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Steelhead Fishing is Hard…Simply Put!

January 10, 2013 by adminewa

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What you do at work when you are bored depends on a myriad of criteria: where you head is, what your passion is, what did or didn’t happen last night, what is coming up in the next week or two and so on…the list is long! Well when you pretend everything revolves around a two handed fly rod, your favorite dance is the swing and your partner is always a native fish named Mykiss, this is one possible tangent your mind might travel down on a lack-luster day at work, from Ted McDermott:

Hey guys,

From this data:

Seattle Times Article

I did some math. Check out the attached spreadsheet for details and river specific data, but here is the overall analysis: This was fun.

Based on Data from 12/1/12 to 1/6/13 on the Major OP Rivers for all fishing styles:

Steelhead caught per hour: .0805
Native steeelhead Caught per hour: .0167
Hours spent on each steelhead: 12.42
Hours per Native steelhead: 59.95
Steelhead per fisherman: .3917
Native steelhead per fisherman: .0812

Would love to compare this to other watersheds during the same time (Puget Sound!!??) and also different times of year on the OP and see what we come up with. The analysis doesn’t take into account weather, so take the data with a grain of salt.

Either way you can use this to casually tell clients that steelhead fishing is hard. Now you have the numbers to prove it.”

Doubt most the catch were from swinging steelheaders so if that is your zen…these numbers might look really good to you. Either way, steelhead fishing is hard, and we love it!

Filed Under: Emerald Water Anglers Tagged With: Emerald Water Anglers, mykiss, native steelhead, Olympic Peninsula, spey casting, swinging flies, Washington

Frank Smethurst, first winter run steelhead

April 5, 2010 by Dave McCoy

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Well over a decade ago, I moved to Telluride, Colorado in my former career (if you can call it that) as a ski race coach. Summer jobs around the western US were easy to come by as a fly fishing guide so I was excited to move to this quaint little town and add yet another few rivers to my book of knowledge.

One of the first rivers I would begin to guide was the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and who would be my first guide trainer, none other than Frank Smethurst himself. Fresh after a season of flipping a raft with clients in a rapid called Cable and losing the keys to their private jet, for the mile or so leading up to Cable, Frank was in my ear, “Do you see this life jacket I am wearing, it is the most buoyant one you can buy. Know why I wear this one, it is because I was wearing one like yours when I flipped and didn’t come up for nearly a minute!! You MIGHT want to consider changing yours, or not flipping.”

For a week Tee Clarkson and I got this from everyone on our rowing and fishing but no one was more tedious about it than Frank. “You aren’t actually going to fish that are you?” tone soft but condescending.

At any rate, I have known Frank for 16 years or so and when we got the chance to fish together this past week on the O.P., I was happy to see nothing had changed, fish honestly do fear him, everywhere, as he is simply the most passionate angler I have ever known and has game to boot.

While our time on the water was shortened prematurely by rain, it was a wonderful flashback in time to the good old days of Telluride and the people who helped shape who I am as a guide today. To watch Frank catch his first winter steelhead and be a part of that experience was just another page in our history together and one we won’t forget anytime soon.

Thanks Frank for coming out and as always, great to see, drink and fish with you old friend.

Filed Under: Emerald Water Anglers Tagged With: Emerald Water Anglers, Forks, Frank Smethurst, Hoh River, mykiss, Olympic Peninsula, Washington, winter steelhead

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