I Am A Steelheader

And you thought marathoners were a strange breed. Ha! Think again! For there is in fact a group of even odder, potentially more driven, and equally insane individuals in our midst. They can be found lurking about in the most inclement of fall and winter months, usually standing waist deep in cold, large rivers, all in an attempt to attract a steelhead to take a well presented fly. These outcasts of society are called Steelheaders. I should know, for I am one of them.

A steelhead is a sea going rainbow trout. Like a salmon, it begins life in a river, but spends its maturing years in the ocean. Both species return to the river after one to four years at sea in order to spawn. However, a salmon only spawns once. You could say it sacrifices its life for sex, which in the end, isn’t all that exciting or amorous for a salmon. The female “fakes it” in order to trick a male into satisfying himself over her eggs, and that’s about it. Once that’s over, both the male and female die. Hmmmm, I’ve always said we could learn a thing or two from the animal kingdom. Paying attention boys?

Anyhow, steelhead do essentially the same thing, only once finished with “the act”, they head back to the sea to get bigger. Some time later they return to the river to do it all over again, and one would assume, do it better. Practice, practice, practice - the life cycle of a steelhead is pure agony.

Catching one of these big dudes with a fly while they’re in the river is quite a feat. First off, they aren’t really thinking about eating. They have other things on their mind. Just getting their attention is a small miracle. Secondly, there aren’t that many of them, so your chances are reduced by the numbers themselves. And finally, there a lot of more efficient ways of catching them, like using nets, or bait or hardware.

So, what is it that makes a few individuals put up with the bad weather, the expense and the remote locations to try something where they are almost destined to fail? I’d say the following picture says it all: