North Umpqua and the tales of Fred Giusti's forever lost 40+

The first leg of our trip up to Oregon was to the famed waters of the North Umpqua. We thought this would be a good stop not only because it was about halfway to the Deschutes, but we always love a good a$$ kicking! Spencer had never fished the N.U. and we were meeting Soft Take and his dad there. In the first run the next morning I had a boil to a skated muddler but could not get the fish to come back to the fly. Fishing half a dozen more runs neither Spencer or I could bring another fish to the fly that morning.


We headed out to see Lee Spencer in the afternoon and chat about all things steelhead. Lee said there were about 260 wild steelhead in the pool and that fishing on the river had been tough lately due to warmer temps and a lack of fresh fish moving up the system. Even Lee has had tough fishing lately only bringing two steelhead to his version of a muddler without a point.
The evening fishing provided a bit of excitement. With soft take and his dad now on the river we all split up for the evening session. Spencer and I headed down to a favorite tailout where Spencer had risen a nice fish to a dry and then briefly hooking one later in the run on a hitched muddler before getting trigger happy and giving it the old farmer john! Here's where it gets good...


On our way to the next run we run into soft take and his dad Fred. Fred was up on the road next to the truck stringing up a new rod in disgust. We pull up and he's got his hands up in the air shaking his head. "Fred, what's up?" His response, " That damn steelhead just took off with my fly line. my fly got ripped and took about 10-15 feet of line off the reel and bam!" So you got spooled? Fred pulled out what was left of his 40+ floater and said, "the steelhead took off with the floating head and it snapped off where the running line and head are connected." So your telling me there is a steelhead swimming around out there with a 35' piece of green floating line connected to a fly in its mouth? " Yeah" Spencer and I were laughing so hard we were almost crying. I know of guys that have lost some shooting heads before to snags but not to a summer steelhead. Too funny! That run will be forever known to me now as "Fred lost his 40+ run."

Next up, the Deschutes report. Stay tuned....

JH

North to Oregon!

I will be leaving today for a 9 day trip up to Oregon. August 24-27 we will be hosting a 4 day camp trip on the Deschutes thru Deschutes Angler Fly Shop. With record dam counts and good numbers of fish entering the Deschutes it could line up to be a good trip. We will also be fishing the North Umpqua and maybe even the Rogue on the way home. Stay turned for a trip report the first week of September.

JH

Trinity River Report

Just back from two days on the lower Trinity river. Fishing was respectable for the hot days of mid August. As usual with this time of year, there are a decent number of wild summer run fish available. In two days on the river we saw good numbers of chrome bright steelhead but many were reluctant to take a fly. Part of this can be attributed to extremely warm water and air temps, giving anglers a small window of opportunity first thing in the morning until the sun hits the water. Water temps ranged from 68 in the morning to upwards of 73 degrees in the late evening.


The good news is that we managed a couple of grabs first light with one good hook up. Unfortunately we were unable to land this chromer but it put on quite the fight, jumping twice as it screamed downstream before coming unbuttoned.

It is shaping up to be a great fall on the Trinity. With good numbers of wild summer run fish in the system and many more wild and hacthery steelhead moving into the Klamath river, we should see some great fishing from now through November. Go for the grab!

JH

Newsletter and Website Updates

Steelhead on the Spey Guide Service is now offering a monthly newsletter. We will be providing fishing reports, guided trip specials, and articles/reviews. We are only offering any guided trip specials we might have through our newsletter. To sign up for our monthly newsletter visit our homepage at www.steelheadonthespey.com and scroll to the bottom of the page.

We have also updated our website in preparation of the steelhead season. Check out our updated Articles section and Photos page. We will also be adding a new page on schools/classes we will be offering this fall and winter. All schools/classes will also be previewed on the blog as well.

JH

Red Wine Summer Fly

The Red Wine Summer fly is just another variation of any standard skunk or hairwing steelhead pattern. Hairwings are simple flies that are both easy to tie and provide a good silhouette in the water. Another bonus is that the white wing makes this fly easy to follow from a high bank, allowing one to see if a steelhead follows the fly. I tied this particular fly for the Deschutes River but it has been a very effective fly for summer and fall steelhead pretty much everywhere I have fished. Last fall , this fly accounted for numerous steelhead on both the Klamath and Trinity rivers.

Pattern Recipe:
Hook: TMC 7999 #4-8
Tag: Small flat gold tinsel
Tail: Golden pheasant red breast feather
Body: Claret seal or Angora Goat
Rib: Small oval gold tinsel
Collar: Purple saddle or schlappen
Wing: Pearl krystal flash under polar bear or bucktail or kid goat
Head: Red Danville 6/0 unwaxed

One of the key things to remember when tying this fly is to keep it thin and sparse. This allows the fly to have maximum movement and swim naturally. Give it a try and hopefully you too will find similar results...

Go for the grab!
JH