10 painful lessons I learned on my first B.C. steelhead trip

#4 Even Not Catching Steelhead is Exciting

Among my numerous character flaws is a low tolerance for boredom. Yet my three (mostly) fishless days on the island never felt even remotely tedious. But how could you be bored when you’re wrangling a giant rod and focused intently on your bait, all the while trying to stay upright (above) in swift, cold water? Add to that the tingly feeling of knowing that you could, at any moment, get hit by the fish of a lifetime. Running rapids in between pools in a raft was also a thrill, not to mention spotting black-tailed deer and landing on a sandbar just vacated by a herd of elk.