Winter hatchery Steelhead

It is always interesting to see where fish show up, and where they don’t.  Salmon, Steel head, or cutthroat, every year is different.  This year our hatchery plants were all screwed up by a virus in the hatchery a few years back, so we knew the run would probably be smaller than it has been.  But all ready there are some trends that don’t fit the mold, for instance significant numbers of hatchery fish returning to areas that supposedly didn’t get any planted.  Its always a bit of a crap shoot. Yesterday for instance we saw very few fish but they all bit well, making for a very good day quite quickly.  Today we saw tons more, and they wouldn’t really bite worth a damn, you could tell they wanted to, they would chase the fly around and nip at it, but not a lot of interest in chewing and swallowing.  Screw it.  That’s why they invented whiskey.

John, “Yo, Steelhead, get over here” Steelhead, “Oh Shit”

And Tomorrow?  Well, each rainstorm, and each weekend (nets are out on weekends) will bring a fresh shot of fish.

Jim Kerr

Rain Coast Guides