Steelheading has been consistent lately, where you can assume you are going to have some action out there. It is still steelhead fly fishing; where you can assume you are going to have to work hard for each fish, and they are always considered a fish of a 1000 casts. The thing is that once the light angles change, and water temperatures start to cool back off, it causes the fish to become more active and aggressive. Coming up the spring Chinook salmon will come into the shallows to spawn, and from then on out, the steelhead fly fishing typically gets better and better before the fall rains inundate the river with swollen winter flows. Once the salmon die off after they spawn, the summer steelhead become the bosses of the water. They will become the dominant fish in the water, but for the next few weeks they must bow down to the salmon. As the salmon weaken and spawn losing the last valuable percentages of life, the steelhead sneak around them and start picking off spawn drifting down the river.
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| Summer Steelhead on tight to the end of Will's line! |
I have cut open hatchery steelhead to see gobs of eggs in their stomach chambers; so you can bet that these fish start to get really active from about here on out. Between swinging flies in vast runs, and nymphing slots in tight quartered spots, you can have some banner days in the fall fishing for summer run steelhead. With the Willamette Valley having a tremendous steelhead run this year, you can expect some days with consistent good catches, and the best is yet to come "fishing-wise". Fall steelheading is something I look forward to all year, and it is basically time for that. Fall is full of wonderful fly fishing opportunities; so don't miss out on what most people feel is the best time of the year to get out and go fishing. Get yourself out there to feel that tight line grab of a feisty summer steelhead!
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| A swung Motion Prawn claimed this summer steelhead....... |
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