Smallmouth on the South Umpqua

The driftboat on the right bank of the South Umpqua River

Arnie and brother-in-law Steve spent the entire day fishing with Mike McCoy, who owns The Reel McCoy guide service. Mike guides on the McKenzie, Rogue, Willamette, South/North Umpqua and other western Oregon rivers. He is also a good family friend of Kelley's sister Vicki and her husband, Steve.

They caught many smallmouth on the South Umpqua under Mike's guidance. Mike navigated his driftboats (above) through many rapids and settled it down in all of the likely places.

They then spent the night at Mike's cabin, which sits high above the river and looks down upon a wildlife and fishing paradise. While they were there for the evening, they saw blacktail deer and turkeys right below the deck. The next morning, they went after steelhead in the Rogue River even though it was much too early in the season for the steelhead run. They didn't catch anything, but Mike worked hard at teaching the guys how to spey-cast.

Arnie and Steve at the take-out location on the South Umpqua

Guide Mike McCoy