Oak Orchard 2018, when you hit it right

[MGHunter66]

So we began our yearly journey up to the oak last Sunday. We arrive at our cottage rental late afternoon, check in and head down to a stretch of river below the archers club. The water is at a medium flow but pretty clear. I set junior up and before i could get rigged, bam Jake has a steelhead on, he lands the fish and now i am fishing. Two casts later, bam i have a fish and while fighting it Jake has another one on also. We land another two fish, dark falls, the rain picks up so back to the cottage. Now anyone who fishes for lake run fish entering the tributaries knows “ it’s all about the flow” so rain is welcome LOL. Monday morning we get to our spot an hour before light and it is raining good, big smile on our faces. Fished morning landing 4-5 fish each and losing about the same number, ditto for the afternoon. By Tuesday morning we have really good flows but still clear water. First day it is not raining and at first light its game on, the increasing flows bring in a new pod of fish from the lake. It is almost non stop catching fresh steelhead that are going airborne and ripping line off the reels, some of these fish are real bombers. Mixed in with these fish are a new batch of Coho’s. Now anyone who has ever caught Coho’s in the rivers on fly rods know these fish have shoulders. Average fight is roughly 15-20 minutes. By 9am we have landed and lost multiple fish. The sun actually comes out for a welcomed change for a while. With the water clear and sun out i tie a dropper off our egg patterns. A tiny little bead head nymph. Immediately browns start smashing it and continue to for the remainder of our trip. Was great to see my son get his personal best brown then an hour later beat his personal best. I had a real heartbreaker with a brown i fought for 25 minutes and had him 10’ from us but when his belly touched bottom he took off for a blow down and I couldn’t stop him on a 5 lb tippet. This fish was over 30” long. He would have been a personal best over my previous 16lb brown caught several years ago. Rain continued the following days and with it the great fishing continued. The only tough time was Thursday afternoon when the rain became a downpour. Our fishing slowed but the pinners using sacks picked up. We made a bunch of new friends fishing this lower section of river pretty much dominated by centerpin fisherman. Some guys were surprised to see us with fly rods in hand but... besides Thursday afternoon in the rain we out fished these guys intriguing some. A great trip and trifecta of steelhead, browns and coho’s.Here are a couple pics of the average fish which were a dime a dozen on this trip.

 

And these are the guys that rock your world and keep you going back

 

[hammer4reel]

• looks like a great trip/ nice pics

[_X7]

Real good trip...Now you'll se guys using fly rods in that stretch when it rains, lol

 

[OMC]

You were sending me updates the whole week and I was so tempted to just say F it and shoot on up. Glad you had a great trip with your son,those trips will always be in your memories!!

[JHbowhunter]

Awesome - congrats on great trip and memories with your son!!!

[Shootemandmountem]

By the fish and smiles 

[Buck154]

Awesome pictures

[3Blade]

Looks like a great trip...congrats!

[MGHunter66]

You were sending me updates the whole week and I was so tempted to just say F it and shoot on up. Glad you had a great trip with your son,those trips will always be in your memories!!

I thought for sure after the big browns started hitting you’d be packing your gear LOL


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[nmc02]

My buddy just sent me pics of browns ...lots of beauties 

[Joeybeets]

Wow now that looks like a great time!! 

[10pt]

Congrats to you and your son.

Truly amazing fishery.

[LPJR]

What an awesome trip with your son! Great pics, very cool!

Memories made there indeed 

[4hunting]

what a great trip. awesome looking browns.

[Rusty]

What a great way to spend time with your son Maximus.  Beautiful fish.