We spent five days on the island, burned two tanks of gas steelheading, pulled crab pots nine times, ate lots of ferns, saw countless Sitka deer, scared two black bears, fished an outgoing smolt feeding frenzy for cutthroats/dollies and climbed the world’s largest logging claw. Not to mention other debacles. Five days was simply not enough.

We didn’t have a chance to bottom fish for ling cod and yellow eye, down-rig for king salmon in the strait or forage the beaches for clams, abalone and other goodies. There are not enough hours in the day. Quite simply, there is a lifetime of exploration on America’s third largest island and we plan to go back and experience it again. As long as you don’t mind the rain, Prince of Wales is an outdoor exploration paradise.

Our stay was made more comfortable by the fine folks at Adventure Alaska Southeast. Jason and his family have top notch facilities and accommodations for a very reasonable price. Great for the do it yourself gang and full-service alike.

For a complete photo essay of this trip visit our facebook page. We would love to hear from you!

A picture is worth a thousand words. This one… three thousand.

We found steelhead in some tiny water. This is less than three miles from salt chuck. Awesome!

We were on the backside of the run, so fish were a bit darker, but still beautiful. I love the orange fins on this fish!

The Teton Classic packs the best features of the signature teton lineup, including the popular Tioga and Trinity reels into one smooth fishing unit. It is precision-machined from 6061-T6 bar stock aluminum and features 360° full-frame construction for maximum spool and line protection. The patented Delrin® drag system has no gears or bearings to clean or lubricate for enhanced reliability. An internal heat-sink creates consistent friction across the drag spectrum, producing a subtle startup to protect the lightest tippets. An exposed palming rim allows for even more drag control. They are proudly Made in USA. These new reels are available online at cabelas.com

We paired the Classic Teton in 7/8 size with a handful of 9′ 6″ prototype 8wt Edge Rods nymphing sticks designed by Gary Loomis and went to work sticking a bunch of North Oregon Coast Steelhead. All the rods fished well, but we all agreed on one clear winner, that with a few subtle tweaks will become a staple in the Small Stream Outfitters Winter steelheading arsenal. As these rods are put into production we’ll be sure to let you know.

Thanks to Todd and Jon for a fun day and making good gear! Keep it coming!

Todd of Teton Reels with a nice chrome native hen steelhead

The Teton Classic. Shown in Black, size 7/8.

We now have a new Winter Steelhead video online. This footage is from a late February day on the North Oregon Coast. Small Stream Outfitters would like to offer special thanks to our guest Chris for hooking up this great video via his HD headcam. Enjoy!!!

To view video in full HD and read or add comments click on the red YouTube logo

It’s been a really fun February with lots of fish, very few days lost to high water and generally good fishing conditions. Fishing for hatchery steelhead is tapering off quickly and is all but done. That’s ok with us as the native chrome big boys and girls have begun to arrive. We’re hooking at least one 15+ pound chrome steelhead everyday, but they are proving tough to land. One out of Four seems about right for these insanely hard fighting fish. It makes the few fish to hand that much better.

If you’re interested in chasing these guys give us a call at 503.515.3533. These fish will be available through Mid-April on the Oregon Coast.

Tight Lines,
Jesse
Check out Our Facebook Page for more photos of steelhead from January and February, as well as a few new additions to our Guide’s Life photo essay.

Rich Youngers displays a stunnigly beautiful Oregon Coast wild Winter steelhead

Ryan’s first steelhead on a fly. He fought this fish for 35 minutes and chased it 1/2 mile downstream. An incredible fish and fight. We Love our job!

And so to the Small Stream Outfitters faithful, over the next year or so we aim to create a few photo essay posts, called “Life of a Guide”. It’s what we do, it’s what we love and here’s what it looks like.

Selection of modified lifters. Simple. Fast. Effective.

Weather beaten hand holds a low water favorite.

Rivers on the Central and North Oregon Coast have come into shape nicely over the last few days after a couple big storms earlier in January, bringing with it a really nice push of Native fish as well as the tail end of those early hatchery runs. We are A OK with the transition, as we love to chase these treasured native steelhead. We still have a handful of guide days left in March to chase these monsters. If you are interested, please give us a jingle at (503) 515 3533 or shoot us an email.

Eric of Portland, Oregon took this great double stripe native buck steelhead on Feb 3rd. As most big fish do, it stayed deep and pulled like heck for a what seemed like an eternity before coming to hand. Nice job Eric!

It seems as though the rivers are either really high or really low anytime I get a chance to post. Funny how that works. And so we sit, staring at some pretty darn impressive current CFS numbers. The Sandy hit darn near 30,000 while the Siletz crested at almost 40,000 and reached moderate flooding. That’s some big water. Rivers will all be out at least through the weekend. The extended forecast looks wet, so it could be even longer before rivers are green again.

On the flip side, the last couple weeks fished great and there were lots of fish to be caught. Our anglers tangled with at least a hundred fish in the first couple weeks of January, including a day of 24 hookups and several other double-digit days. We found mostly hatchery fish, with an occasional native here and there. Natives have yet to arrive in any numbers and the hatchery run is still going strong. There will be another fresh batch of hatchery fish around once the flood waters recede.

Based on the moderate returns we’ve seen so far, this year’s run is average or better than average and fish are just a little late in arriving. We’re hoping for the latter, but either way fishing is good as long as those pesky streams come into shape. Drop fast little rivers….

Tight lines,
Jesse
Inquire About Booking a Guided Trip with Small Stream Outfitters

They don’t get much brighter than this fat 10-11 lb. hatchery hen. Nice job Mike!

Releasing a center-pin caught buck. The center pin was really fun until the actual center pin fell in the river. Good thing for back-ups.

Oregon Coast Winter steelhead season kicked off in typical fashion with a huge late November rain followed by a week of great fishing on dropping river conditions. However, since that rain event we’ve gone cold and dry with no moisture to speak of in three weeks. It’s a rare to have a conversation discussing the lack of rain on the Oregon Coast in December, yet here we are, staring at unseasonably low water levels. There are still Winter steelhead to be caught, but most of those are in the lower sections of bigger coastal systems. Fish are waiting patiently for the next freshet and fishing is certain to catch fire after the next good rain.

If the early December push of steelhead is any indicator of run strength we are looking at another great season on the Oregon Coast. We are now booking hatchery and wild Winter steelhead through mid-April, 2012. Give us a call at 503.515.3533 or email us to inquire about booking a guided fly fishing trip.

Sean displays a reallly nice early Winter steelhead

Justin shows off a nice late season North Oregon Coast Chinook

Check out our New September-October Photo Gallery. This gallery includes images from our October Grand Slam trips. It’s a rare chance to chase Steelhead, Sea-Run Cutthroat, Chinook and Coho Salmon in the same day all on a fly! View the Gallery

Stay tuned for our November Big Chinook Gallery coming next month!

Interested in a Guided trip? Our Booking Update is below:
We are currently booked through the end of November. We are now booking hatchery Winter Steelhead for Dec/Jan and Native Steelhead for Feb/Mid-April. There will be a rate increase beginning Jan 1, 2012. Any trip booked before Dec. 31 will honor 2011 pricing. Book now and save yourself some $.

Tight Lines,
Small Stream Outfitters