Fishing Days

Lots of fishing by me and lots of editing by Carol since our last blog entry. We stayed another day at the campground Carol mentioned in our last blog. On Tuesday morning we got up early (5:15 am) to drive back to Brule to meet a steelhead fishing guide (at 7:00 am) so I could try to catch one of these huge rainbow trout that spend most of their time in Lake Superior. These trout are called steelhead because they lose most of their rainbow colors when they go to sea. But wait, I thought they lost their colors because they went to sea in saltwater. How come they also lose their colors in a freshwater sea? One of life's mysteries...

My steelhead guide was Tim Pearson. A pleasant young man who is also an artist. Tim had a special way he rigged my line for steelhead fishing. First he took off my monofilament tapered leader and rigged up a knotted leader. Then he tied on a wet fly and then about three feet down he threaded on a pink colored glass bead and then a bare hook. The pink colored bead is a salmon egg imitation that steelhead love. He moved the bead up the leader about three inches and jammed in a toothpick to hold it in place. Why such a crazy rig? I ask. Tim explains that egg patterns made with yarn tied to a hook have a tendency to catch steelhead in the gills. Not so good for the steelhead since that is where they get oxygen from the water and we intend to release any steelhead I might catch. I find it very interesting that I often fish for rainbow trout that can't go to sea using one of these pink yarn "salmon egg" patterns. Eating anything that looks like a salmon egg must be programmed into the genes of rainbow trout, even if they've never seen a salmon.

Tim carefully explains to me that if I get a strike, I must set the hook by moving my rod downstream. I know this is going to be hard to remember because I'm programmed to set the hook by lifting my rod straight up. Nevertheless, I tell myself to remember this. Of course about five casts later I get an amazing strike that nearly jerks the rod out of my hands. I lift my rod straight up by instinct and I got the steelhead hooked. I see him in the water moving so fast that he looks like a meteor trail. Then my line goes slack and he's gone. I had him for about 3 seconds. Should have listened better to my guide. Talk about your long distance releases.

I fished for another 5 or 6 hours with no more giant strikes. I did catch a young steelhead about 8 inches long, but I was hoping to land one 26 inches long. This makes three steelhead that I had on and never landed. The closest I came to landing one was on the Sacramento River in California. I fought a steelhead for 15 minutes and had him floating on his side when my guide reached out to net him. He wanted nothing to do with the net and with one last lunge, broke off my 6 pound test leader and was gone. One of these days I'm going to touch one of these monsters.

We stayed one more night at Brule River Classics and then drove to the Wolf River in Langlade County the next day. The drive was beautiful as we passed through so many lakes that we lost count--definitely a "Land O' Lakes" up here. We arrived in the village of Langlade, got a motel on the Wolf River with a gorgeous view, and we're still here. Carol's editing and I'm fishing.

View from our Motel Patio

Morning Wolf River Mist - Photo taken from our motel room patio.

I fished and fished this river but have not caught any trout. Today I caught a number of small fish on dry flies and a small bass on a streamer, but no trout. The Wolf is a big flat river filled with large boulders (called erratics) left over from the Ice Ages. It's lovely and we've had great weather. I have to keep reminding myself that this sport is called "fishing" not "catching".

Daytime Fishing

Evening Fishing