Fall Trout Fishing Was Totally On Fire!!! - Along with Steelhead Bonus!

Yesterday I ran a fall trout trip for two regulars, and we completely got into them BIG TIME! The fishing was off the hook, and I mean the best day you could possibly have out there. We even lucked out with an incidentally caught steelhead on a 8.5' five weight rod on a #10 orange softhackle. We almost had a huge steelhead eat a 9" fat rainbow when Rose was about to land it. I saw the fish slash at the trout like a shark, and Dave and I yelled to leave the trout hanging out there to see if the fish would wolf it down. It slashed on the surface with a toilet flushing boil, but it never quite committed to the swirling trout. I even had Dave swing a leech to the fish, and it slashed at the offering two times before disappearing out of the picture. That is the third time in my life that I have witnessed a steelhead trying to go after a fish being reeled in. At first I thought bull trout, and then you can see the colors of a large male steelhead. Craziness!

Bald Eagle Perched Above Willamette River

The first hot line ripping fin clipped "half pounder" like steelhead of the day

Besides catching lots and lots of rainbows and cutthroats, we had several fish that were hot as a rocket with airs and line ripping runs. They turned out to be immature steelhead that were fin-clipped and they had an ocean freshness look about them. I decided to clean one, and gutted it to see that it had orange sea run flesh to it. We'll see how it tastes tonight when I try it out. How strange that the Willamette River has a little surge of strange little "half pounder" steelhead that have come up it. We happened to hooked into about four or five of them, and they were hot fish that perplexed me for why they were there. Just shows what you see when you are out there all of the time.....

This Fall Caddis Pupa Pattern Swung Down & Across Was A Hot Ticket

Swinging wet flies was super productive, and we took fish on a #18 blue winged olive softhackle, a #14 yellow softhackle, a #10 orange softhackle, and a #10 October Caddis Pupa. Never had to change the flies all day from what I had showed up with from the start of the trip.

 Admiring the Hot Powerful Willamette River Immature Half Pounder Type Steelhead

  Fishing with a foam bodied fall caddis dry fly with a possie bugger nymph in a #10 was also super productive. We caught fish all day long on that set up from the start to the end, and the fish were eating the nymph with a little bit more frequency throughout the day, but the dry fly had plenty of attention, and some of the biggest trout of the day were on the dry fly.

One of Several Doubles Where Two Fish Took Each of the Two Flies

Doubles happened several times, and they seemed to occur when the "bite" was really on fire. It would be so good where I would have them bringing the lines back in to go on to the next spot, and a double would happen when trying to have that be the "last cast" in the spot. Then we would get another double on the next "last cast". It was like you practically couldn't keep them off the end of your line.

Rose Showing Off Another Fine Willamette River Double Catch on One Cast

Just when you thought things couldn't get any better; then whammo!    Steelhead On!! The fish was hot as a rocket, with so many line ripping runs on the 5wt. We had it in a great spot to fight it, and Rose battled the fish until it yielded to the net. We were all so STOKED!! What a day to have experienced!

This Willamette River Steelhead Was Taken on a #10 Orange Softhackle on a 8.5' 5wt Fly Rod

How can you beat being all alone on a river, with fish biting on everything you are giving to them throughout the entire day from start to finish. All sizes of trout from small to as nice as they come on the Willamette River, and filled with Cutthroats, Rainbows, and a Steelhead to put the icing on the cake. Fall is so awesome!!

One of the Many Gorgeous Coastal Cutthroats - Willamette River

As long as the weather holds up, we will have wonderful fishing opportunities abound. Don't miss the best fishing of the 2011 calender year. This fall is proving to have the best fishing of the year!!

Dave checking out another fin-clipped half pounder type immature steelhead