Swing the Fly Issue 2.3 Winter 2014-15 | Page 29

With Todd and Steve exchanging surface flies right behind me, I raised a steelhead on the last quarter of the swing. That steelhead chased down the Grease Liner like a bat-outta-hell. One of the neat things I cherish about surface steelheading in BC is that if you are fortunate enough to fish with your buddies, odds are great that you will visually encounter each other's surface steelhead attacks. And that's what was cool about this specific hook-up.

Steve Turner Photo

Well that fish missed that initial slash to the fly and not surprisingly I exclaimed "Whoa!" (my exclamation with the dual purpose of being unable to contain my glee and also to notify my buddies that 'Hey! Check this out...I can get surface action, too!"). The rod tip was never raised and I'll be a monkey's uncle if that fish didn't come back 3 more times to that Grease Liner on the same swing finally hooking itself in what seemed like inches of water right next to the bank. That was a moment of awe and pure joy representing the aggressiveness of these wild BC steelhead.