Clearwater Steelhead

I have never been much of a writer, but as I sit after a long weekend of fishing the Clearwater River in Idaho reviewing the pictures of the weekend’s events, I knew I wanted to write about something that was beyond just a normal fishing report Read more »

March Clearwater River Steelhead Fishing

Always down for a last minute steelheading adventure, I grabbed my Fetha Styx fishing rods, packed a cooler with beer and hopped in my car for a trip inland to fish the Clearwater River in Idaho with some old friends. As the hatchery fish seemed to move up river and numbers reported in the rivers down, the crew didn’t let that deter them from fishing hard and having a great time. While we didn’t boat a large number of fish, collectively we landed some beauties. Take a look and let me know what you think of the video.

A big shout out to my good friend Chris Orwig (in my opinion one the best Montana fly fishing guides) for making the trip and dropping some local and steelheading knowledge on me.  I always learn a bunch when I hit the river with this crew, and this trip was no different.

Check out some of the Fly-Fishing Rods and Steelhead gear rods I brought along with me.  Stay tuned for the next series of posts with a full write up and a new project I was inspired to do after the trip.

Thanks to EYEini for helping put the final touches on this.

Fetha Styx Blog Home

Native Steelhead

Brad Wagner of fishwenatchee.com with this beautiful native caught on the very first cast with his new Fetha Styx Rod.

Sizzlin’ Steelheading

As some of you may have heard, the Pacific Northwest has seen some record-breaking heat these past two weeks, but that hasn’t stopped new Fetha Styx pro Travis Milward from getting out on the water. Here’s his weekly update…

“Fishing has definitely picked up on the Cowlitz and other local Rivers. Typically fishing half days to stay out of the extreme heat, we have been seeing 5 to 15 hookups a day drifting small bait clusters and prawns. Try focusing on water with cover or riffles where the fish have a little more security in this low water and extreme heat! And remember when running a boat to stay off of the water your fishing, fish are super spooky right now and that can be a big reason for less hook ups.”

Until Next Week,

Travis Milward

360-977-2444

travis_milward@hotmail.com

www.ultimateguideservice.com

Photographer Brett Colvin On His Winning Art Series Photo

We caught up with Brett Colvin of www.flytowater.com and one of our previous Art Series Contest winners the other day.  Not only were we excited to hear that he loves his new Fetha Styx fly-rod, but he offered to share some more thoughts on his winning picture (below).

“Photographing game fish is a challenging enterprise. Species that are pursued by anglers are generally wary and easily spooked, and reflections from the water’s surface make the use of telephoto lenses difficult.

I set out to capture an image of a rainbow trout that showed the natural traits of the fish. Stealth, camouflage, and graceful movement were qualities I wanted to show through the photograph. Clear water was a necessity, and I also wanted a cracked background made of gravel to break up the outline of the trout.

Deciding on a spring-fed stillwater in Nevada that is known for sight fishing, I set out with a plan. It’s important to know beforehand how you want to compose this type of photograph in order to avoid stressing the fish prior to the release.

Upon arrival the conditions seemed ideal: large rainbows were in the shallows, sitting in crystal clear spring water over a gravel-strewn bottom. After stalking a small pod, I made a 70-foot sight cast to a 22-inch female. The fly was a size 18 chironomid pupa. The take was extremely subtle, and when I saw the fish move slightly, I set the hook.  Initially nothing happened, the big hen just began moving steadily into deeper water. After about five seconds of steady pulling, she got serious.  I was using a 7-weight rod and a stout reel fitted with 150 yards of backing. In almost no time, despite an aggressive drag setting, the fish had burned off 125 yards of my security blanket.

Thirteen minutes later and after putting some dicey stress on my tippet, she was in the net. At 22 inches the big hen was not particularly remarkable, but she measured three full inches across the back! No wonder she had what it took to nearly line me, and without the aid of a stiff current either.

I took out my camera, lined up the shot, and then released the fish in the shallows with my left hand while looking through the viewfinder. I managed only two frames as she sped off, one of which was out of focus. The other was just what I wanted–the winning shot.”

If  you want to check out more of Brett’s work you can see his website FlytoWater or you can email him at threshershrk@gmail.com. Brett will be working with us more in the near future, so stay tuned for additional fantastic photographs and inspiring words from Brett. We’re excited–you should be too!