The rivers are starting to show a few signs of fall. Chinook are starting to turn the gravels, the leaves are starting to turn and I saw a few october caddis erraticly dipping here and there on the river. Both the Rogue and North Umpqua are starting to fish better and should continue on that track as we get into fall even more.
In two days with Dirk and his buddies Todd and Dave we rose five fish, not hooking any due to pre-mature jerkulation. That is an easy thing to do, none of these guys ever fish dries for steelhead before, and when you see a fish erupt on your fly you tend to get a little excited. A few fish were really shy about coming to the fly, we had one come to three different flies. Dirk did the right thing, he never flinched, the fish was just a player. Players are a lot of fun but it also makes you scratch your head a bit.
Rogue water is dropping and the runs are looking better with each drop. The fishing in the upper river is doing ok. Did a lower float with Craig and Sue Zarling, hoping to find some on there way up. The water looked great but at the end of a long day of swinging we came up empty. I really thought we would see a few fish that day. That's steelheading though, we rolled the dice, some days you get some days you don't.
On a lighter note:
