You get style points for trying.........

We've all heard it before.

Have you really embraced your style?

What is your fishing style?

Have you thought about it?

Do you care?


                   Wee skater style

I have been thinking a lot about fishing style, casting style, wading style, tying style, and guiding style.

We all have a unique style to everything we do, fishing is no exception. Everyone does things a little different and that uniqueness is what brings us all together. How boring would the river and many aspects of our lives be if we were all the same?

There is still so much to learn about steelhead and sometimes it takes someone with a little different style or approach to swinging a fly to help you to see things in a new light.

I have the opportunity to watch and fish with many skilled and sometimes not so skilled anglers every year. You know what? I learn from them all!

Everyone has something to offer and I try to be a sponge, always eager to see things from another angle. Sometime the innocence of a new angler helps me to realize that I can over think things too much at times. I may just need to get back to basics and keep it simple.






Sometimes an expert caster or fisherman helps me to confirm certain aspects of my own game. As I guide or as we fish together,  I watch, taking in every nuance of the cast and swing always gathering info on how I can be the most effective with the time I have on the water. Is there something in this persons technique that I may use? Am I already using it? Do I have anything constructive to share to make that angler better?



You don't have to change your program to fit or copy theirs necessarily, but be open to maybe incorporating certain aspects of that style to better fill your own quiver of fishing knowledge.







I personally have been influenced greatly by others unique style. That influence can often be in an inspirational way as you grow to appreciate the way someone learned and developed in the sport.


                                        Girl Style



I watched a guy I guided sit down in the water on a rock and cast to avoid overhanging limbs in a place that I had always stood. For him that was a way to miss the casting obstacles overhead and cover the pool. He had less power but power was not necessary in this short tail out. He was a great caster and fished the run just fine and in doing so showed me once again that there are many ways to do things.




I saw a guy jump up on an algae covered log to fish a run after I warned him against it. He somehow managed to keep himself upright, fishing from a super precarious position and didn't break his neck. Not where I would have stood but he was fine with it. He even rose a fish from out there on that log.......




I have watched as skilled anglers fished long belly floating lines and classic flies in the dead of winter, because that's the way they wanted to fish. They were about catching fish on their terms and if it didn't happen they were not fazed. I watched one of those guys fish a long single hand line and heavy classic iron looking for "that one kamikaze fish"........ way cool! You know what, one of those guys showed me a Black Dog on a floating line will work in winter.....if you put one on and fish it!

I have many friends that can tie flies like pros. They all have their own style and each is unique.  A few guys have taken that unique style to another level tying flies in hand. While I may never be able to tie like some of these guys, their style still influences and encourages me.








I fish with painters, woodworkers,photographers, builders, business men,lawyers, doctors and nurses,ski bums,college grads,drop outs,moms,dads, teenagers, kids, friends brothers, and regular Joe's as well as many more people that I come across every year. Each brings a style to swinging a fly that is unique. This is good for our sport. Variety is the spice of life!

It's not a competition out there people,despite what many would have you believe. We need to learn from one another, embracing the various styles and individualism that define us all. We are ultimately united around our common goal, swinging flies for steelhead in beautiful places and the fleeting chance to touch something truly wild. 

The rivers are getting more crowded every year and now, more than ever, need to help to make a positive impact on each and every person we come in contact with on the river. Interact with people, slow down, watch someone fish now and again rather than rushing around trying to get a spot. You may learn something!

Going forward with that attitude we create a culture where we ultimately are all better stewards of the resource. With the help of those we meet, we all become better anglers, better listeners, better teachers, and better friends.

Embrace your style and rock it proud this year!

Never stop learning, be safe and have a great 2017!

The Danger Muffin muddler swims lazily through the currents, skittering and skating on its riffle hitched tether.......

I had a few hours to fish alone last night and I jumped at the chance to fish a few runs after being away from the river for a couple weeks. The river was quiet and I found a favorite run unoccupied. It is a run that people drive by daily and never fish. A horrible run to wade for sure and I think that keeps the crowd down. Many see the run from the road and think "hey that looks good!" and often find its a better swimming hole (when they fall) than a fishing spot. I like it that way and have been baptized many a day in there myself.

