My Dad and I went on a float trip on the Salmon River today with Andy Bliss from Chasin' Tails Adventures.  It was 5 below zero when we met Andy at Fat Nancy's, so we decided to give the sun a little bit of time to warm the air & water up a few degrees before we got started.  After launching the boat at Altmar, we loaded up and started our float down river.  It had warded to a "balmy" 0 degrees but luckily the sun was out and there wasn't any wind.  Oh, and the fact that Andy had a small propane heater on the boat didn't hurt much either!  Check out the pics of the steam coming up off the water first thing in the morning:



It was our first time float fishing, but Dad and I took to it pretty quickly and it wasn't long before we were on fish.  I hooked up down in the Trestle Hole shortly into our trip and lost that first fish, then a few minutes later I hooked up again and the fight was on.  I've caught a lot of steelhead over the years, but this one was bigger than any steelhead I've had on before.  I got him next to the boat at least three times only to have him strip a ton of line off and head down river again.  After that last run I managed to get him into some slack water next to the boat and Andy dipped the net under the biggest steelhead I've ever landed.  Talk about exciting!  We we all high-fiving each other and trying to get a look at the fish as it sat safely in the net.  We didn't want to take the fish out of the water, but it was big enough that we just had to snap a quick picture of it.  We took a couple of pictures and then I gently released the biggest steelhead of my life back into the Salmon River for someone else to enjoy as much as I did.  We didn't weigh the fish as we were concerned for the health of the fish given the cold temps and didn't want to take it out of the water again, but we estimated it to weigh 16-17 lbs.  Here I am with the best Steelhead of my life:


Although I would've rather seen Dad land this particular fish, I was still glad that he was there to share in the moment with me.  He's done a lot of steelhead fishing over the years and I think he really appreciated just how excited I was to have caught & released that fish.  Thanks for coming along today Dad!

After that we played with another 13 or 14 fish, but we were unalble to land any more.  I had a couple fish break my leader and several more just threw the hook after a short fight.  Dad got a great fish right next to the boat and before Andy could net it, the fish threw the hook.  Frustrating for sure, but that's what makes steelhead fishing so much fun and so challenging.  The Steelhead definitely whooped us today, but we still had a fantastic time together and it was great to see Dad fighting a few chromers again:


I'm going to try to get back up there to fish with Andy again real soon.  If any of you want to go on a guided float trip with a real Pro, give Andy Bliss of Chasin' Tail Adventures a call at (315) 591-4578 and be sure to tell him that we sent you.  It's a great way to cure that cabin fever that's probably beginning to set in, and it'll get you back in the mood to get out on the boat with us again next spring!

Well, that's about it for today.  I hope you had a great New Year's celebration and we're looking forward to fishing with you again in the the New Year.  We're booking trips for next spring & summer every day now, so don't wait to call to book your 2009 charter; I don't want you to miss out on your preferred date!

Until Next Time,
Fish On!!

~Capt. Bill