An hour and a half from the door runs a steelhead river that is, without question, my favorite.
There's two reasons for this. One is the water. It's all good, clean, fast and gnarly. Two is the geography. From where the steelhead can get into it to where they can't run any further is canyon water. Also, its a shale canyon, so even if you were a billy goat, chances are you'd take a big time header trying to reach the river from the rim in ninety-five percent of it's length. When the water goes up, you just don't get to fish it. Coupled with a generous amount of spawning habitat in sanctuary water, this river gets some good steelhead runs.
Here's a tiny feeder before bailing two hundred feet into the river. This, too, takes steelhead.
Looking up the canyon.
Sanctuary starts at the river a couple of hundred feet below.
Sanctuary starts at the river a couple of hundred feet below.
Down the canyon. At the bottom of the picture, signs of open water. At the top, the big pond is in the background.
Stupe on point. With the woodcock heading north on spring migration, she just couldn't help herself.
Stupe on point. With the woodcock heading north on spring migration, she just couldn't help herself.
2 comments:
a new (to me) view of one of the most desirable things i left behind upon leaving the north shore. most excellent, thanks.
note: if you try to fish this river any farther upstream than the second bend, you better be a badass wader....and don't fall in, waters COLD and the high canyon makes for very limited warming and drying sun.
T-Mos...if you fall in you die. The dead never warm up. K, nice pics looks like it's gonna be a couple of weeks yet.
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