A great video of the journey made by these amazing fish.

Another great North Umpqua fly that I use often. It's hard to beat these videos from the Caddis Fly Shop for great instruction which show very clearly how this fly is tied. Barrett adds his own touch but there are obviously many ways to tie this fly. The basic profile/style of fly is the same for traditional summer steelhead flies. Tail,tag,tinsel,body,hackle,wing/over wing,head. A million variation on that theme will keep you at the vise for a lifetime. I find myself always changing the look of my flies a little as new materials,tools,hooks,etc become available. Sometimes you just get bored of the same old flies and want to make up something new.It's fun playing around.

A variation of the original skunk.This fly would work well anywhere steelhead swim. North Umpqua fish like the traditional patterns and I fish them often.A nice tutorial showing how simple this fly is to tie.

That's what I love about steelhead flies,they can be very simple(or as complex as you want) and there are endless variations,styles,materials and colors that can be used to produce a fly any steelhead would be proud to eat.

Start filling those boxes boys!

This is a way cool video of fellow river guide Mike Boyd and his operation. Neat way to show off the river and what it's all about.It isn't always the grip and grin shots that make it cool.Brian Huskey from Fishbite media nailed it!

I am always interested in what fish do and what gets them going.I wonder how many times this happens when we are by ourselves and can't see the fish from above as clearly.These are Atlantics of course and they are stacked in a bit more than the average steelhead lie,but they react much the same as Steelhead to the swung fly. Interesting to watch the fishes behavior.

Sometimes a second pass or a fly change when fishing a run may indeed be the right call when fishing for steelhead.

The last video is some more dry fly takes to get you jacked for summer. Notice the rises that don't hook up and what the angler does.....nothing, perfect.You got to wait on those things till you feel them on then lift the rod. Don't jerk it away from them for crying out loud!

A little info on the newer Salmon reels






And some tips to maintain your Hardy

The numbers of Spring Chinook coming over Winchester should be big this year as evidenced by the full window lately. A buddy and I went over recently to try our hand at catching one. We went to the good old boy hole and hooked two fish. Now I usually don't bait fish but when it comes to putting a slab away I can force myself. One got off and one was landed. 25lbs of pure chrome North Umpqua Springer. In my opinion, the best tasting salmon on the face of the earth. The fat content is so high it's like butter! Delicious!

It was actually fun to jaw jack with the old boys and see how those guys get along. You would never get 10 fly guys on the same rock and not have a war break out.

To follow up on my previous post,this video shows the importance of staying with a player.The video,although not the best quality, shows the necessity of making another drift or two after raising a grabby fish. In this instance the fish was so grabby that there was no need to even change flies. Just chuck the same fly out there and....Bingo! This is often the case with rested happy fish. They just can't stand it!

This fish rolls twice on the fly on two different occasions. I like how the fish rises again after Frank turns around to talk to his buddy.Finally the fish eats the fly and is stuck and he leaves the building after a jump and a short tussle. The hunt,and the cat and mouse game is the fun part of this method of fishing. Often it's not the landing of the fish that you remember it's the getting him to eat/commit to the fly that keeps us going.

Side note, the angler is Frank Cammack, a guy who has probably caught as many steelhead as about any man alive. Just goes to show that sometimes they just don't stick.