Steelhead Anglers-Fishing the Rivers of North B.C.

Fishing the Rivers of North B.C. Updated 15 October 2001

I would like to share a few of my experiences on the from Northern British Columbia, Canada. The Babine is one of the major tributaries of the Skeena system along with the Bulkley, Kispiox, Copper, and Sustut. The Skeena system is huge and drains an immense area of Northern BC and Southern Alaska. The fish are also huge but that is another story. To get to this area and fish it properly start with Trey Combs "Flyfishing for Steelhead" and then come North. This page is not meant to be a bragging platform or fish count. it is simply a collection of writings I have made over the years based on the pure emotion of the moment. It is hard to spend time on the river and not become very philosophical.

Sustut, Forget Me Not, 2001
The water temperature was 40 degrees F. The lodge owner thought only a fool would fish a dry fly in such conditions. My feelings were that Skeena Steelhead deserve more respect than you can provide on a weighted tip or fly and the lower stretch of the Sustut was all water 6 feet deep or less with perfect water clarity, a dry fly was the obvious choice to me. I had fished this pool two days earlier and had hooked a fish about 1/3 of the way down the lower section so I had every reason to be confident. My partner Carl had hooked two fish right at the top on tips then so I expected fish in the run. As I approached the spot I started fishing slower and more deliberately with a huge Waller Pinky, my own adaptation of the fabulous dry fly. A little below the spot of the day before I had a slow, deliberate, swirl on the fly, a ring at least 3 feet in diameter. I let myself catch my breath and went back again with the same cast and this time the beak of the great fish came out of the water and swatted the fly out of the way, cool. The fish did not come on the next cast so I switched to a Thompson River Caddis with no success. A Steelhead Caddis had the same lack of result as did Black Bomber and Ross Special Atlantic Salmon wets. We were up around 12 casts over the beast and the last 10 had no show so it was decision time. About this time I heard the familiar "Hoo Ah" indicating Carl had succeeded again at the top. I went back to the original Waller Pinky and on the first cast the fish boiled again. I waited a minute and swung it by again and this time he took it down and held it. I struck and the beast thrashed in the surface and I could see if was a very big fish. AFter the initial declaration of battle the fish head straight out for the middle of the river. Sustut fish are very strong and in my experience they often do not fight but rather resist with great strength. There was nothing frantic about the battle, the ironhead just pulled line out as he wanted. With all the strength of my 1915 Perfect clicker, and my fingers, we put maximum sideways pressure on the beast at all times. Four times he headed straight out for the big current and I saw time and time again that week that once in the current the fight went to the fish so I kept maximum pressure bearing at all times and each time managed to turn him back and gain line toward the beach. Finally he circled in 12 inches of water at my feet and finally on his side I could see the enormity of him. 45 x 22 were the final measurements. The lodge owner of 25 years put him at 34 pounds, my experience closer to 32 but in any case it was a fish of grand proportions. The Sustut bucks have an interesting second stripe which runs along the bottom of the belly up with a 1-2" stripe of white between the stripes. The Sustut fish also recover faster than others so I found you could either tape them or photo them but rarely both. Since I girthed him I knew I was pushing my luck and as I tried to take a picture he bolted for freedom and I wished him a fair journey. Hoo-Ah. And Carl had an 18 pound buck at the top of the run at the same time! Never give up faith in the dry fly, 40 degree water and a Waller Pinky could be the fish of a lifetime.

