So, there is an old Indian saying,"when the Dogwoods are in bloom, the salmon are in". Tiger lilies hold the same for me, as far as steelhead are concerned, while definetiley not "in" there are usually one or two in the river. Been getting after it somewhat, it's nice to not feel the rush to be on the water at the break of dawn. Been catching up on sleep quite frankly. This time of year it truly doesn't matter, the matter is finding one. If you find one, it'll eat anything really, as long as it's presented right. Most of the fish I see in the early season are with sun on the water, cause that's when I'm there probably.

The days are long, and getting warmer and the river is dropping into decent shape. I'm anxious to stand in the dark and watch the sun rise with a heavy anticipation for what's gonna happen throughout the day. Nobody truly knows how the run will shape up but, it hasn't been bad so far.

Bill Sturgeon with his first steelhead, "goodnight" is all he could say.

Talked Bill into giving steelheading a try for a couple of runs, he booked a trout day. Like myself, Bill hooked an amazing fish in the first run he fished. While teaching Bill the basics of spey casting, the question came up, "How will I know if a fish bites the fly, and what do I do?". I answered, " You're gonna know, and don't do a thing." This fish hit the fly as if he swam upstream 30 feet, turned around, got a good head esteem and took the fly running, he only jumped over our heads like six times, left the pool and then another one, incredible. We were lucky to land it. The trout fishing wasn't bad either.

Sometimes I get lucky too, and no my hair isn't thinning, bad light, ha.

Rich & Bo