Had an excellent two days of swinging flies with Dick Compton on the North Coast. We had the good fortune of starting our first day off with the river showing great color after rising the day before and falling through the night. We beat the boat crowd by an inch to a favorite run and Dick was soon rewarded by the firm handshake of a winter steelhead.

We stayed on the lower river for the rest of the day hoping to intercept some fresh fish coming up from the esturary. The river was on the high side throughout the day making it a challenge to find good swing water, but we managed to get into a handful of runs that were textbook. 

The second day we looked high and low. We started up river hoping to swing up a well rested fish or two and avoid the boat brigade on the low river. No luck. We finished our day without another hook up but still had an amazing time. Giant redwoods, a wild river and chrome fish are a hard combo to beat. 

Looking ahead we have another high pressure system that looks to stay parked over Northern California for the next 10 days or more. With no forseeable rain in the forecast all rivers on the North Coast should be running green by the weekend to early next week at the very latest. February is nearly here, putting us at the midway point of the winter steelhead season. It's time to go fishing!