Fall Steelheading Season Thus Far (Sept - Nov)

[MJL]

I’ve been getting tons of PMs and calls lately asking how I’ve been doing. Haven’t posted many reports lately. I’ve been busy fishing quite a bit this fall (more so than the last 3-4 years) and repairing waders (more on that later). Been averaging 3-4 trips a week since mid-September for steel. I don’t get the car for very long during the day (plus I’m busy with other stuff) so a lot of the trips have been either to a few local tribs for 1-3hrs during the day (usually after 9am or after lunch) or during weird hours like 11pm through to 4am in the morning. Bummed a few rides with Kelfun for some 12-14hr fishing sessions on the weekend which are always fun - Really appreciate it dude

 

I figure I might as well fish whenever I can, wherever I can

 

Some pics so far from this fall

 

Took Victor salmon fishing in September a few times to try and get him his first ever one. He hooked into one (one that hadn’t been filleted yet) and fought it like a champ. He finally landed 1 after 2 years of trying.

 

Managed to get into a decent run of small cookie cutter sized brownies on cobra sized dewies on one trip

 

Chrome steel is what I love fishing for the most (tied with fishing for carp of course). They’ve been fighting beautifully this fall – All the ones I hooked into went air-born and fought crazy hard…Hard not to love October/November steel. Had a couple days this fall with amazing numbers of fresh fish but with mostly low water in the rivers and lack of rain, fishing has been a little tough going (especially the last couple weeks) – Managed to land some fish on most trips though with a couple blanks here and there during my midnight fishing sessions (starting to really learn more about fish behaviour at night now). Casting your rig into a tree on the first cast of a trip (and obviously having to re-rig) was vital to pleasing the steelhead gods in giving up some of their steelheading mojo

 

 

 

 

 

Got the car for the day this past Wednesday and managed to do an 8hr session (sister didn’t need the car and she filled it up too ). Tough fishing but got into 8 gorgeous fresh chrome hens throughout the day from 4 rivers (2-8lbs). Fishing wood and other snags and sacrificing some terminal tackle was key. Here’s one:

 

 

 

With all this fishing I’ve been doing, I think I’ve finally destroyed my waders. A month ago, other than the odd patched hole on the inseam, everything had been just fine. The last 3 weeks, I’ve had to repair a new tear, seam or hole after every trip . Water still seeps in some places I already tried sealing up from the inside or outside. With 6 years of hard use, I can’t complain. My jacket and boots are going too but still have another season or two in them. Hard to ship them in for warranty (If I still get any) when there’s chrome steel to be had in the rivers

 

1 pair of Orvis ProGuide II breathables + 2 big tubes of aquaseal + 1 mini tube of aquaseal + 2 tubes of Loon UV wader repair + 1/2 roll of McNett’s Tenacious Tape =

 

Leaky Seams on both legs which were fixed with a shed load worth of aquaseal

 

Pinholes in the same spot on both legs near my shins – I couldn’t locate them exactly but the seal seems to be working

 

Toes were seeping on both feet but fixed up

 

Inseam of both legs have holes due to wear and tear and a roll of discarded barb wire I tried jumping over but never quite made it – Combo of Loon UV wader repair and Aquaseal. The left side was much worse.

 

The heels were leaking on both neoprene feet…Aquasealed the outside

 

The left side still leaks…Aquasealed the inside this afternoon and I’m praying it still doesn’t leak this weekend – May not be repaired in the end.

 

When you can’t locate the source of the seeping…Aquaseal and tape the hell out of it . Already have copious amounts of tape and aquaseal on the inside. Another one which might not be repairable.

 

Had a run-in with a submerged Rapala J-13 (Fire-tiger) on Wednesday (I’ll get to filling in the holes with tape and aquaseal tomorrow)

 

Quite a few other parts on my waders not seen in this report had to be repaired

 

Lots of memories standing, sitting, kneeling and falling into the river with those waders on. My biggest problem is finding a new off-the-shelf pair which fits me right (I’m in between S and M for most companies and am either too big or too little in some places for MS ) – Also a little strapped for cash at the moment which doesn’t help either…The ones I have don’t fit me perfectly but they’re the closest fitting ones I could find that are really comfortable. Anyone have any thoughts or reviews on the Simms G3 or any other breathables with some durability? Reinforced legs are a must... Must be Mikey-Proof . I’ll probably order a new pair for Christmas.

 

Hope you enjoyed

[frozen-fire]

Fantastic. Love the pics.

 

I finally managed to hook into a bow today on the pin! Too bad it was only 10 inches hahaha and to top it off, it spat the hook as I was lifting it... never got to hold it in my hands!

 

I have tried on quite a few pairs from different brands and find that I am also between a small and medium.

GF got me a pair of freestones in medium which appear to fit really nice and they feel really good too. Have yet to take them out though.

[Leecher]

Great multi species report and pics Mike

Man, looking at the wader repair pics..... you certainly put a lot of millage on them

I think a new pair is in order..... don't you think

 

Again great job Mike and thanks for sharing

Jacques

[Victor]

Nice to see you posting a report Mike, and with some fish in it too !

 

Too bad I haven't been able to get out lately, I'll probably miss the fall run. I think it's time for new waders haha

[KelfuN]

get a pair of G3, problem solved!!

[solopaddler]

Well done Mike!

As far as the waders go, on the plus side Orvis is great with returns. You'll get a new pair from them with no problems.

[laszlo]

Please tell me this is what to expect in my near future.

Well Done!

[dave524]

Good going on the fish. Waders?? At one time I used to swear by the Seal-Dry moulded latex seamless waders, yeah they were hot in summer and cold in winter but had some give and didn't give a lot of leak problems, haven't seen them in quite a few years.

[MJL]

Well done Mike!

As far as the waders go, on the plus side Orvis is great with returns. You'll get a new pair from them with no problems.

 

That's the best news I've heard in a while ...Probably will ship them in sometime in late Dec or Jan. From what I gather, it's only $30US to get work done on them.

 

Took the waders for a test drive today (My parents dropped me off at the river and went to the flea market for a couple hours in the afternoon ) The left neoprene bootie still seeps after smearing aquaseal in every imaginable spot

 

On the bright side I caught 2 fish which made getting a little wet OK

 

Thanks guys for the comments

Edited November 16, 2009 by MJL

[StoneFly]

Nice Waders, lol

[super dave]

Hey Solo,

Tell me what you do for orvis returns. My friend has just returned his silver labels and the most they are giving him is 40% off a new pair. The waders are about 5 years old. They look brand new as well. This guy only goes out 4-5 times a year. So in the end he is still dishing out $180 for a new pair.

[kemper]

 

That hole has been killin me this year!

 

Good fishin man!

[blaque]

I got a pair of breathables that look just like that LOL Aquaseal scabs all over the place

[baitrummer]

Terrific post Mike Are you done with carp until next spring?

[mikes334]

Liked the repair solution. That was a nice looking fish as well.