Spanking Umpqua Steel In Style At The Big K   By: Cal Kellogg March 2, 2007 More Articles by Cal

We'd been fishing for about 40 minutes with a couple tentative taps and nothing more. It was cold. Not California cold, but rather Pacific Northwest cold. A dank blanket of low pulsing fog clung to the ridgeline above the river and the air temperature was little more than a hair above freezing. The river was a hue of opaque green and the water temperature hovered in the low 40's, making the fish sluggish and tentative.

"See that rippled water right there," guide Scott Wolfe said, pointing toward the middle of river about 30 feet away. "Those ripples are over a shelf. Cast there and let's work the hole behind it."

I shot my rig to the spot as instructed, followed by Allen Bonslett, Publisher of the Fish Sniffer. As soon as Allen's roe settled into the hole his rod dipped hard and he instantly set the hook.

At first there was no reaction. A beat later the line started to rise and the fish started moving toward the boat slowly. Not knowing whether the fish was big or small I quickly reeled in my line and settled in to watch what would happen next.

As the fish approached the bow Allen's rod began bending more noticeably and then it happened. The fish must have sensed the presence of the boat, or simply realized that it was hooked. Whatever the case the fish went ballistic and made a strong surge upstream along the entire length of the boat before turning right and making a blistering run toward the north bank.

From the sustained scream of the drag it was clear that the Allen was into a trophy. "That fish will go 10 pounds, maybe more," exclaimed Wolfe as he dug in with the oars moving the drift boat across the current toward the fish.

The steelhead stopped short of the bank and spent a few seconds doggedly moving upstream along the bottom before burning off on another shorter run down stream that brought it within a yard or two of the bank.

"In situations like this are you worried about the fish hanging up in tree limbs or roots?" I asked Wolfe.

"When someone is hooked up to a big fish like this, I worry about everything," quipped Wolfe.

Luckily, the fish didn't find the thin water near the bank too appealing and bolted off toward the middle of the river. With the fish back in fairly deep relatively snag free water, I knew Allen's chances of landing it had risen dramatically, although I didn't say a word, not wanting to jinx his mojo.

With the fish clearly tiring the fight became a short range wrestling match with the steelhead doing it's best to hold the bottom and Allen using the resilience of the 9 foot G-Loomis spinning rod to draw it toward the surface. It was at this point that we got our first glimpse of the fish and to be honest its length and girth made it look more like a chrome-bright king than a steelhead.

For several minutes the fish tantalized us by staying just out of net range with labored strokes of it's broad tail. At long last the fish approached the boat with its head high and Wolfe made his move with the net, but the mighty trout had other ideas.

Just as the net broke the water the steelhead turned away. Wolfe continued his sweep with the net and for an eternity long second the rigid fish hung above the surface of the river precariously balanced on the rim of the net before splashing back into the water and diving away.

With its energy now spent the fish was back aside of the boat a minute later and this time the second chance proved to be a charm as Wolfe deftly enveloped the handsome 15 pound wild buck with the net. After a few quick photos, Allen revived the fish and it gave us one last look at its chrome flank before melting away. In less than an hour Allen had boated a steelhead the likes of which dreams are made of. You got to love the Umpqua!

The Umpqua River has been described as magical and alluring, one of the top steelhead cathedrals of the lower 48 for anglers in search of trophy fish. Scott Wolfe of Wolfe Brothers Guide Service is the guide coordinator for the Big K Guest Ranch and has been guiding on the Umpqua for 17 years. He calls the river "special".

"The Umpqua is certainly one of the premier rivers in southern Oregon," says the soft-spoken Wolfe. "While the river does offer big numbers of steelhead, it is the size of the fish it provides that really sets it apart. The largest fish my clients have taken went 25 pounds and I can pretty much count on my anglers catching one or two in the neighborhood of 20 every season. There are only a handful of western rivers that regularly kick out steelhead of that quality."

Allen and I had wanted to sample the Umpqua's steelhead action for the past two years. In 2005 Wolfe was enjoying great success, but obligations at the winter outdoor shows kept us from making a trip. Last year a lack of rain and low clear conditions made fishing tougher than usual.

This year all the pieces fell into place. Southern Oregon has received just enough rain and snow to keep the river in good fishing shape. Wolfe has been enjoying great success and the break between ISE Sacramento and Fred Hall San Francisco gave us the perfect window of opportunity. We took advantage of it, leaving Fish Sniffer Head Quarters the morning of January 29th on a heading for the beautiful Big K Guest Ranch.

We rolled up to the ranch around 7:30 pm and were treated to an outstanding dinner of roast duck and steak. After dinner we retired to our well-appointed cabin, prepared our gear and turned in for the night. The next morning we were up at 6 o'clock. Shortly after eating a delicious country breakfast at the lodge, Wolfe arrived and before we knew it Wolfe was rowing us toward our long awaited rendezvous with the Umpqua's steelhead.

