[Gerry Zagorski]

Well it was fun but frustrating. 3 of our party of 5 who fished up there a lot got 2 or 3 Steelhead each but me and Mike got the skunk. Saw a lot of hook ups and landings and the guys who were fly fishing were getting way more hook ups than the float guys. All the fish were concentrated in the faster moving white waters and those spots are where most of the fishermen were set up.

Float guys seemed to be doing best on pink power worms and the fly guys were using really small egg imitation flies in pink, orange or blue. Kind of frustrating to see the same 1 or 2 guys fishing 10 yards from you hooking up every 20 minutes and you're standing there asking yourself what you're doing wrong.

We spent most of our time float fishing the area below the Atlmar Bridge. People were very friendly and respectful of each others space. On more than one occasion we had people up upstream of us hook up and they'd apologize as they worked there way down past you to fight the fish. Talked to several people all who offered advise if asked and several who would show you what they were using and offer you some.

Some advice for first timers like me.

This is a very specialized fishery so you need to go with guys who've fished the river a lot or hire a guide. You also need special gear. Most people float fishing had whippy light to medium 10 foot plus spinning rods and either fished a spinning reel or center pin. The longer rod helps you keep your line out of the water so it's not getting caught in the current and dragging your float downstream too fast. You're basically keeping your line slightly tight to the float for a slower and more natural presentation and a longer rod helps since you can hold it up higher and keep your line out of the water. The center pin reels also help you control your line out rate easier then spinning reels. The long whippy rod tip also helps you fight the fish since it acts like a shock absorber for your 10 lb test main line and 6lb leader.


As far as fly fishing, I think for the most part the people where using 7-9 weights with a few split shots above the fly to help it stay closer the bottom. Unlike the float guys, they tend to take very short drifts 5 yards to either side of them and repeat often while the float guys are taking much longer drifts.

All in all a great first experience with some terrific guys and so cool to see these fish go nuts cartwheel downstream ripping line off reels like you hooked a freight train. I defiantly can see how this fishery can be so addictive, a fly rod in my future and another trip up there for redemption.