Hard work pays off..

So down here in central Cal the steelhead runs are absolutely nothing compared to up north. Catching a big adult down here (on a fly, you can catch anything with bait) is the holy grail for any steelhead angler. I caught a fish from my back yard, she was the “One” for me (at least for my season down here)...taped out at 31inches, she was silver & days out of the salt… sea lice and all. 

The "One"- Being alone does not provide the best Photo Op

This was no average fish for me…this was more than 100 hours on the river paying off. I have spent ALL season down here trying to get an adult on a swung fly….Two weeks before the season is over (6 days of fishing left) and 3 days before I leave on my steelhead expedition (more on that in the next post) and I finally hook up on my first 10lb + fish from the SL, and the funny part is the second I took Lani Waller’s advice and started to just relax, look around me and take in the sunrise (it was 7 am and I’de been on the water for an hour already)...all of the sudden, the loop in my hand went tight and all mayhem broke loose. At first I thought it was a smaller fish…18-25 inches and I was stoked but I put the wood to it and wanted to get it out of the pool so it wouldn’t spook the rest of the fish...and then I saw it…and I looked at my 4wt (it’s a very small river)..and I got the shakes, the fish shakes. That fish ripped a ton of line off my reel and was doing doughnuts around the pool like a hot rod in the cvs parking lot…I did land the fish and I am stoked to say the least.  Catching that fish may have been luck to some but I can tell you that I swung at least 3 different patterns before the take and I had swung at least 400 casts through this hole over the course of the season…not to mention I have been putting in serious time for that fish, walking out to the river in the dark and spending a minimum of 5 hours on the water…working for this fish was so rewarding…rather than a first time to the hole, this looks good, dumb luck kind of situation. I had put my livelihood into this river, checking the flows and keeping a very detailed journal with water temperature and all the other shit you can observe and write down. You may be wondering what fueled this crazy pursuit….well, it all started with some pictures from 2001 and a buddy who (on his fist time ever fishing the river) hooked a monster out of the same hole…I’m talking MONSTER (ill post his story later)…after that I knew the fish were there and what the possibilities were. I started to clock serious hours…never letting myself rest until I caught a monster. I was 100% fishing 100% of the time (still am) ...I tied flies, did research and spent hours battling bait bouncers and it paid off. That fish was more than just a fish caught for me…it was a goal that I worked hard for. That fish represents everything I love about steelheading…