Seattle....You're On For Wild Reverence

After months of planning, the final date of the Wild Steelhead Coalition Wild Reverence Fall Tour is upon us.

Seattle, you're on notice.   This Thursday at 630pm, join us at the Uptown SIFF in the Queen Anne neighborhood in Seattle to be a link in the chain of steelhead recovery.

We've had our ups and downs with the tour.  Some great dates, some where you are wondering where the hell are those people who say they are steelhead advocates

You can only be a part of the solution if you get your butt off the couch,  off the chat boards and see what you can do.

Come fill the theater Thursday night.  No excuses, just be there.

Get your tickets before the event HERE.

Dont be on the outside of a sold out event (fingers crossed!)

As It Should Be...

This is the picture of steelhead fishing in my mind, as it should be.

The picture doesn't display the fish, but the process.   The long drive to the steelhead grounds with bad coffee and an equally bad McDonalds breakfast.  It's rigging up, which no matter what you do takes way to long because the river is right before you

It's the funny way OMR stands while the line swings through the run, fist to his hip, arm bent like he's a toy soldier or something.

The reactions after a fish comes and messes with your mind and gives you a pluck.  What an asshole.

It's the sunrise of the early fall and the cold of mid winter.

It's everything but the fish.

Yes, the fish is the quest, but it's the process that sticks in my mind.

Side Benefits...

Spend your time away from the football games on a Sunday and you get to see a much more fulfilling sight.

Happy Fall to everyone.  Go get some!

Militant Single Hander...

He's probably fished for steelhead longer than I have been alive.

And stay's firmly attached to his single hand rod.

I jokingly started calling him the MSH, or the militant single hander because on this river, the traditional 9 foot 8 weight is as he calls it, the novelty act.

We oooh and aaaah over 100 foot casts that boom out from our spey rods, but the truth of the matter is that we as spey guys aren't always fishing the water as well as we should.   I sat and watched my friend work a run and I noticed his constant attention to detail that put the fly right through each bucket of each piece of water we fished.

It was beautiful watching a master at his craft.

Sure he missed some of the "way out there water" that 2 handed casters can hit,  but guess who was the one caught fish.

The Militant Single Hander.

Swinging For Beaver...

I'm going to get some interesting google search hits from this....

The take was just like a hot early season fish.  It ripped the loop from my hand and after two days without nary a bump or a pluck, the reel screaming felt great.

Dogged runs and surges made me believe I had a monster buck on.  I had dreams of a thick bodied B-Run steelhead on the end of my dryline, but....

The head of the beast popped up near where I thought the fish was and my first thought was, huh...I spooked a beaver.

Then it occurred to me......I HOOKED A BEAVER.

On a traditional size 8

On a full dryline

Prior to the hookup, I had no idea the toothy critter was in the area.   The line swung through this runs bucket and the fight was on.

Not having a lot of experience in a beaver landing situation, I ended the interaction by popping the fly

All I could do was laugh.  I caught a freaking beaver.

A 3 Year Old In The Grouse Woods...

September 1st hits and it gives us the opportunity to walk old logging roads for forrest chickens.

Bringing a 3 year old into the grouse woods is awesome.  You get to see the hunt through their eyes, and Big C was into it.  The grasshoppers, the rouge sticks on the road that must be thrown, bird noises...you know, soaking it all in

We didnt have the greatest hope, as it was mid day and pretty dry conditions, but we found a road with a creek next to it and one bird exposed itself .

OMR held Carson back and I did the duty.  The dogs dropped down the ridge, found the ruff and returned it to us.

High fives and excited inspection by the boy brought big smiles to all around.  I was so excited to be there with him as he experienced the hunt as I had at his age 30 years before.

Five minutes later, I turn around to see Big C in full pout mode.  Shocked, I inquired to see what the issue was.

"Not fair, you and Poppa Fay have your own gun, I don't.  I want my own gun"

After  a quick chuckle and explanation that 3 years old don't have their own guns.  Maybe a bb gun in a few years.

But to be honest,  I couldn't be prouder.

Fighting Goliath...

Fighting Goliath from Idaho Rivers United on Vimeo.


A repost from the Chum, here's a project I believe in, and so should you if you believe in wild places and wild rivers.

Dress Less....

Steelhead eat a lot of things.

The challenge is to get them to eat tiny little spey flies.    Even harder, forcing yourself to use less materials and dress your flies with the sparsest amounts of feathers and flash