Happy New Year and welcome to another great year of fishing, 2002. For the most part we have been having a mild winter, with some snow. We took a week and have been fishing the local streams for winter Steelhead. After a weekend of hard rain we ventured out to try our luck. Rumours surrounding us were that the fishing was hot, so we had to check it out for ourselves. We started on the upper Kalum because the river had come up about ten inches over the weekend so to me that means the fish have moved up river closer to the lake. Because of the mild conditions and restricted access with a driftboat we were hiking. This was fine and dandy as far as we were concerned. This made for a stalking surprise for all those steelies that were hugging the rivers bank in the early morning.
The upper river has some interesting water. With many creek mouths to fish, as well as deep slow pools in loads of places, and the odd tail-out, which I like the best. We hooked into a few and landed a beauty resident, with the colours indicative of a Steelhead. The steelies just were not that interested. I decided to throw some hardware at the greenish brown waters, but to no avail. We fished till late afternoon taking in the scenery and the odd sunny break, as you can tell by the snap I got of the snow capped mountains in the far distance.
The population of Bald Eagles were in the tens as the sky and large tree branches were always watching, not to mention the distinctive cry these huge birds possess.
Next day we got out to a early start again, the crack of 09:30 AM, as it only gets light at around 09:00 AM. The rod guides were freezing instantly but as the sun made its way through the mist we were back in business. The river was gin clear, so today I was going to use a light leader. Eight pound (Big Game) test. The first run we encountered was a tail-out with large rocks for cover. The first cast, and boom! a steelie hit like a freight train, jumping out of the water and doing some incredible acrobatics. This was a fresh ocean Steelie, dime bright. We released the nice buck unharmed. Two casts later, again, fish on! This tail-out was smokin and was typical Steelhead water.
We walked and fished a mile of riverbank, encountering fallen trees and guess what another tail-out. My partner for the day was local fisherman, Jeremy Brady, quite experienced as he proved himself the day before, sniffing out a fish after I had pounded the same water. That is what made me change to the light leader. Anyway, it took a matter of minutes and Jeremy was into a steelie and a second later it was gone. As he reloaded, my float was passing the same water and down it went, only to get a head shake in response. The two anglers who walked in across from us were watching in disbelief as we played with this elusive fish or fishes, were not to sure.
We ended the day with satisfaction and a cold beer for our efforts. The Steelies that we targeted were very picky and presentation was key. The small corkies and cheaters were working well. The most effective was the pink worm with the light leader. Unfortunately, we snapped off a couple fish on account of this light gear.
Which is the subject of my angler tip: Picky Steelies are leader shy and as soon as I changed from a twelve pound down to a eight pound leader, fish were interested again.
The Cutthroat and Dolly Varden were also in the river, very fresh and weighing about three to six pounds. A good sign for the early season.
We will be guiding the Month of March for the whole season, so book early to get the time slot you want. We have been making changes to the site so check it out and enjoy. Tight Lines and Stiff Rods! www.steelheadheaven.ca
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Marty
Welcome to my home ...
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