The salmon spawn is on

After my previous fishing trip, I had planned to get out on the water as soon as possible to catch the first major wave of spawners entering the river, but life or more specifically, COVID had other plans and made sure that fishing was not in the cards for the foreseeable future. Luckily, by the time early September rolled around and the salmon spawn really got going, I was back up and running, and Dyllon and I were able to pull away for an afternoon of fishing.

A beautiful day to be on the river

Compared to our last outing, we lucked out on the weather this time and had a bluebird afternoon with the river all to ourselves, and better yet, the salmon were starting to spawn in earnest. I started out in a small side channel of the river, where a female Chinook was actively digging a redd, surrounded by five satellite males. However, after a couple of casts failed to produce any signs of trout and one of the males went after my bead rig, I decided to move on to a riffle just upstream, where Dyllon had already hooked one trout. It didn't take long for me to hook into a decent fish as well. After a short fight with plenty of jumping and several good runs, I brought a beautiful leopard-spotted native Coastal Rainbow to hand.

A beautiful, heavily spotted native Rainbow

After I released that fish, we continued to work the side channel for another 30 minutes, hooking into several other fish but only managing to land a couple of smaller trout. After covering that piece of water, we headed further upstream, but the fishing proved to be slower than usual. However, after a couple of bends, we found an area where the salmon were really packed in and started getting into some trout again.

Salmon on their redds

While we did hook into a few decent fish, we did manage to land any, but I did get one particularly interesting looking Rainbow that was dime bright and had a spotting pattern more typically of a steelhead. 

A surprisingly bright Rainbow

Several years back, it was fish similar to this one that sparked a research project was part of affectionately called the "Biggie Smalls Project," (bigger than typical stream resident Rainbows but smaller than typical steelhead) which was focused on investigating whether these mid-size (14" to 20") Rainbows were using marine waters for part of their life. For that project, we looked at the micro-chemistry of non-lethally extracted pectoral fin rays to see whether any of our sampled fish had been in marine water. What we found was that most of the Rainbows in this size class appeared to be lifelong freshwater inhabitants, with all of the fish that were definitely anadromous either being Coastal Cutthroat or Cutthroat-Rainbow hybrids. We also found that the Rainbows were able to reach their larger sizes due to marine-derived food from Pacific Salmon and other species (lamprey). However, we weren't able to fully rule out that the fish weren't doing short-term migrations between watersheds, as a recent study by Munsch et al. showed is happening, we did find some evidence of this as well, with tagged fish turning of in distant watersheds and fish from a nearby conservation hatchery end up in our watershed. Whether or not this fish was just a bright individual, a late smolt, or a marine wanderer is something I will have to scratch my head about, but it was a fun encounter.

At this point, we had covered quite a bit of water, and the sun was starting to get low in the sky, so it was time to pull ourselves away from the river, although I certainly had plans in place to return soon.

Time to hit the road

And about a week after Dyllon and I hit the river, I did indeed return, and this time was to share this fishery with a couple of my Trout Unlimited colleagues Rob and Alexei. It is always amazing what a difference a week makes during the salmon spawning season, as by this point the Chinook were starting to tail off and the Chum, while still dense and actively spawning were starting to show much more wear than they had on my previous outing.

We started off on the same section of water where Dyllon and I had started our day and as neither Alexei or Rob had fished this river before I walked them through the tactics I use and put them on some of my favorite water. While the did have several hookups, this fishing proved to be a little slower than usual.

Alexei working a good stretch of water

Before we headed upstream to try some more promising water, I decided to give one of the more challenging pieces of water where you have to get just the right cast to get your gear to drift over a bucket with thick vegetation over it. After a couple of tries, I got that drift, and right before I thought it was a dud and I was going to have to pull my gear out, my indicator shot under, and I hooked into a nice fish. While the Rainbows typically immediately shoot out of the water, this fish stayed down and deep, but wasn't afraid to take a run into the next pool downstream. However, I had a solid hookset, and after a couple of minutes, I brought a gorgeous, thick upper teens Coastal Cutthroat to the net.

My first fish of the day, a beautiful, bright native Cutthroat

Admiring my Cutthroat before release

After releasing the Cutthroat, we continued upstream to a hole where Dyllon and I had hooked a few fish the week before. I had Rob and Alexei work this spot as I really wanted to see that get into some fish and it didn't take long before Rob hooked a decent Rainbow, that despite not being on of the big ones we were looking for put up a nice fight before coming to the net.

