Steelhead are a treasured secret to all fisherman so I'll tell you as much as I can without killing my secrets or honey holes. If you want to see them, come fish with me. Talked to a good buddy of mine that has been giving me some great tips on where to fish what rivers for which fish. Out of respect for him, I have to be shy here as well.
Anyways, the winter steelies are starting to move in and it looks like its going to be a great year. I have driven by the stretch of river and even floated the stretch of river near fall city but never fished it for steelies. Talking with my buddy he said this can be a great stretch if you look around a little for good holes. There is a public fishing parking spot off the fall city farmers road, try looking around there for a hole and up river around the camp ground.
I went to a specific place and found some good riffles and pools to fish that turned out very productive. Hooked my first fish in the first fifteen minutes. Couldn't believe it, my buddy told me the hole and it produced. Wandered down the river and 40 minutes later found my second fish. Steelhead well eat shrimp but otherwise you need to irritate them. I like to use pinks and greens when I can, but a subtle purple with a little red works well too. Aka, the egg sucking leach.
Summary:
Location: Snoqualmie River, near Fall City, WA
Time: 11:00am - 1:0pm
Rod: 8 wt w/ sinking tip with 2x tippet
Tackle: size 4 or 6 egg sucking leach, green and pink streamers
Fish: 2
Species: Steelhead
Biggest Fish: 11lb
Smallest Fish: 8lb
Rating: 9.5/10
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Green River, WA (Chum Salmon)
Talked to a buddy about fishing the Green River for Chums. Have never fished the green river for chum salmon before so it seemed like a fun adventure. Went and tried up by Flaming Geyser State Park. You can park before the park entrance and there is plenty of places to hike around and try your luck. Found some good stretched of river and if you find the meadow your getting into some good fishing. Something my buddy told me that was a little odd was that the size of the fish this year was small. Yes, 6lb chums do exist. I didn't believe this but as I scouted other part of the river, including the other public fishing park on the way out to the State Park I spotted some chums in a creek. Pulled my care over to take a look. Sure enough the chums were in and spotted 5 or 6 in the tributary. All of these fish ranged from what looked like 6-8lbs. Some of the smallest chums I have seen. Tried some long purple, pink, and chartreuse streamers with no luck in the Green. Also, didn't see more than 4 fish in the main river though. Checked out the wholes by the Green River Bridge off hwy 18 and again looked like good fishing but no luck. Stay patient and wait for them to run. Talking with others on the water and and my friend there are chums running this time of the year, you just have to find them.
Summary:
Location: Green River/Flaming Geyser State Park, off hwy 18, near Auburn, WA
Time: 1:00pm - 5:00pm
Rod: 8 wt w/ sinking tip with 0x tippet and Salmon open face rod
Tackle: Purple, chartrouse, and pink streamers. Orange, pink, and green vibrax.
Fish: 0
Species: N/A
Biggest Fish: N/A
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 7/10
Don't have my camera with me right now but do have pictures.
Summary:
Location: Green River/Flaming Geyser State Park, off hwy 18, near Auburn, WA
Time: 1:00pm - 5:00pm
Rod: 8 wt w/ sinking tip with 0x tippet and Salmon open face rod
Tackle: Purple, chartrouse, and pink streamers. Orange, pink, and green vibrax.
Fish: 0
Species: N/A
Biggest Fish: N/A
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 7/10
Don't have my camera with me right now but do have pictures.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Kalama River, WA
Went out to the Kalama again with John and company trying for Steelhead. Conditions where good but we were just a few weeks early on the season. Saw a couple of fish, maybe a half dozen total. Would diffenitly recommend trying again in a couple weeks when they really start running closer to Turkey day.
Summary:
Location: Kalama River, Exit 32 off I-5, near Kalama, WA
Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Rod: 8 wt w/ sinking tip with 0x tippet
Tackle: size 4 or 6 egg sucking leach or woolly bugger in black, purple, and olive
Fish: 0
Species: N/A
Biggest Fish: N/A
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 6.5/10
Summary:
Location: Kalama River, Exit 32 off I-5, near Kalama, WA
Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Rod: 8 wt w/ sinking tip with 0x tippet
Tackle: size 4 or 6 egg sucking leach or woolly bugger in black, purple, and olive
Fish: 0
Species: N/A
Biggest Fish: N/A
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 6.5/10
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Kalama River, WA
So I came home (when I say home I mean the place I grew up) to Vancouver, WA to help my Mom move a little and my buddy Jon asked if I wanted to fish the Kalama River with him Sunday afternoon. He grew up out in Carson and moved to the north Portland area. He asked me some good places to fish out of Vancouver after he gets of work. Depending on what your fishing for and what you have at your disposal for water access there are lots of places to fish. If you want to wade fish though and catch some nice fish, I would always recommend the Kalama River. Located 30ish miles north of the state border this river offers a prime steelhead fishery, especially in the fall. So we today came and we headed to the river with on of his coworker.
