Amped would be an understatement. Winter and my last swings for lake run salmonids seemed like a distant memory but the thought of hooking into a chrome steelhead fueled a few weeks worth of anticipation and the straight five hour drive north. The icing on the cake was easily the autumnal peak that surrounded us around every inch of river...
I have for the most part a love/hate relationship with the Salmon River. If you've been there before, you surely know what I am referencing and if you've read along with this blog in the past, I've gone in length about the horrors once can witness along its short distance from dam to lake. Overtime, one can be become numb to the people and the charades that take place all day, every day. You can even find solitude if you know where to look, especially in the dead of winter when people can't drag their coolers, lawn chairs, and tents too far from the parking lot.
Along for the journey, and supplying most of these images, was my girlfriend, Katie, who was probably more excited about the trip than I was. The plan was to get away from the gauntlet by fishing mid-river and hopefully catch a few steelhead, which have been making their way into the system. A large late-running pod of kings happened to be projected in the same section of river and we ended up in the slaughter anyway. The rest of the weekend was spent on the move, checking out several fast moving runs that I knew would hold some fish. However, we seemed to hook up with everything we weren't really targeting including: kings, browns, smallies, and a decent sized chub.
With our fishing slow, it was great practice for future trips as I taught the art of the dead drift and a few spey casts. The best parts consisted of walking in the woods, telling stories, and getting our minds off of work and more on the swing of things...
Silly king, tricks are for steelhead...
Jazzed after her first completed circle spey...
Hanging out...
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