With Allen's big fish back in the water we spent another 30 minutes working the seams and ledges near boat launch before moving downstream to explore a deep run with plugs. Wolfe set me up with a Wiggle Wart while he rigged a diving plug with a roe adorned 4 foot leader trailing behind it for Allen.

As we neared the end of the run, Wolfe instructed us to reel in. Just as Allen touched his rod a fish inhaled the roe and zig-zagged off into the white water. As Allen worked the reel, Wolfe maneuvered the boat into calmer water and a few minutes later the handsome 8 pounder was struggling in the net.

As the day progressed it was clear Allen could do no wrong. With the sun on the water things were heating up and it was obvious the steelhead were in a mood to eat. After we went back to side drifting, Allen hammered a 7 pounder and followed up with a half pounder.

Before I could say "Holy mackerel, I'm getting skunked," Allen was into yet another fish, which turned out to be a second 8 pounder. As the sun slid behind the mountains at the end of the first day Allen had hooked five and landed five, while I got blanked. The fishing gods were testing my mettle!

Day two started with a hearty 6 o'clock breakfast at the lodge consisting of bacon, sausage, eggs and spicy country potatoes. The Kesterson family owns the Big K, and the family's patriarch Alvin Kesterson joined us for breakfast.

Alvin is a big burly man with a vice like handshake and the look of someone that just rode out of the western frontier. It was a pleasure spending some time with Alvin and I was captivated speaking to him about fishing, hunting, wildlife and the history of the Big K. We both share a love of turkey hunting so we had plenty to talk about.

Before we finished breakfast, Scott Wolfe arrived. After polishing off our last cup of coffee, Allen and I said our good byes to Alvin and head off with Wolfe for our second day on the Umpqua. Since the fishing had been so productive the day before, Wolfe opted to work the same section of water on the second day.

It wasn't as foggy as it was on the first day and as a result the air temperature was much lower, hovering in the middle twenties. This made casting an adventure since the line would freeze to the rod's eyes in a matter of seconds. Before each cast it was necessary to dip your rod in the water to thaw things out.

Since the water temperature was a brisk 36 degrees we knew the fish would be tough to hook early, yet I got my first good bite of the trip within the first hour. The fish hammered my roe and puffball combination and I felt three solid wraps. Swinging the rod upward I was fast to a heavy fish for about 5 seconds before the hook came loose. After that things became difficult. We knew the fish were there, but they were just too cold to bite.

We'd covered a couple miles of water when the sun finally climbed over the ridge and things started to warm up. The previous day the best action took place in the afternoon and we were hopeful that that trend would continue on day two.

The sun hadn't been on the water long when Allen busted the first fish of the day, a spawned out hatchery female of about 5 pounds that Wolfe quickly got back into the water.

"Hatchery fish only make up about 15 percent of the run here on the Umpqua. I figure the hatchery fish are ours to keep, but since that one had already spawned I think it was a good idea to let it go in hopes that it will go back to sea and return next year," Wolfe said after releasing the fish.

When no more fish responded in the hole that produced Allen's first steelie, we headed downstream to the area that had provided the most strikes the day before. After a couple cursory drifts that didn't produce, we pulled to shore and ate lunch with the idea that the more the sun warmed the water the better our chances of hooking up.

As we ate I noticed that mayflies were beginning to emerge, a sure sign that the temperature was spiking up a bit. With lunch out of the way, Wolfe oared the drift boat across the current and we started working a series of lava shelves. I'd only made a few casts when I got my second bite of the day. This time I drove the hook home and the steelie couldn't shake it.

After a spirited fight up and down both sides of the boat Wolfe scooped the 5 pound buck and I had my first Umpqua steelhead! After a couple photos, I put the big trout back into the water and Wolfe positioned us above another shelf.

About this time my recollection gets a little hazy because the steelhead shifted into a wide-open bite the likes of which I'd never seen. Minutes later Allen got a bite and missed the hook set only to have the fish grab my bait, which was drifting just behind his.

My hook set connected and I was into my second fish of the day, another hard fighting buck of about 6 pounds with the bright red stripe belaying the fish's rainbow heritage. After more photos and hand shaking we drifted down stream a few hundred yards.

Just above a riffle punctuated with pockets of white water I felt a series of sharp tugs followed by firm pressure. The instant I raised the rod a beautiful dime bright steelie catapulted out of the water on the first of three rapid-fire cart-wheeling jumps before settling into a dogged head shaking fight.

Wolfe frantically rowed the boat upstream into calmer water and I was able to gradually wear the powerful fish down. Once the 7 pounder was in the net we discovered it was a hatchery female that was full of eggs.

"I could use some roe and that fish will be great to eat. Since it's a hatchery fish how would you like to keep it?" Wolfe asked. I agreed. After quickly dispatching the fish, Allen and I took a few minutes to a take a variety of photos.

