Thursday, December 31, 2009

Out with the old and in with the new...........


Fasten your seat belts and put your chairs in the upright position. You are about to enter 2010: The year of Joe. So part like the Red Sea because I'm rolling through.
2009 was as Dickens said it was the best of times; it was the worst of times. We shall focus on the best times.
I want to give a shout out to Bill and Frank for making my fishing experience all the better in 2009.
My God remember that dank drizzly day with green water when we couldn't stop smiling?
We were on our game that day or at least the cooperative fish made us feel that way.
That day is forever etched into my memory and I hope we hit it that way in 2010.

A shout to Tom for the day we went to the Dirty Burt and it was crap. Our plan B kicked ass and it was a good call on your part.
Mike P. every time were out and you catch a fish I take pride in your catch and the look of excitement on your face. This stuff is fun isn't it?


To my little tribs both big and small which have been my friend, my church, and soul nurturing sanctuary.
I would be lost with out our gravel runs and shale cliffs.
Thank you God for gifting to me the wonderful experiences I have had over the last 12 months.
It has shown me that it is truly the little things in life that make us the richest men on the planet.
As for today, I did get out and was able to end 2009 with a relative bang.
The temperatures hit 32 degrees in the morning. A far cry from the single digits a few days ago. The water was green, the slush was gone, and I banged a few fish with a bonus brown trout thrown in the mix.
A good way to move on from this Godforsaken year.
Come on 2010!!!!
You cant get here soon enough......................

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

A race to beat the arctic express......


Yesterday presented what we had hoped would have been a small window of opportunity to get on the water. The thaw raised water levels and flushed the tribs of ice and fresh fish would be available for our taking.
The Commander and I hit the water in the morning greeted by fresh snow cover from over night and temps in the mid twenties. We were not happy with our morning findings . The water was filled with with enough slush to make fishing difficult to impossible.

On our march back to our vehicle we met up with Bill and Frank who agreed with out our assessment of the conditions and decided to try another trib together.
The next trib murky but the slush was flowing down more lice ice flows and not a slurpy slush. We fished closer to the lake and in the distance we could see the arctic express coming through with increased high winds and snow squalls. We did our best with no success.
While we were there Buddha met up with us and recounted his morning attempts at fishing. He had ventured farther down the lake and was hammered by blinding snow making fishing impossible. We also ran into Joe M. and his trusty Labrador. He had the same idea as the rest of us. Beat the Arctic express before the heavy snow and single digit temperatures forecasted for Tuesday.
Today the creeks are slush filled and the air is frigid.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas.......


I took a walk this Christmas morning in between events to clear my head in the fresh air and in hopes of pulling in a fish.
The water was very low and clear. The walk was stellar just me and the hawk in the sky.


Most of the pools and runs I fished the last time I was out were iced over and un fishable. I did some walking in hoes of finding some water green enough and deep enough to get one to go .



But that would not be the case today. The water that was prime today had fresh steelhead blood spilled on the the white snow with remnants of fresh steelhead roe scattered in the blood. I would assume someone got into a few fish yesterday afternoon and decided to harvest the fish.
I did not put too much effort in those areas as they will be useless now until the next freshet from the thaw we are experiencing this afternoon.

Still great to be out and one with nature

On a much brighter note. Merry Christmas to all my friends in the steelhead world.

Thank for the gift off your friendship and your company on the stream.

Happy Holidays................

Monday, December 21, 2009

Quiet and at Peace...........

Quiet and at peace today. No words are needed to express having the water to your self for 99.8% of your day.




















Sunday, December 20, 2009

Two......

I got for two and a half hours today. As long as the sun was on the water the line stayed ice free and two fish played nice today. Then the sunlight shifted it's gaze out of the gorge and then ice caked up on the line and float.

I will take the two hours as a welcome break from life.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Finding open water.................


I put in a 5 hour shift yesterday morning in section of the creek that were not ice jammed. There were sections completely locked up with ice and others that were open if you could get to them
.


I found a shoulder of the road that was plowed enough to park my vehicle and then proceeded to trudge through 16 inches of snow pack to get to the water. Crossing the water consisted of walking over, around, or through shelf ice which is always tricky but you all know the drill this time of year.

The water water was green and as the slush and 16 inches of snow started to melt the water raised and changed color. It was a good day with hungry fish but they were in classic winter mode. The fish were light biters and lazy fighters for the most part.

The commander had previous commitments so I was solo along with a new reel to try.
I had the opportunity to use a Kingpin 4 7/8 Bronze reel today with the ceramic ABEC 7 bearings. A pleasure to use in the slower flows today. she was smooth and started up with the slightest current. It's definitely on my to do list for the next year.





Today with the snow melt the tribs are shot. They are high and muddy and the ice locked sections are free from ice. It will be a few days before I get another shot at them and that damn 10 lb silver female I lost behind a fast water lip. The float went down. I lifted and she shook her head. She came up and rolled a few times and ran around the current until she headed for some up turned shale at the back of the run. The floro rubbed up against the rock outcropping and poof she was gone.



















Until later..............



Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Well it was a try..................

With severe weather on its way I wanted to hit the creek one more time as it wont be fishable until Sunday or Monday once the weather hits. The water was low yesterday and I was hoping a bump in flow might push a few fresh pods into the lower section.

The timing was off.

There was a bump in flow but the melting slush from the rapidly rising temps turn her high and brown within the first hour.

Timing is everything in life.

See you in a few days after the thaw.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Low and slow...........


The water over the last few days has dropped to either clear or a light green. Success has been there but in lower numbers than usual. Sunday I got out with the Commander for a few fish and more company than normal. It was a chilly morning with sunlight glistening of the icicles slowly forming on the shale cliff walls.


Monday it was an outing with the Kingpin Crew Bill and Frank and Buda met up with us a few hours later. Once again water getting lower as the day went on and fish numbers limited. I did get a feisty 7 lb male on a pinkie but the company was better than the fishing.









Come to think about it. Regardless of the numbers ,the company is always better than the fishing.







Good people on the water makes a difference not only in your day but in your life also.






Until later.................





Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Coffee and cream..............

I wasn't going to fish today but after a little hesitation I geared up and hit a smaller trib in hopes of finding a little green water. There surprisingly wasn't any snow at this trib but the winds were howling off the lake and raising the stream levels by a foot or so every few minutes. Then the water would reverse as if someone pulled a plug from a drain.

By 10 am the water turned green but there were no fish to be had. I then shot over to another tributary hoping to find green but I knew this trib would be brown and she was.

She was a coffee with cream color and I decided to go for a hike just for exercise.

I ended up with three respectable females in the 5 to 7lb range on chartreuse.

A lot of hiking and looking at brown water.

Sorry no pics today. I was too lazy to snap pics and I was just happy a few fish cooperated today in the brown.