This shot was taken at The Forks boat ramp. Pretty f' ' n cool.  Thank who ever you believe in that it started March 1st, cause there are not very many new fish around and the river is gonna need every one of them.

I searched the runs that usaully hold fish at these flows to no avail. The river seemed void of fish, even scouted some upriver runs that always hold a few, nothing. It is rare that I don't see anything in these runs. Fished anyway cause you don't always see them when they are chrome, nothing. Contemplated calling it a season on the river that is like a bad relationship you just can't seem to get out of. Full of highs and the lowest lows. But unlike a bad relationship this is steelheading and the highs definetly out way the lows. The days are getting longer and I thought this might be the last time I get over twelve hours of sleep, yes when I'm fishing with just Bo I'll hit the sack when it gets dark. Try it sometime, it's awesome.

The next morning started out the same, not seeing a thing in water that always has'em. Fished through one of the most productive peices of water that I know, nothing.

 Scratched my head and had a smoke break. No, not the kind you're thinking of. Just straight up tobacco, honest. Smoke finished, changed to a bigger fly and gave it another go.

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Got this hen on one of those casts you'd normally pull back, it just kinda piled out there. But as a good client of mine would say " mend that shit out and fish it.", I did. Cheers to you Moll. This hen ran to the tailout and threaten to leave, with a tail slap she dove into a tiny seam and held. Chased her down and after some up close and personal cartwheels and a fight that was like a stuck bee in beer can, I tailed her. With that I drove up river to a sweet tailout, grabbed a beer and smoke.

With beer and smoke complete, I tipped my brimmed beanie to this fish and called it a season on the coast.

Rich

The winter season so far, has seen it's ups and downs. Some rivers are shaping up to have epic water conditions and others not so much. Going coastal has seemed to be the best bet as conditions go. We could use a really good flush for the more inland rivers. The Rogue and Umpqua remain low and stable, these rivers need a good week of being high and brown. This would allow some fish to pass through the gauntlet of bait. Even the bait guides are feeling the pressure, from what I've heard they're going to small baits and long leaders. This doesn't bode well for the fly angler. But, ther're some fish around.

Had a great Valentine's Day with Dawn and Brian Chou of Portland. This was Dawns third steelhead ever. As a guide, it just doesn't get any better unless it's your clients first. But if it's their first they probably have no concept of what they've just accomplished. As we stepped back into the run to see if we could find another, Brian yelled out from upstream," Happy Valentine's Day!". I told Dawn that she was probably the only girl in the world to get a steelhead for valentines.

Now, I mentioned before about Dawn's third steelhead. This was Shep's second, of course I feel good. But Shep's first was a winter run, a winter from where it all got started, the Eel River. Now I know he'll remember his second, though I was envious of his Eel fish and grilled him about when and where. Congrat's to you Shep and I'm sorry about putting a spey rod in your hands, I'm sure your guide day is costing more now than you anticipated.