trip report 11/25 to Dec 3

Good attitude, Cape. First steel is a real thrill, congrats to your buddy. Bet he'll be coming back with you for another  trip.  Glad you had a good time and  got  fish despite the conditions. I read spectacular reports on some forums, but from what I've seen with my own eyes, those days are very sparse. There's some good fisherman right here on this forum and not one person  has claimed any big numbers  on steel this fall.  I like to see people smile holding fish.  Great pic.  Lotsa fun.
 
Charlie

Good report and and thanks for sharing ..
The happy angler pic says it all..
 

Scott, good to hear from ya bud... thanks for sharing

Charlie ,
absolutely  he has already gone out and started to buy some equipment .    he is hooked for sure ..   As far as the fishing  , it is tougher than most years ,  but makes the few you get all that much  more fun and rewarding .

   Have kinda hinted at it a few times while posting lately but havent really put the petal down cause I havent personally been up to fish on over a month. Cept that hour and a half before having to butt out  quick in very early Nov. Reports from excellent fishermen have been very consistent though.
  Cept for the huge run of Kings everything else this season IMHO is down in numbers.
 Thats a sooprize after the King run which was preceded with glorious reports of a record year on the lake for about all species.     
      Low river fishing was good early on for all species but the Hos didnt show upriver like normal or for that matter neither did early Steel ( in usual numbers) also the Hatchery never got enough King Hens even with that huge run.
 The ONLY thing I see different this year is the water level. YES pressure is up but then its reported up to numbers of the 'old days'.
 Again -the water levels combined with that pressure seem to be the big thing keeping fishes in normal numbers from traveling up as usual .
    IMHO many fish are going in and out like they were known to do on other Lake tribs earlier this season. Consistent decent DSR reports ( which I believe) combined with consistent low river reports of poor fishing tend to make me believe this. Its kinda VERY unusual for DSR to have some good fishing days and the regulars on the Staricase to be nearly skunked for a week after.
 The fish just arent coming up in decent numbers.

Lucky-
 Its perplexing. One would think if some could get up in low conditions they all could.    We wondered bout the 02 thing but that turned out to likely NOT be an issue.
    Kinda wondering if the lower conditions have something to do with the fish being able to implant correctly on the places they should be going to to reproduce but then why some and not many.
 The ' many'  seems not to be the issue here IMHO due to the higher than normal lake reports. Would indicate the fish are out there but just not showing.
  Way past my education cause I would think they 'gotta' come to breed- guess there will be some biological explanation at some point- cant wait to find out. Interesting stuff.
  Hey- good luck with the retirement -its great. Ya stop worrying bout numbers cause ya can get out more and -just fish.

I forgot to mention I did see some lighter fish to go along with a few very dark ones.  No chromers though.
 
Although I can't "really"   cannot comment on #'s due to this being my second year of fishing for steel hard I too think the #'s are down.  I saw WAY less Ho's and less steel in the tribs up north.   I almost find myself asking was it an EPIC year or due to lower water were there just more fish seen and caught and a slightly above  normal year.   There was literally only 1/3 of the water we usually see during salmon season.    I know there were a  HUGE runs and Dime hit a few of them, but many of the Epic stories came from the DSR and down low where the fish were fresh and concentrated.  I fished from Pineville up this year for the most part and saw alot of fish, but I saw them and that's the difference.    In 500 or 750 most of the fish I saw would  have been invisible.     
 
Back to the steel.   I personally think there may be a fewer #'s of steel than this time last year and the ones in the river have been cast at harassed and ripped upon.   I have frequented Melinda's a few times in the last couple of weeks and the old timers in there have been complaining every time I went in.  
 
L13   yes getting old does suck but it is WAY better than the alternative.   I have a bad disk in the neck and it causes shoulder pain and arm weakness.  I can usually power through, but pay the next day.   It especially hurts after fighting a fish, but the pain is worth it.
 

TB being in the physical therapy field I have looked into all the possibilities for the neck.  Neuro surgery wants to to do the surgery through the front of the neck, but I am not there yet.  Most day's it is OK some days a bit worse.  Surprising  enough casting does not bother it that bad.  I am way better than I was a year ago, so for now chiropractic, PT exercises and a daily anti inflammatory get the job done.

Clint S

TB being in the physical therapy field I have looked into all the possibilities for the neck.  Neuro surgery wants to to do the surgery through the front of the neck, but I am not there yet.  Most day's it is OK some days a bit worse.  Surprising  enough casting does not bother it that bad.  I am way better than I was a year ago, so for now chiropractic, PT exercises and a daily anti inflammatory get the job done.

I was there for a decade Clint.
I understand.
They went in through the front on me also since they have to cut fewer muscles that way.
Have you at least had a MRI to show what's really going on.
Mine just blew up 2 summers ago on vacation one day fine the next agony.
Good luck with yours.

TB have had a few MRI's and the latest has shown it is better than the first.  There is no protrusion into the spinal canal, just irritation at the nerve root.   C 5 C 6 is the culprit and it is the most common one as it holds the most pressure in everyone.   I have already decided to get it done when and if it starts to impact my life in a way I cannot do things I  want to do.  Right now I have very little pain 95% of the time. When I usually do have pain it only lasts a little while.