February always finds me anxious to fish for steelhead. The run was good and plans for the annual "guys trip" had been in the works since fall. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, everyone had things come up and the trip slowly fell through. I, however, had already booked a place to stay and had the time off. I checked with a couple friends and family last minute to see who could rally and join and no one could. I would just have to go solo!
The river was low, clear and locked in ice after a severe cold snap. On top of that, the area had received a lot of fresh snow. My optimism was still high considering all the different conditions I had fished over the years and still caught fish.
I arrived to find the river in the snowiest and iciest state I'd ever seen it. Entire sections were completely iced over! The banks and hillsides were completely white as a couple of feet of snow blanketed everything. The scene was beautiful! As I drove down the river though, it became obvious that fishable locations were a premium. The ice had simply covered so much of the water. If a spot wasn't completely iced over, then there were thick ice shelves lining the edges.
The river had experienced an early push of fish before the cold snap though and I had a good idea of where they were likely holding in the river. As luck would have it, the first fishable place I wanted was unoccupied.
I beat the water that first morning for a couple hours, trying to decipher the bottom and where I thought the fish would be holding. At 9 am I was rewarded with my first fish of the trip. A couple friends of mine found me, stopping by on their way home that morning and they helped me take a photo.
Fish and Game also stopped by just in time to check if the fish was suitable for the brood stock program. The fish had a wire tag in its nose and they took the fish up to the tanker truck for the hatchery.
I fished hard for several more hours and hooked 2 more fish before deciding to explore. There was one spot in particular I was extra excited to fish on this trip with these low waters: the 4-some hole. The last guys trip in 2023, we had found this new spot and ended up with 33 fish in a day there. The spot was super cool and has a fun drift with a fly rod. I hiked my way up to the hole to discover a serious disappointment; it was completely iced over. Stupid ice!
I had 3 more days to fish and the weather was slowly warming with rain in the forecast. I hoped this spot would soon open up, allowing me to fish it. I knew if it opened up I would hammer the fish.
The next morning found me back at the location I had caught and hooked the fish from the day before. The morning was cold and snowy and not much action was happening for anyone.
I knew my options were limited but I just had to explore. Around mid-day I packed up and headed to another spot. I drove upriver, stopping here and there to look at the water. I stopped at a corner of the river where I'd never fished before and looked downstream. That water looks pretty decent. I should at least walk down there and get a better look. The run started with a nice pinch and riffle at the top and slowly opened up and slowed down as it rounded a corner. There were 2 gentleman fishing the bottom end where it was slower; one with a fly rod and the other with a spinning rod. There was a lot of good fishable water at the top of the rifle so I decided to give it a try.
The drift was perfect and the run not too deep. I glanced downstream just in time to see the guy with the fly rod hooked up. Then I looked again at my bobber, which slowly sunk. I set the hook and felt the wonderful slow head-shakes of a steelhead. Sweet, that didn't take long! Landing a steelhead by yourself isn't the easiest task but I managed. A healthy specimen lay in the net and I grabbed a quick photo and released the fish.
The snow had quit and the afternoon was slowly warming. My optimism was high and I was really loving the drift I was getting through this new run. My next fish came from close to the same area, and this time, the fly fisherman from downriver came up to help me net the fish. I thanked him and we exchanged pleasantries and small talk before he went back downstream.
The fly fisherman downstream was also getting into a fish here and there and we began to talk more. His name was Doug and I could tell he really knew the water in here. I ended up landing a couple more fish that afternoon and helped Doug with a couple of his own. We both decided we'd fish together the next morning in this spot and help each other out.
With an hour of daylight to spare, I decided to check on the 4-some hole to see if anything had opened up some more. It had but was still not fishable. It was as if the ice was protecting the steelhead. I waded across the river to see if I could break up the ice in a few spots to help encourage the process along. I was able to break up some of the ice along the edge, hoping it would be enough to jump start things and maybe, just maybe, it would be open enough tomorrow to get a short drift. By golly, I was going to fish this hole even if it took until the last day. It was now me against the ice; war had begun.
The next morning found me anxiously awaiting daylight in the new run. My new friend Doug arrived and we chatted as the sun rose. We began fishing and were quickly into fish, including a nice double hook-up.
Doug and I began to catch lots of fish together. Fish and Game came down and gave us some tubes for the brood stock program.
"You guys really like sleeping in don't you? We've already had to release 5 fish." Doug said to the young Fish and Game employee who laughed.
Doug had one of their phone numbers to call when we had a couple fish in the tubes. It seemed Doug was well known around these parts.
Doug and I took turns taking pictures of each other's fish. The morning was really shaping up to be a productive one.
The rain started to fall and I slowly wandered upstream to the faster water where I had been fishing the day before. Sure enough there was fish up here too!
Doug and I had each landed about 10 fish by mid-afternoon. Once again, the 4-some hole crept into the back of my mind.
"Doug, I think I'm going to take off and check out another spot to see how the ice is. This rain may have opened things up some more." I said to my new river buddy.
"Sounds good man. It was a pleasure fishing with you today. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked.
"Maybe you will!"
With a couple hours of daylight left, I was in position at the 4-some hole. As luck would have it, there was just enough open water to get a very short drift right along the edge of the ice. On my second cast, I hooked up!
This was a very strong fish and I honestly wasn't sure how I was going to pull the fish through the fast current to my side and net it by myself. I tried numerous times in my current position but realized it was futile. Many times the fish battled under the huge ice shelf and I hoped it wouldn't break me off on the ice. Upstream, there was a small eddy that just might work. I slowly walked upstream to the eddy and was able to coax the fish from under the ice and across the current into the soft water. There I scooped her into my net. She was a beautiful un-clipped hen!
I fished this short drift for another hour without another hook-up, so I packed it up and left the river for the day. It has been a very productive day with 11 fish landed! Tomorrow was my last day and I would only have the morning to fish.
In the morning I walked into Moe's run, only to find it still had too much shore ice. I then went back to the new corner run. I figured I'd see Doug again there, but as the sun rose, no one joined me. Immediately I was into fish, but they weren't biting. I kept hooking up but the fish were nearly all foul hooked. These were especially difficult to land by myself.
I landed 3 foul hooked fish and broke off another 3 before deciding I better head to the 4-some hole for one last hurrah. Would I be able to conquer the ice shelf once and for all?
I walked upstream to the 4-some hole to find the ice shelf only clinging to both sides of the river by small sections. I started to break open a path along river right, hoping it would cause the other side to break as well. I punched my way through, and just like I hoped, the current grabbed the shelf and broke free the other side. The huge ice shelf was now completely free and slowly started drifting downstream. As it collided with the shallow rocks of the tail-out, large sections would crack and break free. It was extremely satisfying to watch. Take that you stupid ice! The ice shelf didn't completely leave the pool but had shrunk immensely and left open the part I needed to fish. The time was finally here to fish one of my favorite spots on the river.
It didn't take long to hook into a monster!
This was another high 30's fish that kicked my butt! I slowly won the battle and scooped the large buck into my net in the eddy upstream.
A huge smile formed on my face as the sun popped through the clouds. Life was good!
I fished the 4-some hole for another 3 hours before It was time to head home. I hooked another 6 fish and landed 4. It had felt like a triumphant journey, finally beating the ice and conquering the fish of the 4-some hole. It had been a wonderful solo trip with plenty of fish to the net. The guys really missed out on this one...
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