A heavily spotted native Rainbow

After netting and releasing that first fish, I decided to play around photographing some of the salmon with an underwater housing that I got for my phone. While my phone's camera isn't the best, I was pretty happy with how the shot below turned out.

  

Chum Salmon on the spawning grounds

Releasing a Rainbow

After the fishing slowed down at this hole, we headed upstream to try one last piece of water. I had Alexei and Rob work a riffle that has been one of the best producers in my experience, while I tried a shallow riffle just upstream that has been hit or miss at best, and where I hadn't previously had any luck as flows as low as we had on this outing. However, there is a first for everything, and after a couple casts behind a late pair of spawning Chinook at the head of the riffle where the water was only about 8" to 12" deep, my indicator shot under, and I hooked into an absolutely massive Rainbow. When the fish rolled, it was so thick, I was half surprised that I hadn't seen its back sticking out of the water. After that, the fish started to run, and unfortunately, as this had been a particularly long cast, I don't think I had the best hook set, and as the fish made a head shake, my rig came fly back at me. If I had to guess I would place this fish somewhere between 23" and 25". Fish this size are a rarity in the river and I my experience typically only get one or two shots at these big Rainbows, which made losing this one hurt all the more.

After collecting myself and getting my head back in the game I decided to put another cast in where I had hooked the big Rainbow on the off chance that he might come back, after all I did once catch the same 18" Rainbow on back to back casts in a nearby watershed. As luck would have it, my indicator drift a few feet past where the big one had been hold and immediate shot under again. Upon hooking into this fish, while it was good sized, it was clear a different and smaller Rainbow but still put up a great fight before I managed to bring it to the net.

A solid Rainbow

Just after I returned downstream, Rob hooked into a decent fish, but after I got an eye on it, it was clear that it wasn't a trout, but I was having a hard time determining what species of salmon it was. After a few minutes of tug of war, we finally netted the fish which left me scratching my head regarding what it was. The color of the fish was a gold hue that I typically see on spawning Chinook in the region, and it also had the large, irregular spots typical of a Chinook. However, there were also some significant Chum traits, such as the purple bar along the side. While I wish I would have grabbed a fin clip so we could verify it, but after looking at the picture and sharing it with several experts in the fisheries field, I can only conclude that Rob managed to catch a Chum x Chinook Salmon hybrid or Chumook if you will. 

What appears to be the first Chum x Chinook hybrid I have ever seen

This fish being a hybrid also makes sense from a fish return perspective, as largely due to poor hatchery practices, the Chinook in this system return unusually early, and in my last blog post, we indicated that we had encountered our first spawning Chinook on August 18th.  On top of that, this specific river has an early spawning Chum Salmon population, which has significant overlap with Chinook spawning in both time and space. In fact, in the run just upstream, Chinook and Chum were spawning within just a few feet of each other.

After releasing the Chumook, Rob and Alexei picked up a few more Rainbows, but we had pretty much covered the water at this point, and it was time to call it a day.

The circle of life

The pre-spawn exploratory

Over the years, fall has by far become my favorite time of the year to fish and a central component of that is the salmon spawn. For trout, salmon arrive at the perfect time, providing a critical energy rich food supply - salmon eggs are about 3 times as energy rich as aquatic insects -  just before the lean winter months arrive. This wealth of food often attracts migratory trout from far and wide and when timed right makes for the best fishing of the year. Generally I find that Labor Day kicks off the season, but every river is a little different and sometimes it pays to get in early while the trout are hungry and still anticipating the incoming salmon run.

It was this thinking, as well as a desire to see how the river had changed after the high flows of winter that led myself and Dyllon to hope in the car and head for the water on a stormy mid-August afternoon.

Low water and stormy weather

We arrived to the sound of thunder in the distance, but luckily found ourselves in a pocket of decent weather between storm fronts, and were met with are river starved of water after a summer with barely a drop of rain. However, that did not deter us and as it is always interesting to see all of the changes to a river that you know well. 

The river we were fishing can be quite dynamic and we were immediately struck by the changes, with the first two previously decent holes we came to being completely filled in and the next one upstream having changed for the worse, being much shallower and the riffle at the top being far less pronounced then last season. However, it was here that we got our first look at a trout for the day, as a what we suspect was a 14" Cutthroat darted out to investigate Dyllon's presentation before deciding it wasn't too its liking and disappearing again. As we continued on, almost every change we saw was a disappointment, with a tree down in one of our favorite riffles, and another across a confluence hole causing most of the hole which had been my favorite spot the previous season to fill in. While I did manage to briefly hook an ~16" Rainbow at the confluence hole, we found holding spots to be few and far between this year and with this stretch a shadow of its former self we decided to move on and try another spot.

