Old Pulteney and steelhead

dflea

dflea

New Fish
Swaye's Wigwam
I heard that Yella was looking to catch himself a steelhead, so we rolled up to the Queets yesterday in search of the elusive sea-run rainbows.

We beat the water pretty thoroughly, and wound up scratching up one really hard-fighting hen that looked to be in the 12-13 lb range. Queets steelhead are 5-star caliber fish, the Sav'ell Smalls of steelhead if you will. The weather and scenery were nearly perfect, and Yella is a really good guy to spend a day on the river with.

When we got back to the truck, he busted out a bottle of Old Pulteney single malt. We had a couple pulls off the bottle, and savored a bit of Olympic National Park before heading back to the shit show of Pugetropolis. When Yella bailed, he refused to take the rest of the scotch with him, so I'm just waiting until noon today to dip back into it.

Thanks for joining me, Yella. We'll find you a steelhead. They can't avoid you forever.

 
There was lots of tuff, logging camp liberal takes as we drove along the muddy banks of the Wishkah.
 
I just with I could have pegged @puppylove_sugarsteel ’s painted beads on my tippet. I would have out fished Flea fer sure.
 
Going for the triple shit poast here. But forgot to mention that after driving by all the homesteads of the Grays Harbor dirtheads maybe I wouldn’t want to meet @creepycoug at 7-11 after all.
 
The late run winters that still exist in numbers on the queets and some of the other peninsula rivers are something we don't see much of along the Columbia. I made a few trios up iin the early 2000s but the timing was always off. Skunked on the Hoh, Queets, and Solduck.

Thinking about a smooth catch and release of a wild, 13lb hen has me day dreaming. Over a year without a rod caught steelhead...
 
I requested pictures of this trip a week ago Yella and you have failed me.

29e80918887fb395a9d85c7f025895e5840c7e35485b53767c1fc6a9bc49b552.jpg

 
I requested pictures of this trip a week ago Yella and you have failed me.

29e80918887fb395a9d85c7f025895e5840c7e35485b53767c1fc6a9bc49b552.jpg
Click to expand...

Flea's caught so many fish he doesn't even get out the camera unless it's over 20 lbs. Me - I would have taken pics if it was over 8.1 lbs.
 
The late run winters that still exist in numbers on the queets and some of the other peninsula rivers are something we don't see much of along the Columbia. I made a few trios up iin the early 2000s but the timing was always off. Skunked on the Hoh, Queets, and Solduck.

Thinking about a smooth catch and release of a wild, 13lb hen has me day dreaming. Over a year without a rod caught steelhead...
Click to expand...

So I was talking to my neighbor last night who just got back from a 6 day trip to Vancouver Island with his dad. They are both fly guys and don't know how good of anglers they are, but they both got skunked over six days. Steelheading is hard work, I tell you and it ain't getting any easier between declining habitat and all the @Swaye 's netting fish for the white devils have a shot.
 
The late run winters that still exist in numbers on the queets and some of the other peninsula rivers are something we don't see much of along the Columbia. I made a few trios up iin the early 2000s but the timing was always off. Skunked on the Hoh, Queets, and Solduck.

Thinking about a smooth catch and release of a wild, 13lb hen has me day dreaming. Over a year without a rod caught steelhead...
Click to expand...

So I was talking to my neighbor last night who just got back from a 6 day trip to Vancouver Island with his dad. They are both fly guys and don't know how good of anglers they are, but they both got skunked over six days. Steelheading is hard work, I tell you and it ain't getting any easier between declining habitat and all the @Swaye 's netting fish for the white devils have a shot.
Click to expand...

Red man's revenge! HAHAHHAHAHAH! I have heard steelheading makes my little brown trout excursions look like child's play.
 
The late run winters that still exist in numbers on the queets and some of the other peninsula rivers are something we don't see much of along the Columbia. I made a few trios up iin the early 2000s but the timing was always off. Skunked on the Hoh, Queets, and Solduck.

Thinking about a smooth catch and release of a wild, 13lb hen has me day dreaming. Over a year without a rod caught steelhead...
Click to expand...

So I was talking to my neighbor last night who just got back from a 6 day trip to Vancouver Island with his dad. They are both fly guys and don't know how good of anglers they are, but they both got skunked over six days. Steelheading is hard work, I tell you and it ain't getting any easier between declining habitat and all the @Swaye 's netting fish for the white devils have a shot.
Click to expand...

Red man's revenge! HAHAHHAHAHAH! I have heard steelheading makes my little brown trout excursions look like child's play.
Click to expand...