...............at about 60 feet the fly catches the fast current and turns around squaring up and slowing as it approaches the holding zone to the outside of a midstream rock. Angle and fly speed are critical here as a cast too far down stream never slows the fly down enough in the taking lie. A cast too far up and across stalls the fly too long preventing it from reaching the fast current on the far bank. A very specific spot to fish properly but when you get it right the fly comes through and presents in the most seductive way, no fish in their right mind will refuse it.

This night the old single hander was throwing darts across the river and my angle and timing were perfect. As the fly comes into the 40 ft circle of holding water, I gently pulse the fly, making a slight disturbance as it swings. Woooooosh! A fish comes out of the water, full head and body emerge as it swirls on the fly doing a figure 8 missing the fly completely and disappearing into the gin clear North Umpqua. I let the fly swing into the rock and strip in quickly, thinking I have a player. I send the next cast out at the same length of line replicating the exact drift. The fly comes cleanly through and I just let it slide this time, no movement is put on the fly at all. I turn my head and look away, waiting for the sound and feel of a fish I know is coming. Every nerve is tuned to steelhead frequency! The fly continues through and the fish does not come.

OK....  I strip in and rest the fish for 2 minutes. I wind up the Sharpes and snake roll a cast across the pool,again perfectly catching the far side current putting me on a trajectory to put the fly back into the zone again. This time I twitch the fly again, a little firmer this time, the head of the muddler sputtering water as it digs and plows it's way across the run with this added movement. The fly goes through the zone, almost to the hang down off the rock before the fish again reappears and comes straight up from underneath the fly, jumps clear of his liquid home a full three feet, swaps ends and re-enters the water with high diver precision right back into the boil of water he came out of.

I rest the fish for a minute or so and then send a tight loop cast over to see if I can seal the deal with this obvious player. Fly swings through, I twitch it again in the zone..........nada!

Fine! You want to play, lets play!

I select a size 6 simple purple hair wing fly from my box and put it on. I reel in maybe 20 feet of line and quietly smoke a cigar, a Backwoods Black and Sweet, nervously waiting to throw the pay off pitch. I wait as long as I can, about 3 or four minutes and start in again, well short of the fish. I lengthen 2 feet at a time until I am at the proper length and back in the fishes window. The fly swims through the currents sweeping slowly across the holding water. Then it comes, the softest, trouty pluck, then a light pull and I mean light, I've had smolt pull line harder than this fish did. I leave my rod down and wait.........slowly the line starts to get tight then, ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! The fish finally turns on the fly and races down stream jumping high and running hard. After a short fight I tail a beautiful fish of around 28 inches.

 I have fished the comeback fly with great success over the years. There are no real hard fast rules to doing it but here are a few things that I have learned.

1. Generally if I raise a fish, I try to rest it for a minute before I recast. 
2. Don't put a fish down by pounding it with the same fly you rose it with for too many casts. A drift or two then change.
3. If I end up casting multiple flies I give them a different look every time. Example, rose to a foam waker fly, one or two recasts with the foam then change and recast with a muddler. One or two casts with a muddler, change and recast with a riffled wet of some sort, then follow with a straight wet. Then often back to the first fly whatever it was. Just change up the look, variety gets it done. 
4. Change size and color. My favorite comeback after a rise to a surface fly is a simple and small black or purple wet fly. 
5. Riffled hitch a muddler or wet fly as a comeback after a rise to a surface fly.
6. When coming back with wet flies I often reel in anywhere from ten to 20 feet sometimes more and re-fish the area down to a known holding fish. 
7. Experiment with all of these, there are no rules we are just trying to out think these fish and show them something that they will crush. Each of the above rules can be bent or broken of course, I've found many of them work for me. Each situation is different and each situation will make you the angler think of the next move in the game. Be thinking a move or two a head of the fish. Its a chess match you know!

There are years that I hook and land my first fish, there are years that I don't. There are years I lose three or four before I land one.

Not this year..........

I started off with a bang hooking two fish in the very first pool I fished this year, both hooked in a total of about twenty casts. Lost them both, one to an epic tail walking and pool leaving heart attack series of events that left me shaken and shattered. Didn't bother me in the least. The early fish can beat you up and that's fine by me.

