"Three years in the making, Wild Steelhead by Sean Gallagher is a two-volume masterwork of nearly 700 pages. It's big and beautiful. It's filled with more than 1,000 glowing photos and original illustrations. Sean's personal stories are wonderful. The long-form interviews we did with many legends of the sport--including the last talk with the late Harry Lemire--are authentic and riveting. Participant's pride aside, I'll happily stake my reputation on this production being, hands down, the best steelhead book in a generation. There has never been anything quite like it in scope or graphic presentation." Tom Perro
When Tom Perro started Wild River Press his mission was to produce the finest books about fly fishing out there. He has published books such as "A Passion for Steelhead", "Atlantic Salmon Magic" and "Casting with Lefty Kreh." Just to name a few.
Wild
Steelhead will be released in November and is a must to add to your steelhead collection. You can place a
pre-publication order for the $150 two-volume standard edition now at www.wildriverpress.com . They are also accepting orders for the $500
signed and numbered limited edition of 150 copies, some 20 of which are
already reserved.
Marty and
I are honored to be featured in this extraordinary book with other passionate steelheaders such as Adam and Judy Tavender, Peter Soverel, and Jim Adams. Enjoy
this sample excerpt from Sean's "campfire conversation"
with us.
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Talking Steelhead with Mia and Marty Sheppard
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 Marty:
One thing I have learned while guiding is that long casts are not the secret
to catching steelhead. You get better as a guide as you go on. You take
people out that day in and day out are not going to cast over 60 feet, and
you learn how to really concentrate on water where they are going to catch
steelhead at that distance. You'll go through good stretches of fishing and
you'll go through bad stretches of fishing. In the middle of the those good
stretches of fishing, I can't wait for a day off, because I know the fish are
around. What I've realized over time is I don't catch any more fish than my
clients do. I know I'm a more skilled caster and I know I can cast a lot
farther. And I do. But I do not have any more success than they do--sometimes
less. If you can fish well consistently at short distances, I think your odds
are just as good on certain rivers where fish hold from the middle seam to
the inside. These are rivers that you can almost cast across. I have guys
that try and cast to the other side and I say, "Hey, if you want to fish
the other side, I'll take you over there." Then there are other softer
rivers that you can cast across. You can actually cross the seam. That's okay
as long as you don't over mend it. Every river has its own characteristic.
What
advantage does a double-handed rod give the steelheader?
Mia:
The clear advantage a double-handed rod has over a single-hander is line
control--the longer rod gives you more extension over the water.
Marty:
Obviously, you're able to lift more line off the water with a longer rod, so
you're able to manipulate or mend how your fly swings with more ease. Every
run is different; the river currents change. A different type of mend is
needed for each particular situation. Too many people limit this to an
upstream mend. The longer rod can do so much. I try to teach people to read
water and mend a certain way with a purpose. Read the water by seeing how the
currents push your fly line around without a mend.
Exactly.
Marty:
I want to see what the current does to the line if I don't mend at all. Many
times a mend is the last thing needed. Sometimes the line does things that
surprise you. With a longer rod you can manipulate it to swing how you want
it to swing.
So
you can do a half mend or a downstream mend-or no mend.
Marty:
Part of guiding is teaching people. You're telling them to mend, but why?
That's the big question. Why do you want me to mend downstream here?
How
much of it is feel?
Marty:
For me, almost 100 percent is by feel. There seems to be a different tension
when your fly is swinging that fish eat more than with other swings.
What
is the "right" tension--can you describe it?
Mia:
I think the tension when your fly is swinging through the water is similar to
the energy you feel between two magnets. When you put two magnets together
and you feel this force, pulse or tension between the magnets, to me that is
what it feels like. It's this energy of the current pulling the energy of
that line through the water.
Do
you imagine what your fly is doing out there?
Marty:
Almost every single cast.
Mia:
Definitely.
Marty:
Sometimes I think it's totally wrong and yet a fish hammers it. What do you
do? As soon as you think you've got it all figured out it the steelhead
change the rules on you.
Mia:
I used to mend a lot when I first started fishing; now I rarely mend. I just
throw it out there and let it go, let the current carry the fly across the
water. In the winter I fish water that would be similar to the pace of taking
a casual stroll on the beach, but in the summer steelhead tend to be in the
faster currents where they receive more oxygen.
But
you know that feeling because it has worked over and over again. Success has
reinforced it. So you know it.
Marty:
A lot of that is that we use the work of the current on the line to our
favor, as opposed to mending. I'll just add or subtract tension from the line
on the swing. What I'll do is just lift my rod tip up or maybe take two steps
down, or four. There are other things you can do to control your fly speed
coming across the current besides throwing a mend into it. A lot of that is
the tension I put on the line by the angle I hold my rod. There are certain
angles, if you put your rod tip in the water, from your tip to your fly;
you're going to have the current catching it all the way. That gives me that
feel that Mia was talking about--two positives going together and you can't
quite push them together. There are other times when you have a fast current
next to you with a soft current five feet out, and another medium speed
current six feet out, and another slow current 10 feet out--and then a really
fast current 20 feet out, but then a really soft 20-foot seam 45 feet out.
How
do you handle this situation?
You
throw your line out there and see what happens! You don't do anything. You go
with your instinct: that's the seam the fish probably are going to live in.
And that's the type of reading water that I like to do. I know if I can hold
my fly out in that soft stream a little longer than just throwing it out
there, putting one big upstream mend into it and letting all the line at the
water, maybe I need to change my angle and the distance of my cast
downstream. With that done, I can hold my rod tip high and I feel that
perfect tension coming through that perfect soft big seam that's way out
there and, WHAM, one eats it! It's hard to put into words.
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