Women With Bait
They say that steelhead are the “fish of a thousand casts”.
For some participants in the annual Women With Bait fishing tournament in Riggins each winter, steelhead could also be called the “fish of a thousand laughs”.
Meg Hiatt has been competing in the tournament for almost a decade now, despite not being much of an angler before getting involved. It was with a bit of trepidation that Hiatt agreed to take advantage of a last-minute invite to join a team.
“It ended up being amazing,” said Hiatt, who calls the Treasure Valley home. “We just had so much fun. It’s a blast.”
The fact that the “bait boys”, who help the contestants and are often old enough to be grandads, are known for mixing great Bloody Marys, certainly helps.
The Women With Bait (WWB) tournament was founded in 1993 by River Adventures, Inc. located smack dab in the middle of “America’s Whitewater Capitol” of Riggins. Ever since then, each February 1 through mid-March, women in teams of seven to ten anglers spend a day on the water with the beloved captains and crews from River Adventures, Inc. chasing after one of the most impressive fish on the planet.
Steelhead are native rainbow trout that migrate to the ocean before returning to fresh water to spawn. They are born in the fresh, moving waters scattered throughout the Gem State, including beloved rivers like the Salmon, Snake, and Clearwater and their contributories. The anadromous fish then work their way out to the ocean where they’ll spend anywhere from one to several years before returning back to where they were born to spawn. Some steelhead will travel nearly 900 miles back into the mountains of Idaho to complete their life cycle.
“It’s really exciting to catch a fish like that, especially the first time. It’s something you’ll never forget,” Hiatt said. The first steelhead she ever caught was a wild, not a hatchery fish, and it was estimated to be 36” from tip to tail.
“It was amazing to see it, to feel it on the line, and to share that moment with the fish,” Hiatt fondly recalled. She added that she now fishes more with her family as the tournament has inspired her to angle more often. But nothing beats the WWB.
“I look forward to it every year,” Hiatt said. “It’s a fantastic tournament. Any woman should give this a shot. Being on a team, supporting each other, makes it special.”
Women of all abilities and experience team up to try to catch the biggest or most steelhead all while having fun on the water. There’s an end-of-the-season party and WWB usually includes a food drive to support the local community as well.
“I’m counting down the days to go to the next one. I look forward to it every year,” said longtime WWB contestant Ali Horn.
Unlike Hiatt, Horn has long been a big angler. She first learned to cast as a kid with her grandparents in the Puget Sound. Then Horn’s mom taught her how to fly fish when she was just 11, after they moved to Sun Valley, where she grew up catching, cleaning, and cooking trout.
“I have been fishing all my life,” said Horn, who now divides her time between Florida and Idaho. “I’ll fish for any kind of fish anywhere. I just love fishing. It’s really relaxing and meditative.”
Horn first got involved in WWB ten years ago. After a couple of years, she created her own team, including adding in her mother and sister to the squad.
“Honestly, the fact that it’s a bunch of women makes it really special,” Horn said.
While she admitted that “fishing during the winter in Riggins isn’t for everyone,” Horn said that just about any woman willing to give it shot is bound to have fun.
“It’s something completely different. It’s a really unique trip that’s super fun. The women we invite love it and want to come back next year,” she said.
As is the case in most fishing trips, fish are only part of what makes the experience extraordinaire. The camaraderie of being on a team is part of the appeal, as is sharing the scenery, the wildlife, and perhaps a celebratory shot or two of Fireball.
Being on a jetboat, exploring Hells Canyon or the Salmon “River of No Return”, is awfully special, too. Wildlife sightings of bighorn sheep deer, elk, chukar, and bald eagles are common.
“It’s just so gorgeous up there,” Horn said. “And the captains and bait boys are just incredible. They’re so helpful. They’re our biggest cheerleaders and they know the river and the history like the back of their hands.”
The crews are so helpful and supportive, in fact, that there’s even a legend that one group of rowdy women kidnapped their bait boy and brought him back to Nevada with them.
“It’s such a cool experience to catch a fish like that and share the experience with other women,” Horn said about landing a steelhead during the WWB. “It’s just something really magical.”