"There's no reason to get there at sun-up, there's plenty of fish and the driving will be easier. I'll meet you in Hornbrook around 8:30," Albert Kutzkey told me before he said goodnight and hung up the phone. It would probably be my last chance to fish before Christmas, as we were off to Michigan to visit my wife's parents on the 13th. We were taking a shot at steelhead on the Klamath between storms.

Famous Last Words! It snowed all night! Although it was mostly clear, the roads were a mess and it took over an hour to drive about twenty-five miles. By the time we got the boat launched, the snow out of the boat and the gear situated, it was mid morning. The temperature was in the low twenties and the wind was blowing...it was COLD!

"Are you sure you want to fish?" Albert asked. "A fine question to ask AFTER we're in the water," I replied.

We started fishing by drifting Brindle Bugs and Orange Stonefly patterns on a sinking tip line. On the second drift through the hole, I got an aggressive tug on the line. I gently set the hook and the fish was immediately three feet out of the water trying to shake the barbless hook. After a dazzling display of aerobatics, we got the wild buck to the boat and released it.

After a few fishless drifts, Albert decided it was time to switch to plugs. "As the water cools, steelhead become less aggressive. When that happens, plugs work better," he said.

We set out a crawdad pattern on one pole and a #40 silver and blue Hot-Shot on another. The crawdad got hit on the second drift, the next riffle and the next hole. It was obvious... the crawdad was the hot lure today! We switched the Hot-Shot to a crawdad. As we neared the tailout at the bottom of the Heron Tree hole, both my rod and my wife Deborah's rods got hit hard. By the time we boated and photographed the fish, our fingers were numb.

Over the course of the morning, the sky became overcast. The wind had picked up to the point you could see the gusts move over the surface of the river. To the west we could see an ominous black wall of clouds moving our direction. As we still had five miles or so to the take out, we agreed it might be a good idea to start fishing our way down river a little quicker. We had another fish hooked up in the R-Ranch hole as the front hit. The wind picked up and it started snowing heavy. I battled the fish as the wind driven snow pelted us horizontally.

A couple of guys were watching us from the deck of the R-Ranch Lodge. "Want a ride to your truck?" one yelled as we boated the fish. It wasn't a long discussion to decide to accept his offer. We could certainly fish another day.

I had scheduled a day of ice fishing during our weeklong visit to see the in-laws in Michigan. However, it was the warmest fall anybody could remember. It was December 20 and flowers were blooming, daffodils were sprouting and they still had not seen the first killer frost. Needless to say, no iced-over lakes. I tried to find someone to go lake trout fishing but, because the lakes are usually iced over, boats were out of the water and put away for winter.

The first winter storm hit the day we left to come home.

Of course, the flu struck exactly the same time as the best river conditions for weeks!

Dan Ponciano called me from Vancouver, Washington and prodded me into sturgeon fishing the Columbia for the weekend. "We're catching tons of shakers and a enough keepers to make the trip worthwhile," he said.

If you do any outdoor activity in Oregon, you better figure out how to do it in the rain! Although there was a storm bearing down on the Northwest, I knew it would take a hurricane to keep US off the water. I packed the Thermax, the Goretex, the Polartec, the rubberX and then packed a spare change of clothes, boots and hats, tossed them in the truck and drove up to Portland.

"Won't be many boats on the water today," Dan said as we drove along the North bank of the Columbia while the rain slammed into the pickup. We could see whitecaps on the river below. Fortunately the main channel right below Bonneville Dam was somewhat protected and so we decided to launch.

We anchored off the "Outhouse" and set out smelt and ghost shrimp baits. I may have been fooled, or the bait skipped across the bottom, but that was the only action in nearly an hour. We moved a couple miles downriver near Moffett Creek. Dan was in the middle of telling us a fish story when his rod slowly dipped. He stood up and gently removed his rod from the holder, slowly taking slack out of the line. After 15 seconds, which seemed like an eternity, the rod dipped again. Dan vigorously set the hook and the fight was on. It didn't last long, however, it was only a 39" shaker (the Columbia River keeper bracket is 42-60 inches).

Sturgeon fishing on the Columbia can be slow in early January, if you call 10 shakers and a keeper slow for an average day. Everyone, including the fish, is waiting for the arrival of the smelt run. The smelt show up and the fish start biting, instead of picking around the bottom like Grandma working through a box of See's candy.

We fished the afternoon near the mouth of the Willamette and ended up with another shaker. We REALLY caught a slow day.

The following morning, we put in at Richfield, Washington and motored up to Columbia City. Dan carefully anchored us off "Long House", aligning the boat with the chimney on the yellow house. "There's a hole here. It's not very big, but if you can get into it, you catch fish," Dan told us.

It was raining hard but fortunately the wind wasn't blowing. It wasn't very long before my rod twitched. I prepared to set the hook. The rod twitched again, I set the hook, nothing there! I brought in my bait, which was mangled. "That's a squawfish bite," Dan said. "Sturgeon don't have teeth." The squawfish dogged us all day.

The tide turned late morning and the bite began to pick up. We had landed a couple of shakers when Dan got a solid takedown. When the rod went down the second time he slammed the hook home. Immediately, the fish began taking line. In the heat of battle, Dan's cell phone started ringing. He answered the phone while continuing to fight the fish with one hand. The sturgeon made a run toward the boat and the line went slack. "They never come off once you hook 'em," he laughed.

Next it was my turn. The fish pulled hard and took some line. "If he's taking line, you've got a keeper." After playing the fish even for about five minutes, he wore out. He looked real close to keeper size. We set him on the measuring lines on deck. It was close, forty-one and a half!

Well, that was the big fish landed for that day. We ended up with 8 fish to the boat. I had five! Damp, cold and wind burned, we headed back to the ramp as the last daylight faded.

It had been a few days since the warm front blew through the Marble Mountains. The front melted the lower elevation snows and the Scott River was running high. My friend, Rick Meredith, called and we decided to take a shot at the steelhead because there was another front due to come in the following day.

We had fly-fished a number of holes without any luck. "Are you up for a walk?" Rick asked. I agreed. We parked on a little turnout on the one-lane section of Scott River Road at the Sugarpine access and soon we were making our way down the switchbacks.

The further we proceeded into the gulch, the less sunlight filtered through the oaks, and the patches of snow became larger and deeper. By the time we reached the river, the canyon walls totally shaded the river. Large pools of water from the last storm's runoff were frozen over and the emerald colored river roared as it cascaded over the boulders in the riverbed.

There was one large pool where the water was slow enough to fish. At the top of the hole were a couple of large rocks. "If there's a fish here, he's behind those rocks," I said. Rick slowly made his way over to a spot where he could cast a fly to the rocks.

The nymph barely hit the water before the steelhead took the fly. The large bright fish was immediately three feet out of the water! It ran a few yards came out of the water again and spit the hook. It was all over in less than three seconds.

These occasional surreal experiences remind me the fishing is always good!

The steelhead bite between storms on the Klamath has been red hot. Winter has arrived in Michigan. The smelt are running on the Columbia and the sturgeon bite is wide open. I'll try my luck there again while I'm at the Portland show. And it's been a couple of days since it has rained here, so I think I'll go fish the Scott tomorrow. Maybe I can get the catchin' to pick up.

For More Information Contact:

Albert Kutzkey Guide Service
Phone: 530.842.2229
albert@kutzkeyfishing.com

Dan Ponciano Guide Service
Phone: 360.573.7211
dan@columbiariverfishing.com