The Sultans Of Swing

Hunting steelhead with the swung fly is, for many, the pinnacle of game-fishing. Have you got what it takes? asks Matt Harris.

- Matt Harris

ONE BY ONE, the last vestiges of civilization fell away behind us, and after a while, we found ourselves flying over an endless wilderness of dense spruce and gleaming, bottle green rivers. The vast spires of British Columbia’s Coastal Range rose all around us, looming over the broad valleys, and we left the twenty-first century behind. The deep greens of the forest gave way to a monochromatic carpet of thick white snow, as Tom the pilot lifted the little helicopter up over the vast saddle that separates our desolate, wild little valley from the rest of the world. I was gazing up at the serried ramparts of the snowy crags all around, when Tom came crackling over the intercom.

“Bear.”

Below us, a huge grizzly foraged in the thick snow. On hearing the whirring blades of the chopper overhead, the creature panicked, scattering snow and snapping saplings like match sticks until it was lost from view in the thick brush. Slowly the white blanket receded as we dropped altitude into the valley, and we glimpsed smoke curling up from the tiny camp, nestled among a grove of spruce and cottonwood trees perched high above the river.

Anglers are drawn to streams like this from all around the globe, not only to experience the savage beauty of the Pacific Northwest, but to attempt to catch the iconic fish that run these remote watercourses.

Steelhead.

Sea-run rainbow trout.

Heroic fish.