I asked my good friend and high school buddy to join Joe and me for a trip on the Wenatchee for steelhead. Mike has fly fished for trout for probably close to 20 years, but like so many others he hasn’t quite taken the leap to chase steelies. Ok, I’ll give it away early… let’s just say he’s glad he did! I really wanted to put him on one of my Spey Rods, just to give him a taste of what a different casting style is like. We all know someone like Mike, he is one of those guys that has CRAZY, natural athletic talent (think a .9 handicap in golf, yes “point 9” not “9” - and pro caliber baseball background…) so I knew he’d pick up Spey Casting quickly. Yep, he did, by the second hole, with Joe’s help, he was getting every other cast about 60-70 feet out. It was more about his ability to easily manage the line and not hang up on the back cast than the length of the cast into the run.
The weather was beautiful, 55 degrees in the morning reaching to just over 80 midday, and not a cloud to be seen. Yep, it was beautiful for humans, or for time in Hawaii, but not so beautiful for steelhead fishing. The river temp was above 50, warm. Joe and I felt the bright sun would probably put a damper on the fishing, pushing them deep into the slots given the 8 feet of visibility. The river flow was solid, about 900 cfs and on a slight drop.
