Roots, a short essay from steelhead country –
I remember the first time I discovered a wonderful anadromous fish named the steelhead. When I was a
young boy of 8 years or so, my uncle told stories to me of great rainbow trout that migrated to the ocean,
and then returned to spawn at their birth place, returning with enormous size and grandeur. He taught me
to tie flies for these great trout, mostly patterns that represented food items relating to eggs or spawn if you
will. I figured out that though the fish went to the ocean, they were still trout, and would act like trout at
times to a degree. I still remember one of, if not the first steelhead I caught. It was a smolt as I know now,
of about 12 or so inches and took a small mudler from my old Eagle claw pack rod my Dad had given
me. That was one of the best fish I ever took, to this day I remember it well.
I fished both the gear rod and the fly rod for years, though the fly rod was special. We knew nothing
about “indicators “. No such invention had hit the rivers in those times. We fished roe flies and egg
patterns most of the time as we knew no other equally effective patterns in the fall. I knew of the great
silver Hilton, and brindle bug, but didn’t have the confidence to fish them back then. After all, I
wanted to catch something that was the point...
The scent of those rivers and the sting of frozen fingers on rainy winter days are things I remember and
cherish to this day. Fishing these fish was different… I didn’t know why, but something was special
about them. To me, the challenge, and they effort the fish went through to get back “Home� to
allow me the privilege to enjoy them was special. VERY special… As time went on, I took some fish,
though I was a fellow who fished for steelhead, not a steelheader
For a while, life drew me in a different direction from the “prince of fishes� , though I never forgot
them … Loved my trout fishing on the bighorn river in Montana for years, and various still waters of
Wyoming but something was always missing in the back of my mind…
Fast forward about 25 years…
In the last three years, I’ve fished for steelhead . Not nearly as much as I’d like, but enough to
know what it means to me- The term, “if I have to explain, you won’t understand�, is in most
ways accurate when applied to an individual in persuit of becomeing a true steelheader . If you are truly
consumed by the process of chasing chrome, you get it, regardless of your methods.
In my “second coming� as a steelhead bum, I’ve found some things that have really changed
since my infancy as a steel header 25 years ago. Habitat loss is the most alarming issue I’ve noticed.
The epic proportion of this problem is mind numbing. I must say, I have little clue as to the many solutions
that need to be applied to the many problems facing the steelhead. My intentions are to get as involved as
possible in the future to hopefully make a minute difference in such a huge problem. We have to try.
Some new age fisherman have the goal of becoming a steel header, some the goal of fishing for steel head,
the two being similar, but quite different. These are goals of one’s personal choice, and really should
be left as such, neither looked upon as better than the other, just different, but similar. The tackle you
choose may or may not have a bearing on some of the goals you have as fisherman
Some fish the fly, some the gear rod. We just employ different methods on the same path to angling
nirvana … Each of us have the same gleam in our eye , but for some reason, many are often not willing to
see it in each other . Our methods are different, so we don’t relate to each other, and here lies the
problem.
Divisiveness in tackle choice … IE, methodology. Back when I was a young man, we were all steel
headers. If you limited your take, and practiced ethical fishing, and fished hard for chrome you were one
of the fraternity . Now days, it seems as though many look at others that are fishing different tackle as
inferior or wrong in doing so. The steelhead is the medium that links us, but in the last few years it’s
also become the greatest division between some of us.
Many of the following generalizations apply to many but not all…
Not all but many of the spey guys don’t care for the single handed guys , and vice versa….If you fish
a swung fly on the single hander then you are ok , but throw an indicator on there and you are a looser !
Gear guys don’t like fly guys ‘cause fly guys don’t like gear guys… And many spey guys are
repulsed by spey guys with “bobbers� on their line, since it’s not really spey fishing at all… If
you fish a Skagit line yer cool, but not to the long belly guys, and if you swing a long belly, you are a snob
as far as the Skagit guys are concerned , and both are snobs to the gear guys … Put an indicator on any
of the three fly rod disciplines , and yes, you are a looser… !! Pacific north west guys poo poo inland
guys because their fish are not chrome, while the inland crowd and the PNW boys both diss the great
lakes guys since there steel head don’t migrate to the ocean, but to the great lakes, even though they
are anatomically and genetically identical to PNW fish, as that is where they originated from … by train in
the early 1900’s … The great lakes guys are tired of the PNW guys ‘cause they just won’t let
it go! If you fish egg flies, you are a jerk as far as the SPEY guys are concerned but if you fish traditional
flies you are cool , as long as they have no weight to them, of at which point if they do , you are a numbers
guy and once again, a jerk. If you are a true Skagit guy, only big flies will catch large ornery steel head,
and unlock some deep physic aggression in the fish that otherwise goes undiscovered… If you want to
catch numbers of steel head you are a jerk, especially if you are not a fly guy, or a fly guy with an indicator
and or weighted fly …Unless you are just very good fishing a swung fly , and then you are Jedi, as long as
the fly isn’t weighted specifically with lead eyes. The "numbers " are not defined...2,6,10 no body
knows...
Hmmmm…..