The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

Sunday, 12 December 2010, 3 PM, Pacific Grove, California: Blue skies, 64 degrees Fahrenheit, gentle breeze.
It was good to be home.

Wednesday, 8 December 2010, 8: 30 AM, Douglas City California: Overcast, fog, gentle rain, 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
It was good to be steelheading in weather warmer than freezing. It stayed about 40 degrees the whole time we floated the Trinity River
from Indian Creek to Dutton Creek, taking out right at 5 PM, in the heavy dusk and light rain. Ned and I were floating with guide Gabe
Duran out of Shasta Trout, who grew up local, went to college and learned to be a trout bum and guide in Montana, and came back to
California so he could guide all year long. It had been raining in the Trinity drainage for a couple of days or more, and the river was up,
and slightly colored, but looked very fishable. A lot we knew.
Gabe tried many different combinations of eggs and bugs and weights and depths, but I believe we never touched an adult steelhead all day.

Ned and I each got one small 'half pounder' and Ned got a modest brown trout, but there were no adults hooked.
We did see one roll, very early in the day, but that was it.

Thursday, 9 December 8 AM at Steel Bridge;
Cloudy, foggy, threatening to rain, but not actually raining, just sort of a light Irish mist.
Again on the Trinity, we floated to Goalpost, taking out a minute or two before 5. It was a minute or two less dark but still very dusky.
Again we had a G rated day - no adult content. Ned was 3 fish for 3 hookups on quarter pounders, and I was 1 for 1. It is remotely
possible that Ned may have hooked an adult and lost it immediately when his rod tip hit an overhanging branch in the middle of his hookset.
We'll never know.
This White screen of death really sux, Continued.....

The White Screen of death STILL sux. Too bad we can't get it fixed.

(continued)
Friday, 10 December, 8 AM at Bucktail access to the Trinity with a half dozen other boats: Cloudy, not foggy, no rain in evidence, and the
occasional threat of blue sky.
We floated to the Steel Bridge take out, arriving about 4:45, when it was still light enough to see.
It's rock gardeny just above the take out. It had been remarkably pleasant weather. A few brief moments of sun, a few brief
moments of light rain, and light to moderate other drift boats, some skippered by obvious rank tyros, rowing over nice deep dark runs. Probably worth bringing your own rock, if you want a place to stand.

At 2 PM, Ned had three quarter pounders, I had nothing and we still hadn't had a confirmed adult
hookup. Shortly thereafter Ned hooked and landed a very nice hatchery hen.



We were all three real happy to finally have an adult to the boat. I continued breaking off flies on the bottom and
occasionally on a tree, with no sign of anything alive on my line. About forty five minutes later, something crushed Ned's
fly, and a real fight was on. This was a Trinity River wild fish. It jumped several times, and the first four times it got close to
the boat, it took off. screaming the reel. Gabe finally got out of the boat, and standing just about even with the oarlocks,
scooped the fish up as it rested briefly after its fourth or fifth run. It was as nice a steelhead as I have seen come out of
the Trinity, close to or over thirty inches and at least 9 inches deep. She was a wild hen, full of eggs, and we got her
back in the water real quick, but not before a picture.



I can't really see it in the picture, but she has a couple of big gashes on the top of her head. They probably came
from a member of the family of the river otter we saw at lunch. It was eating a long dead salmon it had fished
up from the bottom of the river. Yum!! Ned commented that he was glad his lunch was finished.

We continued down river hoping for more adults, but it was not to be. Ned got at least one more halfpounder,
and I hooked and landed another quarter pounder about a half hour before we took out at Steel Bridge, but that was it.

Another great steelhead trip. That big gal Ned landed was worth the trip all by herself, and I'll be back on the T real soon now! I hope the weather holds and the catching improves!

Hey ED great report and nice fishes,reading this brings back fond memories of mini bashes back in the day with Mark and others,was always around christmas some years there was tons of snow from Idaho all the way down but well worth the trip and most all of us landed a few. To Ed and all I hope you have a great Christmas

Always good to read one of your posts, Ed. And by the way, an article in the Chronicle today that mentions Culann's Hounds:
http://www...010/12/16/DD0K1GL626.DTL

That's our girl!!

Go to the show Saturday night!!