Celebration of Wild Steelhead Ver 2.0

This year, it's going to be bigger.  Much Bigger.

September 13th and 14th at McCoy Park in Portland its on.    Soul River continues to bring more and more to our sport, especially when it comes to introducing more new faces to the crowd.

More info about the event

Once again, Soul River is delivering another fly fishing extravaganza to the city. Bring the Soul we'll bring the river to you. The Celebration of Wild Steelhead! Spreading knowledge of Mother Nature and the art of fly fishing to your community. Armed with the goal of introducing youth and veterans to the positive experience of fly fishing along with the funk and soul of Speaker Minds this will be an event that can't be missed.

This event will not only celebrate the iconic wild steelhead of the Pacific Northwest, but also build upon strong community ties and raise awareness of conservation, fly fishing, and local arts in an all ages, accessible, friendly atmosphere. Like always, this event is FREE and along with our sponsors, we will be giving out 200 free fly rod packages to the first 200 youth in attendance. Everyone is welcome to enjoy the atmosphere, enjoy the experience, and embrace the Celebration of Wild Steelhead!

Come learn.  Come cast.  Come tell lies like fishermen do. 

Come learn about conservation.  Most of all, come have fun.

Learn more about the event HERE.

Casting On Hallowed Ground

The place smelled exactly like it was supposed to.  Donuts.  Coffee.  The faint lingering and imbedded odor of cigarettes.

The old guys invited us right in.  Check it out, look around.  Take pictures.

Three other gents were dropping bombs with long bellies.  An instructor was teaching a middle aged man the very beginning steps in casting a fly line.

The stories the clubhouse could tell.  Shadow boxes of flies from the legends of fly tying.  How many discoveries in the fly fishing industry came from conversations started in these walls.  Shooting heads, graphite, boron and the list goes on.

I was in full geek out mode, and I couldnt even help myself.  I had to do it.

The Golden Gate Casting Club is a pretty special place.  Check it out when you find yourself in the city by the bay.

Happy Dog, Happy River...

Murph still be haves like a puppy in most instances.  Going on 8 and you'd think she'd chill out

That tends to happen right away when she hits the river.  It makes her a happy dog.

Unwanted Spray Paint Dick-tographs..

Right after catching a slew of bass on the mouse

About 2 bends after seeing a brood of chukars and a group of mule deer high on the hillside

Towards the end of an incredible day floating through my favorite canyon in the world

Was a terrible collection shitty penis pictographs and a gross depiction of a naked women

How drunk and high do you have to be to climb up a rock wall and lend your artistic talents to the greatest outdoor scenery that I know?    You have to want to get to this place.  It's the end the road of a pretty far off spot.  Good job planning and bringing your "art" supplies  

I guess I have a new identifying landmark on the river, Cock Rock.

Thanks, we who use Grand Ronde river canyon thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Redneck Smolt Protection Program

They must go down, and they must go down hard....

Smallmouth bass, the western river interloper, smasher of flies and jigs.

They put the hurt on salmonids, so join us here at Chucking Line and Chasing Tail in our Redneck Smolt Protection Program, or RSPP for short.

Save a few smolt, smack a bass, and have a hell of a delicious dinner as well.

Hoot Owl On The Spokane

Its turning out to be a poo sandwich of a water year across the Northwest.  High water temps are effecting just about every drainage.

Unless you didn't know cold water fish have a hell of a time with survival in rising water temps. Optimal temps are below 60 degrees and as you move up, there's less dissolved oxygen in the water. Catching and playing a trout in the upper 60s is a bad move and 70's can be a death sentence even with proper catch and release principals in effect

Take a look at this chart for reference

The Spokane River is no exception.  Right now there are portions of the upper river in the Spokane Valley that are well beyond the 70 degree range.

Due to the aquifer influence on this river system, trout do have some refuge in the recharge zones that are keeping the water temps in the lower 60s...but heres what you need to consider in these conditions.

If you just HAVE to fish on the Spokane River right now, get your butt out of bed as the sun comes up.  Hoot Owl restrictions should be in place but official restrictions haven't been put in place yet.  As anglers we have to be the most stanch advocates for our water and fish, and we should self regulate to fish only in the early morning.    In my opinion, the evening portion of hoot owl hours is a joke, because the water hasnt had the time to cool overnight.  

Go buy a cheap thermometer and monitor the water temps.  If you hit 65, get the hell out of the water

Dont be a trout snob and go rediscover warm water species.  Bass are amazing targets right now, as are crappie, bluegills and dont get me started on carp.  

If you're reading this, you owe it to the fish to tell other anglers what's going on.  Avista's going to drop the river to it's absolute minimum flow out of the Post Falls dam and it's going to get even worse for the fish and the watershed.  Fish are going to congregate in the the cool water recharge zones and it's just not fair.   Did I mention carp fishing is amazing?

Think about it, we have a recovering river after 100 years of mis-use.  Lets give it a break while hell's kitchen keeps it's oven blazing.

FFC, PBR and a Montana Float

Sometimes the shot just comes out nicely.

A warm day on the Clark Fork before the heat wave descended.

Solid company.

Ironically good beer

My favorite charity in all of fly fishing.

Works for me.

10 Easy Steps To A Fish Fry...

Step 1.  Put the fly rod away.  It's OK, you wont break out in hives

Step 2.  Locate worms, big narsty nightcrawlers.  Yes, I said worms

Step 3.  Grab spinning reel (breath now, it's ok), attach weights, swivel, corkie and hook.  Affix worm to hook.  Now chuck that mess as far as you can into your lake of choice

Step 4.  Plop your butt in a plastic chair, grab yourself a domestic macrobrew of your choice, play with kids, or maybe go swimming and just wait.

Step 5.  Make a huge deal for kids to come up and reel the perch in.  Take pictures of kids smiling and laughing over their catch.

Step 6.  Repeat steps 2, 3, 4, 5 until you have a big ol mess of perch.  (Within limit of course!)
Yes, you keep them. They're delicious

Step 7.  Filet, Filet, Filet.

Step 8.  Crack 2 eggs and mix in a bowl, pour out a plate breading.  May I suggest panko...

Step 9.  Grab those kids who caught the fish and show them why you kept the fish, involve them in the cooking process, they'll love it..... a lot

Step 10.  Eat.  Repeat, repeat, repeat.  Annnnnd repeat.


Yes, a little tongue and check humor ladies and gents but it's for a reason.  Fishing doesnt have to be about the biggest and best new gear, the most aggressive and extreme fish or the most far off locations.  Sometimes it's at the family lake cabin on the 4th of July and every fish the kids reel up is an impression for their older years.  It's about creating connections with family and showing the kids that fish sticks arent just something you get from a grocery store.

And most of all.....Perch are so damn delicious.

Blast From Conservation's Past

Down in a dusty basement of a second hand book store, I found this gem of steelhead conservation's past

The book, Fly Fishing for Steelhead was written in 1982 by Bill Stinson, was more of a how to guide but you can see that even back then people understood that there was trouble on the horizon.

Asking around through the network of steelheaders I know, this poster was first used in the early 80's on the Washougal and Wind Rivers in SW Washington and created by Bill McMillian, Clark Skamania Fly Fishers and WDFW.

It must have been so counter culture to stick your neck out and promote conservation like this back then.    Good on them for starting the fight.