Fishing this river for steelhead or salmon (coho was the objective this trip) I would recommend you throw a size 4 or 6 woolly bugger or egg sucking leash on the fly rod in a black or purple pattern. Between the three of us we tried these patterns and even an olive pattern. Jon had the fortune of hooking into fish two and landing one. I also had the fortune of hooking into two fish and landing a third. One of the fish I lost was a big Chinook close to 30lbs. Fumbling helping Jon with the camera (there is no flash in silent mode...) I managed to loose this fish but was able to land a smaller, maybe 20lb, Chinook salmon. The river offers hatchery fish along with native fish. Approximately 2 miles up river from the mouth the river is catch and release only with selective gear regs. I was un able to capture a picture of the fish I landed because when Jon moved to put the hatchery Chinook in a shotgun pose it slipt out of his hand safely into the water. This river is great and would recommend it for any slamon fly angler.
Summary:
Location: Kalama River, Exit 32 off I-5, near Kalama, WA
Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Rod: 8 wt w/ sinking tip with 0x tippet
Tackle: size 4 or 6 egg sucking leach or woolly bugger in black, purple, and olive
Fish: 1
Species: Chinook
Biggest Fish: 20lb
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 8.5/10
Fishing this river for steelhead or salmon (coho was the objective this trip) I would recommend you throw a size 4 or 6 woolly bugger or egg sucking leash on the fly rod in a black or purple pattern. Between the three of us we tried these patterns and even an olive pattern. Jon had the fortune of hooking into fish two and landing one. I also had the fortune of hooking into two fish and landing a third. One of the fish I lost was a big Chinook close to 30lbs. Fumbling helping Jon with the camera (there is no flash in silent mode...) I managed to loose this fish but was able to land a smaller, maybe 20lb, Chinook salmon. The river offers hatchery fish along with native fish. Approximately 2 miles up river from the mouth the river is catch and release only with selective gear regs. I was un able to capture a picture of the fish I landed because when Jon moved to put the hatchery Chinook in a shotgun pose it slipt out of his hand safely into the water. This river is great and would recommend it for any slamon fly angler.
Summary:
Location: Kalama River, Exit 32 off I-5, near Kalama, WA
Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Rod: 8 wt w/ sinking tip with 0x tippet
Tackle: size 4 or 6 egg sucking leach or woolly bugger in black, purple, and olive
Fish: 1
Species: Chinook
Biggest Fish: 20lb
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 8.5/10
Jon Fighting a Fish
John Fishing
The Kalama River and Jon's Coworker
 |
| Fighting a Fish Myself |
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| You Can See A Few Fish Running Up River |
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Skykomish River, WA (Coho Salmon)
The Coho are starting to come in and so its time to try and catch some salmon that might be worth eating. Getting a late start Saturday we headed to the Skykomish River, to a new spot none of us had fish before. Before we got there however I spent some of my morning doing some research. Talking to the guys at Outdoor Emporium downtown and Creekside Angler out of Issaquah this is what I have learned about fishing for Coho. In the Puget Sound coho average about 8-13#, the like to eat the same things that humpies do but if you want to avoid humpies while fishing for coho then switch to a chartreuse color instead. Coho come in from the ocean via the Straight of Juan De Fuca and make a "Y" going around Whidbey Island to their respective spawning streams. Fishing in the ocean can be quite productive with pink or green flies around 2" or a little greater. Fish the same stuff in the rivers. At this point most the coho haven't made it that far up the rivers so, to fish a river stay low. This brought us to our new spot. The plan was to fish high bridge and another part of the Skykomish off of 192nd. Being as the Huskies were playing that evening we only fished 192nd. Dalton, Ben, and I all struck out on coho; I did manage to catch a pink. The pink are zombies right now and I would recommend calling it a season for those fish. Others around us caught a few coho. Saw one caught off the shore and gentlemen in boats were having much better luck. They like it deep is what we were told.