Babine, Dry Fly Diner, 2001
Last run, last day, a long day for me with no fish so far. The numbers had been small this year but the fish were amazing. The water was very high so the slot at the top of the diner was 85 feet out and needed close to a 100 foot cast with a nice curve in it to fish well. I really wanted one here. My mind focused on the cast, every bit of my being pulsed with fishing the large Geek, a dry fly designed for and on the Babine by guide Bill "Bullwinkle" Harrison, as perfectly as humanly possible. As I worked though the bucket with no takers I continued to focus as the run is long with many holding areas. All of a sudden at the end of the swing I saw a small wave some 100 feet below me. The glare made it very hard to see so I kept staring and trying to make it out. I hollered up to Carl, fishing a wet above me, "was that a boil"? Carl often watches my dry flies as he swings a wet behind me. Carl couldn't tell with the glare so I kept studying the water and determined that no natural waves like that occurred in that spot so it had to be a fish. I let the Geek swing in to the shore so it would not disturb anyone and then laid out the same cast as before. As the fly waked into the zone the event was punctuated by an explosion in the water and the fish was on! I looked up at Carl and declared, "it was a boil"! The fish ran down to the top of the riffle below and thrashed on the surface. I bolted to the bank and reeled down on the beast while exerting side pressure. He felt the pressure to the side and below and ran upstream 40 yards until almost directly across from me. He thrashed and thrashed but from that position I could pul directly from the side and he slowly but surely came to hand. A perfect 36" Buck specimen from the Babine river, well colored and beautiful. What a crowning moment to another great week!

Babine, Howard's, 2000
Howard's is named after Howard West, one of the fly line pioneers from 3M/Scientific Anglers so long ago. The pool is short and starts right below a series of powerful rapids. At the top is a big rock which you can see but don't be fooled; the run is loaded with rocks which you don't see but hold fish. I have had times where I went through this run 5 times in a row and got at least one fish each time through. This was a day, after a pretty slow week of fishing, when I could just tell this was the place to be. I literally jumped out of the sled when Erik called my name. A fresh, big Pinky dry, black Waller Waker with pink wings, was attached to the line and greased. I started above the run and slowly fished down into the softer water. The water was gin clear and I could clearly see the bottom in 6 feet of water. I must say I expected a fish above the rock and was surprised not to get one. I continued fishing down using a short 25 foot cast. About 6 feet behind the rock I saw movement underwater as the fly swung through. I let the fly swing al the way to the rocks so as not to disturb water on the pickup and let fly again. This time the fish came clear out of the water with a powerful take but at the end I could still see the fly in the water, he missed it! As it continued to swing he turned and grabbed at it again. My eyes strained searching for the fly on the water and feeling for the weight of the fish. Finally a flash of pink caught my eye, the fish was returning to its station with the big fly in the corner of his mouth! Talk about nerves of steel, this whole exchange took about 20 seconds but seemed like an eternity and it took everything I had not to strike until he had it. Seeing it in his mouth I slowly tightened up and when he pulled away I struck and the fight was on! This fish knew very well how to use the river and kicked by hiney for 20 minutes before coming to hand. It was a beautiful 42" buck, my longest fish ever! It was rather skinny at 20" as were most of the fish I saw in 2000 but as little as it weighed for 42" is made up for in spunk. A pat on the head and returned to its glory!

A few casts later a 32" buck came to hand. A few after that a 34" hen. Near the tail I small disturbance as the fly went through. The next cast the fish showed but did not take. I put eight different dries through that slot but no take. The fish finally took a number 8 Steelhead Caddis and turned out to be a beautiful chromer, 32" of fired up hen! Keep in mind that the whole run is about 40 yards top to bottom. As I started back to the top for more Erik returned with Michael and I urged Michael to toss a wet fly in the run. 5 casts later he was into another 34" buck. We had to leave after that but I am sure we could have stayed the rest of the day with continued success. Sometimes you just get into a run full of fish who are takers!

Bulkley, Big Mouth, 2000
Big Mouth is the run below where the Suskwa enters the Bulkley 40 minutes North of Smithers. There is a deep channel on the far side of the river and a big gravel bar in the middle. If you are lucky enough to be left on this bar there is a medium sized pool between you and the other side of the river. When Gord dropped me here he told me to wade as far up as I could and to start fishing around a medium size visible rock a ways below the top of the run. As far as I could wade was about 30 feet above the rock. On my first cast a Steelhead lept out of the water in front of the rock, missed my fly and almost landed in my waders. Subsequent cast showed this fish to be gone for the moment. When I looked back at Gord he was laughing hard. As I continued down the run with a Purple Haze I raised another fish behind the rock. This fish came three times before engulfing the fly and turned out to be 34 inched of chromed hen. After she was returned I started working all the way across the run. 30 yards down there is another big rock on the far side and of course I was soon into another fish. This one beat me up, down the run, up the run, 7 jumps, I was beat. Gord walked over and tailed him, 34" of Bulkley buck. We returned him to the rivers care, shook hands, and considered how lucky we were to fish these rivers in the fall.

