So I get a text yesterday, from bigboy, about him wanting to ditch the float rod and toss flies at steelhead. I think back and my first steel on the fly was September 2012. My second steelhead on the fly was September 2013. Hmmm, it's September..."Sure thing," I reply.
We meet on the Clack, fiddle around a little with some stuff, then saunter down to the tailout where I nabbed my first on the fly. Start in close, then work outward. In fairly short order, I actually hang up and have to break OFF. Sit down to retie and settle on the purple leech, reminiscent of my very first and from this very tailout. Within about 15 minutes, at the start of a swing, my line stalls. Pull very slightly taut, feel tension, lever the rod toward the bank and fish on! Bigboy convinces me to pose the obligatory 'rod in teeth' for posterity:
We gab some, I point out some details of how I like to fish the tailout, but eventually bigboy moves upward, and I decide to continue down this same tailout. Not too much longer, a further cast to a seam from some rocks more toward the middle, a quick mend and within a few feet of dead drift, my line starts to bend funny, I pull toward my shore, more tension, rear back completely, and fish on again! This one a bit heftier. I'm pretty sure my jaw hit the water when I saw this fish erupt as a fly-caught steelhead is indeed rare for me.
So, I didn't really intend to put on a clinic and nab 2 within an hour, making up only my 3rd and 4th steelhead on a fly, but hey, it's September, remember? LOL
I guess I'm gonna have to ditch my bargain rod, bargain reel and ratty wool glove and buy a Sage, a machined titanium reel, some brand new, never been dirty Simms gear, a wading staff, and maybe a monogrammed sweater and cashmere tailing glove so I can truly fit in...
![Wink ;) ;)](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png)