I've only gambled in the hatchet packers casino once and took their money and run. But they got me this time on the migratory fish.
 
The fish I landed was tuff, so I had to fight it a while before landing it. I wasn't going to bash it in the head, so I figured getting her back in the river quickly was the right thing to do.

Probably should have taken a photo so the story would actually be real, though.

I could still get a photo of the single malt.
 
The late run winters that still exist in numbers on the queets and some of the other peninsula rivers are something we don't see much of along the Columbia. I made a few trios up iin the early 2000s but the timing was always off. Skunked on the Hoh, Queets, and Solduck.

Thinking about a smooth catch and release of a wild, 13lb hen has me day dreaming. Over a year without a rod caught steelhead...
Click to expand...

So I was talking to my neighbor last night who just got back from a 6 day trip to Vancouver Island with his dad. They are both fly guys and don't know how good of anglers they are, but they both got skunked over six days. Steelheading is hard work, I tell you and it ain't getting any easier between declining habitat and all the @Swaye 's netting fish for the white devils have a shot.
Click to expand...

I've been spoiled with some exclusive access to ridiculous steelhead fishing and lost that grit that I used to have. I worked hard but with near guaranteed success for six years. That well ran dry two years ago, the runs have crashed, and I haven't been willing to put in a day of tromping around, falling in the river, and beating the shit out of myself with no guarantees.

It's coming back though. I've got the bug again. The gear bins, vest and rods have been dusted off. Good chance of a recovery this summer at least for the Snake bound A runs. I'm going to fish even if nothing else gets done.
 
The late run winters that still exist in numbers on the queets and some of the other peninsula rivers are something we don't see much of along the Columbia. I made a few trios up iin the early 2000s but the timing was always off. Skunked on the Hoh, Queets, and Solduck.

Thinking about a smooth catch and release of a wild, 13lb hen has me day dreaming. Over a year without a rod caught steelhead...
Click to expand...

So I was talking to my neighbor last night who just got back from a 6 day trip to Vancouver Island with his dad. They are both fly guys and don't know how good of anglers they are, but they both got skunked over six days. Steelheading is hard work, I tell you and it ain't getting any easier between declining habitat and all the @Swaye 's netting fish for the white devils have a shot.
Click to expand...

FIRST

NATIONS BITCH!
 
Going for the triple shit poast here. But forgot to mention that after driving by all the homesteads of the Grays Harbor dirtheads maybe I wouldn’t want to meet @creepycoug at 7-11 after all.
Click to expand...

I'd just have to get inside that reach Yella. Then it's all bidness.

But then again, all you'd have to do is Larry Holmes jab all day and you'd beat my handsome face to a pulp.

As a middle aged 5'10" guy who sits on his brains all day, I'll just concede to the younger Yella rowboat. Anybody who can make a varsity boat at Washington Damn It![/i] is probably someone I don't want to tangle wit unless they're in their 70s.

Glad you guys hooked up and had a good tim.

 
Going for the triple shit poast here. But forgot to mention that after driving by all the homesteads of the Grays Harbor dirtheads maybe I wouldn’t want to meet @creepycoug at 7-11 after all.
Click to expand...

I'd just have to get inside that reach Yella. Then it's all bidness.

But then again, all you'd have to do is Larry Holmes jab all day and you'd beat my handsome face to a pulp.

As a middle aged 5'10" guy who sits on his brains all day, I'll just concede to the younger Yella rowboat. Anybody who can make a varsity boat at Washington Damn It![/i] is probably someone I don't want to tangle wit unless they're in their 70s.

Glad you guys hooked up and had a good tim.
Click to expand...

We were wondering on the drive how a little brown kid survived in a tuff logging town.
 
Going for the triple shit poast here. But forgot to mention that after driving by all the homesteads of the Grays Harbor dirtheads maybe I wouldn’t want to meet @creepycoug at 7-11 after all.
Click to expand...

I'd just have to get inside that reach Yella. Then it's all bidness.

But then again, all you'd have to do is Larry Holmes jab all day and you'd beat my handsome face to a pulp.

As a middle aged 5'10" guy who sits on his brains all day, I'll just concede to the younger Yella rowboat. Anybody who can make a varsity boat at Washington Damn It![/i] is probably someone I don't want to tangle wit unless they're in their 70s.

Glad you guys hooked up and had a good tim.
Click to expand...

We were wondering on the drive how a little brown kid survived in a tuff logging town.
Click to expand...

By being tuffer.

 
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