Today I got the chance to take my 4 year old boy Finley to the river and give him a chance at his first steelhead. You see as well as wanting to become a super hero Fin also would like to become an accomplished fisherman like his dad and his grandpa before him and I would love just as much to help at least with the fishing part.

Fins first steel in the net

With Finley by my side I selected a hole that requires no more than a role cast to set up the drift so it would be easy for me to help Fin through the movement. After about six casts we had the drift we wanted and the indicator was down, it was a one salt buck, the perfect kind of fish for Fin to cut his teeth on.

Finley’s first steelhead

The next fish took about fifteen minutes to decide it wanted to play as well so by that time Finley was playing at catching his own fish with a stick when I told it was time to reel in another and he did like a champ.

Finley with his 2nd steelhead

Its day like this that any fisherman father lives for, the sound of being asked “dad can we go fishing?” and rewarding that little future fisher prodigy with his first steelhead. This was one of the best days ever!

A proud fisherman

To say the fishing has been good would be an understatement, don’t get me wrong there have been one or two slow days but the good by far outnumber the bad at this point and it just seems to be getting better. With temps on the rise and steady bouts of precipitation fish will be pushing through the system in good numbers.

Nelson with another nice fish

As well as catching a lot of fish the fish that are being caught are for the most part very nice bright two salt fish and we are catching them from the mouth to Twisp, with a few as far as Winthrop. Today we wadded and hooked fish in all but the very last hole; fish seemed to be hitting at every chance.

Bight Winter Steel

Still the ticket has been red Choronomids with white head both single and double patterns worked today. When temps were low fish were lower in the hole as well, now with the jump in flow and temp as well as run upstream pushing them fish seem to be at about the half way point in holes around first good break or structure

Nelson with yet another Fish On!

We still have some openings in March and not sure how long season will stay open so book your trip now because you don’t often see steelheading like this! To book a trip with Methow Fishing Adventures just click on our Guide page and shoot us an email or a call, we will get you out on the water and having FUN!

Yours truly with some bright winter steel