7. Skeena: The Biggest and Meanest Steelhead in the World!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and hope you got a trip to B.C. to fish steelhead underneath the tree.
When a large chrome steelhead rips line off the reel at an incredible pace and the arbor knot becomes visible you feel helpless to something so wild that words cannot describe. Feeling the power of fish of this caliber is something I would sign up for any day of the year. Captured with skill by Columbus Leth and the Salmon Junkies this film is a non-stop action fest of trophy steelhead with a good measure of reverence for the power of these beasts. The sound of their reels screaming will stick with you for sometime. There is no particular story or message with the film, and that is OK with me. Sometimes its just fun to live vicariously through others having a grand time, and for a week in BC, these two gentlemen had a grand time and captured the moment on video wonderfully.

Amazing shots of beautiful wild steelhead guys. Great work on other projects as well this year!
Already down to #6. North of the border we will remain.

11. Tailout

You feel the anticipation build as your fly swings across the tailout of a beautiful run. After several hundred casts down the long run you have seen river otters and a bald eagle. A couple small trout toyed with your fly. Was that a boil just under your muddler? Question asked and answered within seconds as a pissed off 15lb. torpedo heads for the pool below. For the first time in your fishing career you feel helpless and left awestruck by the untamed nature of a wild steelhead.
Tailout by Scumliner Media exquisitely captures the allure of chasing these magnificent creatures in their turf. A film this good takes not only skill but sacrifice on the part of the film maker who must sit for hours wondering how to make casting look good on film in between the brief but exciting flurries of action. Like other Scumliner Media videos the editing and camera work is excellent, the sound and interviews are well done and the excitement and beauty of the setting are captured perfectly.

Awesome film and edit John. Brings me back to some great times swinging in Steelhead Paradise.
We are now moving into the top 10 list. No David Letterman but instead 10 of the best fly fishing films of the year.

Tailout: New Video from Scumliner Media

A gorgeous steelhead video produced by Scumliner Media:

The folks at Headhunters Fly Shop in Craig Montana on the bank of the Missouri River have the social media thing dialed. Probably the best all-around website in the business. Great content on a consistent basis in a fun and informative manner. Check it out at http://www.headhuntersflyshop.com/

OBP Guest Author: Black and Chrome

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.