I spent my Sunday afternoon on Eagle Creek, fishing for Steelhead. The report is not as good as I would have hoped. The fishing, unlike the day before, was slow. I did happen to hook into a very large native. I would say she was around the 17 to 20 pound range, She tore me up pretty good and the button just popped out before I could not get a good picture of her. I am leaving on a Jet plane in the morning, so I know by Wednesday I will playing with all the Steelhead I can handle. The water is low and clear, making spot fishing very good right now. Use small yarn patterns with 2 to 3 different color combinations. I have found that peach and pink or orange and white are the best producers this year. I am using a number 4 Gamagatzu red hook with the yarn tied on to the hook, just like a fly.

Steelhead can easily hide in a small riffle, or under a white water hole behind a rock. I

• If you spend the time to stare into these areas, you will spot fish if they are there. Most Steelhead that I have encountered will hold in the white water, but they have a tendency to move in and out of that type of water. They will come out to the edges of the hard water and rest in the seam. If you take the time to watch these spots for more than just a minute, you may just see one of these Silver Bullets moving in and out of one of these spots.

Once you know he is there then you don't need to see him again.

• If you don't get into him an about ten casts, then change your colors and try casting just slightly to one side or the other of the hole. Steelhead can be finicky and if the fly is not presented directly in front of their face, they may just let it go on by. So you need to make sure you fish the area completely, from every angle and drift there is.

If you are looking in one of the deeper holes.

• Concentrate on the bottom of hole in the center and just above the tailouts. These fish will hold in the deep section of the hole and can be very hard to spot. By staring into a hole, your eyes will start to adjust to the riffles, and soon you will be able to see right through them. By giving your eyes time to focus on the bottom, it  will give you the chance to see stationary fish that are resting up. Stationary fish are the hardest to see because of the color of their backs, they appear to be a gray rock on the bottom. The more time you spend spotting fish, the easier it will become, and the faster you will be able to determine if there are in fact fish present in the hole you are fishing. So take the time to look over your water, and fish it to completion with many different colors and from many different angles before you move on to the next spot.

Always move from hole to hole.

• When fishing small streams or creeks, Steelhead are moving up stream. So if you want to have more of a chance at them, you need to keep moving from hole to hole. Always fish your way back out. If you have fished a stream from the top down in the morning and didn't get any fish, turn around and go back through it on the way out. You never get all the fish the first time through. Some of my best days of fishing have been when I have gone back through a section several hours later. Those fish that did not look in the morning, may be very eager to bite in the afternoon.

So good luck to you at the creek, and remember to look in a hole for more than just a second before giving up on it.

Flymstr;

Well I gave it one last shot today, and was shocked. The creek had life in it!!. For the first time in about a month and a half I can say, "Eagle Creek has fish in it again"!. I don't know if the fish are all throughout the creek, or just located around the top end, near the hatchery. I went out today sometime around 3 O'clock this afternoon. Within 2 minutes I was hooked up with a nice 15 pound winter. Then soon after I hooked another smaller fish, that still had some really good color, (The first fish was dark, but still gave a good fight). So to any of you out there reading this, if you have the chance take a look at the Creek and see if you can get some of these late winters, and remember there are some 20 pound natives that return this time of the year. My friend Dave Hickman from Idaho came up for the week. Me and Dave have been friends now for about 25 years. We grew up and cut our teeth together on some of our first Steelies on the fly rod. We also spent years fly fishing together for Kings and Silvers. Even though he hasn't seen the Creek since 1997, you can see by the pics that he still has it.

Nice to have you back for a bit Dave!!

 Good Luck Out There And Have Fun!!!!!

Flymstr;

Well it's about that time again. I am leaving on a jet plane on the first of the month. I will be at the Yakutat lodge around 11:30 am on Tuesday. I am looking forward to seeing most of my readers this season, and I believe it will be a great one. The snow is falling, but not to the extent of which fell last year. Steelhead fishing should be phenomenal this year and I am stoked about starting down the river on the 2nd. I will be fishing on my creek here in Oregon in the morning. I will give one last update on Eagle Creek tomorrow. See ya soon.

Flymstr;

Sometimes you get just the right picture, but for the most part you struggle to get that perfect shot. Some photographers shoot just a few shots and try to make something out of it, and some just shoot until their thumb is numb. Some of these photographers don't really know what they are doing, and are just taking as many pictures as possible hoping to get just the right one. Few photographers spend the time to get to know the subjects they are shooting, and wildlife can be a difficult subject to shoot even for a pro. I have been very lucky in the short amount of time that I have been capturing fish on film. About 6 years ago while starting out in Alaska, I met an individual with a passion similar to my own. I have always been a fisherman since my first Steelhead at a very young age. My passion for Steelhead has taken over my life, and I there is little to no time in each day that I don't sit and think about these wonderful creatures. I am always plotting on how I can change things up just enough to fool one more fish. Maybe alittle green, mixed with pink and white will do the trick today. I often think in multicolors when I am out fishing. If a Steelhead is keying in on orange that morning, and I am throwing peach at them, I probably won't get a strike. By mixing pink, orange, and peach together, I have three times the chance that one of those colors will be the correct one. So I often pick two or three colors together that I know work on there own, as well as in combinations. Before I get lost here, lets get back to my photographer. Like I was saying, it takes a special passion to film still life photography. Soon after meeting with Brian Woobank (Of Seattle Wash.) we both knew what we would be doing together. I am still amazed now after 6 years, at the patience Brian has to wait for the right shot. I always thought that was what was happening over there under the umbrella, or off on the other side of the bank, while he just sat covered by his lenses, and his camera, always at the ready up to his eye, finger on the trigger. Well I could not have been more wrong. While I am fishing, or if I am helping out a client with a big fish, Brian is clicking away in the background. Unlike others who just click away randomly, Brian is systematically catching all any action taking place within the view of the lens. The most spectacular shots are not those cover shots, and they are not those pictures of fish five feet in the air, (Although Spectacular, and the ones the people want to see),it's the ones that show the reality of what has taken place. I am talking about sequence's that show the entirety of the whole event. I have the utmost respect for my photographer and the patience he shows every time we venture out, not only the patience to deal with the weather and the fish, but the patience to deal with a Steelhead fisherman. Now after 6 years, we have been published in Salmon Trout Steelhead Mag. (Grey Ghosts, Dec. 2006)    Fish Alaska Mag. (Cover Jan. 2008) ,  and I am proud to say that Brain has the cover for Fish Alaska again for next months May 2008 issue. Although it hurts that I am not the fisherman holding the fish, cud-dos to you Brian, see you in May.  Here are a couple of the sequence shots from the last couple king trips, July 2007.

Hope you enjoyed;

Flymstr;

Here is the total photo album for Lake Lenice,, Check out the Tiger and the Browns....

Lake Lenice

These were very nice fish.

Flymstr;