Fishing - Deschutes River steelhead TR

Fished a bit above Maupin Monday evening, and quite a ways below Maupin
Tuesday morning. Monday, no steelhead, and the other folks I talked to in
that area also came up empty. I did take one trout, though, that maybe
thought it was a steelhead..... smashed a fly that looks nothing like
trout food.....

Tuesday morning, by contrast, was *very* fine. I was the first one
through a favorite run. Took a small (22-23") hatchery buck at the top of
the run, and then a mighty nice (31") hatchery hen about 30 minutes later,
halfway down. Neither fish made any long smoking runs. The buck, in
fact, other than a bit of heavy head-shaking, fought much like a large
trout. He came in quickly and easily. The hen fought much better: two
high jumps--one Polaris-like & the other cartwheeling--a good deal of
splashy surface action, and determined dogged resistance with 5-6 short
runs--it took almost 15 minutes to land her.

Had a brief hook-up at the tailout of the run, then another around 9:00am
when I went back to the top. Three of the four hook-ups were on a #6
Green Butt Skunk, one on a #4 Street Walker. I did catch another trout,
too, while swinging for steel. Some other folks arrived and were waiting
to fish the run, and I'd already done way better than expected, so I
packed off to breakfast.

Fished for trout at mid-day, but only took one 14-incher, on a small
parachute Adams. It was sunny and got hot, and I got sweaty, and I didn't
need to catch any more fish.... for the moment anyway..... so I drove
home. No pix. Maybe next time.

90 miles each way, plus another 40 or so driving up and down the river....
at $3/gallon, and counting the trout, that's a little over $6.00 per
fish. Worth it? Oh, yes.

Some steelheading thoughts:

When things are going *right*, it can be hundreds of casts between takes;
when they're going poorly, thousands. Stakes are higher than when
trouting, and preparedness counts for more. If there is anything,
*anything at all*, wrong with your rig (abraded leader, wind knots, drag
setting), you need to fix it NOW, and if you even *suspect* there may be a
problem (e.g., you haven't verified the set of your ferrules for a while),
you need to check it NOW. So, well, I know all this and preach it, and
yet..... I had three tugs in the very same spot Monday evening, but didn't
check until after the third, only to find the tippet knotted around the
hook bend and the fly therefore swimming ass-backward. ARRRGGGGHHH.

Umpqua's Hard Nylon is excellent material. Fished the 0.011" 10-pound
stuff exclusively this trip, and it cast, took good knots, turned over big
flies, and fished every bit as well as Maxima.

Whoever at Ross made the decision to discontinue the Gunnison should be
taken out at dawn and gently but firmly shot. What a FINE piece of gear.
I have total confidence, total piece of mind fishing with that reel....

JR