FISHING -- Steelhead don't care if it's snowing, and neither does a serious steelhead fisherman.

Jerrod Gibbons of Okanogan Valley Guide Service holds a 27.5-inch long hatchery hen I hooked at 10 a.m. this morning on an orange 1/4-ounce jig under a bobber.  We were fishing the Okanogan River downstream from Omak in a snow storm.

The fish leaped fully out of the water four times during the battle despite the cold.

"These steelhead stay down to fight when they're in the Columbia, but once they head up the Okanogan they seem to hit another gear," said Gibbons, who's fished the river all of his life.

Among the other fish caught this morning by the group, including Jason Verbeck at left, was a bright wild hen Gibbons caught and released. It was another third bigger than this hatchery hen.

"The Okanogan fishes great right through the month  to the end of the season," Gibbons said.