This next spot was quite a mixed bag, a few holes and riffles looked just as good or slightly better then they had last year, while again one of my favorite spots was nowhere near as good as it had been during previous seasons. So with the first 1/2 mile of water we covered it seemingly lifeless and having changed for the slightly for worse, we were starting to debate whether we should continue on when we finally spotted a lone female Chinook starting to dig a redd in a tailout.

First redd of the year, a lone female Chinook starting to dig

There just happened to be a good riffle and log jam just downstream of the redd and it seemed that the trout were already there looking for eggs as Dyllon caught several small Rainbows, before hooking into a beautiful 13" leopard spotted native.

Dyllon's gorgeous native Rainbow

After the bite slowed down at this spot, we moved further upstream and while we didn't see anymore spawners, it seems like the trout were already keyed in on eggs as Dyllon immediately hooked into another albeit smaller Rainbow in the next riffle upstream.

Vine maples showing the first signs of fall over some good holding water

It was my turn next and just downstream of where Dyllon got his fish, I got a good take and a few moments later had a decent native Rainbow to hand. While it had gorgeous coloration and spotting, I briefly thought that it was a hatchery fish as it had some major fin wear, but on closer inspection, the fish just looked to be battle scarred, with a part of its dorsal missing 

My battle scarred Rainbow

Just as the fishing seemed to be picking up, the stormy weather that had surrounding us finally broke and the sound of thunder kept getting closer and closer providing as clear of a signal as any that it was time to get off the river.

Getting off the river with thunder clouds hot on our heels

We made record timing getting back to the car, and it was a good thing too as just a couple minutes down the road we ran into a major storm cell with torrential rain that made it near impossible to see. However, despite being pushed off the river in a hurry and the downgrade in some of the habitat, it was great to see some fish around and know that the spawn is just around the corner.

Second chance steelhead

After my first fishless steelhead trip of the season, I planned on a second outing in early March with my buddy Chris, but as so often happens a winter storm descended on the coast just a few days before the trip and we were forced to cancel. It wasn't until a couple of weeks later that I was finally able to break away for another trip, this time with my neighbor Dyllon. As the trip approached, flows bumped then started to drop and when the day approached it looked like the stars had aligned, as the flows were right in the sweet spot and better yet, it was supposed to be a rare warm late winter bluebird day.

After an early morning departure and a long drive in the dark, we arrived at the river and started our morning on one of my favorite stretches of one of my favorite rivers. The first run we hit had some good swing water, so while Dyllon nymphed the top end of the run, I swung a fly through the lower end. A couple casts in I got a decent tug but didn’t connect, however a few casts later I got another grab and this time hooked up with the fish. After a couple of headshakes, it was readily apparent that this wasn't a steelhead as the fish was completely outclassed by my 6/7 WT switch rod and after a quick fight I brought a beautiful 14" native Coastal Cutthroat to hand. It looked like the day was already off to a great start!

Morning on the river

After that first run, we headed upstream to the main stretch of river were were planning to spend the day on. This section of the river has always been special to me, as it was here that I encountered my largest steelhead to date and with a series of several good holes in close proximity it has always been a solid producer. It was my turn to take the first shot at the water with my nymph rod, so I got in position and started working the run. While there is a lot of water to pick apart in this run I started in a stretch of whitewater at the top, with a nice seam down the middle that slows to a rocky glide at the back. After a few casts I got a particularly good drift, and just as my indicator neared the front edge of one of the boulders it shot under and when I set the hook I was rewarded with a big head shake. This time I definitely had a steelhead on and my 8 WT was hard pressed to control the fish as it peeled line off the reel and put on a fine aerial display. Luckily I was able to keep the fish in the run after a few tense minutes we were able to bring the gorgeous buck to hand.

My first steelhead of the season

After releasing my first fish Dyllon wanted to cover the rest of the hole and the next hole upstream, so I decided to go downstream to the next piece of holding water. This next hole was once my favorite piece on the entire river, but over the years it has filled in and the flow has shifted for the worse and at this point it had been about five years since I last hooked a fish here. Needless to say I had low expectations. While the run didn’t look much better this year, after working the water for a bit I spotted some fishy looking water just in front of a boulder where some fast and slow water met. It was some tricky wading and a long cast with to get the right drift, but after a few tries I finally landed a cast right in the sweet spot. Sure enough as my line went past the boulder my indicator went under and I hooked into another steelhead. I immediately realized that I had a couple problems, first was that this was a much trickier location to land a fish, as it was deep right off the bank with a fast water below. Second was that Dyllon was out of ear shot so I was on my own. I tried my hardest to keep the fish in the hole, but it didn’t take long for it to head for the fast water to try to make a break for it. My only saving grace was that this steelhead was much smaller than my first one and I was able to turn it before to got too far downstream and after a bit of tug of war I was able to bring it to hand.

