Fishing guides day off......
The fall season was really busy this year, conditions were the best they’ve been in almost a decade. I didn’t really get many days off or much time to go fishing myself. Half way through the month of November Josh from OFF (Out Fly Fishing Outfitters) in Calgary Alberta calls me to talk about coming down to Niagara for a visit and to do some steelhead fishing. We decided to go around the 2nd week of December. The Plan: some friends from different areas get together and fish our butts off!
Weather had been stable, above seasonal temperatures all fall, until the day of Josh’s flight to Toronto, lol....The 1st cold snap of winter had arrived! Strong winds gusting to 80km, -18 with the wind chill, blowing snow at times......Perfect conditions for playing with your fly rods! (Ya right)....Not everyone was willing to brave the elements and venture outdoors after seeing the local forecast, can’t say I blame em! But both josh and i weren’t going to let alittle weather stop us!
The Strong winds really kicked up the waves on Lake Erie causing the Niagara to get too muddy for us to fish, so now were face with all the above and fishing in my backyard is out of the question......road trip! After picking up josh at the bus station, we headed to a friends place that lives close one of the great lake tributaries. This river was still running ice free for the most part, high and with a nice stain to the water colour.
Day one:
I’ll sum it up..... gusting winds up to 80km, -18......fly fishing LOL oh ya, to get to this spot we had to wade out into the river waste deep........we stayed for only 2 hours, no fish hook.....we had showed up late in the day, after trying another location 1st.....our 1st spot was a smaller river that had too much slush running to fish......wasn’t looking good. Company was great, fishing and conditions......super tough! We headed home and talked about tomorrow’s plan. We were headed back to our 2nd location again, but going to try some different areas.....despite the weather, river conditions here were almost perfect, almost.....
Day Two:
We arrived at the river just before 11am.....way too cold to start earlier! Today we were walking out to a spot closer to the centre of the system.....crazy agreed.....Weather this day was much the same as yesterday. High winds, some snow, cold......Hey have you ever tried roll casting with an 80km wind on your back? LOL finish with the rod tip high and watch it go! Lines, rod tips, fingers, toes ...everything was icing up after 5 minutes, but we still had a blast! No other anglers around plus we hooked and landed fish!!! Josh landed two chunky walleye and lost another one on streamers, and I hooked and lost one steelhead! It was around 3pm when we packed it in......Josh was flying out tomorrow night, one more day to get him a Steelhead! The river was starting to clear, water was dropping, we shared stories and talked about a different technique that may work better for the conditions at this location. We were pretty pumped; it looked like the weather was going to break! No winds for the next day, but still cold.....this could help.
Day Three:
After a good rest, some breakfast and few coffees we hit the road for the final day of josh’s arctic steelhead adventure! When we pulled into the parking lot, geared up and headed out into the icy river. Temperatures were much better today, only -6, water was clearer then the pervious days. We worked the water hard, trying different leech and egg patterns with no avail......josh changed back to the same streamer from the day before that he landed the walleye with and connected with the 1st steelhead! I hear “fish, fish” look over and sure enough, josh is into a good steelhead. Reel in my line, start to walk over towards him.......the fish comes off!
I still haven’t touched a fish on this day......a few hours have already passed, lots of moving around, casting, changing patterns......Going through my fly box I grabbed on of my small mouth bass files and tied it on. A Streamer, bigger in size than other patterns we’d both tried, “why not” I tell myself while double checking my knot and running my fingers down the leader checking for any damaged sections. 1st cast, fish on! This didn’t last long, three head shakes, gone!...... all that I could do was laugh..... 10 minutes later, I hook up again, this one I landed with josh’s help. Our 1st steelhead of the trip~! Quick picture and back it goes. Now, were running out of day light, only have two files like this, I cut mine off and give it to josh to try.......”looks like we might be on to something” I tell him while tying on the other bass streamer I had. No sooner did josh cast out and start to work the fly, “fish, fish” he calls out! Here we are hours away from driving to the airport, on the last day, in the last hours of day light, hooking into steelhead! After a good battle, josh’s has done it! Against all the odds, weather, flights, hours of casting, tails his first steelie!!! A few pictures and released. High fives all around, now were not even thinking of the cold or the fact that neither of us haven’t been able to feel are fingers for the past three days.......in a flash josh is back at it.....we stayed almost until dark. I hooked one more and lost it and Josh ended up landing two more steelhead! Even in the toughest conditions, you can get out and learn something new, share some great laughs with friends and do your best to make the most of a situation! It always amazes me how you never stop learning about this sport we all love so much! I guess the moral of the story is to dress really warm and never give up! Keep in open mind, and don’t be afraid to change flies and try something totally different when all else fails!
See you on the river!
Paul Castellano
www.castadventures.ca
www.flymaxfilms.com