Then hook up number three, four and five came and were gone as fast, I was still trying to get my hand on one. No biggie I say and I really can't complain, all five fish were pistol hot and bigger than average. I try and convince myself that I did everything right, fought the fish well, didn't screw anything up. But the thoughts creep in, I shoulda done this, I shoulda done that.

Six, seven and eight danced with me awhile and were gone, all hot fish, all doing what a wild North Umpqua fish does best.......... kicking your butt!

Now again I can't complain, I'm raising fish, I'm hooking fish, it's all good. But.......

I'm really wondering about everything now, rethinking hook choices and styles, lines and leaders even though I know that's not the problem. I have not broken one fish off, all have just come unpinned.

I start thinking about rod angles and fighting techniques that are so ingrained in my brain. Basically I start overthinking it all and begin to question everything I have ever heard or read about fighting and landing a fish. I fight fish pretty hard and pretty quick, I don't mess around. Have I lost my touch? Do I even know what to do? Am I going too easy on these fish? Could I fight them harder and quicker? Am I over playing them in hopes of landing one? Should I let them tire more before I try to get them in? And on and on........

These thoughts and more, they linger in the back of my head, taunting me.  The voices of the fish say "You're getting old, you are loosing your edge" " It's the last hurrah for you"  "You've had your fun on this river for thirty years and now, we the fish are gonna win"  " You don't have the mental game to compete at this level anymore"  "You can't take the pressure"  "Were gonna break you"

And not to be out done, the river currents, ripples and tail outs, chuckle and laugh as they splash off the rocks knowing they are in cahoots with the fish to make my job of landing a fish harder. They say things like " We stand with the fish"  " My flow will give the fish an easy escape" " We will help them leave the pool"  "Your tackle will not stand up to my amazing current speed" "These fish cannot be contained when they work with us"

The rocks, brush and trees all join in and say " We will do what we can to hinder your efforts" " If we can tangle your line, break you off, help the fish in any way we will do it!'' 

As I sit on a riverside rock waiting for a tail out to shade, these thoughts are racing through my brain. I surprise myself by saying out loud STOP!!! 

Man, I think I read about people with voices in their head....... never fish and river voices though. I could be loosing it!

The light fades off the water and I start in at the head of the run, a smooth glassy tail out. I settle into a fine rhythm and  begin covering water, fly skittering across the surface. Just as I am about to strip in for another cast number nine smashes the fly with reckless abandon, quickly showing me how fast a Hardy can spin. The fish jumps twice and comes straight at me and I desperately try to get tight while stripping in line like a madman. Two seconds later, the fish is at the bottom of the tail out cartwheeling around like a circus clown. Line screams off the reel again and the next thing I know the fish is 30 yards above me going upstream, pulling my whole fly line and more with him as he tries to free himself of the hook.

I still have my rod high from the initial mad stripping as this has all happened in about 10 seconds. The voice of the trees that I had heard earlier comes into play as the tip of my rod is somehow wrapped in an alder above my head. The line is jammed on a small twig and I valiantly try to free it without breaking the rod. The fish had slacked the line so badly on the upstream run that he wasn't even pulling on the rod yet, still going upstream dragging a fly line with a belly that had not caught up yet.

By the time I got my rod loose the line was just starting to come tight as the fish continued his freight train run upstream. I think to myself, " I still have a chance at this one." Almost as those thoughts came to mind the fish was off and I was left reeling in the line of shame. The fish-less fly dangles in the current far below me now. What had been so alive and enticing to a steelhead just moments before was now just a lame bit of deer hair spun on a hook.

Stupid fly, stupid fish! Why do I do this anyway?!!! Why do they torment me so?!!!!!

Frustrated to a point I rarely get to, I take stock of everything and realize I can't beat myself up anymore.

It will happen when it happens. "Stick to your guns kid" I say to myself quietly as the summer sun drops below the line of fir and cedar down river.

The sound of the Bougle is deafening in the silence of the aftermath of number 9 as I slowly wind in my fly line.I look at the bright side, which is awfully bright. In a fairly limited time fishing this season I've hooked nine wild steelhead and risen countless others. I'm having great fishing just bad luck landing them, and its mostly the fishes fault I think, way too hot to handle! Good problems to have!

