MJL

Very cool Mike...I've also noticed that the majority of my fish the last 2 weekends have come to hardware (spinners & Kwikfish) or large flies on the swing. With steelhead, there's nothing like the feeling of a big, bright steelhead pounding a spinner...It's like hooking a snag that jumps and goes ballistic

Very nice It's been a while since I fished down there. The scenery is just amazing. Definitely itching to get back there soon

Super crazy awesome Mike! Way to go Brendan! No one ever forgets their first steelhead

Sweet!

Very sweet fish Devin ...That pool looks so different now since I fished it with you a few weeks ago.

Almost a year ago I made the pilgrimage to one special river I hadn’t yet fished. Frozen-Fire and I scouted as much water that trip and were rewarded with some small chrome fish for our efforts. It was also there on the bank while stepping over a fallen tree that I realized something wasn’t right - It turned out to be cancer. Over the last 10.5 months I’ve been visualizing my return back to that special river. I could see all the pools and runs I scouted in my head and imagined that a long bar of steel at the end of my line was dancing across it. It’s a river that has humbled a few of my friends and left them fishless the last few years. A few weeks ago, Frozen-Fire and I made our first trip back. It was an exercise in reading the water and probing depths by using either the biggest roe bags we tied up or clamping on a set of hemostats when the roe ran out. Numbers weren’t great and no really big fish were landed but when it comes to steelhead, the fight of October chrome (even smaller ones) is second to none – Especially from this river...They are a special breed. First steelhead of the fall for me – A great welcome back gift from the river gods Snapped an underwater pic of a small one – Even when the river is low and clear, the water has a muddy tinge to it…Out of 50 underwater pics I took that day, only 1 came out decent Perhaps the weirdest thing we saw that day were 3 guys drifting downstream in a small tinny showing us 2 salmon they had kept...It wouldn’t have seemed so weird if we actually saw fishing rods in the boat and the salmon didn’t seem quite as dead. Ironically we saw them launch upstream 6hrs earlier and their license plate read Nova Scotia – Go figure This weekend with some free time, I loaded the car with my fishing and camera equipment and made my way to the end of the street...There I decided I’d go back to the river The morning brought a cold mist hovering over the river and ice was forming on the guides and the reel. Seriously, it’s just too early in the season to be dealing with that! With no other angler in sight I had free reign on that stretch of river. Action was non-existent the first few hours...I thought I hit the river at the wrong time until I started catching some fish A steelhead in training At 1:30pm I saw the most remarkable thing – 2 steelhead in the pool I was fishing were rolling and boiling on the surface quite frequently. There definitely was a small hatch of insects going on...Either small stoneflies or caddis flies (they were brown with long wings). It didn’t matter though, as they were boiling on leaves and floating debris as they drifted downstream. One fish around 5lbs torpedoed itself 1ft above the water parallel to the surface. I haven’t seen this type of activity in many years! I quickly stashed my gear in the shrubs and ran back to the car through the bush and forest to grab the 12’ 6wt spey rod and a few boxes of flies I borrowed from a friend – I was supposed to test drive the outfit anyway to see if it was the right setup for me before I bought one. I swapped the sink tip for a floating “cheater” tip, attached a leader of 6lb Maxima and tied on one of my friend’s floating flies in the box (it’s yellow and black and made of foam with rubber tentacles and googly eyes). The fish were still surfacing... The first couple casts weren’t pretty at all but they mostly got out there...My earlier practice doing the Perry Poke and Circle-C casts on the front lawn did help - My neighbours have gotten used to the sight of fly line shooting past their window Fifth cast I hit the seam close to far bank and for a couple seconds it V-wakes across the surface...Until the fish boiled on it... I was so shocked at the sight of it, I didn’t really set the hook...The fish jumped, cartwheeled and danced across the surface before I actually did anything...It wasn’t big but I don’t care...I hooked it on a dry fly I was on an adrenalin high when I landed that fish (I still am feeling the effects of it at this very moment)...Pumped up so much, the next cast I launched the fly and then some into the trees on the far bank . I can’t imagine the next time I’ll see chrome steelhead rising. I spent the rest of the day alternating between swinging big sinking flies, tossing spinners and float fishing and managed a few more small fish doing each. It really is a pain in the ass carrying 3 long rods and my camera stuff . This trip definitely made up for the lack of fishing I’ve done so far this fall. Bring on November! Mike

Sweet buck

Great photos RC...Really digging the 2nd and 5th ones Thanks for sharing

Very sweet pieces of steel Paulus Really enjoyed the report

Nicely done

Very cool Mike. I've never seen a pike that big caught while fishing for steelhead. Funny enough, I've caught small ones on glo-bugs in spring. On another note, which rod do you normally use for chucking hardware for steelhead? I'm definitely in the market for a new spinner/spoon/kwikfish/crankbait rod for bigger rivers.

Dude! Totally awesome I want some cuttie and bully trout action now You have a chance to visit Milner's place yet?

Aside from the steelhead rivers I still have yet to fish, I’d really love to try fishing for big, lake dwelling brookies...I don’t really care where.

Very sweet!

Ever sleep 10ft away from a chain-saw going at max revs? I sure did...His name was Cliff Getting your feet licked at 2am by an obviously hungry dog is not cool Having 6lb Maxima UG part like thread and getting smoked by fish back-flipping and steaming down river...Demoralizing With that said, it was an AWESOME weekend and I'm looking forward to my next trip back

Well done Devon. Great to meet you this weekend. Here's another pic of that sweet hen That's a Kwikfish Roy

During the past year, I’ve learned that no matter how bad things get, or how crappy you feel, there’s always another person out there who’s dealing with something 10X worse. I haven’t met Jen in person before but she was my inspiration to get through my own troubles...She’s my hero

He was referring to the Nottinghamshire region in England where the River Trent flows For carp & barbel...

No Roy...Cliff will be there for 2 reasons A. When I fish with him and a hungry black bear comes, Cliff will be the one that gets eaten because he runs slower B. If we get to the river and the conditions are bad, we’ll have to appease the river gods by offering Cliff as a temporary sacrifice...Duct taping him to a tree for the weekend should work. I know Cliff is a team player and there’s no one more honorable than him to accept both roles

I'm still running the original abec 3 bearings in my Islander and I haven't cleaned, lubed or oiled them since 1999

So I don't need to resort to 2lb Fluoro this weekend Good thing I'll have basketball-sized roe bags and Cliff to carry them all

We can easily express this in the form of a very popular mathematical equation where: Time = Money (or Time is Money) If we however bring money over to the left side of the equation with time, we get Time – Money = 0 0 represents the benefit of having free time and negative money (or bills to pay). In this case, there isn't It’s impossible to get free time & money working harmoniously together unless you factor in additional functions such as: Vegas, lottery, possibly sketchy occupations involving highly illegal activities Best of luck Skinny...Hang in there and do what you gotta do

Positive thoughts sent your way Dave Cancer is never a good thing, but if there is one thing to remember, it's that your mum found out about it and she can take the necessary steps towards recovery. Stay positive, have hope and have a good sense of humor...They all go a long way

Sorry to hear Chris. I'm sure Arnie will be enjoying the rows of giant fire hydrants and chew toys in the other place

That’s because they saw the reel miles away and already knew you were coming My matt black Angspecs are coated with the same finish used on stealth aircraft and are impervious to steelhead radar above and below water . The reels don’t exist to steelhead until they’ve been captured, unhooked and had their pictures taken with the reel lying next to them in the water