Random Thoughts....The Grab

It's what we long for. Many hours of fishing or as I like to refer to it sometimes as "casting practice," in hopes that a steelhead will grab our fly. We can go days without a grab. Sometimes thinking it will never happen. Fishing some of the best water you have ever seen. Asking yourself too many questions. Are the fish here? Do I have the right fly. Is the bite off? If so, why? Then comes a time when you cant do anything wrong and next thing you know, by the end of the day you have hooked four steelhead. What did I do different? How did I hook more than one? Questions we ask ourselves even on good days.

It's called steelhead fishing. And the reason many of us do it is for the grab! For those who don't care about the grab and are only interested in catching as many fish as possible, well I'm sorry. You don't know what your missing. Once it happens, you will it want more! The grab doesn't come easy. You have to put your time in. Steelhead are often called the fish of a thousand or ten thousand casts. Sometimes you get that grab on the third cast and other times it comes on the 13, 191st cast. When it happens, you'll know. Your heart may skip a beat or the rod almost gets yanked out of your hand. Either way, you keep coming back for more. More abuse, because last time I checked it has been three days and I need a fix, how bout you?

JH

Andy Guibord Photography

Last week I was fortunate to spend some time on the the river with Andy Guibord and Ryan Miller. Andy is one of the best striper fisherman in the valley and is also an employee at Kiene's Fly Shop. He also has quite the eye when it comes to taking photos. Here are a few shots he took last week out on the Trinity River. You can check out more of his photography at http://andyguibord.zenfolio.com/

Steelhead Weather Part 2

It finally happened, the Trinity River blew out late this morning from just above Junction City down to the mouth. The river in Willow Creek and Hoopa doubled in size overnight and is still climbing at 1500+ cfs. The good thing is the big part of the storm is gone and we are just seeing some light showers now. The river should crest at any time and begin to drop shortly. As soon as it begins to drop and clear we should see some fresh fish pushing up the river and good fishing for the next couple off weeks.

On a more positive note. I spent the last couple of days with Ryan Miller and Andy Guibord. We had some good fishing until the river blew. All fish have been very bright and are a blast on light spey and switch rods. Here are a few pics from the last couple of days...

Steelhead Weather

Just a quick update. I have spent the last couple of days on the Trinity River with good friends Ryan Miller and Andy Guibord. Fishing has been good as we have connected with a few fish each day, all of which have been dime bright and full of spunk. We also received a ton of rain last night and all day today. Towards the end of the day, the river came up more than a foot but still had decent clarity. As I write this it is raining hard again and I would not be supprised to wake in the morning to a blown out river. Will have to wait and see. Pics to come....

JH

A few pics from the past week...

Here's a few fish pics from this past week. There are some nice fish in the system and very little angling pressure. The next several weeks should provide some of the best fishing of the year on the Lower Trinity River.