'Nooner

[ChezJfrey]

Fled work for a little while today just after the noon hour, and tossed a fly for 30 minutes, then 40 minutes with a spoon. Spoon did the trick!

Tossed just past a seam I like into the heavier flow...back pedaled the line so it would sink down and follow the seam. On the swing out of the faster current, it would drop out into the softer water and flutter...let it hang for one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two...rod tip jams down once, twice - fish probably hooked itself on that first pump. I set it and game, set, match.

Brought this summer to the bank and headed back to work feeling like I accomplished something in the day...for once

 

[TeamRamRod]

Showoff! haha nice job man

 

[bran_man]

Bit a spoon, but in the end got forked.... Get it? Too cheesy....? Lol nice one

 

[troutmasta]

My Man. Your my competition on that stretch!

 

[eugene1]

Sweet steel, not much better than getting one before, after, or during work. Feels like you accomplished two days worth of "stuff".

Awesome,

 

[ChezJfrey]

My Man. Your my competition on that stretch!

I still think you've got the edge on me though. One of these days I gotta meet up with you and see what I can glean from your technique. A little while ago, I dropped by the hole you were nabbing those evening fish, but didn't see your rig. I don't always have a good sense of when I can get out until the last minute, but if it doesn't happen on the Clack, we might run into each other on that coastal river we both seem to hit in the coming months, eh?

 

[troutmasta]

We both do well

I fell ya on never knowing when Im going out.

Im gearing up for some coastal fishing we should roll together sometime and save on some gas. I want to pound the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ this winter as well as the _ _ _ _ _ _!

 

[dozer365]

You left out the part about the knife.


And what's with the bejeweled talon thing trout.
U guys hit the trask and Wilson. I'll be near by. Lurking.

 

[ChezJfrey]

You left out the part about the knife.

Just had to bring that up, didn't ya?

OK, ok...so there is a part of the story between bringing the fish to hand and getting it to the bank. When I hooked the fish, I was standing among some rocks a ways from shore. The bottom of the river here is not a free-stone, but more like someone took a bunch of 2 and 3 foot stone cubes and tossed them like dice into the river; some jut above the surface, but the water intersperses and wading to and fro can be sketchy on these slime covered angles and pockets that range from 4 inches deep, to mid-thigh. This is the same section I bit it fighting that 'nook and dislocated my shoulder.

So, in my wisdom this time, I stayed put and tailed the fish among these things, not risking wading to shore while fighting. So I have this fish and nothing to whack and nowhere to put it...hmmmm? Well, I've got this knife sheath hanging on my belt loop, so I grab it and in a barbaric move, just slit the gills and bleed it out...no bonk. Hey, nobody ever accused me of NOT being part neanderthal

So, when I think the fish is subdued, I'm also thinking that attempting to get this slippery thing to shore might be more easily accomplished if I just take my found-on-the-river-one-day dog leash that I use to slip through and clip to itself. Rather than simply re-sheath the knife like a smarty, I'm knee deep next to this handy flat rock to act as a shelf. I place the knife and am reaching around my vest for the rope, when the fish starts bucking while I've got my fingers under the gill plate...I'm sure you can guess that the tail flapping around hit that knife...bloop, into the water.

No worries, I get the rope, secure the fish, then start looking for the knife. Most of the river-bottom next to the rock is actually flat, but the knife is nowhere. Of course the explanation becomes obvious as there is right at the base, pretty much in line below the knife, a deep crevice between the wedged rocks and I figure that's where it now lies. Thinking to myself I'm probably going to lose a couple fingers to some unseen, toothy, river creature, I slip my hand into the water and down the crevice, slowly fingering around for the tell-tale feelings of a knife...but no bottom, further, further until my arm is as far as I can reach and no bottom to be felt.

So the damn, half-dead fish flicks my ill-conceived knife placement into the abyss, never to be seen again.

 

[eugene1]

Sweet story about the lost knife! I think it is only fair that the fish dealt you a little pain too!

Best,

 

[Raincatcher]

Was it a hen? I mean, you know most females just have to get the last word...just sayin' cuz we know it's true...:lol:

 

[bass]

Great story ChezJeffrey. Your posts are always fun to read.

 

[ChezJfrey]

Was it a hen? I mean, you know most females just have to get the last word...just sayin' cuz we know it's true...:lol:

LOL. You are astute because it indeed was a hen...a young one at that, where even though it had the color of a fish that's been in the river for quite some time, the eggs were the size of sugar granules.

 

[Tinker]

It makes me crazy reading these and wishing I had a tenth your skills. I have to stop following your posts!

Nice fish. Still chuckling over the knife, but hell, if we never screwed the pooch and took away a great story, it wouldn't be near as entertaining, would it? Thanks for another great read!

 

[ChezJfrey]

It makes me crazy reading these and wishing I had a tenth your skills. I have to stop following your posts!

Don't do it. And I don't just say that to boost my ego for accumulation of post-followers, LOL

Check my history here...I started chasing steelhead in 2011 and in twelve months of hitting the river every chance I could, I completely blanked the entire year. Then in 2012, I caught my first in Februrary and when the year was tallied, went 23 for 37. I pored over some of the published works, notably Davis' spinner book, Herzog's spoon book and Larison's fly for steelhead. I read online articles and posts here. That, combined with a bunch of time on the water got me dialed in. I still pale compared to many, but I'm obviously way more accomplished than when I started. Keep at it.

I usually interject in my posts a snippet of what I was looking at on the water, how I presented, and what. Watch others around you and whether they hook up...take note of how/what they were doing and take note of air temp, water temp, water level and weather. Talk to them when you pass by...even if they offer vague generalities, it can contain useful info. Although you will encounter much contradictory, it will still help you filter sage wisdom from erroneous with enough corroboration and personal experience.

Good luck and remember, reading only gets you so far and even the published works are not word-for-word gospel; I practice Herzog sacrilege by casting upstream with a spoon all the time But the more renown ones do contain key concepts that greatly benefit success. However ultimately, both good/bad experience on the river itself is the key to putting it together and figuring things out.

 

[DrTheopolis]

Davis' spinner book

Read it over 20 years ago. Has great info and theories about steelhead fishing. His arrogance detracts from it, but a useful read. Another good one is Jim Bradbury's book on jig fishing, which also pinpoints holes on the Clack (although some of it is outdated, since it's closed above the dams now, more or less). At the time, people were ticked at him for divulging "secret spots," but anyone who thinks there's secret spots on the Clack is crazy - I've boated every inch of the lower river (OK, except from Rivermill to the Upper Ramp, but I've walked every inch of both sides, more or less), and I'm sure that doesn't make me a member of a particularly small club.

Good work on the catch.

 

[troutmasta]

anyone who thinks there's secret spots on the Clack is crazy -

I've got a secret spot on the clack

I liked the Jim Bradburry book as well, allthough I dont often see people using Bradburry Jigs very much any more.