Rmacneil656
12-18-2014, 12:42 PM
First Quick report: Just got back from Fishing the Trinity Saturday-Tuesday. With all the rain conditions were tough, but my dad and I managed at least 1 adult (hook up) a day with 4 adults fish landed on Tuesday.
Prologue: I have been swinging flies more and more since I purchased a two handed rod this summer. The best piece of advise I received was don't wait for the steel-head season to get dialed in, I spent a fair amount of no fish days just going to the river and practicing my cast-step-swing. I picked up a few fish in October on a dry line, but now that winter is here I've been working on swinging bigger sinking setups. Much different ball game! I also try and brush up on my steel-head knowledge whenever I can, I've spent countless hours on forums, blogs and websites trying to learn where fish should hold and what they should eat and what conditions are optimal.
Story: Sunday on the Trinity my dad and I went to explore the JC area of the Trinity. Man was the water high, but it was on the drop. A lot of the areas I wanted to fish had less than optimal conditions. After we decided to head back up to Douglas City I wanted to stop in and check out one of the Tributaries. By the time we hiked down to check out the river I knew there had to be fish there. I didn't bother taking my indicator rid out of the truck. The trib was running high, but clear, it created a big seam where it entered the river that has not been there at lower flows. I know the run to be about 3-5 feet deep. I literately said out loud to myself " if they'll be anywhere they'll be right there". I kept my cast short as the prime water was not very far of the gravel bar I was on. My fist cast swung just above the seam., it was a good test to see how fast the current was going and how much I could get down. My next cast was slightly upstream, I made a little mend and I took two big steps down to let the fly sink. Right as the fly came under tension it entered the seam and he was sitting right where he should be. I let him take 3 feet of line and then pinched the line against the rod and applied a bit of extra pressure to make sure the hook would set. Right at about this time I yelled to my father who was standing on the bank about 20 feet back "fish.....FISH!!". The fish immediately began to run down river. As I looked back at my dad he appeared puzzled, he had never witnessed a fish eat on the swing. With my rod tip still down I pointed to the reel as the fish peeled off about 50 feet of line. From there it was game on, I followed him down into deeper water and after and amazing battle I able to horse him out of the main current. My dad then mentioned to me that he left his net in the truck. I mentioned to him "I don't need the net, I'll tail him". I waded out a bit and bough him in close and rose him up horizontal in the water column. I grabbed him by the tail and while he didn't like that I managed to hold on. A few quick (wet) pictures and I removed the hook and sent him on his way. He left me with a grin and memory not to be forgotten.
To me Steelhead fishing is about persistence, not luck (although it can help!). However sometimes everything just works the way it should. Right fly (this time self tied), right place, right time and the right presentation. I thought that this story was worth sharing, and I hope it will help you look forward to your next trip just that much more. Cheers to all the cast step swing anglers out there!
1008010081
Prologue: I have been swinging flies more and more since I purchased a two handed rod this summer. The best piece of advise I received was don't wait for the steel-head season to get dialed in, I spent a fair amount of no fish days just going to the river and practicing my cast-step-swing. I picked up a few fish in October on a dry line, but now that winter is here I've been working on swinging bigger sinking setups. Much different ball game! I also try and brush up on my steel-head knowledge whenever I can, I've spent countless hours on forums, blogs and websites trying to learn where fish should hold and what they should eat and what conditions are optimal.
Story: Sunday on the Trinity my dad and I went to explore the JC area of the Trinity. Man was the water high, but it was on the drop. A lot of the areas I wanted to fish had less than optimal conditions. After we decided to head back up to Douglas City I wanted to stop in and check out one of the Tributaries. By the time we hiked down to check out the river I knew there had to be fish there. I didn't bother taking my indicator rid out of the truck. The trib was running high, but clear, it created a big seam where it entered the river that has not been there at lower flows. I know the run to be about 3-5 feet deep. I literately said out loud to myself " if they'll be anywhere they'll be right there". I kept my cast short as the prime water was not very far of the gravel bar I was on. My fist cast swung just above the seam., it was a good test to see how fast the current was going and how much I could get down. My next cast was slightly upstream, I made a little mend and I took two big steps down to let the fly sink. Right as the fly came under tension it entered the seam and he was sitting right where he should be. I let him take 3 feet of line and then pinched the line against the rod and applied a bit of extra pressure to make sure the hook would set. Right at about this time I yelled to my father who was standing on the bank about 20 feet back "fish.....FISH!!". The fish immediately began to run down river. As I looked back at my dad he appeared puzzled, he had never witnessed a fish eat on the swing. With my rod tip still down I pointed to the reel as the fish peeled off about 50 feet of line. From there it was game on, I followed him down into deeper water and after and amazing battle I able to horse him out of the main current. My dad then mentioned to me that he left his net in the truck. I mentioned to him "I don't need the net, I'll tail him". I waded out a bit and bough him in close and rose him up horizontal in the water column. I grabbed him by the tail and while he didn't like that I managed to hold on. A few quick (wet) pictures and I removed the hook and sent him on his way. He left me with a grin and memory not to be forgotten.
To me Steelhead fishing is about persistence, not luck (although it can help!). However sometimes everything just works the way it should. Right fly (this time self tied), right place, right time and the right presentation. I thought that this story was worth sharing, and I hope it will help you look forward to your next trip just that much more. Cheers to all the cast step swing anglers out there!
1008010081