The morning dawned crisp for August and I had a little time to play around on my own. After hitting a few of the usual runs with no luck, I ventured to a seldom fished run. I haven't really seen any fish in the area but I like the water and enjoy fishing it. I chose a small wet fly, natural and orange in color, probably one of the many flies that find their way into my box from friends, clients etc. Not sure if it even has a name......

I was feeling pretty good, and mostly over the bad luck on the landing deal and back to fishing with confidence. The law of averages was on my side now, I have to land one soon. Don't I?


I was comfortably fishing 70 ft line and due to current speed, watching the fly rise to the surface and skate slightly during the last thirty feet of the swing into the bank. It was mid morning and the river was quiet.

An almost imperceptible sip on the surface was all that I saw before the line got tight. A steelhead had eaten the fly on one of those occasions when the fly was just starting to skate. I knew what it was and I knew this one was coming to daddy!  The fish used all the tricks in the book trying to get away, going around rocks, and a stick, and getting into the faster water. I wasn't playing with him. I put the wood to him and had him by the tail in less than 5 minutes.

Number Ten was right at 10 lbs in my estimation. Just a stunner of a fish, solid and bright.

Ten! Oh how I love you number TEN!

Then it was quiet and the river voices stopped, for now........



Ten is seen as a number of completion and perfection in the Bible.

I have a long way to go to perfection or completion in fishing or in my christian life. I walk by faith and not by sight in both. It's not easy in either one but it's good!

Phil 3:12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

I made some great observations with a buddy on the river the other day. We watched a guy come down and fish a popular run....... and fish it completely wrong. He started too high in the run, cast at way too steep of an angle and then did not cover the lower end......where all the fish are.

Could he have caught a fish? Sure! Are his odds as good as someone that knows the run? Not even close! If you have maybe one or two chances at a fish a day, covering a lot of water and fishing each piece efficiently and effectively are the keys to success. Learn the river, sit down and watch a pool before you fish it. Have a plan when you start the pool and stick to it.

It made me realize once again that the North Umpqua is so unique, so varied, so difficult to fish consistently and properly that it takes a lifetime to learn and it will never be mastered. I feel like I am still in middle school at times as far as my education on the river. Every once in awhile I get taken back to kindergarten, like recently when I swam coming out of a difficult wade. Never let your guard down!

Working my way towards a degree, not sure if I will ever get my diploma.......

Cast angle matters, position in the pool matters, mending or not mending at key times matters, water level matters, and on and on. Every run is different and must be approached differently.

After many years now on the river, one thing is clear. The river remains as challenging for me to fish as it did the first time I stepped in it. I do know a bit more about how to fish the runs but I still discover new ways to deliver the fly more efficiently to the holding lies. I learn more every day about how fish take a fly and the when and why of it all.

I see lots of parallels to baseball as well on the river. The river is still full of surprises. Like knuckle balls,  and un-hitable curve balls, it still gives up base hits as well as 9th inning home runs. It still throws strikeouts with amazing regularity, even to the best of hitters. Sometimes you need to experience a good brush back or some chin music. Stay in the box and keep swinging. Although the pitcher is intimidating at times you can still get a hit. Be a student of the game. Singles are good, choke up a little.......

Be observant, learn from your experience every time you have the opportunity to fish her waters. Its a special place and provides an education that will continue forever. I really don't want to graduate.............

Romans 15:4 For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope.

• ·        Relaxed fishing atmosphere becomes more frenzied due to limited time on the water.

• ·        More anglers fishing harder in a shorter window of time

• ·        More anglers fishing longer than they normally would fish due to their time being limited on the water during the hoot owl closure.

• ·        Anglers fishing into the hottest part of the day due to the time constraints of not being allowed to fish in the evening.

• ·        More anglers fishing sink tips because they are fishing in the hottest part of the day when the sun is at its highest angle making surface presentations less effective.

• ·        More fish were actually being hooked at a time of day when most people would be resting or waiting for the evening session. 

• ·        Many fish were being hooked when water temps were nearing their warmest of the day due to anglers using sink tips.

