Took off last week for my first steelhead trip of the new year.  A lot of mileage for two days.  We fished the Trinity on day one.  The water was low and clear.  After fishing for most of the day with zero strikes we drove to my buddies cabin in Dunsmuir to thaw out.  The next day it was north to the Klamath.  Nothing like a brisk morning of fishing in the high 20's.  Now that I'm older I left my fly rod at home and used a spinning rod and float to fish with an assortment of goodies.  Much easier on the body.  I don't have to wade aggressively and can make long casts. My buddy went down stream with his fly rod.  After 2 hours we regrouped.  I had zero strikes.  He kicked my butt, having caught and released a dozen wild steelhead on large and small nymphs.  We shifted to other areas as the temperatures shot up to the mid 30's.  In frustration, I added a stone with a stinger hook and a glo bug.  I started getting hits in one long deep run.  I finally caught my first small fish of the trip.  On the next cast I caught a nice 5 pound wild steelhead.  We fished a few other places and got a few more.  Eric did manage to hook and lose a steelhead close to 30 inches.  That was the highlight of the day.   Around 4 pm, we left as I had make the long drive home.   OK, what did I learn?  There is nothing like a fly rod and nymphs when first are interested.  I made a post a couple of weeks ago and "lairdbaird" replied that I should think about a spey rod with commando heads.  That discussion has been working on me, and this trip pushed me over the edge.  Guess I'm gonna break down and get a spey rod and commando heads.  Nothing like an old fool!