Thank You AR Stripers/Welcome AR Steelhead

My buds and I have pretty much thrown in the towel on AR stripers for the season.

Benny made his last hurrah today and got the same results I've had in my last 5 outings.

I think he's convinced now.

Yes there are residents and yes one could conceivably catch a striper in the river even in the winter... but one could also catch a tuna in the pacific ocean...

It all comes down to cost/benefit analysis and weighing other options.

In the last 2 days, I've fished less than 3 hours and had steady action on AR resident steel.

I've yet to catch an Eel River strain winter adult but that will happen well before the month is up.

I love November for many reasons... fall colors, comfortable weather, new fish coming in to the system and very sparse crowds.

It amazes me how a vast majority of the anglers who pursue steelhead on the American, go to "The Basin" to do it.

In years past, I myself have spent lots of time there rationalizing that because it's the farthest point upstream... that's where the fish are.

In reality, yes there's lots of fish there but there's also 25-100 long-liners, tons of trash, rotting/stinking salmon, and miles and miles of dead fishing line throughout all of the runs on any given day.

You spend 1 hour fishing and 3 hours breaking off and re-tying leaders, trying to get a good drift and then yelling and fighting with idiots either upriver, downriver or across the river from you.

Oh yes and that lovely music of the basin....

"LINE ACROSS!"

"FISH ON!!"

"HEY I GOT A FISH ON TOO" (He really has YOUR fish snagged in the ass with HIS hook...)

"FISH COMING DOWN" "HEY YOU'RE ON MY LINE ASSHOLE!"

"HEY HEY HEY STEP BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK YOU'RE STANDING ON THE FISH YOU FUCKING IDIOTS!!"

So I have been fishing roughly 17 miles below the madness and my totals for one hour yesterday and 2 today are:

OTHER ANGLERS: (1)
ASSHOLES (0)
SNAGS (3)
LOST TACKLE (1 HOOK I CUT OFF AND LEFT IN THE THROAT OF A WILD FISH WHICH I RELEASED)
HOOKUPS (6)
STEELIES LANDED (5)
SMALLEST FISH (.5#)
BIGGEST FISH (3.25#)
WORMS USED (10 MC'S)
PEACE OF MIND (INFINITE)
SERENITY (ABSOLUTE)
REGRETS (-1 I DIDN'T GO TO THE BASIN)

Here's the purdy stuff. Check out how tiny the ovaries/roe skeins are in the one dead hen...