The second of the season's steelhead

Highsticking egg patterns, a peachish one with a red embryo,
and the other, a yellow with a peach embryo,
through the grey green choppy riffles into the dark black holes,
packed with two leads crimped to surgeons loop tailings,
about nine and a half feet of leader on 10 lb. tippet.
Rolling loops of weight, chucking the lead up into the flow.
Letting the lead sink the tippet with the egg patterns tied back to back
into the riffles and into the hole.
Strike indicator floating, mending the line,
throwing some mends,doing some fondue mojo.....
letting the float go through the hole

the line tugs and I set the hook,
a rock...
pull and undo,
let the float go,
pull up the line and
roll cast the whole lot
up into the throat of the hole
for another round

and the line stopped, I pulled
the line was set and the steelhead rolled.
blue red striped hull of the beast shimmered in the light
the bright sharp olive flecked back and proud line
Shaped mandible of arrowhead strength and precision
Running upstream right at my feet

pulled slack and held the tip of the rod high
keeping it taught when the
steelhead went for another run dowstream

It was an extraordinarily well disciplined and choreographed run.
As if he had done this routine before, a regular song-and-dance man
"C'mon boss, pull me into shore and unhook me for more."
That I did, admiring the form and
let him loose, drifting back into the hole.