Babine, Double Header, 2000
Double Header is two runs spliced together. The upper run is a little fast, always looks fishy to me, the bottom takes the upper water and spreads it out over a slow pool 70 yards long with cliffs on the other side some 90 feet away. Below the cliffs are ledges where we have seen legendary Steelhead holding as we drive through with the boat. It is almost impossible, except in extreme low water, to get a drift over these ledges. If you are a mountain goat you can fish from the cliffs, that leaves me out. Fortunately the middle is loaded with large cobble and when the water is right the riffle below is filled with fish sized pockets and fished like a dream. Sometimes the fish are are holding in the upper seam, this happens a lot. Today they were in the pocket water. After I fished through the pool a couple of times with no action Erik yelled to me to continue down and hammer the pockets. Almost immediately I was into a nice buck who politely fought his way into the upper pool so as not to disturb the pocket water. After sending him on his way I returned to the pockets to see what they held. Half a dozen casts later another sizzling strike but a miss. A repeat on the next cast but a solid grab on the next swing and a nice chrome hen. The takes in small pockets like this must be experienced to be believed, the fish has to move quickly or the fly is gone and they know how to move quickly when they want to! A bit farther down the run another solid take and a small buck. I could have fished like this all week, why is it always the last day?

Babine, Marvin's, 1998
It was a sunny, beautiful day on the river. The unusually warm weather was a treat as we fished in shirt sleeves and sunscreen instead of jackets and fleece. It was an auspicious initiation to fishing for Steelhead on the Babine river. I had never been here but I had memorized the videos, read everything I could get my hands on, and came to the river with more than a little expectation. I had spent the day watching Carl, and Mike take a number of fish from the pools we had visited. Being an experienced Steelheader I thought that I might share in this but it had not been so. Nothing in the morning at Murray's, a take on a dry at Silver Bullet but no fish and nothing at Dave's Drift was a situation which was starting to make me wonder if I was doing something wrong. When the guys dropped me off at Marvin's I was more than a little ready.

Marvin's is a run along a big inside corner, about 150 yards long but the bucket is about 75 of that. The inside is about 2-3 feet deep and runs next to a fast, powerful current at 6-10 feet which moves away from the angler and pulls your fly line into a nice, straight swing. It is an unreal place to fish, a blind person could get a perfect drift through this water. Just fire it across and let it swing. Billy told me to start above the little diamond shaped rock and fish all the way to the tail, dry and then wet. The size 2 Waker had been meticulously tied and trimmed; I always figure Steelhead deserve no less. It looks like a small sailboat churning it's way across the run. I passed the diamond rock in the groove and could just feel the eyes on my fly with every cast. About a third of the way to the tail the water erupted with a slashing boil. I found my fly still working it's way across and then again a big explosion and FISH ON! I cannot even begin to explain what this felt like. The fish immediately headed for the fast water and I could do nothing. I was holding on for my life as the fish jumped and shook and sulked. Finally the prize was coaxed into the knee deep water where I was standing and was tailed. YES!!!! 35" of chrome bright buck steel! I was shaking at this point and was also terrified that the fish would be injured in some way so I quickly removed the decoration from the corner of his mouth and pointed him into the strong current. After a few moments he powerfully swam from my grasp, my first Babine Steelhead!

