I've been in the area for a month now and have found a place in Montesano. So many people that I work with may not be thrilled to work out here but mostly that is because they have been DE-RURALIZED! Yes it does rain a little, 80+ inches compared to 40+ in Seattle annually. Yes, the best place to get what you need is Wal-Mart. Yes, the closest "big-city" is Olympia. However, 2 miles west from my house is one of the better hatchery steelhead fisheries in WA the Wynoochee River, 4 miles east of my house is one of the top wild steelhead fisheries in WA the Satsop River, and 1 mile south of my house is a great all-around river including sturgeon the Chehalis River. Not to mention the close proximity to all the Coastal-Olympic Peninsula rivers.
This blog actually facilitates a multitude of days where co-workers and I tried to fish the mouth of the Wynoochee River for pretty much any salmon but were mostly targeting Coho and Chums. I personally never managed to hook one but a friend hooked several and showed me picture proofs. Although I haven't caught anything I am still learning. Tried various spoons, flies, and drift rigs, but no luck. It didn't help that most days we got out to fish the nets were in the river.
Summary:
Location: Wynoochee River near Montesano, WA; Twin Bridges
Time: 6pm-9pm
Rod: 8 wt w/ floating line, 8 wt w/ sinking tip, medium spinning
Tackle: Chartruese, orange, blue, white, peach, & pink varied colored streamers and flies, green, orange, and pink pixies.
Fish: 0
Species: Coho, Chum, & Steelhead
Biggest Fish: N/A
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 6/10
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Metolius River (Upper), OR
So I am sitting at work on a Friday afternoon at 3pm and my buddy Jon text me, "Metolius? . . . Locke style?" My response was quick and simple, "Leaving in two hours, see you there." By 11pm I was there at camp and we cracked open some beers. "Locke style" means that you leave way too late, with little planning, to go somewhere for less time then it took you to go there, and no one understand why except you.
My buddy brought a friend, planned to fish Saturday morning and then head over to Redmond to pick up a canopy for his truck. That didn't matter to me because I was at the best place on earth, could fish all Saturday, stay and extra night, and drive home Sunday. Which is exactly what I did.
I didn't catch any trout on this trip but weather was nice and it's always a pleasure to come to this river.
Read this for more info.
Summary:
Location: Metolius River, Camp Sherman, OR, located about 100 miles (2 hrs) east of Salem, and 20 min from Sisters, OR
Time: 9am - 7pm
Rod: 5 wt w/ floating line, 5 wt w/ sinking tip
Tackle: 8 black stone nymph, 18 rainbow warrior, 18 zebra midge, 18 copper john hybrid, 10 Clark Stone, 10 Rogue Stone, 8 black and brown Pat's Stone, 16 lighting bug, 18 rainbow warrior
Fish: 3
Species: White Fish
Biggest Fish: 14"
Smallest Fish: 11"
Rating: 8.5/10
My buddy brought a friend, planned to fish Saturday morning and then head over to Redmond to pick up a canopy for his truck. That didn't matter to me because I was at the best place on earth, could fish all Saturday, stay and extra night, and drive home Sunday. Which is exactly what I did.
I didn't catch any trout on this trip but weather was nice and it's always a pleasure to come to this river.
Read this for more info.
Summary:
Location: Metolius River, Camp Sherman, OR, located about 100 miles (2 hrs) east of Salem, and 20 min from Sisters, OR
Time: 9am - 7pm
Rod: 5 wt w/ floating line, 5 wt w/ sinking tip
Tackle: 8 black stone nymph, 18 rainbow warrior, 18 zebra midge, 18 copper john hybrid, 10 Clark Stone, 10 Rogue Stone, 8 black and brown Pat's Stone, 16 lighting bug, 18 rainbow warrior
Fish: 3
Species: White Fish
Biggest Fish: 14"
Smallest Fish: 11"
Rating: 8.5/10
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Westport Marina, WA (Crabbing)
My work moved me out to the Grays Harbor area and I am pretty excited about that. There should be a lot of opportunity to get some good salmon, steelhead, sea-run cutthroat, surf fishing, deep sea, and trout fishing out here. Not to mention what I did this weekend and that is using my fishing rod for crab.
It was my first weekend up here and living out of a hotel I was pretty restless and at the same time excited to explore the area. Yesterday I took a drive up above Lake Quinault and checked out the upper section of the river. Ran into a guy that said there is good bull trout and sea-run cut fishing up there before the sun hits. I will have to keep that in mind. On the way back I went and cruised over to Lake Wynoochee and explored that area as well.
Anyways back to crabbing. I had gone before as a kid and with the nice weather I thought that I wouldn't mind sitting on the pier soaking in some rays. Stopped at Brady's on the way out to pick up some bait. They offer salmon carcasses, clams, oysters, and other fish. I like to put a little fish or chicken in with a ice cube size chunk of frozen oyster or clam. Using one of those box bait holders and snare contraptions I managed to land 6 keepers during the day. I gave them all away being that I am not much of a crab eater myself and was out there for pure joy. Note, if you fish off the pier towards the harbor, then you are asking to get snagged in some rocks potentially, but everything inside the marina is smooth.
Summary:
Location: Westport Marina, WA
Time: High Tide
Rod: Mid-Light Salmon Rod
Tackle: Bait Box with snares.
Crabs: 10+
Species: Red Rock & Dungeness
Biggest Crab: 6-3/4"
Smallest Crab: who knows
Rating: 8/10
It was my first weekend up here and living out of a hotel I was pretty restless and at the same time excited to explore the area. Yesterday I took a drive up above Lake Quinault and checked out the upper section of the river. Ran into a guy that said there is good bull trout and sea-run cut fishing up there before the sun hits. I will have to keep that in mind. On the way back I went and cruised over to Lake Wynoochee and explored that area as well.
Anyways back to crabbing. I had gone before as a kid and with the nice weather I thought that I wouldn't mind sitting on the pier soaking in some rays. Stopped at Brady's on the way out to pick up some bait. They offer salmon carcasses, clams, oysters, and other fish. I like to put a little fish or chicken in with a ice cube size chunk of frozen oyster or clam. Using one of those box bait holders and snare contraptions I managed to land 6 keepers during the day. I gave them all away being that I am not much of a crab eater myself and was out there for pure joy. Note, if you fish off the pier towards the harbor, then you are asking to get snagged in some rocks potentially, but everything inside the marina is smooth.
Summary:
Location: Westport Marina, WA
Time: High Tide
Rod: Mid-Light Salmon Rod
Tackle: Bait Box with snares.
Crabs: 10+
Species: Red Rock & Dungeness
Biggest Crab: 6-3/4"
Smallest Crab: who knows
Rating: 8/10
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)