First time out this year for summer run steelhead. I noticed there haven't been a lot of reports for this river compared to previous years, but was still surprised by how few people were there. I was the only one on the highway side in the morning, but ended up passing one other person on my side of the river hiking along the river. There were only a handful of folks on the hatchery side at a given time.
I got there at dark and started fishing at first light. Stuck around long enough for the hatchery side to open up and someone over there to catch the obligatory 1 fish of the morning over there.
Hiked along the bank for awhile throwing gear into fishy spots. Had a nice bobber down and about 1 min fight down river before my line broke. I was fishing 6lb maxima FC...so I knew I had to play it carefully. But the second I started dancing around the bank trying to position myself into a decent spot to hopefully land a fish, line broke, heart broke.
That was it for the day. Was a bright sunny morning at that point, so decided to hike back to the car and head home. Overall, it was fantastic just to get out on the river again (it's been awhile for me) and lucky enough to feel a tug.
If I get a chance to get back out there before the summer run ends, I'll probably leave the 6lb at home. Feel more comfortable if I bump it up to at least 8lb...


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