Little did I know what the Fish Gods had in store for me as a few casts later another eruption and a beautiful 34" hen came to hand. Back to the top and a quick change to a 1.5 Purple Haze Spey and back to it with a wet fly. Right off the bat a huge grab and another 35" buck. Near where the first fish had come to the dry I had a slashing grab, but no fish. In the same swing another huge grab. I made the same cast and had three big grabs again and finally hooked and landed the beast. Never had I had fish come back like that on the wet fly. I continued fishing to the tail and the boat returned. As Carl and Lani were receiving my full report on the phenomenal pool I had another slashing take right in front of them. This fish ran out over the tail and into the fast water below but was finally brought to hand a ways below the pool. We tailed and admired the beautiful 36" hen together. As she swam from my grasp I could not help but consider how lucky I was to be be here. As a Washington State steelheader of many years I had grown accustomed to a fish a day. 5 in one pool! And numbers aside the nature of the takes are worth the price of admission alone.

Babine, Blue Flag, 1998
Blue Flag is a very interesting piece of water. At the top the river is only about 50 feet across and there is a big drop into the pool. The current runs hard and fast and all the way across the river against the far bank. I am told the top does not produce so you always start at this barely visible rock about a third of the way through the run. At this point the river is 140 feet across, the fast current is in the last 30 feet and everything this side of that is almost frog water. One would think that the fish would lie on this seam between the current and the frog water, right? This is the deception as underneath the fast current are a couple of shelves of big rocks and the fish sit right under the fast current down by those rocks. If your cast does not swing through the fast water you will only be practicing your casting. The difficulty is that the run is pretty deep so you can only wade out about 20 feet before you start to float away. If you do the math you can see that a 100 to 120 foot cast is needed to fish this water effectively, and the cast must be made while wading as deep as you will ever want to.

As the boat pulled in Billy asked if I wanted to give it a try as I was up. I looked at Carl and he said "I would if I were you" and by then I was out of the boat. In the past I had not caught much here as I was using a rod which only afforded about an 80 foot cast with a sink tip. This time I had the new 8150-4 and I knew I could hit the far bank. Carl had always told me that this was a run which held BIG FISH and I was looking forward to finding out. I started at the submerged boulder and as deep as I dared. Fortunately the frog water does not pose much of a danger to wading but a great deal of glacial silt created pockets of quicksand which made for interesting movement. I had just gotten stuck up to my knees at Dave's Drift so I was very cautious about sinking. Since this was big fish run I pulled out a big fish fly, the 3/0 Purple Haze Spey, and attached it with a new piece of 15# Maxima to the 15 foot, 150 grain sink tip. The cast would be just above straight across the river which would give it a second to sink and a good swing across the fast water. It took a dozen casts or so to get the 100+ feet of line to work its way out nicely across the current. As I hit my stride I started moving a step at a time down the run. Three casts later the first grab attempted to rip the rod from my grasp. The fish fought hard as the frog water offers little to impede the fishes powerful movements. The fish that came to hand was 36" of chrome bright buck. After a couple of Kodak moments he was returned to the gene pool and I returned to the starting point. 2 casts later another grab and a 34" female. 4 casts later another 36" male. About 20 feet further down the run I had a powerful grab but this time it was not violent like the others, just powerful. In classic Thompson River style this fish pulled off 100 yards of backing in about 3 seconds. I have rarely seen anything like it. The fish jumped all the way across the river and about 150 feet below me. This fish moved with incredible speed hundreds of feet at a time, each movement punctuated by a beautiful leap. I could tell this was a nice fish because when it jumped it did not make a splash but rather the telltale plop of a large fish. Fortunately all this activity soon tired the beast and after only about 20 minutes it was ready to tail. What a fish, 38X22 buck, well over 25# and as fat as a side of beef. This one had some color and a beautiful crimson side panel with very bright blush panels over the gill plates. My heart was pounding, again. I carefully maneuvered the beast as far as I could out in the run but we were still in frog water and he was not recovering quickly. I walked him upstream to increase the water movement and he soon recovered and powerfully relieved himself of my company.

After collecting my gear I returned to the starting point and almost immediately hooked a 32" hen. After returning her to the care of the river I pulled out, found a nice rock to sit on and lit a nice cigar. What beautiful thoughts race through ones mind at a time like this. I could see Carl up at the tail of Dave's Drift and hoped he was having a similar experience with his dry fly fishing. As darkness fell the boat finally returned and located me by the glow of my Habana. Carl knows when I am sitting and smoking rather than fishing that things have gone extraordinarily well.

