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07/20/11

fly fishing hawaii and beyond:

back to the beach.

 

had a great trip back to oregon, my other home.  the steelheading turned out to be tough (as steelheading often tends to be).  i also caught a cold somehow which never helps the cause.  i did manage to power through with a combination of dayquill by day and nyquill by night.  the steel were in the river and we fished some sweet looking runs.  there just weren’t a whole lot of players.  the final score for me was nine days of pounding (mostly in the evenings, sometimes in the morning and evening and a couple times all day), about a half dozen or so pulls from steel, a broken 6119-4 tcx switch, a bunch of trout, tons of casting practice, and a deeper understanding of the spey cast and how that whole thang works.

 

improving my two handed casting was what i was mostly there for and i learned a ton more from my buddy harold and his son benny the spey wonderboy (thanks guys for breaking out the bamboo stick, the lashings... i mean lessons really helped and made my trip).  also thanks to my buddy grant.  i fished with him one evening and the guy almost drowned me by crossing a super sketchy stretch of river to get to this island.  to grant’s credit, upon reaching the island (barely), the guy told me to fish the run, crossed the river back to shore, drove home, got his drift boat, put in above the run and picked me up from the island.  now that is a friend.  it was a super nice run and i did get one of my few grabs there.  i didn’t bring any steel to hand on this trip but i’m  still a newbie at this whole swinging flies deal and you can’t get good at anything without paying dues.  i did have some memorable "encounters" with the target and that is more than enough to fuel my fire.  steelheading is a spiritual experience.  this fish travels thousands of miles to the sea and back and it would kind of be sad for such a worthy quarry to fall for a kook like myself.  so i go on these trips to improved my knowledge of steelhead and how to swing flies for them.  i made great strides in my two handed casting skills and i'm sure the gods will reward me when they deem me worthy.  like i always say, i’m that many casts closer to the next fish.  those fall fish had better beware... i'll be back.

 

while i was chasing steel up in o, craig was getting his small water trout fishing on with his brother colin in no cal.

 

i did manage to catch a bunch of "ambitious" trout myself.  fun for sure, but not steel.

 

benny (the wombat) working his way down a run during an evening session.

 

6119-4 tcx... cold busted.  i hadn't even gotten the head out of the guides on this evening.  what can i say.  sometimes like that.

 

the willamette river.

 

some days it was like a scene right out of "the birds".

 

harold with the only steelhead we brought to hand on this trip... way to go jasperado.

 

i can't promise steelhead (yet), but these are a little easier to come by.  i got this guy while fishing my 5119-4 tcx switch for a few hours before leaving on my little journey.  just a little guy but a good size for a five weight.  until the next time, it's back to the beach for me and, as always, good times.


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