Steps to put yourself into a Steelhead funk...

There are certain steps to putting yourself into steelhead jinx

1.  Rock the bajesus out of last year's record season.  Pick up the spey rod...love it altogether too much

2.  Spend the time between the end of the summer run, the brief interlude you had with the winter run and the upcoming summer run, thinking of only one thing.  Steelhead

3.  Buy new gear, drool over using new gear for Steel.

4.  Buy a small spey set up to practice on troots on the local rivers

5.  Align the stars, moon, tides and a swung fly to catch the first known swung Steelhead on the Clearwater in July.   Repeat...Ju-freaking-ly

So most important in this whole deal is this.  Dont fish for summer runs in the Clearwater in July.  It will only stoke the hot embers of the desire to fish for steelhead to a ranging inferno. 

Trouts...what's that.  All focus is laser pointed towards their ocean run cousins.

5 days in a row on the Clearwater with nary a bump.   OMR is 4 days deep since his first steelhead this season, and he's resorted to breaking out his Robert Duval impression (check out the hat)

I tried the hat, it didnt work.  Time to sacrifice a chicken or something.