October 24th, Rogue River

Some days, finding a single steelhead can further challenge a guide’s sanity and, despite yesterday’s number approaching double digits, sometimes the only constant on the river is change. Saturday morning arrived early, especially after celebrating Friday’s fish with an evening of margaritas and tequila. Nonetheless, any lingering effects from enjoying a few took a backseat to the prospect of another tailed steelhead. The morning passed quickly as Susan and Cheryl fished through beautiful water and by noon, each kissed a fish. That afternoon, Cheryl switched boats and my wife, Rachel, joined us. She founded the Mayflies eight years ago and cherishes every relationship and cast shared with them over the years. Of course, big fish titles make her smile too.

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October 23rd, Rogue River

This October marked the fifth anniversary of the Shasta Mayflies annual two-day trip to Southern Oregon and the Rogue River. Overcast skies and a mild morning created a buzz amongst the group of nine women as bets were placed before dawn. Judith and Sandy always fish hard with smiling faces regardless of weather, fish counts or reports and today they found steelhead early and often. After releasing a couple of half-pounders, the adult steelhead showed up and turned a great day into an unforgettable one. The exclamation point added by two steelhead, a coastal cutthroat and a silver salmon all from the same run. Turns out, Sandy’s silver was 1 of only 25 counted over Gold Ray Dam by the date!

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October 21st, Klamath River

Since becoming a father myself this past spring, fishing with fathers and sons means something different than just a few months ago. Wednesday morning Don and Kevin wadered up on the banks of the upper Klamath ready to start a three-day fishing trip. Both admitted to busy schedules and a lack of any recent fishing but any rust failed to show. Again, the river fished well from put-in to take-out with a mix of half-pounders and adults keeping the net wet all day. Don kept his hooking to landing ratio near perfect by putting the wood to every fish. His largest, landed on a rod splintered by a heavy, stubborn buck. Kevin’s last cast yielded his third steelhead in as many drifts. The wild hen, a fitting symbol of the day: Perfect.

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Oct 20th,Klamath River

With “indicator” dry flies now filling a bin or two at most fly shops, it’s no secret that trout will take a bobber off the surface so, why not steelhead or salmon? It happened within minutes of threading one onto Mont’s leader Tuesday morning leaving us slack-jawed and leaderless. Once retied, the morning’s fishing settled into a more consistent rhythm with a mix of half-pounders and adults taking stonefly and egg patterns. As more Chinook pair up over redds, the crowds targeting them even a week ago are gone and cooler water temperatures have spread steelhead out beyond choppy riffles and tailouts. Mont fished well throughout the day and the near constant pull of Klamath River half-pounders hardly rested his tennis elbow.

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October 14th, Rogue River

The idea of Mayrene traveling back to Memphis without netting a fish did not set well. After her first steelhead of the morning parted too soon with a souvenir in its jaw, the boat fell silent. Everyone wanted that fish. We retied and fished on without moving anything through several runs. Nancy broke the spell on another heavy steelhead at the head of a riffle that quickly spit the hook and left us wondering. Another fish cleared the water seconds later and brought everyone right back. It leaped three more times, ultimately landing in the bottom of the net still connected to Mayrene’s leader. She had finally landed her first wild steelhead and as the boat drifted towards the take-out, Nancy landed one of her own.

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October 13th, Rogue River

The sound of heavy rain pounding the roof and strong wind through the trees rung through my ears before dawn and the TV forecast didn’t look any better. Wind warnings and the promise of constant, heavy rain, dominated the news. Nonetheless, Nancy and Mayrene arrived in the hotel lobby with waders on and a determined look in their eyes. We decided on a short float in case things went from bad to worse and hit the road. Forty minutes later at the put-in, the storm simply vanished. Everyone knew not to talk about our fortunate situation and just fished, hard. This day belonged to Nancy as she started by landing a beautiful coastal cutthroat and ended it by releasing her second steelhead of the afternoon.

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October 12th, Rogue River

Mayrene called a few weeks before her 3-day trip on the upper Rogue to make sure she showed up with the right equipment and expressed some concern regarding her inexperience pursuing steelhead. She assured me that her fishing partner, Nancy, was a seasoned angler and hoped that between the two of them, someone would find a fish. In return, I assured her that steelhead will eat a well-presented fly regardless of who puts it there and left it at that. Sure enough, a steelhead found Mayrene’s fly first and promptly straightened the hook while Nancy followed with another that shook the fly on its first run. With the light fading and the take-out around the corner, two more steelhead came unbuttoned and, as the forecast predicted, heavy clouds rolled in and threatened tomorrow’s shot at redemption.

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