A Guides Vacation

 A brief slow down in what has been an otherwise busy season allowed for a quick sojourn to fish a fantastic summer steelhead destination, the North Umpqua River.

 Upstream view from Mott Bridge.

 Brian firing a cast on a sexy piece of water.

 Another stunning piece of water.

 Breakfast beer? Why thank you:)

Stunning! Rip Rap Pool.

 Incredible sunset as viewed from Ledges Pool

 Shooter looking bored as Brian makes a cast at Bogus.

 Shooter hanging out with me as I pulse a skater on a classic tailout.

Yes!! I finally came tight to a nice fish in Lower Mott on a Coon Muddler swung on a sink tip. The line burned my fingers as this fish took its initial run. After a nice aerial display and another run a broken tippet led to an early release for a great fish. Wish I could have tailed this one!

Love this river and if the fishing gods allow I will head back for a few more days in August to try my luck again. Until then, visions of a large summer fish leaping out of the pool will have to hold my thoughts!

A fishing report

After what seemed like an eternity I actually got out and wet a line. This semester at FRC was more demanding than I would have liked and I had to put my guide service and personal fishing on hold. I read fishing reports religiously and lived vicariously through friends posts on Facebook...and I almost went insane! While I was very happy for my buddies who were getting after it this fall, it was hell not having the time to fish or guide for that matter.




As the semester was winding down, I finally bit the bullet and went to the Trinity River to fish for steelhead. I made my way to Pidgeon Pt where I like to camp and got settled in. It was raining lightly and in the mid 50's...pretty nice steelheading weather. I rigged up my Sage Z-Axis 6110 switch rod for the next morning and drank down a couple of Steelhead Extra Pale Ales by the campfire.


The next morning I fished the camp water for no luck. It took me a bit to get my rhythm, but eventually the meditation like cast, swing , step washed away the stress of school and I felt like I was where I needed to be. I spent the day swinging flies through a few favorite runs without so much as a tap-tap. The rain was off and on throughout the day and before it got too late I decided to return to camp to dry out and warm up. Bruce showed up in camp later in the evening and we proceeded to swap lies and drink more Steelhead Ales than was necessary around the campfire. Bruce and I have been steelheading together for a few years now and each time we get together it is always a good time!

We fished the camp water in the morning where Bruce lost the only fish he hooked. We decided to head up river to fish and explore a little. Pressure on the river was light and we got into a run that I hadn't fished in a few years. A few casts in my line comes tight! After 3 jumps and 2 solid runs I get the fish into shallow water to land it. A decent 25" hatchery fish. I blow the photo op and only have this pic as proof.


I didn't have another grab and Bruce had to take off that afternoon so I fished my way back to camp and more beer and campfire.

I fished for a few hours the next morning before driving home to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my family.

The next week would fly by and I made my way back to Pidgeon Pt to meet up with my longtime fishing partner Greg. Greg and I met at Pyramid Lake years ago and have spent lots of time on the water together. We haven't been on the Trinity together for a few years so it was a great opportunity to fish this awesome river again.

Greg was first to hook up that morning at a spot that I had explored the week before.

A colored up hatchery buck of about 25". The best part is he picked the pocket of two guide boats that had just fished through this spot!


My chance came later as I hooked and landed a nice hatchery hen at the same spot that I got one the week before.

This fish ate a green butt spey fly that I had been carrying in my box for a couple of years. Pretty sweet! It was very satisfying to get a fish on a spey fly that I tied.

Did I say it was cold? This trip was clear and cold with freezing fog and ice in the guides in the morning. So we chased the sun in the early afternoon to try and warm up.

Greg landed another nice fish at the spot he caught one the day before.



On our final morning it was so cold that my reel was frozen and I had to spend 10 minutes to get it somewhat operational. I had to continually pull line off the reel to keep it working. Unfortunately when I hooked a fish a bit later I was unable to keep it on as my reel froze on its first run. Man that sucked,but what can you do

It was great to get in a few days of fishing and now the semester is at an end and I should have a bit more time to spend on the water. Yay!!

No More Plastic Bottles

I am proud to introduce my new stainless steel water bottles that will replace all plastic bottles on my guide trips. We, as a culture, need to reduce our reliance on the use of plastic water bottles, so I am affecting change where I can. These bottles are free to my clients and I was going to charge a nominal fee to non-clients,but after further thought they are free for the taking to anyone!

Fall is here and I have ventured north for my first steelhead trip of the season. I spent 2 days on the Trinity swing prime water with my new Sage 6110 Z-Axis switch rod. Pretty nice rod that casts well, but I didn't get to feel how it handles an adult steelie.Though it totally dominates smolts!!

With plans to meet Brian Slusser (Four Seasons Fly fishing 530 386 0525) for a drift on the Klamath changing due to his continued success with clients on the Rogue, I made the 4 hour drive to Grants Pass,Or. We did a short drift below town where I landed 2 half pounders and two coastal cutthroat, but no adults. Brian hooked two adults that he couldn't keep on. Zac Kaufman, head guide for Morrison's Lodge ( 800 826 1963) was also fishing with us and he landed a beautiful coastal cutthroat. The fish were there,but we weren't connecting with adults.

The next day Brian and I fished below Hellgate Canyon at a spot called Carpenters Island. Big beautiful pocket water that was fun to fish. I was confident that we would find fish this morning but alas no adults were hooked.The Rogue is a large river that has perfect steelhead water and is ideal for Spey fishing. I am heading back that way next week for a few more days.

If anyone is looking for a guide for the Rogue, I highly recommend Brian Slusser! He is super knowledgeable, a great teacher and can put you on fish in a mudpuddle! He still has some available dates left this month before he heads back to the Truckee so if your interested in tangling with Rogue steel give him a call;530 386 0525.

A Visual Ode to Steelhead