Hot fun with summer runs

[hooknose]

Well the weather was hot .... at times    and some rain, wind, thunderstorms etc...
Took a week off this past week to do some family camping.  I have a 5 year old and my boy is just shy of 2.  We had a good time taking some walks, grilling burgers and playing around the campground.  Only real downside was the mosquitos but teaching the kids some basic camping skills was fun and they are ready to get out there again.  Not too sure about Mom and Dad though    It'll get easier in a few years.
I managed to sneak out in the early morning before the family woke up to hit the water.  Fishing was tough, with high water the fish were spread out.  Managed a few fish.

I am a fortunate soul as I seem to see some pretty cool things out in the wild.
I was climbing up a steep bank onto a wooded flat above the river and as I crest the top I spook a bald eagle not 10 feet in front of me - amazing to see those huge birds that close!  Startled me, and before my heart can settle down I hear a terrible groaning noise coming from below the bank and I'm thinking I have interrupted some sort of kill scene.  I look down the bank and see 3 otters resting on a log and one of them is hacking on something  - I would soon find out what it was hacking on...
The pic of the eagle is after I startled it, it landed at the top of the snag tree.  I liked it's silhouette and waited for it to take off to get the picture of it setting its wings for flight.  So, I continue upriver and think I see fish rolling in some chop upstream from me.  That can't be   And it wasn't, it was the otters porpoising their way upstream, I tried to get a good pic of them porpoising, it was a hell of a thing to see.  After watching them do this for about 5 minutes I see what they were up to.  They were munching on smolt    Wild.

Next encounter was a young coyote that must have been separated from mom, he/she followed me (on the other side of the river) for quite a distance. 

Fun times, was too short, but I'm worn out!   


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[hooknose]

couple more pics...

pic of coyote and a picture of a native bow jumping, no close up of the bow as it needed a quick release after giving a hard fight 

[cuttstosteelies]

That right there is what it's all about.  Good to see you in your element.  Oh yeah, nice summers.  Got one in the brine right now!

[Finfollower]

Wow, great report. Looks like you had some fantastic times! Thanks for sharing them. I only have 4 more days of work before I can take my next adventure .

[Fast- eddy]

Looks like a nice week off Jason.Nice going on those fish and teaching the little ones about camping.
thanks for sharing those cool Pict's.

[chum77]

wow great pics nice work 

[GOFISH1]

Nice pics!! Especially the one with the "VB" hat! 

[Chum Man]

looks like some good times on the river!  starting to forget what a summer run steelhead looks like here...

[fishpimp]

"i see london, i see france, i know wherer jason was fishing at"    and i wish i was there. im gonna go this week. good job, i bet it was really tough conditions. thats why i was bass fishing. love the critter pictures!!.  i see otters there often.   i bet they kill a ton of summer runs when they get all corked up in the summer. its great taking kids outdoors. enjoy it while you can, they grow up fast

[hooknose]

"i see london, i see france, i know wherer jason was fishing at"    and i wish i was there. im gonna go this week. good job, i bet it was really tough conditions.

   that's a good one Steve!
I'm sure you do know where that was at; question is - which pic gave it away - the picture of London or France? 

Good luck when you go, hopefully the water is in a little better shape for you.  If I would have been fishing all day I'm sure more hookups would have come, but judging by the complete lack of success from talking with other anglers, I felt lucky for my fish per 3 hours average- under the conditions.  I covered some tough miles in the time I did fish, with the high water wading was Tough and I had to find some new routes through the bush to access a couple of favorite stretches - due to changes in the river.  I totally missed out on fishing a long stretch of primo water due to not being able to cross the river.

BTW, all fish were hooked on spinners, which is my goal for the season - get back to the roots.  I have always had a fondness for fishing with hardware, but have gotten away from it for some time.  I've always fished coho with metal, but for steelhead have been throwin floats.  The versatility of float fishing has a lot going for it, plus jigs are a lot cheaper to lose than the good hardware    Hook to land ration on float/jig has always seemed really good too, but this past week I started 3/3 then lost the next 2, still 3/5 is acceptable on hot summer runs.  Had one of the fish actually cartwheel onto shore, then flip back into the water to make 2 more runs and 2 more cartwheeling leaps!  And my wife wonders at my fascination with the critters... 

[fishpimp]

 france!   actually i could tell where it was by the picture of the fish jumping, i recognised that specific brood stock, which in turn gave away that river.    

[Fast- eddy]

france!   actually i could tell where it was by the picture of the fish jumping, i recognised that specific brood stock, which in turn gave away that river.    

 

[fishpimp]

france!   actually i could tell where it was by the picture of the fish jumping, i recognised that specific brood stock, which in turn gave away that river.    

 

whats so funny ed? im serious 

[Fast- eddy]

You are a pimp!

[hooknose]

My point was that there are two rivers pictured, but funny is always an appropriate answer    Actually that brooder was caught on a single bead with two trailer #8 hooks...