New year #fishporn

It’s that time of the year when fishing options can be scarce around the country, but steelhead and bull trout are starting to fill our northwest rivers. So whether you’re on the west coast or elsewhere, get out there and #seekandexplore some new water.

Here are a few images from recent outings.

Last light

Kyped bull trout

Making the cast

Swinging

Underwater kype

Straight Alaska tripping

Earlier this month we had a chance to fish for a week straight in Alaska. We had some adventures. We met some great people. Had some fun times. Caught some great fish. We saw lots of pirates.

[note: use the back button on your browser to come back to this page after viewing a photo]

Alaska treated us well earlier this month.

#DRYFTculture

http://chugachbackcountryfishing.com/

Glorious springer on the fly

As spring turns into summer it brings snow melt and springers (spring chinook). What a great time of year to be out on the river.

Springer on the flyDRYFT Waders spring chinook DRYFT S14 Adrenaline waders fly fishing Spring chinook on the fly
DRYFT S14 Adrenaline waders and Primo jackets are in stock and shipping immediately.

Olympic Peninsula Steelhead trip

We headed out to the coast last week to scratch that steelhead itch that so often strikes in early spring. With limited options within the state this time of year, heading west to the coast is about as good as it gets when a steelhead trip feels right.  Here is a photo blog of our short two day trip.

Coastal steelhead

The fish pictured above came with a story. After the strike, she bolted downstream straight at my fishing buddy who was working the run downstream, nearly wrapping around his legs and sending him scrambling for the bank. At the same time the extra fly line I had laying at my feet cleared the guides with alarming speed and looped around the reel, jamming tight. I sprinted downstream to keep from breaking off, at which point the fish turned around and charged back upstream straight at me. The change between running downstream and switching directions and running backwards back upstream was just too much and resulted in a nice fall backwards, frantically stripping line to keep tight the whole way down. Landing in about a foot of water, I kept my rod tip high and managed to keep tight to the fish before scrambling back to my feet. Once back up I managed to untangle the line from my reel, and after a few more spirited runs was cradling this beauty for a quick photo shoot before the release. Having my waders and wading jacket strapped tight saved my bacon, and kept water from flowing into the tops of my waders. Aside from a damp wrist, I stayed completely dry even after taking a swim in a rainforest river.

That’s coastal steelhead on the fly.  Hope you enjoy the photos from our trip.

Camping

 

Tree

Rainforest fly fishing

Coastal steelhead

Coastal steelhead

Lunch

Making the selection

Rainforest fly fishing

Rainforest fly fishing

Getting rigged

DRYFT truck

Drinking a brewski

Ocean campfire

Photos by @fsheroutofwater

Thanks for reading. -Nick


Want more steelhead fishing in your life? Check out 10,000th Cast from Waist Deep Media.

Winter steelheading on the spey (gallery)

Winter steelheading with the spey rod is all about the experience. Making the cast. Mending the line. Slight modifications to the swing to slow the fly down, get the presentation just right. Sometimes you hook up, mostly you don’t. Aside from some bull trout, this day we went fishless.

Spey casting for steelhead Spey casting for steelhead Spey casting for steelhead Spey casting for steelhead Bull trout bull trout release Spey casting for steelhead Spey casting for steelhead