Things do seem to be looking up. The tug really is the drug, and I got one good grab yesterday. Couldn't get it to come back though. That's what things have come to, we're counting the grabs as well as fish hooked and lost. My friend hooked and lost one yesterday morning, so we know there are a few around. Few being the operative word. Still an improvement over fishing 5 different days without so much as the proverbial nibble.

First steelhead? Totally unglamorous and drama free. Orange Okie drifter and eggs at the Barrier Dam on the Cowlitz, 1970, about 2 years after steelhead began returning to the "new" Cowlitz River hatcheries.