Babine, Eagle, 1998
Eagle is a classic piece of Steelhead water. Everyone has probably dreamed of fishing it once they watch the Video. The river is a good 75 yards across and the run in a good 100 yards long. The run is a shelf along the inner 2/3 of the river so the water is running downstream and away from you, it is almost impossible to fail to achieve a good swing here. The bottom half starts to get pretty shallow so it is fairly routine here to fish the top 2/3 with a sink tip and the bottom 1/3 with a dry. This is one of the runs in the river where you can really benefit from a long cast since there are a number of seams along this shelf quite a ways out. I started at the very top with a 1.5 Green Butt Spey. The water was perfectly clear and it was unseasonably warm with mostly sunny conditions. As I worked my way down the run it was hard not to envision myself in the video, waiting for the telltale pull of a twenty pounder. About 30 yards down the run I had a good yank but stupidly reacted rather than waiting and managed to pull it away from the beast. I always feel like such an IDIOT when I do this. I ran it through a few more times but no more fish. I kept on going while cursing myself for my stupidity. Remember that in Washington, where I am from, one fish a day is a good day so to miss one may be the end of your fishing for the day. Halfway down the run are some large rocks on the inside which are usually visible and this is normally the bucket so as I approached these my hopes began to soar again. As the fly swung about 20 feet behind these rocks I had a hard pull and fortunately did nothing. The fight was on! The fish headed directly across the river and jumped high in the air, a good fish no doubt! The seagoing rainbow continued to jump out there and was soon exhausted. Once brought to hand it measured 36", an excellent buck with some color starting to show. He was gently released back to the river and my day was made! I moved back to roughly the same spot above the rocks and began casting again. On the third cast, the first one where I was fishing a full length of line again, I experienced a huge yank and another fish on! This one headed diagonally down and away and jumped some hundred yards from me close to the tailout. I could see, and hear, that this was an even better fish and my heart started pounding. I had to keep the beast in the pool as following around the tail is not possible. I worked my way slightly below and managed to get the thing to start working its way upstream. This tired the fish and it was soon in hand. This was a substantial fish, 40" in length and 19.5" in girth, and it was a FEMALE. A 20 pound female like this is one in a million on this river. After removing the decoration from the corner of her mouth she was carefully released and heartily encouraged to go and spawn a thousand more. Even though I was exhausted with heart still pounding I returned to the same point in the run and on the second cast another fish was on. This turned out to be a 32" buck, chrome silver. Upon releasing him I returned once more and began casting again, my heart pounding and actually expecting to hook another fish on the first few casts. I fished through the bottom of the run and found no more fins but my heart was certainly full and the experiences of the preceding hour would forever be etched into my memories. I pulled out of the river and walked back to the rocks to sit down and have a cigar. On the way I found three eagle feathers on the bank. The rich taste of the Cuban Montecristo blended well with the beautiful scenery, crisp air, and the experiences of the moment. It is a great feeling to be one with the universe.

Babine, Into the Food Chain, 1998
Ehor Boyanowski once wrote "nothing Bears going about their business". As much as the Bear population in Washington State is on the outs one rarely sees one of the beasts. It was only when I started visiting the Smithers area and the rivers of Northern BC that I routinely experienced the exhilaration of a Bear visit. It started with sighting of Blacks during the van ride to and from Smithers. Once the camp dog started a mom and two cubs one evening and they ended up in the tree outside the main door of the Lodge. Tracks are often seen in the mud when walking the banks and sometimes the Bears are actually seen. One day while fishing at Spey we looked down river and saw a large Grizzly foraging. About then we felt the wind shift and blow over us down river. Almost immediately the Grizzly rose up on his back legs, a good 8 feet tall, and seemed to be sampling the breeze. He soon dropped back to all fours and began running straight at us. Since he was 200 yards away there was little danger and we had a chance to observe. Boy what a lot of real estate they can cover. We were thinking about moving into the boat as he hit the 100 yard mark but about that time he diverted across the river and into woods. Another time I was fishing Evan's river left, a run I call "The Dark Side" since it is almost always in the shade. As I fished down I soon came to a fallen log on the bank and heard a loud, fast chattering, something was definitely wrong here. Finally I found the source of the commotion. A Chipmunk was racing from one end of the log, jumping into a tree and climbing, back down and across the log, and up a tree at the other end. It stopped every few feet and let me have another blast of chatter. This was all happening at a speed which would was only slightly subsonic. This Chipmunk had too much coffee for sure. He did manage to make it clear that this was his space and that I had no business in it and as I moved out of his area I felt bad that I had caused him so much distress. It was very interesting to see such a small animal assert itself so vehemently towards a much larger mammal. It really proved the axiom that "it's not the size of the dog in the fight".