Fish #2 a smaller buck steelhead

At this point the day was already shaping up far better than I could have imagined as we had only been fishing about an hour and I already had two steelhead and a Cutthroat to hand. To make things even better, I was pretty sure that I had seen another steelhead move when I hooked my last one, and with it clearly being Dyllon’s turn I ran and grabbed him.

I found Dyllon still working the hole upstream to no avail and he was all too happy to come down to see if there was another fish there. Just like me it took a few casts to get the right drift, but as soon as he did, I watched a shadow moved out from behind the rock just as his indicator shot under. At first Dyllon seemed to be in control and managed to keep the fish in the hole, but it soon became apparent that this was a much larger fish and when it decided to head downstream there was little he could do to stop it. To add some additional stress to the fight, shortly after Dyllon hooked the fish another angler showed up and started fishing where Dyllon had just been and it was clear to if we wanted the first shot at the next hole we had been heading towards he would have to land this fish quickly. Unfortunately this fish had other ideas and Dyllon’s 7 WT was completely out gunned, next thing we knew we were chasing the fish downstream, passing his rod around trees and doing our best to keep the fish on. After traveling a few hundred yards downstream and fighting the fish for at least 15 minutes, I got my hand on its tail but it kicked off again. I figured one more run and we would have it, but just like that Dyllon’s hook came loose and the fish had won.

Upon heading back upstream, the other angler was fishing where Dyllon had hooked his fish and I caught my last one, but our hopes of fishing the next hole upstream were dashed we we noticed that a second angler had arrived and was already parked there. I don’t think I have ever encountered another angler on this piece of water so to have two show up before we could cover it was disappointing, but after talking, Dyllon and I decided to push upstream about a 1/2 mile to another good stretch of water. 

After a short bushwhack upstream, we came to our first piece of decent holding water where a tributary enters the main flow, but after thoroughly covering the water there didn’t appear to be any interested fish around so we pushed further up to a spot that has never failed to produce a steelhead for me yet. Dyllon took point on this spot and sure enough after a few casts he hooked into a fish, but unfortunately it was a brief encounter as the fish managed to toss the hook after a few head shakes and a short run.

This was about as far up as I had gone on this stretch, but as Dyllon wanted to cover the water a bit more I decided to head upstream to see if we could get to a couple runs that I knew where just around the corner. The run we were at and the next one upstream was separated by a stretch of fast water that had a few nondescript pockets here and there and after verifying we could indeed continue upstream, I decided to try a couple of the pockets on my way down to Dyllon.

The first spot seemed to be vacant, but on my third cast in the second pocket, my indicator shot under and I had another steelhead on my line. Although it was not too big, this was a hot fish and I had my hands full, especially with a log in the middle of the pocket and a bunch of woody debris at the end. Sure enough on of the first things the fish did was to head straight for the log and dive under it. Of course my line got hung up when it did, but luck was on my side and somehow after a couple of minutes I coaxed the fish back out from under the log and shortly after landed a beautiful chrome bright hen.

My pocket water steelhead - a dime bright hen

After releasing the hen to continue her journey to the spawning grounds, I continued downstream to let Dyllon know we could reach the next few runs. However, they next couple hours upstream proved completely fruitless, so it was time to head back downstream to where we started.

On our way back downstream we figured it would be worth trying the water where the other anglers were fishing on our way up. With Dyllon’s turn to catch a steelhead far over due, he took the first run at it. The upper part of the run where steelhead often hold was vacant, but when Dyllon started to work the often overlooked back of the run, sure enough his indicator went down and he had a solid fish on the end of his line. 

Dyllon fight a steelhead

This time Dyllon got a good hook set and was able to keep the fish in the run, so after a few minutes of back and forth fighting we finally brought the beautiful buck to hand.

Dyllon's beautiful double redbanded steelhead

With Dyllon finally on the board, we quickly covered the couple downstream holes from earlier in the day just to make sure that we hadn’t missed any other fish, then we headed down river to try out a new stretch of water.

