North 40 Fly Shop eMagazine December 2015 | Page 37

October 23: Darkness
Keith took us down the highway for a while and then
down a dirt road for a while and then on a long walk.
When we finally found the river it was still dark. We
quickly made final prep to our rods while Jerrin did stuff
with his cameras. Time was limited, so we got right at it.
Being the newbie on the Methow, I was given first rod
privilege on the run. Of course I could not even see the
other bank and it was hard to judge my cast. By the time
visibility was good enough to see the bank clearly, I had
worked down into the deeper water. Sam stepped in
above me and immediately hooked a feisty hen. Keith
followed Sam and I followed Keith for a second pass. I
felt a pluck, but that was it. Game over. Time to head
back and get to work. Sam was not messing around. It
was North 40 Fly Shop Summit time. Steelhead mode on
pause. Fly Shop business hustle mode on.
Throughout the day, we had a good talk with Sam Wike, a
good talk with Nick English and a good talk with Brandon
Prince. We discussed sales units, top vendors, key brands
and taking care of our awesome customers. It was hard
core fly shop business material. Then we reviewed
some new products, fondled some new fly patterns and
wrangled with some difficult buying decisions. We also
met Brad Owens from Fly Tribe Fly Fishing and talked
steelhead and the fly fishing business. It was with a
strong sense of motivation and accomplishment that we
put the fly shop hustle mode on pause and cranked up
Steelhead Mode.
Keith took me to several juicy looking runs. Brad had
set me up with a killer fly, so it was pretty much a lock.
Unfortunately, I promptly launched it into an irretrievable
location. Keith and I each had several plucks on various
flies. When I finally sank a hook, it was a Jr. Mykiss with
aspirations of being a steelhead someday. I really wanted
to catch an adult steelhead. It was a beautiful evening,
but we ran out of light. We ended up back at the Twisp
River Pub. It was starting to feel like home.