Fishing for steelhead in March is a wake up call for the fisherman and the fish. In Steelhead Alley, the fisherman realizes that the season is closer to ending than beginning. What started in September is probably going to end by late April. Sure, there will be some caught in May, but the big runs will be over. For the fish, the clock is ticking. Spawning instincts are in overdrive. These instincts push the fish deeper into the river systems. The small creeks become active with fish moving all around. I enjoy fishing small creeks for steel. If they are paired up doing their dance I’ll move on, and try to find some off-bed. This brings sight fishing into play, and I always enjoy seeing an opportunity.
Once again, a storm brought the water levels up. So, the only play was to look for a creek, as they drop much faster, and become fishable days before the main tributaries do. This morning I hit a creek and was surprised how fishable it was. I guess they clear even faster than I thought. The water had a slight stain but visibility was still good, in fact a lot better than I imagined. Now… find a fish or two.
Today, it didn’t take me long. I almost felt like I knew what I was doing. There’s a tailout right near the parking lot that always gets my attention when I wade in. If there’s fish in this stretch, one or two will be sitting in this tailout. Sure enough, I spotted one. This time of the year I always start with an egg pattern. On the fifth drift the indicator disappeared, and I set the hook. Now, that act has been my downfall of late. Set the hook, play the fish for a few seconds, then lose the fish. This time the hook found its mark. The chromer immediately took off downstream into the riffle. Thirty yards later the fish finally raised the red flag. It was done. The hen was beat up. Spawning was over, and she had the bruises to show for it.
This is one tough hen, and she has the scars to prove it.
After all she went through she put up a great fight.
(Click on image for a larger view.)
Within the next 20 minutes I had two other hookups but once again the hookset didn’t hold. After that, the sun and wind seemed to shut down the bite. Glad I got out early.
Go out and fool a fish!