Location: Skykomish River, near mouth head of Snohomish, WA
Time: 1:30pm - 4:00pm
Rod: 8 wt w/ sinking tip; Dalton and Ben used spinners
Tackle: Pink Marabou, Pink Bunny Leach, and Green Muddler Minnow on the fly; pink and chartreuse 2" buzz bomb, dick nite's, jig, 4's or 5's vibrax and spoon on the spinner
Fish: 1
Species: Pink Salmon
Biggest Fish: 7#
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 7.5/10
Location: Skykomish River, near mouth head of Snohomish, WA
Time: 1:30pm - 4:00pm
Rod: 8 wt w/ sinking tip; Dalton and Ben used spinners
Tackle: Pink Marabou, Pink Bunny Leach, and Green Muddler Minnow on the fly; pink and chartreuse 2" buzz bomb, dick nite's, jig, 4's or 5's vibrax and spoon on the spinner
Fish: 1
Species: Pink Salmon
Biggest Fish: 7#
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 7.5/10
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Snohomish River, WA (Pink Salmon)
The Snohomish River is formed by the joining of the Snoqualmie and Skykomish Rivers. This river is big and if you have a boat great for salmon fishing. If you don't have a boat you can do what we tried. I should mentioned that encase you didn't know the farther from the ocean a fish gets the more it "spawns-out". Salmon in the ocean are nice and chrome but as they spawn they turn darker colors and male pink salmon even grow a large hump on their back, aka where the term "humpies" come from. I should also mention that pink salmon are not great eating unless smoked or put in a dip. Baked in the oven or cooked on the bbq does not result in some good salmon eating. With all that said what we tried was to go for some nice chrome pinks as far down the river as we could. This brought use to Lowell Farm's where the river is effected by the ocean tides. The difference on the river tide and the ocean tide is about one hour we learned. We also learned that you want to find a good low tide. The low tide we fished was a +6 afternoon tide. We should have tried to fish the +0.5 morning tide instead. The lower the tide the smaller the river gets and the more condensed the fish are. We had no luck throwing buzz bombs or jigs. A local guy says that is the ticket depending on how far the fish are. If you can get real close to them throw a jig, but if the fish are a ways away then use a 2" pink buzz bomb. (He did manage to catch one)
Summary:
Location: Snohomish River, near Lowell Farms, WA
Time: 3:30pm - 5:00pm
Rod: Spinning Salmon Rod
Tackle: Pink Jig and 2" Pink Buzz Bomb
Fish: 0
Species: Pink Salmon
Biggest Fish: N/A
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 7/10
(Forgot to snap any pictures)
Friday, September 16, 2011
Skykomish River, WA (Pink Salmon)
SEPTEMBER 10,16,17, & 18, 2011
Salmon fishing is fun and there are many ways to fish for salmon. September is the time when pink salmon run up the rivers through out the Puget Sound. My river of choice is the Skykomish or Snoqualmie river because they are both fly fishing friendly.
When fishing for pinks on the fly use a pink fly. When fishing for pinks go pink. I used both a pink marabou and a pink bunny leach. keep them between an 1.5" - 2" and you'll do good. I used my both my 5wt rod and my 8wt rod. Humpies range from about 3-6# in the Puget Sound. A five weight was a little light with the current of the river and an 8wt maybe big but probably ok. Ideally I would say use a 7 wt., and fish 10# line. Your going to snag a few so the extra line weight helps. The only day I actually fly fished for humpies was the first day. I hooked into 2 but lost them both. What I did catch however was a very nice Rainbow Cutthroat.
The rest of the days I used my salmon spinning rod. I fished with my buddy Dalton, his brother Kevin, and another buddy of mine Ben. We fished buzz bombs, dick nite's, jigs, and spoons. The most snags came with the jigs and the spoons or dick nite's were all clean hook-ups. I also had a clean hook-up on a bobber with a jig below. Some people used sand shrimp as bait and others worms. Pretty much though if you threw something pink and had patients you would hook up sooner or later.
Summary:
Location: Skykomish River, near mouth of Sultan River, WA
Time: various times of day
Rod: 5 wt w/ sinking tip, 8 wt with sinking tip, spinning rod 8-12lb medium action.
