Low Holing

To the Low Holing richard cranium with the spey rod and your buddy with the single hander who moved in not 15 feet below me as I was swinging to steelhead, I really don't mind your lack of courtesy and decorum. As long as you didn't mind the fact that after every third cast or so I stepped down stream, slowly squeezing you two out. I didn't say anything, and you knew better than to complain as I slowly moved downstream while still covering the top of the hole. It wasn't like there wasn't a couple of hundred yards of vacant river just above us..... oh yeah there was.

For all I know this might have been your most favorite hole on the river. Sorry I didn't abandon it despite your hopes that crowding me would get me to move. I just continued to step down after about every third cast. And when I started to cast on top of the water you were covering.... well just what did you expect?

The river wasn't but 20 feet wide here and less than 18 inches deep, so I guess you felt the need to get up and personal with a complete stranger.

Anyway, after moving up into the above mentioned vacant upstream water (after you left back up the hill) we found tons of fish.... Your loss.

Supporting local music

Check out the new CD by Steelhead Redd. A folksy Pocatello band with a great name and great sound. Audio samples re available on the site.

Even though winters in SE Idaho

Even though the winter here is long and ofttimes brutal it has its rewards.

Idaho Fly Fishing from RT on Vimeo.

I recognize most of the stretches in the video and most are less than 30 minutes from my doorstep.

Steelheading the headwaters

Took a trip up above Challis and fished from a few miles above Challis to a few miles above Clayton. The water really gets skinny above Clayton but all of the water from Challis up is a lot more fly fish friendly than below the MF confluence.



We hit Deadman's Hole right at about sunrise and I saw a couple of big steelhead rolling in the hole right below the cliffs. Within a few casts I was into my fist steelhead. A big (around 30 inch) wild buck. I didn't take him out of the water, and so didn't get a picture.



As the sun rose more people started to crowd the hole right above and below the rock so Jake and I moved down 20 yards to a bend in the river. I worked the bend and picked up the hatchery buck after just a few minutes. Worked the hole for a while longer and then wondered a few hundred yard down and then up the river looking for other spots.



Jake and his dad stayed in the bend and fished it for a couple of hours with no success. They were getting ready to meet some friends down at Ellis when I came back. So I started to fish the bend again and again iin a few mintes tied into the hen.



After lunch I fished closer down by Challis for a while and had one good bite. I then drove up river scouting it out and fished a few areas above Clayton. The river is very skinny above the East Fork and will be for a while longer until run off season really starts.



Yellow was the hot color of the day so I tied up a bead bodied yellow spey when I got home.



This was my fastest day of steelheading yet and I hope to go 1-2 more times before the end of the season.