I heard a quote once that echo’s in my head, “I’ll fish any fly as long as it’s black”. And when it comes to catching late winter steelhead I couldn’t find that statement to be more true.
A trip to a local steelhead river in late March produced some heavy weight in which the evidence will show that black color combos get the job done.
As a swing fisherman it’s obviously not a numbers game but, a quality game. There are only a handful of rivers where I have felt like I really needed a spey rod to land a fish; the North has never disappointed.
On our brief visit, we hooked into some hogs that put our equipment to the test but, none more than Anthony who drove all the way from Ohio to catch some steel. He found out the hard way what happens when a mid teen fish crushes your fly and all you have is a soft 7wt switch rod to land it. Long story short, his 4 piece rod turned into a 5 piece! Even though he didn’t land the fish you could tell that Anthony was hooked on steelheading; “My line was screaming downstream, I looked up and the fish was jumping upstream!”
The feeling that you hooked into something that can just kick your ass, you’re never in control, but, somehow have the possibility of landing leaves a smile on your face and a shiver through your core. Steelhead are often referred to as the “fish of a thousand casts”. And when the thousand casts become 2 thousand casts the line tightens, the reel sings and your ass is being kicked all is forgotten and this great creature now becomes the fish of a “thousand dreams”.
It’s the fish that bring me back year after year but its the the experiences that I remember the most.
Experiences like watching your buddy jumping into frigid cold water to save a fly he tied the night before is a memory that will not be forgotten. 
One of Medford’s great firefighters, when Josh is not out saving lives, he’s saving flies.
TH
editor’s note: about 19 days left in the indiegogo campaign to bring Frank Moore back to France where he helped save the western World. http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/frank-moore-mending-the-line
Experiences like the one described above are a direct result of Frank’s efforts not only abroad but of course on this uniquely Oregon treasure.
Outside Bend Productions 