What an amazing fall season it’s been. I’ve been fortunate to be able to guide with great friends, James and Kait Sampsel who own and operate Humble Heron Fly Fishing. James and Kait spend the fall season guiding for summer steelhead on the Rogue river and have a wealth of knowledge they share with guest.
At a time when there are so many unknowns with our steelhead runs in the pacific northwest the Rogue has been one of the few bright spots. I’m not a fisheries biologist but the half pound steelhead population, which has always been something unique to the region, may be the very thing helping the populations remain relatively stable. Many of us believe it’s this lifecycle, and the way they may not travel as far out into the Pacific that’s responsible for the fishery tracking above it’s 10 year average. The one thing that’s clear is more needs to be known regarding steelhead and their offshore behaviors.
Whatever it may be the season was an absolute blast, with fantastic guest and a good number of beautiful steelhead. My season could not have ended any better, with my last trip being this week. I had the pleasure of guiding a long time guest of James and Kait along with someone who was just getting into fly fishing for steelhead. They made great progress, and were able to effectively fish runs but had not been able to connect with a steelhead yet. The day was drawing to a close and we stepped into the last run of the day with 30 minutes of daylight remaining. The run felt good, but so did others throughout the day. The cast were being placed perfectly and within a few minutes I heard what we live for, “something is pulling, SOMETHING IS PULLING!” Sure enough I looked up to see a beautiful bright hen break the surface and immediately scream down river. She put on quite a show for us before coming to the net for a brief visit.
It’s always such an honor for me to be a part of someone’s special, first encounter with these beautiful fish, and I couldn’t have envisioned a better ending to my season on the Rogue. I look forward to the beginning of our winter steelhead on the north Oregon coast which will be here before you know it. I still have dates available if your interested in chasing these amazing steelhead in some special places.
