I should have known better but the inertia of tying up eggsacks from the night before carried me through. The forecast went from a "slight chance" of rain to "RAIN"... the outlook was not good. The rivers were just dropping to a fishable level and I figured if I drove far enough east I could outrun the saturated sponge that was coming to blow the rivers out for another week.

When I got out of the truck the river looked good enough, stained, with a heavy flow. I should be able to get some fish. There were fish to be had, but things just weren't "right" Most of my fish came out of the same hole and that was it. nothing more. A fishless desert.

I fished on a friday both because I have the day off and I knew it was going to rain. In the morning conditions were perfect: overcast, cool, no wind. Some guys swear by overcast skies for steelhead, I can take them or leave them. For me the biggest advantage of overcast skies is being able to see your float better with less glare on the water. After a few hours on the water, and a few fish to make it at least worth the effort the skies opened up, and the rains began to fall. I was home in a little over three hours but my gear is still drying out.