Tackle: Pink Marabou and Pink Bunny Leach on the fly or pink buzz bomb, dick nite's, jig, and spoon on the spinner
Fish: 7 legal
Species: Pink Salmon
Biggest Fish: 8#
Smallest Fish: 3#
Rating: 7/10
Salmon fishing is fun and there are many ways to fish for salmon. September is the time when pink salmon run up the rivers through out the Puget Sound. My river of choice is the Skykomish or Snoqualmie river because they are both fly fishing friendly.
When fishing for pinks on the fly use a pink fly. When fishing for pinks go pink. I used both a pink marabou and a pink bunny leach. keep them between an 1.5" - 2" and you'll do good. I used my both my 5wt rod and my 8wt rod. Humpies range from about 3-6# in the Puget Sound. A five weight was a little light with the current of the river and an 8wt maybe big but probably ok. Ideally I would say use a 7 wt., and fish 10# line. Your going to snag a few so the extra line weight helps. The only day I actually fly fished for humpies was the first day. I hooked into 2 but lost them both. What I did catch however was a very nice Rainbow Cutthroat.
The rest of the days I used my salmon spinning rod. I fished with my buddy Dalton, his brother Kevin, and another buddy of mine Ben. We fished buzz bombs, dick nite's, jigs, and spoons. The most snags came with the jigs and the spoons or dick nite's were all clean hook-ups. I also had a clean hook-up on a bobber with a jig below. Some people used sand shrimp as bait and others worms. Pretty much though if you threw something pink and had patients you would hook up sooner or later.
Summary:
Location: Skykomish River, near mouth of Sultan River, WA
Time: various times of day
Rod: 5 wt w/ sinking tip, 8 wt with sinking tip, spinning rod 8-12lb medium action.
Tackle: Pink Marabou and Pink Bunny Leach on the fly or pink buzz bomb, dick nite's, jig, and spoon on the spinner
Fish: 7 legal
Species: Pink Salmon
Biggest Fish: 8#
Smallest Fish: 3#
Rating: 7/10
Nice Buck
Walk to the River
Dalton
Skykomish River
Pink Salmon Fight on 5 wt.
Still Fighting and Laughing
Search and Rescue Testing their Boats
Lost The Fish
Mouth of Sultan River under train Bridge
Evening Skyline
Ben
The Drive In
Ben with a Hen
Nice Hen I Caught
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Margaret Lake, WA
My buddy Dalton was raised in the city of Duvall east of Bellevue, Washington. The cool thing about the area between the Sammamish Plateau and the Cascades is there is a valley that offers numerous rivers and lakes to fish. This particular day started with Dalton and I fishing on the Skykomish River. I have forgot to mention where I have fished. There are numerous places, but popular spots of mine are right out of the East side of Monroe, the mouth of the Sultan River near Sultan, near the corrections facility, and haven't tried yet but looks good by high bridge (this is where the Snoqualmie and Skykomish meet). Anyways, Dalton and I took a break from fishing and went back to his house in Duvall where we loaded up a small duck hunting boat that we could go fish the local lakes. We headed up to Lake Margaret which is located Northeast of Duvall. The shore of the lake is private except for the small public fishing area where you can launch your watercraft. Getting in the boat at first we had no luck. Finally getting the fish finder to work we discovered the fish were way deep with the warm weather we had been having. I was able to hook into on nice rainbow eventually on the woolly bugger. Most the time we were skooting around with no real luck; a few bites here and there. What I learned was that the deepest part of the lake we found was about 40' deep a ways off from the private beach they have for the locals. Most of the fish were hanging out between 22' and 30' of water in the deeper parts of the lake. Dalton has told me that trolling power bait or spoons work well. It was late in the season and a majority of the fish had been caught and the rest were deep. There seamed to be a good population fish still.
Summary:
Location: Lake Margaret, near Duvall, WA
Time: 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Rod: 5 wt w/ sinking tip
Tackle: 8 black woolly bugger with a 14 sand shrimp yellow dropper; wine/brown/green woolly bugger, and emergers.
