triumphed. The steelhead was a nice hatchery buck, 28" long and weighing a hair over ten pounds. Man what a beautiful fish, what a hard fight and what a worthy opponent! I knocked him and he resigned, finally letting my heart rate slow down and my stomach settle.

That was it for the day, but all I needed. I prodded more promising water to no avail, but one is enough. Another two hours, and I headed out.

Today was the culmination of years of fishing experience, knowledge passed on through fellow fishermen and the internet, the relentless studying of water, and the time put in before the trip even occurred. Sometimes its easy, and sometimes, you have to work for every bite you get, and you may only get one shot. Today I capitalized and came home with my first ever steelhead in the back of my truck.

I've heard guys say it's impossible to catch steelhead in these conditions, but then again they were "fishing" at reiter, so..... who knows. I was glad to be away from the crowds, the combat fishing, and the heavily pestered fish up there. I'm 1 steelhead in, and if I could give any advice, it would be to adapt to the conditions. Really low and clear water- guess what? You're not gonna have the same success on 1/2oz extra heavy spoons or 1/8oz jigs as you would at the same time last year. Adapt, find the fish, and my your line always find something to pull on it!

Tight lines!

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