Since it was Wolfe's wife, Kara's birthday and Allen and I wanted to get on the road early we all agreed that we'd get off the water by 3 o'clock. Time was running short and we were trying our best to quickly cover the last mile to Wolfe's truck, but every time we made a cast we'd get hit. Allen busted the last two fish of the trip.

The first one was an 11 pounder that he hooked in a big, swirling eddy. The fish never made a really long run, instead choosing to slug it out along the river bottom. The fight was tense and prolonged. Allen couldn't move the fish and it didn't show itself until just before being netted leaving us to speculate about just how big it might be until the last second.

All things considered, I believe Allen's last fish of the day was the most exciting and the most beautiful of the trip. We were drifting through a fairly quick run when he hooked the fish and it immediately took off on a sustained run covering more than 100 yards. Clearly the current helped the fish pull that much line off the reel, but it was impressive nonetheless.

When we finally caught up with the rambunctious battler, it still had plenty of fight left in it and it took Allen a few minutes to convince it who was the boss. The fish turned out to be a super chrome 12 pound female sporting robust girth and perfect scales. Wolfe removed the hook, held the fish up for a picture and then slid it back into the water. What a way to end our Umpqua adventure.

Allen and I would like to extend our apology to Kara. We are sorry we made Scott late..birthdays come every year, but steelhead like the 12 pounder Scott helped Allen hook might only come once in a lifetime!  

About The Fabulous Big K Guest Ranch  

The Big K Guest Ranch is a working sheep and cattle ranch in southwestern Oregon. The ranch is situated about 30 miles west from the town of Roseburg and 45 miles east of the coast in pocket of coastal mountains characterized by dark old growth timber, new growth timber enveloping selective clear cuts and cleared pasture land.

The main stem of the Umpqua River with its world class steelhead, king salmon, silver salmon, American shad and smallmouth bass fishing is a central feature of the Big K. Blacktail deer, Roosevelt elk, cougars, black bears, bobcats, coyotes, otters, raccoons, bald eagles and golden eagles all call this country home. In the words of the ranch's owner, Alvin Kesterson, "If it lives in the west you can probably find it here on the ranch."

The Kesterson family acquired the first section of the ranch in 1908 and has been adding adjoining pieces ever since to bring it up to its current size of 2,500 acres. While the ranch is a place where time seems to stand still, harkening the visitor back to the early days of the West, the facilities offered for guests are up to date, providing all the comforts of home including DSL Internet service.

Ample lodging exists in the form of 20 beautiful modern log cabins complete with refrigerators and coffee makers. One of the cabins, known as the "suite" boasts a jacuzzi. The main lodge features an elegant dinning hall with a rugged allure that emanates from the open beam ceiling and river rock fireplace.

Outside the dining hall is a large deck that offers an inspiring view for dinners during the warm months. The lower level of lodge encompasses a large recreation room that provides everything from games to satellite television.

Meals at the lodge are true to the western tradition, being simple, hearty and delicious. During my stay at the ranch the dinners I enjoyed included roast duck and steak. The meals were served with all the trimmings including garlic bread, salad, baked potatoes and vegetables along with beer or wine.

The bag lunches the lodge prepared for us to take fishing also lived up to the theme of being simple yet satisfying. consisting of deli style sandwiches, fruit, brownies, cookies and sodas or water bottled water.

The lodge is open all year long except for the period around Christmas. The peak season for visitors is between May and September. Visiting anglers find sport year around. The summer months boasts steady smallmouth action along with summer run steelhead and shad. Fall is the time for busting fall run kings and silvers. Winter provides outrageous steelhead fishing and the spring brings with it more salmon action.

While the fishing is great, one of the wonderful things about the Big K is the variety of recreational activities it provides including hiking, sporting clays, rafting and trail riding on either horses or bikes. Due to the ranch's pristine coast range location, photographers and bird watchers are sure to have their hands full.

With its range of activities the Big K is ideal for anglers with spouses or kids that are not into fishing. Off the ranch the nearby town of Elkton provides services along with a number of interesting shops to explore and the surrounding area features several wineries to tour.

Scott Wolfe of Wolfe Brothers Guide Service is the Big K's Guide Coordinator. While Scott and his twin brother Richard are both top-notch guides, the demand for guided trips is more than they can handle during the peak months. As a result, Scott works with a number of excellent local guides to ensure that everyone with the desire to get out on the water can. One day last season Scott had 16 different guides out on the river at one time.

If you want to get away from the hustle and bustle city life and sample some of the best of the west in a comfortable family friendly atmosphere, consider booking a stay at the Big K Guest Ranch (541) 584-2295.

If your idea of relaxation comes in the form of the adrenaline rush you get while struggling with a hard charging steelhead or a high jumping smallmouth give Scott Wolfe of the Wolfe Brothers Guide Service a call (541) 584-2854.