My first thought was, "shit, January is coastal Steelhead time and that's where we are gonna go." So that's what I said we should do and he said, "Sounds Good!!"
Well, about two months go by and he starts coming up with some other plans to fish this small tributary to the one of the big northern Steelhead rivers. I didn't say no because I was cool with anything as long as we hit the coast on the way back for at least a day. My goal was to swing flies only and the small tributary would only be nymphing.
Well, with about 4 days left until the trip, he had to bail because of a family issue, understandable. I was bummed but thought, well, I can do whatever I want now.
I swung flies for the first two days and didn't touch a fish. I fished 3 different rivers. On the afternoon of the third day I faced a dilemma. I knew fish were in the river and that guys were getting them on egg patterns.
Now, I know some people will say, "oh man you have to stick with it!" "The swing is the thing!" etc... And I agree with that, but I really wanted to feel the pull of a fresh Pacific Steelhead so I admit, I turned to the darkside. If I had the opportunity to fish the coast more often, I would probably have stuck with the swing but there are plans in the works to move out of Cali already so this might be my last trip.
I also had to consider how lucky I was that everything lined up. The weather was clear, the river was low and clear AND there were fish waiting for the next rain.
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| Jeep compared to a Redwood |
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| This slide was huge. Probably blew out the river for a whole season |
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| Camp Site at the Coast |
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| Ocean in the distance |
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| Jeep trail and takeout |
