We got to the Baptism at first light and were suprised to find the pools up above the first set of falls to be full of pinks. The water was extremely low, allowing for the fish to make it all the way up to the barrier falls. We heard splashes up river and found a couple of kings paired up in the riffles. It didn't take long before I was hooked up with a big female. It took me up river a ways and I held it in the current until Jerry made it up with the net. It was a nice hen close to 15-16 pounds. Rob and Jerry headed back down stream, but the fish had all spooked. We worked our way up to the barrier falls and spooked a couple of nice fish in the pool. None seemed interested in our flies, so we headed back down to fish the pinks. Most the fish were pretty crusty and didn't want anything to do with our offerings. Jerry came back down river and said he had landed another nice female close to 15 pounds. We headed back up river and I spotted yet another female holding in about 1 foot of water. Another couple of casts and I was hooked up again. This one bolted down river and we started running. It ran underneath a log and as I was trying to get my rod under the log the fish jumped up onto shore. Jerry ran over and grabbed it by the tail before it cold flop back into the water. It was another nice female close to 14 pounds. We decided to head up the shore to try some other rivers in hopes of finding higher amounts of kings. The best flies were egg-sucking leaches in darker colors.

September 24, 2005