On the spur of the moment, Al Goldner emailed on Monday hoping to book a trip for the next day, Tuesday, August 11th. As luck would have it, I had a the day open on the calendar, so we agreed to meet for a float on the Willamette at 5:30 a.m.
Already an experienced steelheader, Al was hoping to get some reps with his newish spey outfit and see some new water. It didn't take him long to get the hang of the double spey cast and the snap-T, and he was soon in such a good rhythm that he almost forgot that he might actually catch a steelhead at any moment. Towards the lower half of the second run of the morning, a sharp pull and a loud chirp from his reel reminded him of the stakes of the game. Once hooked, the 6 lb hen had little chance of escape, and Al soon lifted it from the net for a photo.
Through the next few runs, Al landed a steelhead, a buck of around 8 pounds, hooked and lost another and had one other grab. Not bad since it was only 8 a.m.
The rest of the float was punctuated by interludes of dry fly action for 8-13 inch cutthroats as we swung our way towards the take out. With the boat landing in sight, in the high sun of the early afternoon, Al hooked up on the last swing of the day, landing yet another nice 8 lb hen. A perfect ending to a great day of fishing. All within 20 minutes of downtown Eugene.
You gotta love the "dog days" of summer in the southern Willamette Valley!
Here are some images from Al's day on the river:
