December-April is Steelhead fishing season.  After spending the past 25 years (three years more than my winemaking career) steelhead fishing, it’s as much a part of me as harvest is.  It’s a time to get up early when it’s cold and wet, and go down to the river in the dark in search of the elusive fish.  Sometimes you go solo, sometimes with a couple of friends. Sometimes you fish your favorite spot from shore, but most times we take a drift boat down the river.  Did I mention it’s usually cold and wet?  Give praise to the Thermos!  A couple of weeks back I scheduled a trip to the Eel River with two of my great lifelong friends, Darren Moffet and Brad Bou.  We’ve been fishin’ together for years and it’s always a good time. Lots of bullshitting and joking around, but don’t get me wrong, these guys are serious fishermen.  We spent two days fishing the Wild and Scenic Eel River, fishing the areas between Garberville and the confluence of the South Fork to the Main Fork.  Not to sound too much like a fishing report, but…we ended up hooking two and they were so wild that we lost both of them.  In the moment it’s easy to get kind of upset that you didn’t get to see the fish up close, but then you look around and just shrug your shoulders and debate what you could’ve done differently.  It’s good fun and just like harvest, I get a little sad when the season comes to an end.  Check out this documentary about Steelhead fishing on the North Coast.  Some of these guys take this very seriously…