Well, the rain came, and the rivers rose, and I went fishing.

My favorite spots were all blown out along the river; either un-wadeable or un-fishable due to flows. I was very discouraged, knowing I would have to fish in places of less seclusion and more company, both good and not so good.

My spey flies looked great and swung well, but I got no takes. The issue wasn't so much the patterns, but that the fish were hanging out away from the swinging runs and tucked into small pockets.

So, I problem solved and switch tactics and locations. Upstream, chuck and duck, reach casting with no room to spare was the name of the game, using heavily weighted coho jig-a-buggers (heavy orange bead head, pink/white and black/purple)... and ended up getting it done. I hooked one and lost it a few short seconds later, nice and bright, heartbreaking.

My redemption came half an hour later on my last jig-a-bugger, hooking a bright 6ish-lb hen. I used a heavy tippet, 15lb, so I could horse these fish out of their snag-filled homes, and in the end, death-rolls proved to be her demise as she tangled herself in my line and I towed the beaut in.

This is keeping my third and final coho of the year, leaving the rest of the stock to do coho biddings and build our next generation. I'm glad that I was able to make something out of nothing and finding a fish or two in the process.

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