Probably the last day of Steelheading
Yep, went down this weekend to the Clearwater and probably had the last day of steelheading of the season. (Finally read the regulations and found out it closes the end of this month.)
I worked enough hours in four days that I was able to take Friday off, PLUS get away with 1.25 hours of credit hours. One 14 hour and one 13.5 hour day in four days can do that! Our plan was to leave at 1200 on Friday, but Butch got hung up with work. So I made myself useful and collected way too much food and cleaned out the camper a bit. When he got home he was a little pissed at the whole "work situation" so we loaded everything up real quick and got out of town. We left at 1530 and arrived at camp about 1830. JUST in time for us to set up...then it got dark.
On Saturday, we made a nice breakfast and then headed out fishing. We tried one hole with no luck. Then made our way to my "honey hole." A place I used to just dream about being open with no one in it. Well, we flogged the water for a bit there. A guy downstream about 30 yards was catching fish. A pair of guys upstream about 40 yards were catching fish. We got nothing but lost lures. This guy downstream came up to within 10 yards of me and started casting in my hole! I was pretty upset over this, but being the nice guy I am, I just casted around him. He finally got hung up, lost his whole set, and said to me, "I hate it when that happens." Then he walked off. Well, about 10 minutes after that I saw a three foot long steelhead. So I had Butch come over (he had a spinning rig) and I told him to work the pool. He eventually got hung up, and getting it free, he pulled out this OTHER fella's rig. Cool. Getting gear is a good thing. So we tied it all up and went upriver to try another spot.
Got up there and Butch saw a steelhead within three feet of the shore. Tried and tried, but couldn't get it to take the bait. (Later, he thought, "why didn't I just pull out the pistol and shoot it?") Good thing we are law-abiding citizens. So then we both lost our gear (Butch was using the rig the other guy had lost) and about 20 minutes later we both snagged up at the same time. We both managed to get loose at the same time, and we both dragged the gear we had lost out of the water at the same time! That was it. Too much of a sign to be messed with and we called it a day. I, however, had seen another three foot fish and could have stayed there all night. But, it was clouding up and rain was coming.
We got to camp, slung a tarp over the cooking area and made dinner (moose steaks and mashed potatoes...not too much better than that!) The rest of the night was spent in front of the fire, telling lies and enjoying getting wet while drinking beer.
The next day, we were able to take down camp in no time and then head home.
It was a good trip overall. Most of the time, when I steelhead-fish, I don't get anything. But I definitely felt the fever that entraps us all. It was good to spend time with Butch. It was good to be out of town. It was just a good time.
Fire pit setup
But it was good.
I worked enough hours in four days that I was able to take Friday off, PLUS get away with 1.25 hours of credit hours. One 14 hour and one 13.5 hour day in four days can do that! Our plan was to leave at 1200 on Friday, but Butch got hung up with work. So I made myself useful and collected way too much food and cleaned out the camper a bit. When he got home he was a little pissed at the whole "work situation" so we loaded everything up real quick and got out of town. We left at 1530 and arrived at camp about 1830. JUST in time for us to set up...then it got dark.
On Saturday, we made a nice breakfast and then headed out fishing. We tried one hole with no luck. Then made our way to my "honey hole." A place I used to just dream about being open with no one in it. Well, we flogged the water for a bit there. A guy downstream about 30 yards was catching fish. A pair of guys upstream about 40 yards were catching fish. We got nothing but lost lures. This guy downstream came up to within 10 yards of me and started casting in my hole! I was pretty upset over this, but being the nice guy I am, I just casted around him. He finally got hung up, lost his whole set, and said to me, "I hate it when that happens." Then he walked off. Well, about 10 minutes after that I saw a three foot long steelhead. So I had Butch come over (he had a spinning rig) and I told him to work the pool. He eventually got hung up, and getting it free, he pulled out this OTHER fella's rig. Cool. Getting gear is a good thing. So we tied it all up and went upriver to try another spot.
Got up there and Butch saw a steelhead within three feet of the shore. Tried and tried, but couldn't get it to take the bait. (Later, he thought, "why didn't I just pull out the pistol and shoot it?") Good thing we are law-abiding citizens. So then we both lost our gear (Butch was using the rig the other guy had lost) and about 20 minutes later we both snagged up at the same time. We both managed to get loose at the same time, and we both dragged the gear we had lost out of the water at the same time! That was it. Too much of a sign to be messed with and we called it a day. I, however, had seen another three foot fish and could have stayed there all night. But, it was clouding up and rain was coming.
As we were leaving we had Fish and Game pull up and chat with us for about 30 minutes. Nicest guy you could ever meet, but Butch and I will be part of the statistics for the week. Two fisherman, 12 hours between them...and zero fish.
We got to camp, slung a tarp over the cooking area and made dinner (moose steaks and mashed potatoes...not too much better than that!) The rest of the night was spent in front of the fire, telling lies and enjoying getting wet while drinking beer.
The next day, we were able to take down camp in no time and then head home.
It was a good trip overall. Most of the time, when I steelhead-fish, I don't get anything. But I definitely felt the fever that entraps us all. It was good to spend time with Butch. It was good to be out of town. It was just a good time.
Fire pit setup
Camp
Camp..isn't Butch's new truck nice! (That's the kind of truck I've always wanted.)
posted by geotracker12 at 6:59 PM
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