Northwest Reel Life August 2023 Volume 2 Issue 10 - Flipbook - Page 15
Down through the tailout of
the next riffle we followed it, and
before I could get the fish's head
up, it tail-walked again. Moments
later, McAuliffe grabbed the net
and made one stab for it when
the fish was close, as if we had
been fishing together for years
instead of just the last 20 minutes.
I jumped over the side into the
shallows and lifted the wild fish
out of the net and showed it to
the young guide with the Wild
Bill Hickock haircut, shooting my
camera. But the fish was done
with handshakes and flipped out
of my grasp. Five pounds of shiny
summer steel, back into the water
from whence she came.
There are not as many good
summer run rivers in Oregon
as there used to be, as hatchery
managers have ratcheted back
on the good times we enjoyed in
the '80s and '90s. Did we have too
much fun then and now we have
to work harder for our fish? Guess
so.
McAuliffe, by my calculations,
was born at the end of that era
and, as fishing guide is his chosen
profession in the 2020’s, he is
probably going to hear from a lot
of middle-aged clients about how
it used to be. Today a fishing guide
has to work harder. And get up
earlier in the morning.
Now I had steelhead lenses on,
reading water left and right, with
Cole sliding the boat from one
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good slot to the other.
Depending on the water, I used
my fiberglass 5-weight to swing
a fly or his 6-weight TFO with the
float and two-fly rig. McAuliffe
said the summer run steelhead
season has started stronger than
last year and while a lot of guides
are using spinning gear, he prefers
to stick with the fly rod.
We looked back upstream. Still
no one behind us. Still no one
ahead. We had first water all the
way to the takeout. And trout in
every drift. A few were hatchery
rainbows and a few were smolts,
and they beat the steelhead to the
fly.
Trout chased the float, they
chased the stonefly out of the
water on the retrieves and swiped
At the business end is a No. 10
beadhead with a heavily weighted at the point fly, and I expected a
fish on every drift.
stonefly nymph to get to the
bottom fast. We adjusted the float Get up early in the morning to
to run about 2X the depth of each beat the floaters and the conelickers. Go for the trout fishing and
run.
let the steelhead surprise you.
GARY LEWIS BIO
Gary Lewis is an award-winning author, TV host, speaker and photographer. Recent books include
Fishing Central Oregon, 6th Edition, Fishing Mount Hood Country and Bob Nosler Born Ballistic.
Gary has hunted and fished in eight countries on three continents and in the islands of the South
Pacific. Born and raised in the Northwest, he has been walking forest trails and running rivers
for as long as he can remember. Lewis is twice past president of the Northwest Outdoor Writers
Association and a recipient of NOWA’s Enos Bradner Award.
FOR A SIGNED COPY OF FISHING MOUNT
HOOD COUNTRY, SEND $29.99, INCLUDES
SHIPPING TO:
Gary Lewis Outdoors
PO Box 1364, Bend, OR 97709
Contact Gary Lewis at
garylewisoutdoors.com
AUG 2023 | 15