A quite stretch of the river

Getting to this next stretch requires fording the river, which can only  be done at lower flows. We were right at the edge of the doable levels so I figured that if we could cross it was highly unlikely that we would run into anyone else. Sure enough we made it across and had the one of the better pieces of water on the river all to ourselves. At this point it was midday and the temperature was rising necessitating losing some layers and going with a tee shirt and that combined with the mayflies hatching made it hard to believe we were still fishing for winter steelhead. 

Despite some good looking water, the first few bends didn’t seem to hold any fish, but when I came to a run with a log on the nearshore I briefly hooked a steelhead. A couple of casts later and fifty feet downstream my indicator once again went under and this time I got a better hook set and had a nice steelhead on. The steelhead gave me a few good runs and jumps, but after a few minutes I brought yet another buck to hand.

Yet another steelhead buck for me

After releasing the buck, we moved downstream into some great looking swinging water where I was able to break out my switch rod again and ply the depths with an intruder. However, after covering the water my fly failed to entice any steelhead, but when Dyllon came though with his bead and hit the best piece of holding water in the run sure enough there was a steelhead there and Dyllon managed to hook it. This was a hot fish and quickly was in the backing and unfortunately for Dyllon after a couple of minutes his line went slack and it was gone.

After Dyllon's fish came loose, we moved on downstream and came to the to the top a canyon full of pocket water. Right at the top end I got another take down but this time I had a light weight on that turned out to be another beautiful native Coastal Cutthroat.

A chunky Coastal Cutthroat

We had hoped to find some good holding water in the canyon, but as is often the case most of the best water was just out of reach at the far side of the river and about a 1/2 mile into the canyon we came to a small set off falls and couldn’t go any further downstream. Just upstream of the falls there was a nice piece of holding water, that was once again on the far bank, but looked like a perfect place for a fish to rest after ascending the rapids. Dyllon commented that there was no way to reach it, but I took that as a challenge. I waded out as far as I could then made the longest cast I could without snagging up on my back cast and sure enough it was just enough to reach the nearest seam. My indicator had only drifted a couple of feet when it shot under on a steelhead came hurtling out of the water. Unfortunately with all of the line out and the quick take, I didn’t get a good hook set and that jump was enough to send my hook flying back at me. We spent a few more minutes trying to see if there was anyone else home before finally deciding it was time to head out. Before closing out the day and the season though there was just enough time to swing one more run and while I didn’t touch any fish in the run it made for a great way to end the day.

A great end to the day

I think more than any other day I can remember this outing was one of the best for winter steelhead I have had. The confluence of the fishing and the weather was unparalleled and it is a day that will certainly be ingrained in my memory for years to come.

Fall in the North Cascades: Part 2

After the amazing fishing of the previous day, we decided to shake things up a bit a try out another stream to see if we couldn't capture magic in a bottle once again. This stream had been on my hit list for years as it hosts a run of Sockeye Salmon and spawning Sockeye typically attract hungry trout and char. On top of that the area is noted for its amazing scenery, so even if the fishing didn’t live up to expectations, the scenery was bound to make it worthwhile. As such, by first light we found ourselves at the trailhead rigged up and ready to go.

A misty morning in the mountains

Upon reaching the river, we saw few signs of life and the first few bends failed to produce any fish.  That finally started to change once we finally spotted some bright red Sockeye holding a tailout. Not far upstream we found another group of Sockeye actively spawning and just downstream Dyllon caught a small Rainbow Trout on an egg imitation. 

A group of Sockeye holding in the river

While Dyllon and TJ were fishing egg imitations, I decided to bring my streamer rod. That choice ended making my day when a Sockeye surprised me and latched onto my black sculpin pattern as I stripped across a run. After a short fight, I slid the beautiful red male Sockeye into the shallows and tailed it. When it comes to catching salmon on a fly rod in the Pacific Northwest, Sockeye are by far the most challenging, with this only being the second anadromous Sockeye I have ever caught.

My fish of the day a bright red Sockeye

Not far upstream from where I caught my Sockeye, we ran into another solid spawning aggregation and it didn’t take long for Dyllon to hook into and land a beautiful Bull Trout.

Dyllon with a nice Bull Trout

As we continued working our way upstream, the river proved to be every bit as beautiful as we expected with aquamarine waters, surrounded by old growth forest and towering glaciated peaks that where cloaked in clouds giving things an ethereal feel. While both Dyllon and TJ hooked into a few more fish no additional trout were landed and as the spawning salmon appeared to be thinning out as we headed upstream, we finally made the call to make our way back downstream.

