Steelhead Paradise!

May 1, 2008

Reality sucks. And the reality of the situation is I’m not in British Columbia anymore, chasing the province’s unbelievable steelhead. Good thing I have a family to come home to to brighten my spirits or I may be about 3/4 of the way through a bottle of whiskey by now…

The Vin Man, Matt “Go Home” Kinne and I had a sweet time in the Skeena Valley with our buds from West Coast Fishing Adventures. Here are some pix:

While we didn’t land any B.C. beasts this mission, we still managed a solid number of mid to upper teens jobs like this one Vin Man caught in some seriously hot water at the head of a ripping run…

Rockin’ the beard for the first few days, “all” I caught were chrome hens like this beauty…

Of course, the biggest fish in BC are the bucks, so I figured if the chicks were diggin’ the beard, maybe it was time to bust out the ol’ Mach III. I shaved for days 4-5 and…well…it was more hens. Maybe it’s just me the chicks are into?? Too bad I didn’t have that mojo working in high school.

Kinne also seemed to have his way with the ladies…

We had fantastic weather, which was a blessing and a bit of a curse. Without rain, the rivers were absolute trickles and it seemed like there weren’t a ton of fish around. However, we got a good night of rain and a bunch of chromers came in. The fishing was very solid that day, but, unfortunately, the river continued to rise the next day and it got tough again.

But we kept chipping away at ‘em…This beauty was in a small pocket that we worked over pretty hard. It bit once but the hook didn’t stick. Before we bailed out, Kinne threw him a changeup by tossing a jig under a float and caught the steelie on the first cast.

In the evenings, we had some good laughs playing Guitar Hero in the lodge’s lounge. I think I’ve got a new addiction….

Though gloomy in our hearts, the last day featured gorgeous weather…and Vin Man caught this immaculate chromer below a waterfall in one of the most beautiful spots you’ll ever fish. It was a fitting end to a great trip.

Now, as hard as it is to get thinking about fishing at home, those topwater stripers are calling…