CATCHING A BUCKET LIST FISH
Catching a steelhead was near the top of my bucket list the last 60 years.
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, fishing and hunting is a way of life in this part of the world.
During high school I had gone out fishing with my buddies for steelhead in our local rivers, but never got lucky – though we may have been up to more hijinks than fishing in those days.
In my mid 20’s, I would go three or four times a year fishing the banks of several rivers near my home in southwest Washington state.
NEVER CAUGHT ONE IN 60 YEARS
Fishing from the banks, we’d cast lures, throw worms at them, just about everything that was supposed to work in those days, but, again, I never got lucky.
As life goes on, by my late 20’s I was working as a journalist, in my late 30’s I was a partner in one of the first PC software companies based in the Seattle area.
I moved to Southern California in my 40’s and ended up founding and managing a youth baseball academy for nearly 30 years.
Over those years, fishing was something I rarely did, other than a trip to Cabo San Lucas and I got lucky in Thailand once and caught a marlin there.
Now retired, I have found my inner-fisherman over the past couple of years and ended up going in late July with one of my best friends from high school years, Gary Birka.
GOT LUCKY AT PUYALLUP FAIR SPORTSMAN SHOW
Now a little older and a little wiser, I knew if I was going to finally put a steelhead in my bucket it would only be with an experienced guide, one that we came across at an outdoors show at the Puyallup fairgrounds.
In truth, we were actually at the spring show to find an Alaskan adventure for the summer, go to one of those resorts in Alaska where you catch big salmon and they have a five-star chief onboard to cook it for you.
But what drew both Gary and I to the Twisted Waters booth was owner and guide Marc Bush, who features discounts for U.S. Veterans and Birka is most certainly one of our finest, he served in Vietnam in the Army right out of high school.
Though Twisted Waters does not ply the waters in Alaska, they do offer top-notch guide services in both Washington and Oregon. And, they feature steelhead trips that caught my eye.
HOOKED UP WITH TWISTED WATERS
After spending time with Marc at his booth, Birka and I decided to book a late July steelhead trip on the Cowlitz River in Southwest Washington, about two weeks after returning from our trip to Alaska we put together after the Puyallup show.
So Birka and I booked a night at the Mayfield Lake Resort the day before our steelhead trip so we could arrive by early the next day at the Blue Creek boat ramp on the Cowlitz a few miles below the lake and dam.
If there is one thing I learned after spending a week fishing in Alaska, “the early bird (guide) catches the worm (fish)” – or steelhead in this case.
And Marc did not disappoint and was waiting for us before 5:30 AM, it was still dark but his boat was the first one in line, fully prepped and ready to launch as soon as we had enough light to get out on the river.
Though it was lightly raining that day for the first time in nearly two months, everyone was prepared for the weather and temp on the river warm enough to be comfortable and did not diminish the experience.
COWLITZ IS STEELHEAD HEAVEN
The Cowlitz is a beautiful river and starts from glaciers and melting snow from Mt. Rainier and flows 100 miles to enter the Columbia River near Longview-Kelso area of Washington.
The Mayfield Dam divides the fishery’s rivers and tributaries, which include the Cispus, Tilton, and Toutle that also deliver high-mountain snowmelt and spring water from other Cascade Range mountains, including Mount St. Helens and Mt. Adams.
The upper Cowlitz lost its natural migrations of Steelhead, Salmon and trout when the Mayfield Dam was built in the 1960s.
To compensate, the Tacoma Public Utilities established a hatchery for salmon near Salkum and one for trout/steelhead downstream at Blue Creek, where we launched our trip down the Cowlitz. They truck fish from both hatcheries to both the upper and lower Cowlitz.
Obviously, fishing near the hatcheries is the most productive and popular for anglers and guides alike as these hatcheries see 4,000 to 7,000 returning chinook salmon each year, 20,000 cohos, and 4,800 summer steelhead, 7,600 winter steelhead last year (2023) alone.
And, the steelhead in the Cowlitz range from 6 to 17 pounds in size – easily one of the best rivers in the state if not the world for steelhead.
MAYBE I STAND A CHANCE THIS TIME
Knowing this before I stepped into Marc’s boat, I was reasonably confident I was going to catch my first steelhead. But, the dramatic weather change (rain) gave me some doubts about whether they would be biting today.
“Sometimes rain helps the bite, sometimes it doesn’t,” Marc told me when I asked if the drizzle (at that point) might dampen our chances.
After launching from Blue Creek boat ramp and motoring about a mile downstream, Marc rigged up and we spent an hour or so working his favorite spots along the Cowlitz, some doubt began to creep in as none of the other boats in our area had fish or bites either.
Marc had us set up and drifting, red-cured shrimp and using the current to our advantage and put us into the better holes there, but no bites in nearly two hours until we a hit around 8 PM and Marc handed me the stern pole (we were taking advantage of our two pole endorsements) and my first steelhead after a good five to 10 minute fight.
WELL WORTH THE WAIT
While it may have taken 60 years to get me to this point, it was well worth the wait as most will attest that a steelhead is a great fight and even more challenging in working the river current.
What I enjoyed the most was the fact that Marc, as a guide, did not try and tell me how to fight my fish or constantly bark instructions at me while I’m trying to basically just keep the fish on my line – I truly appreciate Marc let me fight my fish until he skillfully netted my first steelhead – about 6 to 7 pounder.
Not to be outdone, Birka landed another one about 10 minutes later in the same stretch of the river for the veteran who has caught (and raised) lots of steelies in his day.
Soon as we hooked up it was only a few minutes before more boats and guides started making their way to where we were fishing, so wisely Marc moved us to new water where both Birka and I landed our second fish (and limits) by 10:30 AM and other boats were also starting to net some great steelhead – as they say it rains when it pours.
BACK WITH LIMITS IN TIME FOR LUNCH
We were the first back to the boat ramp and after Marc cleaned and prepped our fish, Birka and I were heading back by a little after 11 AM.
In all, this was one of the top fishing experiences in my life and a great way to cap off a wonderful summer of fishing between Washington and Alaska with some of my best friends.
And Marc and Twisted Waters is easily the best guide service I have had the pleasure of fishing with and look forward to seeing him again as the Chinook now moved up to the top of the bucket list.
By Steve Kruse
Twisted Waters Guide Services
Salmon, Steelhead, Walleye
Oregon & Washington
Guide Marc Bush
(253) 468-0610
FB: @twistedwaters