Dyllon working a beautiful piece of water

On the way downstream, luck favored me again as I got a solid grab on my streamer in a deep hole and landed my first native Rainbow of the trip. While this fish was large by any means, it was spunky and gorgeous.

A beautiful native Rainbow Trout caught on a streamer

Despite fishing our way down to the trail, we didn’t get any more attention after that Rainbow and before we knew it we were leaving the river back on the trail again.

One last look at the river

On the trail out and off to the next stream 

With how well we had done the day before, we made the call to go fish in the same area, albeit a little further upstream to explore some new water. So after a short drive and a bit of bushwhacking to reach the water we found ourselves back on the water again. As we reached the river, the smell of dead salmon was strong in the air and there active spawners digging or sitting on redds throughout the shallows. Just like the previous day, it didn't take us long to find some hungry Bull Trout either, with Dyllon catching a nice mid-teens Bull Trout within the first few minutes. The main attraction for this spot was a nice deep run that was filled with boulders and deep pockets just upstream from where we hit the river.

Dyllon and TJ working a good run

Dyllon and TJ started at the top of the run, while I started a little ways downstream and worked my way up to them. After covering a short distance, I spotted and fishy looking pocket behind a boulder and when I got a good drift in I was rewarded with my first Bull Trout of the day - a 20” pink spotted beauty.

My first Bull Trout of the day

Shortly after releasing my Bull Trout, Dyllon got into a couple of decent Bulls at the top of the run and TJ lost one as well. After covering the lower part of the hole thoroughly, I traded spots with Dyllon and TJ and my egg imitation got the attention of the Bull Trout as I pulled two more out before the fishing slowed down. 

With a treacherous river crossing upstream, we decided to head downriver next and found a spot where two fast side channels merged. While TJ and Dyllon headed to the lower part of this run, I opted to cross to the island between the side channels to hit a particularly fishy piece of water. After a few casts my indicator shot under and seconds later a nice Rainbow came shooting out of the water. While I am always over the moon to catch Bull Trout, the difference in the fight between them and this Rainbow was startling. While Bull Trout stay down and deep with slow but powerful runs, this energetic Rainbow made multiple leaps and lightning fast runs, but even that wasn’t enough and within a couple of minutes I was able to bring the chunky fish to my net.

A chunky native Coastal Rainbow Trout

I turned out that this fish wasn’t the only Rainbow in the hole either and few casts later, I caught its twin. However, after that the action died down again and it was time to catch up with Dyllon and TJ and head further downstream.

The river

When we reached the next spot, we found it thick with spawning salmon and sure enough there were plenty of hungry Bull Trout behind them.

Pink Salmon spawning

As with the previous day, once we found the Bull Trout the fishing was fast a furious, with each hole or riffle producing one or more Bull Trout. At one point we were all three fishing a run and Dyllon and TJ hooked into a double, I jokingly said let’s make it a triple and as fate would have it when I tossed my line in I almost immediately hooked into a Bull Tout. With triples on the table, the fishing over the next couple hours once again exceeded expectations with each of us landing our fair share of beautiful Bull Trout.

Another Bull Trout

While the fishing was amazing, before I knew it, it was late afternoon and time for me to hit the road if I wanted to get back home at a reasonable hour. While it was time for me to head out, Dyllon and TJ were staying for another day, so we said our goodbyes and I hit the road bound for home.

Fall colors along the river

All I can say is that this trip made me feel extremely privileged to call the Pacific Northwest home. It is easy to focus and countless challenges facing threatened populations of salmon and Bull Trout, but it is heartening to know that with quality habitat are still places where they are found in abundance. As such I can’t wait for my next opportunity to get back up north in pursuit of these beautiful char.

The season marches on

This time of the year, it is amazing the difference that a few days makes on the river. After getting out a little over a week ago to try my luck for trout behind spawning salmon, I was able to find a half day to get back on the water once again. During my last outing, spawning had been intense, with a mix of Chinook, Pink and Chum Salmon, but just a few days later much of the spawning appeared to have dropped off. Chinook had completely died off and the Pinks that were left looked to be nearing the end of the line as well, but now the Coho had started streaming into the river in earnest. 

