The reel balanced nicely against the 3-weight trout spey rod in my hands, and I stripped a couple feet of line off the arbor of the reel.
First, cast short, I told myself. Don’t wade in fast.
The only thing different is the rod is lighter, scaled down from steelhead to trout. The moves are the same. The water is the same.
A short cast, the length of the rod. Water swirled about my knees; the line straightened downstream.
We are not fishing for steelhead, I reminded myself. Rainbows want sculpins this time of year. Make them chase it.
In seasons when fewer steelhead return to the river, we still want to stand in water and swing flies. It’s a good opportunity to scale down for trout.
In October, the steady diet of mayflies and caddis has tapered off. To keep putting on
