Salmon River Steelhead Oct 09

Another beautiful week on the Salmon swinging flies. Record numbers of steelhead passed over Bonneville Dam this summer and fall on their way to rivers up and down the Columbia and Snake, coming as far inland as the middle of Idaho. The Salmon seemed to have good numbers of fish moving through, and we managed to hook 9 or 10, landing 6 including a nice wild fish. It is a privilege to cradle such a vibrant living thing, and while the numbers of fish this year are encouraging, imagine what could happen if we, say, demolished the lower Snake River dams?