"You know what?" I said to Mrs. Fuzzy this morning. "This is going to be a great week for winter steelheading. Probably the best all season."

"Mmmmph," she said. "Hold still. I've almost got it."

"Oww!" I yelled, as she dug a needle deep into my big toe. I had stumbled into a nasty cactus while trying to pull a fresh grapefruit off the tree. "Be careful!"

"Don't tell me to be careful. I'm not the one who tried to drop kick a cactus in bare feet." She squinted her eyes, reached in with tweezers, and pulled out another inch-long thorn. "There! Last one! Now put on some sunscreen and we'll go play golf."

Golf? Cactus? Bare feet? Grapefruit off the tree? Clearly the Fuzzys are not in Oregon. No, they are visiting Mrs. Fuzzy's sister in her winter abode in Borrego Springs, California. Borrego is a sleepy little desert town due east of San Diego. It's the anti-Palm Springs, maybe lightly bigger than Maupin and even more laid back. It has a few golf courses, clear skies, mountain views, desert flowers, and warm sunshine. What it doesn't have is steelhead.

That's why Oregon will have great fishing for the next 8 days: I'm in Borrego, not Oregon. It finally rained at the beginning of this week, before we left. This will bring in fresh steelhead. They've been waiting for the rain. And for me to leave town.

All week while I'm gone, it looks like Oregon's weather will be mild and showery--perfect conditions for winter steelhead. But I'm flexing my sand wedge instead of my spey rod.

December, I was shut out by the heavy snow. January was dry and cold and the fish didn't want to know about me or anyone else. Early February was little better. Even my winter fishing ace-in-the-hole--bait fishing for carp--didn't pan out; when the water temp is below the mid-40s, the carp go on vacation.

So now it's ideal fishing conditions, and I'm not home. Maybe it's ideal BECAUSE I'm not home; that tracks with how my luck's been running this winter.

Still, I know I don't deserve any sympathy. It's pretty nice here, with day-time highs in the upper 70s to low 80s, the house is on the golf course and free to us, the biking is good, and there's fresh tangelos on one tree, and oro blanco grapefruit on another. You just have to watch out for the cacti.

So enjoy the fishing for the next week. Catch a few for me.

What happens after this next week has played out? I know exactly what will happen, and I'll share it with you in my next post.

May I offer you a tall, cool glass of SHUT-THE-HELL-UP!

Bill

Yes! Uncle Fuzz finally left the state and that made it rain, and the steelhead are in and biting!. However, could you make the trip a bit earlier next year? We've had to sort through a lot of rather dark fish to get to the few bright ones that are left

Yes, what Nick O said! dark, daark, daaark, bright! But they are biting so good.