However, with the season of plenty winding and one of the best opportunities to pack on the pounds winding down, I knew from experience that the trout often key in on any remaining pockets of spawners. However, I have also found this time of the year to be incredibly inconsistent, with some days producing amazing results for egg eating trout, while the trout seem to avoid eggs and switch back to streamers on others. As such, I came prepared for anything, armed with three rods (egg/nymph rig, streamer rig and mouse rig), and also decided to try out a different spot, than last time with some slightly later spawners hoping that this was where the trout would be. 

Fall on the river

My intuition on the spot appeared to pay off, as I could see a number of active spawners right when I got to the river. Furthermore, as I snuck up to the first hole I could see a couple fish holding towards the tailout. This hole had a slow deep bowl behind a log jam, so I opted for my streamer rod, rigged with a black sculpin and started casting. On the first cast, a nice sized fish, which looked like a Coho chased my fly across the hole, but after that the fish seemed to know that something was up and I couldn't get as much as a look as I worked my way towards the top of the pool. With the streamer not producing, I switched to my nymph set-up and within a few casts I had a solid grab and landed my first fish of the day, a plump little steelhead smolt. 

First fish of the day - a little steelhead smolt

After quickly releasing this smolt, I got one more smolt before I hit a long stretch of slow water where a handful of Pink and Chum Salmon were either actively spawning or guarding their redds but no Trout were tI found.

A pair of salmon on their redd

As I approached the top of this stretch, the river made a 90 degree turn with a riffle dropping into one of the best pieces of water that I have seen on the river. This spot was a classic holding water and sure enough on my first cast, my indicator shot under, but I was too slow on the set and missed the fish. I put my next cast a couple feet further out and this time when my indicator plunged into the depths I was ready and found myself hooked into a nice trout. The fish initially stayed deep, but after a few moments it went airborne and appeared to be about an 18" Cutthroat. Unfortunately, after jumping the fish took off on a run and somehow managed to spit the hook. Having lost the fish, I continued to methodically work the riffle from top to bottom, but there was no more interest in what I was offering, so it was time to try the streamer.

After a dozen casts in the riffle and pool, the streamer appeared to be garnering no attention, but I decided to stick it out and continue working it downstream into a pocket against some rip rap in the tailout. I landed my first cast tight against the rip rap and noticed a shadow emerge behind my fly as I started stripping it back. I lost sight of the shadow as my fly was crossing the pocket and I had nearly stripped all of my line in when something big hammered my fly in the shallows right at me feet. The fish immediately started taking line and with several logs in the pocket my 5 WT was put to the test keeping the trout away from them. In classic Rainbow Trout fashion, this fish made several big jumps and blistering runs, before it finally tired and I netted it. 

A streamer eating Coastal Rainbow Trout

This Rainbow was a flawless gem that was every bit of 18" and as I released it I was already thinking about what was just upstream around the next bend. However, as I continued on upstream it was like somebody had flipped a switch and the spawning salmon just disappeared. In fact, after covering about a 1/2 mile of river I only spotted a single old redd, one dead Pink Salmon, and the only fish I found were a few parr that took the egg imitation.

End of the line for a Pink Salmon

With the upstream stretch not producing, I decided to turn around and try my luck downstream of where I had started. The first 1/2 of river I covered on my way downstream only produced a single steelhead smolt, before I came to a deep run that often produces some nice Cutthroat on streamers. As such, I positioned myself on the edge of a drop off and started working my streamer through the hole. Eventually, I placed an upstream cast along the far bank, just above an overhanging tree and after stripping my fly a few times a fish hammered it. Right away it was evident that this fish had some weight behind it, but it had a completely different feel to the Rainbow I had gotten earlier and when it started doing underwater rolls that I have coined as the "Coho death roll" it was clear what I had hooked into. Armed with just my 5WT against a bright Coho, this fight easily could have gone against me, but luck was on my side and I was able to keep the fish out of the wood littering the bottom and landed a beautiful ~7 lb wild hen.

A surprise bright Coho Salmon

After snapping a few quick photos, I released the Coho back to continue on with her journey to the spawning grounds, then got back to it. I placed my next cast right back where I had put the last one and after stripping my fly back a quarter of the way, once again the black sculpin pattern was hit by a savage grab and I was hooked into another fish. Once again a "death roll" indicated that I had another Coho on and while the last Coho had fought hard, this one fought even harder, putting in numerous runs before I was finally able to bring it to the net. While I had gotten a bright hen last time, this time I got a wild buck that was starting to turn fire truck red and already showing a pronounced kype.

A buck Coho starting to show its spawning colors

A headshot of the Coho

I released the buck, then continued working the run, but didn't have so much as another grab. However, once I reached the tailout of the "Coho" run, I started seeing numerous redds and active spawners and decided it was time to switch back to my nymph (egg) rig. 

