Yesterday I took my spey rod to the Deschutes and swung a fly for steelhead, standing in the cold river from 9:00 to 4:30 with a brief break for lunch. Air temperature stalled in the mid-30s. The sun never quite made it through the low clouds. But the rain never developed, and the winds were light. A cool day, but bearable.

John Smeraglio (aka "Smerf"), Deschutes guide and owner of Deschutes Canyon Fly Shop in Maupin, was my companion. John and I have a late-November tradition of steelheading for a day after his guiding season is over--just two guys out fishing and trying not to fall in or get too cold.

I had no brilliant technical insights on this trip. No purple prose, brushes with danger and adversity, paeans to nature, stupid angler tricks, thoughtful reflections, rare wildlife sightings, nor humorous stories came to mind. In other words, it was a typical fly fishing trip. And maybe that's the story, the brilliant insight: on most fishing trips, nothing remarkable happens.

We hooked a few fish. I had an all-too brief encounter on the first run, followed by a quick thrill when a 17-inch trout grabbed my egg-sucking leech on the third run. Shortly after that, John had a solid hook-up, but the steelhead rolled on his fly and came unbuttoned. He hooked another steelhead after lunch, and this time it stayed on. I tailed it for him, took his photo, told him he'd played it beautifully and that it was the biggest fish I'd seen all season. It was a role-reversal, with me playing at being a guide, complete with puff-phrases; he didn't give me a tip, though.

Winter Reminders

Although these were summer steelhead, it was winter conditions and I count it as my first winter fishing trip of the season. A few tips/reminders came to mind:

1. Always, always, always carry extra clothes in case you fall in. Keep them close by in a rainproof bag.
2. Have a thermos of warm liquid at hand. It's easier to get warm from the inside than from the outside. Alcohol can give a warm feeling, but the feeling doesn't last and when it's gone you'll be colder than ever. Stick to coffee, tea, etc.
3. Keep your hooks sharp. Always have a hook hone handy. Winter fishing is deep fishing, and that means your fly is going to tick rocks and occasionally hang up. That will dull the hook. Touch up the hook point often.
4. You don't need a boat. John and I fished the road side near Maupin, and there were fewer anglers spread over more water than on the other side. The non-road side had three or four boats with two anglers in each one, covering just three miles of water. I only saw three, maybe four, other anglers on the road side, and they were spread over ten miles of river. I love having a boat, but I have to admit that sometimes I'm better off using the truck, especially on the Deschutes in late season.
5. Under winter conditions, your fly needs to travel near, but not on, the bottom. And it needs to move slowly, without a drag-creating belly. A long cast may be very satisfying, but it's easier to get a slow, straight swing when your line is short--70-80 feet is plenty most of the time.
6. If you're swinging flies and if the wading isn't too treacherous, take your downstream step after the cast, not before. That relieves line pressure and the fly will go deeper.
7. Steelhead will be in slighter slower water than you find them in summer.
8. If it's really cold, with water temperatures in the mid-30s to low forties, steelhead will be less likely to move to a swung fly and you'll be better off nymphing for them (I know, that's heresy to some of you).
9. If you land a hatchery fish and intend to eat it, bleed it out, gut it, and hang it up so the skin dries out. Sometimes I see anglers bonk a fish, then put it in the water. Or worse, run a rope through its gills and let it swim around on a tether, believing this keeps the meat fresh. Wrong. When a fish is stressed, lactic acid builds up and taints the flesh. It's best to rip a gill and let the fish bleed out. Then gut it and, if possible, hang it up so the skin dries. Letting the skin dry seals-in the moisture.
10. Pick your days and your rivers. Fishing will be best as rivers are dropping and clearing, and every river clears at a different rate.
11. Wade knee deep, then look for your boots. If you can't see them, it's probably too turbid for good fly fishing and you might as well go home.
12. And practice your casting.