So, I decided to take a break from grading yesterday and try to catch a steelhead. It's getting late in the season for them on the McKenzie, so I figured I better take advantage of being able to take a couple hours off. First cast I hooked into one. He raced around the pool and leaped a couple times. After he jumped I realized something was wrong since my rod was awkwardly bent. The line had gotten rapped around the tip, so I had to ease of the pressure and take care of the problem. He took advantage of the break to catch his breath and bolt downstream, putting me into my backing. I was stuck between deep water and fast current, so I did the best I could to pull him back to me. I had got the line far enough in so I could see the leader and.....nothing. I felt the line go limp. No more fish. No more fly at the end of my line.
I tied on a new fly and got back to it. A few casts later I hooked into another steelhead, but the hook popped out after only a few seconds. There were no fish after this other than a tiny rainbow. I did see a salmon that was cruising around in full zombie mode. I could easily spot the fungus growing on him as he prepared to die after making the remarkable journey back from sea. Seeing a salmon after it has spawned may not be mother nature at her prettiest, but it may be nature in its rawest form (that is unless that was a hatchery salmon, then you can forget most of what I said).
Back to grading...
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