A spawning riffle downstream of the Coho water

This tailout and riffle was absolutely packed with spawning Pink Salmon and within just a few casts my indicator shot under I was hooked into a decent trout that turned out to be my first Coastal Cutthroat of the day.

An egg eating Coastal Cutthroat

For the next 10 minutes, the action in the foot to foot and half deep riffle was fast and furious, but I just couldn't seem to hook up with the fish. After this happened couple of times had checked my rig to make sure there was nothing wrong, but this just confirmed that it was down to operator error. This finally changed when I fished my rig off the drop-off where the riffle went to about 4 feet deep. My indicator was nearing the end of the drift when it shot under and I was hooked into a big fish. This fish put a serious bend in my 6WT and when it jumped several times it was clear to see why, as it was a chunky Rainbow easily over 20".  I fought this big Rainbow for a few minutes and got it close to the net once, but it took off for another run but mid run, my line just went slack and it was gone. After that the riffle went quiet and it was time to move on again.

Chinook Salmon carcasses sampled for otoliths, genetics and coded-wire tags

Downstream of the riffle, the spawning dropped off substantially, although there were a few scattered Pink Salmon redds, old Chinook redds and carcasses along the banks. However, with less spawning activity, there were also less trout around and it wasn't until I hit what I am now calling the mousing run that I finally saw some activity. This stretch of river is bordered by a dense stand of Western Red Alder and with a number of them having fallen in the river or overhanging, it is a perfect spot to toss a mouse pattern. This is where I had hooked a Cutthroat on a mouse pattern over the summer and I wanted to see I could repeat the feat this time as well. As such I got my 5 WT rigged up with a mouse pattern out and started working it tight to the woody debris. It didn't take long for the mouse to catch the attention of a trout, with one chasing it across the river in an attempt to grab it. Unfortunately, I couldn't get this trout to hook up and after that first cast it refused to come back again and nobody else seemed to be interested in the mouse either.

Mousing water on the river

With the mouse only getting the attention of one fish, I switched back to my egg imitation and almost immediately hooked into a Cutthroat that managed to wrap me up on some branches in the water and get off. As I fished my way downstream towards a particularly good run, the clouds which had been building all day finally decided to let loose and a steady misty rain began to fall. This rain didn't seem to mess with the fishing at least I had a few brief hook ups, but nothing stuck until I got to the run I had been heading for. On my third cast in this deep trench of a run, my indicator shot under and I set on what felt like a hefty fish. Initially, I thought that this might be a Pink or some type of salmon, as it stayed down and dogged me, but after a minute or so the fish came up and thrashed on the surface and I was happy to see a thick Rainbow on the end of my line. After a few minutes with a couple of jumps thrown in, the 19" Rainbow finally tired and I brought the beautiful fish to my net.

A chunky native Rainbow

After releasing the beautiful native Rainbow and with rain falling in earnest I decided that it was time to turn around and head back upstream. However as it would be on my way I figured that I along the way I might as well try the riffle where I had lost the big Rainbow earlier in the day along the way.

Time to head back upstream

After trudging upstream for a solid 15 minutes, I finally made it back to the riffle and started working the shallow waters behind the spawners once again. After a couple casts I started working the zone where I found the Cutthroat earlier and almost immediately had a take but missed it. However, on the next cast my indicator shot under once again and this time I was ready and hooked into a fish. Given that I was fishing in about a foot of water I was expecting a smaller fish, but instead I found a solid 18" Rainbow on the end of my line. This time luck was one my side and despite a few jumps and long runs, I was able to keep the fish on and within a couple minutes I was netting my third nice Rainbow of the day.

A heavily spotted Rainbow

While the first two Rainbows looked to be males, this one was clearly a female that had heavy spotting across its body and a vibrant pink band that made it quite striking. After a couple quick photos, I watched her dart back into the riffle and I continued working the river. There weren't any more willing takers in the riffle, but in the tailout just upstream, I hooked into another much smaller fish yet spunky fish that looked to be a steelhead smolt. With the my hat and coat starting to soak through due to the rain and having come full circle and found another steelhead smolt, I decided that it was the perfect time to call it a day and hike the 1/2 mile back upstream to the car.

Ending the day with another steelhead smolt

By the time I reached the car, I was good and soaked but with an amazing day on the water I was happy to be back on the road again and headed home.

A wet rainy end to a great day on the water