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The weather report looked like good fishing, cloudy with scattered rain, Barb and I got up at 4:30am in order to be fishing near daybreak; the gravel launch site we will use is about 15 minutes from our home, by some miracle we manage to arrive at the launch site with just enough light to get the boat launched. For some reason Barb gets a little nervous (to the point of refusal) to power the boat off the trailer in the dark.

We point the bow upriver, put the boat on plane, go through three or four rapids then arrive at the stretch of water we want to fish this morning. This has always been a productive drift for us; it is on the Idaho side. Starts out at about 15' of water, then quickly shallows to 8', then it's pretty much 8' to 10' for the remainder of the drift, at the very end there is a short 17' hole, on the downriver side is a good holding spot for Steelhead.

Barb holds the boat in a stationary position using the big engine while I get the little Honda started to warm it up. I get the plugs scented with a concoction that I blend together when I marinate the shrimp, with that done I engage the TR-1 AutoPilot, and then start a very slow back troll.

Not more than three minutes pass when Barb says "fish on my rod take it", I'm standing right by the rod, I look at the rod and it's bent double, I jerk it out of the holder, feel a mighty tug, then the line goes limp, and it's gone. I pull the plug in to rebait, Just as I get the line the center rod starts to bounce. Barb takes it out of the holder while I'm putting the other rod away. Then I see the rod on the shore side give a violent jerk with a lot of line stripping out, I get it out of the holder as quick as I can, we are pretty excited, both playing a Steelhead at the same time. I guide the boat to the middle of the river, the TR-1 locks in keeping the boat straight, all we have to do is play the fish. The one on my line comes completely out of the water, and then runs toward shore, right over Barb's line, she ducks under my rod before the lines tangle, this happens several times. Both fish have put up a great fight; I get on the swim platform with the net, and manage to net mine. Barb now has her fish ready to land, it is on it's side and she slides it right into the net with mine. These are beautiful wild Steelhead, we played them a long time, and they are very tired, so we decide not to take them out of the water for pictures, Barb snaps a picture of them both in the net, then let them go. What a way to start the morning.

We go back to the start of the drift, and start another slow back troll, about thirty minutes pass when Barb yells "fish on", my rod is bent double with line peeling off the reel. I get it out of the holder, it feels like a big one, the fish rolls on the surface, and we see a big tail come out of the water. The fish then goes to the bottom, and stays deep until ready to be landed. I bring him to the surface, and Barb nets him, A beautiful big Buck, with a lot of color, we take a picture and release him.

We continue with the drift, right at the end of the pass our lures pass over the deep hole I mentioned earlier. Then Barb's rod slams down hard, this fish is headed downriver fast, she gets the rod out of the water just as the Steelhead comes sailing out of the water, about eighty feet behind the boat. This one puts up a spectacular fight before I netted her. Another beauty, this one was a Hen.

At this point in time we pull into a sandbar for a break, pour a cup of coffee, and share a muffin. We laugh at how excited it was with two fish on at the same time, and being lucky enough to land them both. There is now a light rain, misty clouds are hanging in the ravines, the air smells crisp, and fresh. The canyon is absolutely beautiful, we talk about how lucky we are to be here, and give thanks.

We finished off the morning on this same stretch of water, caught two more Steelhead for a total of six. This has been a great morning on the river. We can hardly wait to get out again, wish all of our fishing friends could be here with us.

Ken & Barb

hewesfisher

1/28/2016 5:02:00 PM

Wow, what a great report!!! You two are truly blessed with such great fishing in a beautiful place. As always, your reports/pictures are a pleasure to read and view. Thanks for sharing. :-)

snatchinglips

1/28/2016 8:52:00 PM

I think is that you and your wife can enjoy fishing together, that's a blessing. I will continue to teach my wife to fish so we can enjoy the many wonderful years as you do. And may you be blessed with many more. I look forward to walleye fishing this year on Moses, potholes and banks with my son and wife. God bless Ken and Barb

Cueballdg

1/28/2016 10:29:00 PM

What an awesome day !

justinspotanske

1/29/2016 1:24:00 AM

Might be a dumb question . You describe 3 poles and 2 people . I thought you can't use 2 poles . One per person . But nice report . Clarify if I am wrong

Ruffneck18

1/29/2016 7:40:00 AM

yes, you can use your 2 pole endorsement on the Snake and it really helps having the TR ;)
wish I lived 15 minutes away,
great report Ken & Barb

kenbarb

1/29/2016 10:09:00 AM

hewesfisher & snatchinglips; I think hewesfisher will agree that your wife can be your best fishing partner. Barb and I have been fishing together for 59 years, and it has been a blessing. I was surprised when I read hewesfishers last report that his fishing buddy was not his wife, every report that I have read from him included her, usually holding a nice Trout, or Kokanee. You will never regret your wife being your best fishing partner, and buddy.

kenbarb

1/29/2016 10:21:00 AM

justinspotanske; Barb and I both have WA & Idaho fishing license with 2 pole permits for both. The Idaho license permits using 2 poles per person on the Snake River for Steelhead and Salmon, the WA license does not. We put 3 rods out one on each side, and one in the center, with four rods out a hot Steelhead can get the lines tangled before they are pulled in.

caseyshoeing

1/29/2016 3:00:00 PM

You guys are my heroes

high country

1/29/2016 3:45:00 PM

Great story. Are you guys in or did you have a NW Jet? I ran into a Ken and Barb on lake Chelan about 7 years ago and I always wondered about them.

kenbarb

1/29/2016 9:00:00 PM

Yes high country, we do have a NW Jet, and we were at lake Chelan 7 years ago, we camped at Weaver Point boat in park, across the lake from Stehekin, you have a very good memory. Where did we meet you?

justinspotanske

1/30/2016 1:43:00 AM

Thank you for clarification on the license issue. Anyways your report is good . My steelhead season has been poor but I shore fish it . Never had my boat past the confluence

hewesfisher

1/30/2016 7:53:00 AM

Ken you are correct, on my most recent outing my "other" fishing buddy was with me since it was a mid-week trip. I agree with you 100% on your wife being your best fishing partner, mine surely is. :-)

afk

1/30/2016 10:48:00 AM

Ken, as I am puttering around the house being stuck on call, it sure is great to get an uplift like one of your reports!!
Thanks again for sharing your outings, Andy

high country

1/31/2016 8:55:00 PM

I stayed the night @ weaver myself. I had a little 18' walleye boat and took it up the lake to hike into the high country to hunt deer. Small world.

I bought myself a 23' jet boat like yours and I do miss making stehekin on 8 gallons of fuel....lol.

Glad to see you two are well and still enjoying life's finest moments.

Greg

Mike Carey

1/31/2016 8:56:00 PM

wow, I so wish I was able to fish this area! Thanks for the KenBarb fix!

kenbarb

2/1/2016 11:50:00 AM

It is a small world high country. We hope to camp at Weaver Point again in late summer, at least that's on the list.

Hope you are enjoying your jet boat, here in Hell's Canyon you can't get very far upriver without one.

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