The fish was taken from the Chehalis river at low tide in early October, 95. I took some time in mid-July 1993 to fish for salmon and grayling on the Kenai Peninsula. I also fished for kings on the Kenai river with a guide out of Soldotna. The sharpness of ocean chrome against the colors of autumn defies a bright steelhead's ability to vanish into the mosaic of stones that line it's domain. The moment of achievement that rewards the angler is surpassed only by the moment of admiration that follows as the fish flares it's fins and heads back into the mystery from which it came.
Some places offer their beauty willingly, but surrender their riches reluctantly.
The upper Kalama River is one such place. Jewel-like waters shroud the ghostly shifting shapes of bright summer run steelhead, so hard to get but worth every bit of trying. Those that come to the fly are seldom if ever forgotten. Even when leaving with nothing but images, the Kalama leaves you with something appreciable to savor in a different place and time. The obsession for seeking sea-run rainbow trout on a fly is sustained over long periods of drought by the intensity of actually achieving it.