I got back out to the Deschutes this past weekend along with Haddis Catch to go see if the big bugs were still hanging around. The grey, overcast, windy day was not making the bugs as active as they were the weekend before with the sun, but they were still hanging around in the grass. We hit up the best water we could find. I made lines to some of my favorite spots. Most of them are the super overgrown with blackbeeries type of places that you just look at your waders and say “sorry about the holes” to get into. Those spots have always produced the best for me. This time was no different. This beauty was hanging out right under some blackberries dangling over the edge of the river ten inches from the bank.
I headed down to a n easier access spot and after getting rattled at by one of my maraca wielding friends (always fun for the nerves) I found this fun fighting fish.
The top action slowed and Haddis Catch went sub-surface and got into this beauty. 
The best part of all was that we had the whole side of the river to ourselves! What more could you want.
While I have had a crazy season with my attempts at winter steelhead. Only one fish hoooked way back in December. It was not for lack of trying. I went out several times, but hey I guess that’s steelheading, right?
Did anyone else realize that it’s already February? Not really sure what happened to January. While, that’s not entirely true. I got out one time In January to chase some chrome, but lets back up a little. Near my birthday back in December I got to head out to the North Fork Nehalem with Alex and we fished hard all day with no fish to show until Alex gave me my special present. I tied that new puppy on the end of my line and wouldn’t you know within five casts I had a huge buck on. I fought and fought to try and get him up out of the deep hole he was in. I got him all the way up to my hand and then I let the tension off (like a dope) and sure enough he was gone. Tis better to love and lost…
I did get one trip to the area above the hatchery on the North Fork Nehalem to scope for wild steelhead on a particularly frigid day. We only saw one fish the whole day and I lost several flies in the boulder run trying to coax it out. There was a really cool tree that had a cavity with icicles in it that looked really menacing on the way back like he was guarding some ancient forest secret and any second would spring to life.
