Anyone ever have a day like this?

My normal fishing parter waited till Friday afternoon to tell me he had made other plans for Saturday when I thought he was going out with me in a new (to me) boat I haven't rowed yet. Unable to find anyone who wants to man the boat rods, I decided to bank it on my own.

Slept in, took care of some business, and got to the first hole at the crack of noon. It was looking pretty. Water had come up a bit and there was a nice long slot of emerald running down through the boulders. Back to the truck to get into the neoprene and line up. Walking down to the hole I see a couple guys who I swear weren't there five minutes ago.

I drove up to another spot that looked promising and waded on out. Forth cast - NEST. While I'm poking around at my reel I look up to see I've walked right in below a flyguy. Not really in his drift but close enough. I move down some more and make another couple casts when I get another nest. This one is a beauty. Luckily the truck is nearby and I brought my spinning rig for this situation.

Back to the truck and then a good stretch above the flyguy. After a few drifts it's apparent I've had this line on the spining setup for way to long. It looks like an extended slinky on every cast. Damn.

I spent a couple hours working the run to no avail while every other passing boat says they got one. Not red hot but I couldn't help thinking it would have been a decent day to get the boat out.

Back to the truck to head home. On the way I decided to make one last stop at a hole that has never produced a fish for me but keeps me coming back because it looks too good and there's never anyone there. By this time my stomach is telling me a package of powdered doughnuts and a cup of coffee isn't enough to make it through a day. Feeling tired, distracted and hungry I was going through the motions and on my fourth cast the float went under in a hurry - like it does when my jighead slams a rock. A quick jerk and I look up at the rod tip to see it diving. It's not a rock. Holy cow.

If you've seen many of my posts here you know that I haven't caught all that many steelhead. Fewer than I can count on my two hands. Every time I get a hookup something comes over me and the best way to describe it is going apeshit.

And what I hooked into today had me really off my rocker. I was already standing in water about to my thighs and I almost fell right in when I realized I had a good one. It was a spooky fight with the fish doubling the rod over, taking off drag and generally bullying me around this clay-bank hole but never breaking the surface.

I got things under control and was reeling down on what I thought was a BIG buck. By now I was standing in water about calf deep when I gave one last pull and saw the biggest flash of chrome about five yards out that I've ever seen while steelheading. Mint. Then ZING. If I hadn't ducked, the float, jighead and pink worm would have been stuck in my face. Gone. I let out a howl that set the dogs up the road barking. That hog had straightened the hook.

What a great day steelheading! I love this place!

Bruce

(Sorry to go on so long. I've been talking to myself the whole ride home.)