Hello, my name is Herb Imondi and I’m a Steelhead Addict! No matter how much I try to deny it, I’m hooked on fishing for these magnificent fish! Some of you understand what this addiction means, and others have no clue as to what I’m talking about, so for those of us who struggle daily with needing their fix, I too find myself slipping into the grasp of everyday life, where my only thought is a “Fix” and my constant companion is my favorite Set-up.

1. We admitted we were powerless over Oncorhynchus Mykiss — and that our lives had become unmanageable as a result of it.

2. I came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to fishing sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will, and our lives over to the care of the Fish God as we understood Him.4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of all our gear.

5. Admitted to the River, to ourselves and to another angler being the exact nature of our cast.

6. We’re entirely ready to have Good Hook sets, and remove all these foul hooks of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our short drifts.

8. Made a list of all Steelhead we had harmed, and became willing to make amends and release them all.

9. Made direct mends to our line wherever possible, except when to do so would spook them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory of our rigging, and when we were wrong promptly corrected it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious pursuit for Chrome, as we understood them, praying only for one more fish for us, and the power to catch them all.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to Steelheaders, and to practice these principles on all of our excursions.

 

So there you have them, the 12 steps to recovery from Steelhead Addictions. Of course there are others who fully understand these steps, and what we need to do to achieve Steel Nirvana! Today is prime weather and good water to feed this addiction and I’m heading out as we speak! Stay safe on the rivers and tribs and FISH ON!

Rivers Edge

Beautiful is all I can say! The drive is moderately long from Cleveland about 9 hours, but well worth the trip! Our group arrived at 7:15 am to meet our guides from the Indian Reserve, and obtain our Canadian fishing License from Ben Belleau’s Bait and Tackle. Great service Ben and great people running the shop. You’ve got a choice in Fishing licenses there, either a Conservation (Catch and release) or Sporting License 5 Fish limit, for Pink Salmon, Chinook Salmon, and a cross breed Pinook Salmon.

When we left the Shop and followed our guide, we hit a back road then a small dirt road through the back country for approximately 5 miles, and ended at our camp on the river bank! Just awesome! You need a 4X4 to really get to the last leg, or you can park at the top of the hill and walk down. I drove since I was packing my 2500HD Silverado 4X4 Crew cab loaded with gear and so did most of the group, but the smaller SUV didn’t fare very well at the last pot hole.

Dan

The rivers edge was picturesque with gravel and sand, and the river meandered around the bend calling you to explore it’s hidden treasures! My friend Dan had never fly fished before and he looked to me for guidence and help as we both prepared our camp then it was off to the Fish! After about a 45 minute lesson

ORVIS HELIOS and Pink Salmon!

on the mechanics of fly fishing and casting lessons, I let Dan go it on his own! After about 15 minutes I heard a call for assistance from around the bend, and as I made my way to Dan, I saw his rod bent and his left hand on the reel handle when the line snapped! “Oh man he said, that was a big fish!” he said, the smile on his face was unmistakable! I quickly tied up another SAO wiggle stone as the point for him, and a Steak-N-eggs #14 for the dropper.

Second cast, and Dan had a fish on! I quickly instructed him on playing the fish with a fly rod verses the spinning gear he was familiar with. After a few minutes we had the beauty in the net! The very first Pink Salmon for Dan on the fly! All in all we managed ridiculous numbers of fish, and had the time of our live’s!

John Clouser and His Big Chinook!

Dan

The Garden River just outside of Sault Ste. Marie MI was a world class fishery with quite possibly, the best Run of wild (Naturally Reproducing) Pink Salmon anywhere on the Great Lakes and a Paradise only a day away! I’ll be playing with the Pictures and video and have some cool stuff up soon! Keep your lines tight and your knots tighter!

I have heard so much about the Garden River over the last few years that recently an opportunity arose and I will share it with you! In the past I have said and done many things, all with good intentions and I let myself get caught up in the mire, but no more! Now that I have pulled myself free, I will continue to provide you with all the coolest stuff I’ve been working on!

Tomorrow I will head out with a good friend who has never fly fished before, and will attempt to give him a few lessons in the art. We will be fishing for Pink Salmon, Chinook, and Pinooks up in Canada on the Garden River! From what I’ve seen (in pic’s) and read on the web, it’s a fantastic resource that lies just to the east of Sault Ste Marie MI, but on the Ojibway Native Indian Reservation. We will be joining Ohio’s only ORVIS Endorsed guide, Greg Senyo of Steelhead Alley Outfitters!

Greg has hosted this trip in the past, and has asked if I would care to join them for the weekend! So how could I pass that up? I didn’t and I’m ready to go! I’ve got some new gear to Review, and some fish to catch. Besides it’s a great opportunity to see what all the fuss is about.

So stay tuned for the latest post when I return and share the journey in photo’s and video’s of this coming week-end in Canada!

 

FISH ON!