Babine, Jerri Lou's, 1998
Jerrie Lou's is actually two very small runs. The first is a classic tailout about 30 feet long with a big curve from the bank to the middle toward the bottom. Every time I have pulled into the bottom of this run in the boat I have seen one or more very big Steelhead here. When Mark dropped me off he told me to have a cigar to let things rest and then start at the top of each pool. It had not been a particularly productive day and it looked like this would be the final run of the day for me so I resolved to fish it well and thoroughly. After the Hemingway Classic burned to the band I made my way to the top and tied on a new Purple Haze. It was easy to cast the required 40 feet for this run, actually it was a relief after spending a long day booming out long casts with a sink tip. The fly was swimming beautifully and things seemed perfect for a big fish. I moved about half a step between casts and was looking forward to the pull of a big fish. Somehow I managed to fish all the way to the bottom with no takers.

The lower run starts at the very bottom of the upper, the water here is running out perpendicular from the bank and makes a nice break in the high volume of current which makes it way by here. This seam is about 20 feet out and the run about 30 feet long. I made my way to the edge of the rocks, no small feat with water pulling you out into the river, and made my first cast. By casting the medium sink tip slightly upstream and using the away from the bank current it was easy to get a good swing and to just hang the fly on the seam for a long period of time. On the third cast or so I let the fly hang on the seam for a very long time and was suddenly surprised by a viscous yank. The fish was on and headed out in the current and upriver. The runs were very short but powerful and each was terminated by a leap. The telltale plop as the behemoth fell back into the water indicated a very large specimen. As the fish tired I led it to hand, though there was no good place to do it, and finally had a grip on the tail. He was a chromer, 36" x 20" and perfect in every respect. I carefully removed the fly, and released him to the care of the river. I stepped back into the corner and made the same cast. During the hang on the seam I again experienced a vicious grab. Another strong fish, 34", and another 32" and another 36"x18". It was as if the run held one fish at a time in the seam and when the fish left to move up and fight another would move into the prime spot and be there on the next cast. Certainly the hard water out and below me supported this conclusion. Another shining example of how a tiny piece of water can produce a number of good fish. I made another cast as darkness enveloped me and would not have been surprised by another fish but it did not happen. I reeled in and lit up another stogie as I reflected on what had just happened. It is amazing to fish a river where one run can be the best day you ever had.