• ·        No one was monitoring temperatures to see when it would be safe to lift the closure

• ·        No one was monitoring the angling dynamics that occurred due to the closure

• ·        No one was patrolling the area to see if anglers were indeed obeying the closure.

• ·        There were no threshold temperatures or parameters in place to monitor water temps and lift the closure when temps fell back into a normal range again.

• ·        Is a hoot owl closure every summer from now on something you would like to see?

• ·        Is anyone worried that the angler opportunity may be seriously affected by the changing policy and new closures?

• ·        Are you aware that the river the Steamboaters and many other group have worked so hard to steward and protect may be entering a new era that may limit anglers unnecessarily under the guise of protecting fish?

• ·        Where’s the data that proves the angler is the problem on a catch and release and highly regulated fly fishery such as the North Umpqua?

• ·        Where is the data that says keeping anglers off the river in the afternoon saves fish that are hooked in the morning?

• ·        Where is the data that shows over the last 50-60 years or so years that the wild fish population has been diminished on the North Umpqua due to intense fly angler pressure?

Interesting winter and early spring on the river. The curve balls and change ups were pretty hard to hit this year. Maybe I need to choke up.....

There was a mean fastball pitcher in there most all of February, the reliever in March was a knuckle baller. Wicked stuff I tell you, almost un-hitable. I struck out more than usual but I had a notable 9th inning Grand Slam and one inside the park homer that made it worthwhile. RBI's were down overall on the year. Hard to reach base consistently on many occasions. I took a walk when I could, anything to get on base.

I bunted, I stole second, I slid into the short stop upending him. I was hurt and on the DL, stood in as a designated hitter. I pinch hit and pinch ran. I played all positions. I was hit by a pitch after hearing chin music the pitch before. I was in one bench clearing brawl. It was quite a season.

Enough with the baseball metaphors.

Another winter season is behind us. There was a lot of water, there were plenty of fish. There were fish caught and it was good.

Never easy, always good.


Now is the time I get antsy for summer. The weather is changing and we've seen some pretty warm days already this spring. I've been out casting a bit, thinking about changing to some new longer lines this summer. Constantly rethinking every aspect of my summer game. Looking at already full summer boxes and thinking about tying more.

But now it's spring training. Time to work out the kinks, blow the rats out, reset, re-adjust and re-work. Time to start the clock again for summer. Time for a clean slate. Time to work on the cast, work on the swing. Relax, take some time to be mellow before the game starts again.

What are you doing for your spring training?

1st Timothy 4:8-10 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.

If you've been out looking for winter fish this year, its there. Water and lots of it. This of course is a good thing for all the reasons. And you know, its actually normal for a good snow pack year.

Many have been lured into a false reality as far as winter fishing goes the last few years. Especially on the North Umpqua.

People have been dancing around in almost summer low conditions for the last 5-6 years thinking that's the way its supposed to be. Easy access to runs, easy wading in low flows,  early and predictable returns due to low water, much easier to locate fish because they have been much more concentrated in the runs etc etc.


In reality, what is perceived by many to be a year with continuous high water is really pretty normal. And the fishing was tougher for it, a fact I am glad of.


Its never an easy game but this year tested all the skills in everyone's toolbox. When you have your back to the brush and under the trees in every run, waded in to the top of your waders just to try and get a small D loop off your shoulder, it separates the men from the boys. Doing it day after day can drive one insane, but that's why we love it. It ain't easy.

Those that consistently found fish did so working their tails off in often unpredictable conditions. Those that found fish, found fish in places they would not normally have fished. Marginal conditions push you to explore new water.

That run that looks bad at 3000cfs might fish great at 5,000cfs. Trust me we had plenty of water to explore to our hearts content. I found some new high water spots that I have never fished before in 30 years. They worked. It was cool. These fish gotta go somewhere, find them.


Winter fishing can, and I think more importantly, should be hard.

This year reminded me that you have to be in it for the long haul. Keep doing what you know will work and eventually it does. Patience and perseverance always prevail. This year was a great example of what winter steelheading can be (HARD) and how it pays to stick it out even when its tough.

James 1:12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.