Sent: Monday, August 18, 2008 6:52 PM
Subject: rod christening
Hi Dave,
A fellow club member and I went to Campbell River this past weekend to attend a symposium on salmon conservation. We allowed ourselves a couple of extra days to do some fishing.
The Campbell River has had some enhancement work done to rebuild the once amazing runs of steelhead trout that Rod Haig-Brown wrote about back in the 50's and 60's. Two years ago steelhead smolts had been placed in the Campbell River generated from brood stock taken from the Tsitika River which is a little further north on the island. They are 2/2 and 2/3 fresh/salt fish, so the first of the returns were expected this year. When I spoke with a friend who lives on the river, he informed me that 2 fish had been reported caught so far this year.
I had already planned on fishing the 'hallowed' upper pools on the river with the expectation of catching some of the scrappy cutthroat trout that live there, but now I also had the thought that maybe there could be a summer-run for me too. My new Norling rod was to get it's first real exposure to the fishing I had in mind for it - bigger water with some aggressive trout in it.
The wading can be a bit challenging so I had to take my time as well as look after my slightly more senior club mate, but eventually I was positioned in a familiar spot looking across at some eagerly rising trout about 30' away. I'd attached a nymph before stepping into the water, which I removed and replaced with a buoyant, rough water caddis dry. In a couple of casts I was into a nice cutthroat - 13" or so, that fought well and gave me a nice sense of how the rod felt with a fish on it. The casting was easy and the rod length provided the mending that I was hoping for.
After the fish was released, actually during the releasing of the fish, I noticed a bright fish roll to the surface and submerge again - corner-of-the-eye sort of thing. There are lots of pink salmon in the river, so I thought maybe it was one of them. During one of my next casts I again noticed the same rolling rise of a bright fish. Maybe it was my hoped for steelhead.
I quickly changed my fly to a larger 'steelhead' caddis pattern and cast again, a little shorter - then adding a little line to subsequent casts. A small, very feisty cutthroat took the fly, was brought in and released, and another cast made. At this place in the river the water is running over a diagonal bar which digs a trough and creates a current seam that captures your fly line and rolls it down a ways. It creates a pull on your line so you feel extra resistance as you're retrieving it and preparing to pull into your back cast. I felt more than usual resistance as I, almost simultaneously, saw the bright fish go airborne.
Yup! It had my fly and was leaving with it. Seconds later it was on the reel, and seconds after that I watched the backing knot heading out the rod as I tried to get my friend's attention, over the roar of the water, to get his camera out. The smile on my face couldn't have been wider as I kept the tip up and did the wading angler run downstream to get position on the fish. I've a good bruise on my knee from a rock that managed to trip me. All the time this is happening I'm amazed at the feeling and control the rod is providing, and the pressure that I could apply during the end of the fight was wonderful. I aggressively fight a fish with reversing low angle pressure until the head comes out and I can tail it.
The barbless fly came easily out of her nose and I held her up for a photo. Five seconds later she was on her way - a four to five pound doe steelhead, silver bright, ready to carry on with rebuilding the stock in the Campbell River. Not the rod's first fish, but a very memorable one.
As it turns out I have a witness but no photo of the fish (damn amateurs). There is a nice shot of me fighting the fish with a great bend in the rod. Hopefully I'll have it soon, and will send it along. There is also a shot of an angler holding a rod with his hands held out saying 'thank you'. Did you hear me?
Dave