Rain: a love/hate relationship
Rain: Why I hate it. For the past two years, a planned trip to Michigan has fell through because of flooding. Our timing was perfect for the fish being there, but it always poured. All rivers and tribs were blown out as 7-10 inches of rain fell. How could we time the biggest storms of the year, twice. There is nothing I look more forward to, than fishing summer steelhead in skamania triangle. I have been trying to get a guided trip in, one I bought for a friend, for the past two years. the dam on the river we fish is breached as we speak, and parts of it are crumbling. Residents downstream are being evacuated. Glad we didn't go west. Maybe next year...
In Erie, rain is such an important factor in steelheading, especially this time of year. It rained Saturday night, almost an inch, and I knew Sunday late a.m. would be the time to be there. A quick decision to head to Erie for Sunday was made. The morning bought dirty water, as expected. We hooked one fish on a black egg sucking leech. As the day wore on, the water turned green and the battles were on. Lots of bright fish, mostly 3 year olds, a few jacks in the mix. The water was low, but we were in good holding water with a decent flow. As the day matured, Erie wasn't on my mind anymore, we figured to take a shot at the salmon river. Salmon fishing had been a bit slow but with the full moon in the sky, cool nights, a predicted dark day ahead, and an itch to catch fish we gave it a whirl. The first morning on the DSR, the motherload of kings came in from the estuary. We were into fish as soon as we could see. The river was loaded, lots of kings hooked, and a few landed. We caught fish all day, and finally gave in at 3:00. We headed up river in search of an elusive skamania or atlantic salmon but no avail. The next day, the salmon had gone up river a few miles. Lack of sleep with hurting muscles, we headed home. Keeping an open mind got us into fish. We almost stayed home, hoping for next year's Michigan trip. But the willingness to adapt to changing conditions paid off.
A few pics.
The Elk.
SR
Fish hatchery
post edited by SilverKype - 2008/09/17 10:37:23