First Bite
08-05-2003, 03:04 PM
This was my first time fishing the lower Deschutes for summer steelhead and man what a beautiful river it is. We hiked up the west side late Sunday evening and saw one steelhead caught for about 10-12 anglers.
Monday morning we arrived shortly after daylight and there were several people already in their spot. We decided to try the east side and found some nice water to fish but couldn't get a bite.
Finally around 10:00 AM with the full sun shining on the water I hooked my first steelhead. This fish hit the jig so hard it practicly ripped the rod out of my hand. It was a nice bright fish that looked to be around 8 pounds. I got the fish to within a few feet and was waiting for Shane to get the camera from my vest when the buck made one final run and freed himself from the barbless hook.
Several minutes later the second steelhead took the same skunk jig just as hard as the first. This fish was bright but a little smaller.
http://www.firstcastjigs.com/Deschutes1.jpg
I re-tied my leader with the same jig and cast out again. As soon as the jig hit the water a steelhead hammered it. I didn't even get a chance to get the slack line off of the water. Within a few seconds the fish got off.
Later in the same drift I had a fourth bobber down on the skunk jig and this one turned out to be a nice little guy. After a quick picture he was released.
http://www.firstcastjigs.com/Deschutes3.jpg
Shane was really working his Spey rod and when he switched over to a sinking tip line he hooked but lost a nice steelhead.
Here's a nice shot of Shane working a drift.
http://www.firstcastjigs.com/DeschutesShane.jpg
Shane hooked his steelhead on a steelhead muddler
All of the fish I hooked were on my green-butted skunk jig. I was using a sliding float set-up which included a 1/2 oz West Coast Float with an in-line weight and a two foot leader tied to the jig.
Thanks for the great time Shane. This was a trip I won't soon forget.
Have fun fishing.
Mark
Monday morning we arrived shortly after daylight and there were several people already in their spot. We decided to try the east side and found some nice water to fish but couldn't get a bite.
Finally around 10:00 AM with the full sun shining on the water I hooked my first steelhead. This fish hit the jig so hard it practicly ripped the rod out of my hand. It was a nice bright fish that looked to be around 8 pounds. I got the fish to within a few feet and was waiting for Shane to get the camera from my vest when the buck made one final run and freed himself from the barbless hook.
Several minutes later the second steelhead took the same skunk jig just as hard as the first. This fish was bright but a little smaller.
http://www.firstcastjigs.com/Deschutes1.jpg
I re-tied my leader with the same jig and cast out again. As soon as the jig hit the water a steelhead hammered it. I didn't even get a chance to get the slack line off of the water. Within a few seconds the fish got off.
Later in the same drift I had a fourth bobber down on the skunk jig and this one turned out to be a nice little guy. After a quick picture he was released.
http://www.firstcastjigs.com/Deschutes3.jpg
Shane was really working his Spey rod and when he switched over to a sinking tip line he hooked but lost a nice steelhead.
Here's a nice shot of Shane working a drift.
http://www.firstcastjigs.com/DeschutesShane.jpg
Shane hooked his steelhead on a steelhead muddler
All of the fish I hooked were on my green-butted skunk jig. I was using a sliding float set-up which included a 1/2 oz West Coast Float with an in-line weight and a two foot leader tied to the jig.
Thanks for the great time Shane. This was a trip I won't soon forget.
Have fun fishing.
Mark