Fall Steelhead Adventures
By Ty Clifton
As many of you know fall brings a different time for many anglers. A lot of people including myself start thinking about steelhead. This brings us to a wide variety of locations across the U.S and Canada. In true fashion I made the long drive to the Pacific Northwest in search of steelhead on a fly. I packed my truck full of gear including a variety of spey rods, steelhead flies, extra lines, reels and enough flies to outfit a small shop. My trip covered 3 states and 3,200 miles over 20 days traveling through Utah, Idaho and Washington.
The first river on my quest was the Grande Ronde in southeast Washington. An Anglers All hosted trip to fish with Scott O'Donnell of Speywater Guide Service for 4 days and 3 nights proved exceptional. I will say that the trip exceeded all my expectations from the fishing, guides, food and the experience as a whole. Our group did very well with everyone hooking multiple fish. The accommodations were great, the guides were exceptional and some of the best scenery I have ever seen. The hardest part of the trip was saying goodbye and actually leaving the river.
After 4 days on the Ronde I made the drive back into Idaho to spend a few days on the Salmon outside of Riggins, Idaho. This section of river is bigger than the Ronde and also holds larger fish. In our time we were able to land some large wild steelhead in the 34 to 36 inch range. While it was a great deal of fun we did have some bad luck with the rain starting to come down pretty hard and continue for the better part of the week. This carried on as I drove to Lewiston, Idaho.
The Clearwater near Lewiston was a much different experience than being on the Ronde. The river is 2 to 3 times the size of the Grand Ronde. The shear size can prove challenging and at times frustrating. With that being said I still was able to hook a few fish. We were dealt a hand of bad luck with rain. It was still coming down from earlier that week and caused the river to raise roughly a foot and a half in a short period of time. It did not detour us from fishing and having the ability to hook fish. We hooked some salmon as well as some huge steelhead. Unlike the Grande Ronde we were not able to bring any fish to hand but still had an amazing time on the river. I have every intention of going back to Clearwater in an effort to bring a fish to hand.
After an 8 hour drive over Lolo Pass and part of Montana we arrived at our hotel in the next destination. The Salmon River near Salmon Idaho was the order of the day. 3 more days and some better luck with bringing nice fish to hand was a great reward for enduring all the rain and high water. This was just what we needed after our discouraging time on the Clearwater and to bring my trip to a close. I made the 15 hour drive back to Colorado to bring my trip back full circle.
All in all I had the trip of my life up to this point. I fished new water, learned a lot from our guides on the Grande Ronde, and was even fortunate enough to catch some fish. If anyone has any questions or would like to know more about my trip and experiences feel free to come down or call the shop. I would love to share and help anyone that might be planning such a trip in the future.
Wade deep and cast far with many bent rods. Thanks!
Ty Clifton - Shop Manager, Anglers All
Late November and early December in the shop is a great time for reorganizing and expanding various displays and product categories. This year it was the fly tying section's turn! We have reorganized just about everything in the department, and upon doing so we realized that we created a lot more space for new products. 