DRYFT in PDXDRYFT in PDX // #DRYFTculture #Madefortheriver
Posted by Dryft on Thursday, November 19, 2015
DRYFT in PDX [video]
Category: MadetoWade
Slippery Surprise [video]
Winter Wandering [video]
The winter of 2014-15 brought challenging fishing conditions to the Pacific Northwest. Warm wet weather early saw most of the areas usual snow fall as rain, which led to more blown out rivers than normal, and then a switch to dry warm weather turned the rivers low and clear. To get their steelhead fix, the DRYFT crew was forced to not only range farther abroad and visit locations from the coast of Oregon up to BC, but also to employ a broad range of tactics- from getting a little dirty during low clear flows to swinging overly large intruders in colored up water. This is Winter Wandering for steelhead in the Pacific Northwest.
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.
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.
Photos by @fsheroutofwater
Thanks for reading. -Nick
Want more steelhead fishing in your life? Check out 10,000th Cast from Waist Deep Media.
DRYFT Primo Wading Jacket promo video
Almost as epic as the music.
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.
DRYFTculture video – The Fall
Winter fish porn
Why we love this time of year. #winter
August flyfishing, salmon and trout – a DRYFT Fishing Waders short – #DRYFTculture
5 reasons small stream trout are kickass
- They fight hard, especially on light gear. Think 2-3 wt fly rods, and ultralight spinning rods for the non-fly fishing inclined.
- They are wild, and more often than not they are native fish to the area that truly display the pure natural fight and beauty of the area like only they can. In this day and age, we don’t always have the opportunity to fish for and catch truly native fish.
- They are super aggressive and take dry flies with reckless abandon. Get it in the ballpark, and often times they’ll eat. Bushy terrestrials and attractor patterns are the name of the game.
- They live in awesome areas. There’s not much better than wet wading small streams in the summer.
- Fishing for them is simple. It doesn’t require complex rigging, fancy flies, extensive amounts of gear or anything. We love fishing for steelhead, the thrill of that big pull, but sometimes catching a sh*t ton of small stream trout can easily satisfy the cravings for fish catching that we all get from time-to-time.
Another reason that didn’t quite make the list is that if you’re fishing alpine streams, you might get the chance to see wildlife that’s a lot different that what we’re used to down in the valley’s and lowlands. Take the furry bag of fly tying materials pictured here. Look like a good polar bear substitute to anyone else?
Why do you like small stream trout? Leave a comment and let us know.
