Salmon Winding Down, Steelhead Coming Soon

Salmon fishing has been very solid since my last report until a couple of days after Thanksgiving. Water temperatures became very cold and we had some high water which was a tough combination. For the last 2 days of the month, I fished with Kerry Madigan and his two young boys, KC and Karsen. They were originally scheduled to come up the day before Thanksgiving, but on that day the river came up much higher than expected. When we met that morning, I had to give them the bad news, and on top of that thier truck had broken down at the meeting spot. What a bummer! Anyways, Kerry rebooked for the last two days in the month. Long story short, we hooked multiple fish each day and missed a handful of bites too, but we were not able to land a single fish. These two days were my first skunk days for salmon on the Smith in 2 years, and it couldn't have come at a worse time. I felt awful for the guys. The two boys and Kerry were great, too, they had great attitudes and were super patient as we fished to about dark both days. It had to have been two of the most disappointing fishing days I've had since I started guiding. However, I was super impressed with how these guys handled the bad fishing and It was neat seeing a dad enjoy spending a couple of days with his boys. Sometimes its not all about the fishing.

Anyways, I have a few more days left for salmon up north, and while the run is fading, there are still beautiful fish to be caught. There are also steelhead that are entering the river now, and I anticipate making a play for them within the next couple of days. I will let you know how that goes.

Mike