Hit one of my favorite Columbia tribs today for a little steelhead action. And ACTION is what I got. Using some steelhead eggs cured with Amerman cure I hit the water at o'dark thirty. First hole, nada. Moved downriver to another hole that is fast becoming one of my favorites. Hook up on my third cast there and lose a dark fish after a couple minute fight. A little later hook a fairly bright fish for a ten second battle, he comes off. Get another one just like it after a few more minutes. Then I cast all the way across the river, one foot off the bank right below a guy baiting up over there. The bait, just the skein white with maybe one berry still attached, moves a foot and FISH ON! A chromer, leaps three times and runs up, then down. Work her in close and see it's a hatchery fish, and what a GORGEOUS steelhead. Get her about three feet from the bank and she spits the hook. [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img]
I decide to go back to the first hole and try jigs. Nothing going, I gotta learn how to jig fish one of these days. I move up the bank away from the river and see three steelies lying in the tailout. Two bright fish and one darkie. I get my egg rod and cast to the middle and let her swing in towards me. Now, this is where it got really exciting. I notice a wake moving upstream towards my eggs, tap-tap, FISH ON! Can you guess which one slammed the bait. Yep, that's right, the darkie.
I move back downriver to the hole I hooked the other fish in. After about half hour, another fish on. Release another darkie.
Move my way upriver to another hole and miss another one before I had to leave.
I've never had a day like that. My final count was 3 for 8. No fish came home, but isn't catching fish fun anyway.
Can you guess where I'm going to be at o'dark thirty tomorrow?
What a Day!
justcastn
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