Brothers Bryce and Ron Downey joined me on the Willamette on Wednesday, the 29th, in search of some late season summer steelhead. They had just finished two days fishing with upper Rogue flyfishing guru, Michael Gorman. Naturally, expectations were high!
The river was runnning about a foot higher than summer level, so we decided on a longer float through the section above Springfield. By lunch Bryce and Ron had each landed some nice wild trout as well as a "half-pounder" steelhead of about 16 inches. After lunch Bryce landed a nice 8 lb hen on a nymph. High fives all around! We found some good trout action on October caddis dries in the afternoon, but Ron still dreamed of that elusive steelhead. He came close and had one on but lost it due (we found later) to a broken hook point. Oops! Always check your flies, Matt!
Coming into the last pool of the day, we all hoped for a fish for Ron who had come all the way from Virginia for his first steelhead. Not only did he get a fish, he landed two, the last a scorcher that jumped four times and ran deep into the backing. Bryce got in on the action there too, hooking and losing a nice one. That last pool was the day-maker! You never know when it will happen. You've just got to keep swinging!
Check out some photos from the day:
