FLY FISHING -- Two seminars on the basics of fly fishing for steelhead, including where to go and what tactics to use at different times of year, are scheduled Sept. 29 or Sept. 30 from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. by Sean Visintainer of Silver Bow Fly Shop in Spokane Valley.

• Cost: $20, (509) 924-9998

Visintainer already has been out practicing what he preaches, catching steelhead in the Grande Ronde and Snake Rivers this month.  In his September blog post, he says anglers who have been sitting home waiting for more fish to migrate up from the Columbia are missing out on the pleasures of early-season action:

Why nobody steelheads the Grande Ronde in September has perplexed me over the last handful of years. Now when I say "nobody" that doesn't mean literally zero humans in sight, because there are a few in the know down there fishing. What I mean is that the majority of anglers don't show up until October, like there is some magical date that all of a sudden October 1st hits and BAM the steelhead are here. Obviously, the bulk of steelhead coming into the Grande Ronde show up the 2nd week of October, however, there are enough fish coming in early to make it a feasible trip during mid-late September and have a realistic shot at catching chrome.

Why I think steelheading in September on the Grande Ronde is feasible - Let's think about this... steelhead start showing up on the Columbia River Steelhead Return Reports in June correct? Ok, so, we know steelhead enter the Columbia during the early summer and really start pouring in late summer. Well, those early fish are on a mission. They are going to swim until they get to their final destination which for a lot of them is the upper tribs to the Columbia like the Grande Ronde. Now, if that fish enters the Columbia during the summer months the water is pretty warm correct? Yes. So why would that fish that just swam through hundreds of miles of warm water stop before the Grande Ronde or just at the mouth of Grande Ronde where it dumps into the Snake and wait for cooler water. They don't!

Now that I went on that rant, I do agree colder areas of water do attract steelhead (ie the Clearwater), but I don't think those fish that get side tracked by the cooler water of the Clearwater are going to stay in there for very long. I also agree that a fresh shot of rain that causes the river levels to rise a little really gets the masses of fish moving around, 100% agree.

My theory is that there always are those early arrival fish that are aggressive, fast swimmers, and have a long ways to travel so they are going to go into the Grande Ronde no matter what the conditions until they get to their final stopping point.

It seems to be that lots of the early steelhead are fish that are Oregon bound, tend to be on the larger side, and are wild. They are fully of energy and highly aggressive.