The Real Star of the Field...

The third volley of birds dropped into the spread and the 5 of us rose up and let em have it

3 dropped and as is the course with steel shot, not all were an easy pick up

She sprang out and nailed the first mallard. 

And the second....

And about 25 of the birds that hit the flooded field that day

With the dog preoccupied chasing down a wounded duck, I struck off across the water to pick up another stray mallard

100 yards of slogging through the knee deep water, it was plain to see how the star of the show was that day.

Dont Be Satisfied...

I hope to god you're not satisfied with the 2017 Columbia River steelhead run

For a while, I've been hearing mentions of good fishing....outstanding fishing and seeing the hashtag #bestworstyearever and it's really begun to piss me off. 

If your in the camp of being happily sedated with "good" fishing this year....you're crazy.

Back in mid summer when we all stared at the projections of the worst run on record, we had to come to grips that it was our turn on the Columbia, Snake and assorted tributaries to really see what it was like when a fishery collapsed before our eyes.  Thankfully, as I have told people before,  it went from apocalyptic to shitty.  The run didnt go fully down the drain....more  like a car who's gas gage was about 3 clicks above E.

The raw numbers tell the story.

117,878 total fish over Bonneville Dam

The worst year since 1979. 

76,798 over Lower Granite, the last major hurdle for the bulk of the run

The worst year since 1999

Yes, I am thankful that there was enough of a return to facilitate a season this year, but really are we happy to chase the scraps?  We cant buy into the shifting baseline syndrome where this becomes normal and accepted.

Dont fall into that trap, because we and the fish deserve more.

We cant control a lot of things, changing ocean conditions being one of them but we sure as hell can control what we can control

It's crazy we have to fight off the horrible bill HR 3144 that Cathy McMorris Rodgers introduced that is the worst salmon and steelhead bill ever.  EVER.

It's crazy we have to go to court to let a river behave like a river in spring and flush smolt out to sea.

It's crazy that we have guiding operations who tout 19 fish days on the Clearwater when they had the lowest recorded return of wild B runs on record.  Seriously....

It's crazy that Idaho is going to let people fish into April in places like the South Fork of the Clearwater

And it's crazy we've spent the better half of 15-16 billion in salmon and steelhead mitigation costs and we dont have a system that better responds to climate change, low and hot water years and so on.

Maybe it's time to really consider freeing the Snake River.

In conclusion....let this season sit with you for a while. 

Remember this summers soul searching and hand wringing.

Remember that Idaho almost didnt open their rivers in response to the low B return.

Remember watching the fish counts and praying that they'd miraculously come up

So, is/was this really good fishing?  We've got to expect more.

The fish deserve it.

Tales From The Bench-Winter Flies Edition...

Just a few of the creations off the vice this winter.  The alchemy of feathers, flash and tubes have produced a few nice offerings that have been sent out to anglers across the west. 

If I cant winter steelhead fish, well then maybe my bugs can.

Which in case you're in need for a few special offerings to round out your fly box, shoot me an email at jmills81@hotmail.com and let's talk

Happy swanging!

Save Thompson River Steelhead

Now's your chance to grab some sweet gear and help raise funds to advocate for the imperiled run of Thompson River steelhead

The iconic river's return this fall was predicted to be less than 200 fish, a drastic fall from the typical return of thousands.  It's been on a sharp decline for a decade or more but this year's a different story

The issue is the chum salmon commercial intercept fishery near the mouth of the Fraser, of which the Thompson is a major tributary.  Steelhead bound for the T become bi-catch (see--unusable waste) in the commercial and tribal gill net that should never been approved by Canada's Department of Fisheries during the peak of the steelhead run.

Picture-Russel Miller/Fishpond 

As the designer of the shirt and Wild Steelhead Coalition founder Rich Simms Says...."We're not making any new steelhead rivers.  We can't afford to loose the T"

Pick up your Thompson River Steelhead Shirt HERE. 

The Long Shot

The approach was perfect.  So damn perfect

The small patch of cover is called the Triangle of Death....an overlooked patch of cover that other hunters who have access on the ground never touch.  The birds know the same and usually when we hit it right, it's a whirlwind of flushes, excited dogs and hopefully a downed bird of two

OMR came from above and I looped around to push the birds right to him he descended to block their exit.  It was surgical, until the 10 mule deer that were unseen, bedded down in the cover sprang up and bolted from the cover

80 yards from shooting position and as each deer darted to exit in a panic, roosters and hens came up from all possible places

So many swear words.  So many

Late season roosters are a hard earned trophy.  Their wild.  They've been pressured for months and you have to really be on your game.

Sometimes, the deer have other plans for your hunt.

As the last deer sprinted away, we hoped for a straggler or two.  As dad progressed down the bluff, a rooster exploded up and rocketed away.  By the time I saw it, it was at leas 50 full yards and crossing in front of OMR.

No way I said to myself as the bird rained down and crashed into the dirt. It was at least 60 yards away when he touched off the one shot and flat crumpled the veteran bird. 

I picked it up as it was at least 100 yards away from dad.  Stone dead.  As big as they get, massive spurs and electric coloration

"Shit dad, that was a long ass shot"

All he says on the last rooster of the season...

"No problem"

A Tale Of Two Rivers....

One story of a river reborn...

The other story of a river waiting for that opportunity

January 25th at the Cracker Building in downtown Spokane, Save Our Wild Salmon and a coalition of various organizations are presenting A Tale of Two Rivers.

It's a conversation of salmon, rivers, their people, dams and the politics around this issue. 

Lynda Mapes of the Seattle Times, author of The Elwha, A River Reborn will talk on watching the Elwha return after the two dams on the Elwha came down and the river and it's fish came back

Rocky Barber, veteran reporter from the Idaho Statesman will lend his observations on the issues surrounding the lower Snake River. 

A $5 dollar donation gets you in the door.  Come be a part of the conversation.

It looks to be a great event,  I hope to see you there

Bend It To Send It...

Every once and a while you hit the shutter at the perfect time

OMR, dropping bombs in search of a yank...