Be careful what you fish for

In late May and early June, nature wages psychological warfare on fishermen.You look out at the ocean knowing that there are probably a few kings out there. Should you go? Should you take a breather and save fuel money for when they really show up?You stare at the fly rods in the back of your truck. Do you keep with the 8-weight or target those smaller, feisty fish with a five?The steelhead run has peaked, but you know there have to be a few more out there.After 1,000 casts, rather than think you are due for a steelie, you take a breath and reason the season has tapered.Two years ago, I was drifting a rather large prince nymph with a few wraps of green thread behind the bead and getting consistent action from cutthroats when the bobber dove and stayed down. My reel cried and 5-weight bent like a cooked noodle as the line took off. It ended up being a steelhead. I brought the fish to hand and haven't been able to ease my mind since.Last week I was out with a 6-weight, which epitomizes my quandary. It's not really stout enough for a big steelhead, and it's maybe a little too big to make foot-long trout a blast. I went with dry flies as a non-verbal declaration to the steelhead, if there were any around, that I was not going to chase them.See full column at:http://www.capitalcityweekly.com/stories/060414/out_1208508726.shtml