Well wasn't it a beautiful to be on the river yesterday? So fish or no
fish where would you rather be? We put in about noon and my friend Jomo
rowed us down the river from Plum Creek? thru Fall City and down to Neal Rd.
about 4 - 41/2 miles.
I bank fished between Fall City and Plum Creek in the rain and mist on
Saturday, only seeing two other fishermen all morning. Almost like winter
fishing except warmer.
What a difference a day makes. Canoes, kayaks, rafts, intertubes, jet
skis, jet sleds. If it floats it was on the river yesterday. I guess you
can tell I've never fished here in the summer for steelhead before. I
thought this only happened on the Yakima, silly me.
Well we did have some times where we weren't surrounded by people and
watercraft and below Fall City it got down right quiet. I flyfished off the
gravel bars and Jomo threw spinners and drift fished a fly on weighted line
with a bobber off the boat. He doesn't like to wade so he anchors at the end
of a run after dropping me off at the top and I fish down to him and we take
off again.
Between runs we pulled plugs on two rods as we worked down river. Jomo
loves to row, has fished this way for 20 years, and actually enjoys rowing
endlessly working the plugs back and forth across edges, watching the tips
of the rods for a telltale plunge.
So we've plugging down the quiet slower section after Fall City about 7
PM and we anchor up so I can use the "can". I making sure I hit the "can"
when Jomo yells "you've got a fish on". What's a guy to do? I couldn't
stop, ( Did I mention it was the first time today).
Jomo lunges forward grabs the rod out of the rod holder and the fight is
on. After I get squared away and reel in the second rod I go aft to get the
net and miss seeing the fish jump 3 ft out of the water right in front of
the boat. I net the fish and it's a a clipped 26" chrome bright steelhead.
We got the hook out, admired her, and slid her back into the river.
I'm really glad it worked out like it did. Jomo doesn't always get to
fish as much as the others in the boat because he's always rowing. I'd still
like like to catch my first Snoqualmie steely on a fly rod. We ended the
day with a beautiful sunset on the river. What a day!
Tight lines my friends,
Charlie