Babine, Floyd's, 1998
Floyd's is a small piece of water right across from the main lodge at Silver Hilton. The water churns though a deep slot and drops several feet in the main channel. Some water curves around the high side and drops in at a 90 degree angle forming almost an eddy which is the top of the run. As you move down the run the current increases. The whole thing is only about 25 yards long but you will have a hard time finding a better piece of dry fly water anywhere. It was evening of our last full day of fishing. Carl and I had quite a week and were more than filled with the river. We would be lucky if we could remember where to return home to in the days to come but for now twilight was upon us, and we had 'Billy the Kid' drop us a Floyd's for one last hurrah. Carl started at the very top with a huge dry fly called 'the Geek' which I tied for him from a pattern developed by 'Bullwinkle' Bill Harrison. It looks like a cross between a beautiful Atlantic Salmon tie and a caterpillar and makes a wake like a tugboat. I was following shoreside, camera at the ready and happy with my lot, observing my dear friend as he skillfully plied the waters. As darkness fell we were about 12 yards into it, just at the point where the current starts to work the fly with a purpose. As the Geek swung in against the bank a whole appeared in front of it in the water and an enormous set of lips opened and engulfed it. My heart stopped as the fish and fly disappeared and I looked back at Carl and saw the rod deeply bent and a look on his face like a cat who has just eaten the canary. OHHHHH YEAHHHHHHH. The fish knew how to use the strong current on the outside and for 20 minutes Carl and I stepped gingerly around the rocks on the dark bank, finally bring the beast to hand near the bottom of the run. The fish was a beautiful hen, 34" or pure chrome. She sported just the faintest pink stripe on here sides and a beautiful blush on her cheeks. I passed her to Carl who posed for a few pictures. The combination of his grin and her beauty were a sight to behold. Beauty and the Beast to be sure. We carefully released her into the safety of the river and darkness, hopeful in her ability to continue the species. Carl and I sat quietly in the darkness until Billy returned to pick us up, our souls filled with all the river could provide.

Babine, Evans river right, 1998
The water was somewhat off color, like a strong cup of tea. The sky was overcast and it had been raining steadily for the last 3 days. For the Babine this is really off color water. I selected a nice 3/0 Green Butt Spey, a tie which I go to in off color water. Evans is really two very short pieces of water. There is essentially a large shelf across the middle of the river here and a big drop so the water is really churning as it goes by here. The top of Evans is a classic piece of water. No more than a 30 foot cast is required, the idea being to set things up in the fast water beyond the seam and then quietly swim the fly into the seam and over the quiet water inside. As you fish down from the top you come to a point where the bar you are walking on disappears, and so will you if you keep on walking here. At that point you cut back in to the bank and into the bushes and trees that surround it. A spey cast works well here, you only need 40-50 feet so being in the trees is not too big a problem. At the bottom of this lower piece is a grouping a medium size rocks, the bucket. Mark told me to start at the top and fish slowly. The top fished like a dream and although I did not touch a fish I was sure I would get hammered on every cast. When I made the transition and started on the lower piece I was in the groove and the fly was swimming nicely. I have always been a big fan of fishing upstream of rocks so as I approached the bucket it was not without expectation. As much as visibility was poor I was swinging a 4" hunk of Seal fur and Bronze Mallard and if they couldn't see that they would have to be blind. As the fly swung 10 feet upstream of the rocks the rod was virtually ripped from my hand. The grab had the power of a bulldozer and made it clear that Steelhead be darned I was securely hooked. The fish was not anxious to go anywhere, though. It stayed in the run, moving powerfully back and forth about 40 feet with some wallowing jumps thrown in. I knew the fish was big but just how big would have to wait until later. As the beast quieted I moved him toward the bushes behind me. I found a good tailing spot among the trees and bushes and after two or three attempts managed to get a grip on the thing. It took two or three tries because the first time I got him close and saw the size of him I lost all grip of reality and starting panicking and worrying about loosing him. I never was able to get my hand around the wrist of the tail, it was just too big so I grabbed the fly in his mouth when he floated in and tethered him with it. I quickly ran the tape over him and saw he was 40", and awesome fish and one which I was blessed to be holding. The girth measurement was the killer. As I wrapped that fish in fluorescent red measuring tape I could not believe it, 24". I measured again and it was the same, WOW. Now my breath was coming gasps and I knew I was in danger of not surviving the release. I cradled the fishes belly and removed the hook, and gave up on any hope of getting a picture. I staggered out in the flow, pointed him upstream and prayed he would survive to spawn an entire race of specimens like himself. As he twisted from my grasp he did not speed away, but powerfully moved back to his lie in slow motion. I fell back and sat in the river, chest pounding, unable to breath or think or move. When Carl and Mark returned in the boat some time later they found me in this position, my rod tangled in and hanging from a tree, the line running here and there in a mess. I tried to talk but words would not come. According to Bob Wickwire's Babine tested formula this fish would run a little over 31#, My Oh My.

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