The rain had subsided a bit the past few days, and I decided that I had better take advantage of the decent weather and check out some of the coastal rivers before things changed.

I rolled out of town at 6 on Friday morning, heading west into the Coast Range. My father-in-law and I had scouted this creek out last fall, and I had been pretty curious to know if there were any steelies in it yet. I know a little about it's sister river further upriver, and figured I'd be hitting it just before or at the start of the run.



The road up was a mess; the recent heavy rains and low snow level had turned it into slop. I stopped at the trailhead for the sister river and checked it out. The river is renowned for running clean and clear, and this morning it was high and slightly off color. I watched for several minutes and opted to continue on and check out the creek further downriver.



It was slightly off color, but to be honest it looked great - steelhead green. I drove up to the south fork, which is the upper boundary of the open water, and fished my way back.



If I know one thing about steelheading, it's that I know just enough to be dangerous. I'm a trout guy at heart, but there is something appealing about winter steelhead fishing - being out in the coast range, exploring, learning new water. I switched it up, from floating line to a moderate sink tip, and tried a slew of flies - moal hair leeches, lifters, eggs, all to no avail.







I didn't see any fish, although a few of the deeper slots and holes I had convinced myself I had, but I am hoping to get out again before the creek closes at the end of March. Of course, with two little girls at home and trout season beckoning, we'll see if that happens...