Fish: 1
Species: Rainbow
Biggest Fish: 13"
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 7/10
Getting in the Water
Nice Planted Rainbow
Monday, September 5, 2011
Davis Lake, WA
After searching for an hour or so for Cougar Lake, I gave up and found my way to Davis Lake. This lake was a pretty lake and there wasn't that many people there. In total: 4 on the bank, 5 on the water (two boats), and I. This lake opens to bait fishing and retentions rule in the beginning of September. Prior to that the lake is selective gear rules only with no retention. This could be a really fun lake of catch and release before September I am guessing. With the same set up as I had at Big Twin Lake (black woolly bugger with a yellow sand shrimp). I trolled out on the lake in my float tube. With the setting sun and how day I assume the fish where deep. I had a handful of bites and after about 2 hours on the lake was able to land one fish. I called it a day and cooked a steak on the beach. If you want to cheat and catch lots of fish here, use some Berkley power bait and sink it a foot off the bottom.
Summary:
Location: Davis Lake, East of Winthrop, WA
Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Rod: 5 wt w/ sinking tip
Tackle: 8 black woolly bugger with a 14 sand shrimp yellow dropper; would use a 14 marabou yellow, wine/brown/green woolly bugger, and emergers. (Fished from float tube)
Fish: 1
Species: Rainbow
Biggest Fish: 14"
Smallest Fish: 14"
Rating: 7/10
Summary:
Location: Davis Lake, East of Winthrop, WA
Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Rod: 5 wt w/ sinking tip
Tackle: 8 black woolly bugger with a 14 sand shrimp yellow dropper; would use a 14 marabou yellow, wine/brown/green woolly bugger, and emergers. (Fished from float tube)
Fish: 1
Species: Rainbow
Biggest Fish: 14"
Smallest Fish: 14"
Rating: 7/10
Davis Lake
Davis Lake
Davis Lake, with a nice house
Davis Lake, from the float tube
Davis Lake
Campbell Lake, Wa
The fish population of this lake was actually zeroed from the 2010/2011 winter. The lake froze completely and the fish didn't make it. Use to be a great lake to fish says the lady I met on the Big Twin Lake, but there are no more fish.
Summary:
Location: Campbell Lake, east of Winthrop, WA
Time: 4:00pm
Rod: N/A
Tackle: N/A
Fish: 0
Species: N/A
Biggest Fish: N/A
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 0/10
Summary:
Location: Campbell Lake, east of Winthrop, WA
Time: 4:00pm
Rod: N/A
Tackle: N/A
Fish: 0
Species: N/A
Biggest Fish: N/A
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 0/10
Campbell Lake
Methow River, WA
The Methow River is a beautiful river in the Okanogan County of Washington state. This river has jumped to my favorite river fished in Washington for trout. I wish I had more time. I certainly will e spending atleast a full weekend on this river next summer.
This trip supports the reason I started blogging about my fishing. I have never been to the Methow River before in my life. I can find some information on what I should maybe fish with but no real exact details of how and where. (If I leave anything out or you have further questions, comment and I'll respond back) With that this is what I have learned. Leaving Seattle after 8:30pm I was scheduled to pull into Methow, WA sometime after midnight. Depending on where you live and what part of the river you want to go to there are multiple ways to get to the Methow River so google or bing directions before you go. Either way plan on the trip taking you between 3.5 - 4.5 hours on way from Seattle area. I wanted to see the majority of the river so I took the shortest route to Methow, WA and headed to Winthrop, WA.
After arriving in Methow, I needed to find a place to pull over and sleep. I slept at the Foggy Dew Campground which is located off of Gold Creek, a tributary of the Methow River. There are multiple campgrounds, rv sites, and motels up and down this river. Sleeping in my car I awoke around sunrise. I headed back along the Methow and started to follow the river north. Pulling into Winthrop around 8am the local fly shop was closed to kill time until it opened I went to Big Twin Lake. Once the shop had opened I spoke with the gentleman running the shop. What I already knew is this river fishes similar to most Eastern Washington Rivers. Nymph stones with a dropper and dry-fish hoppers, stimulators, rogues, pmd's, mayflies, and caddis. What I learned is that you need to throw big bugs with bigger line than what I expected. A 5 wt. rod is a light rod for this river. You probably want to bring your 6 wt. The bugs I had predicted where correct, but you also can use a dropper under any of your bigger foam bodies. Another change I needed to make to my set up was much heavier leaders. Instead of my usual 6x or 5x, I needed atleast a 4x and likely even a 3x. As he said, "The fish don't care too much about the line size, they're big, and the water is fast enough." Lastly, I didn't know where to fish. He told me to start at the bridge just above the fly shop and work my way down river to Twisp. Where ever you can access the river is a good place to fish. Sounded easy enough. Another piece of information he gave me is the river picks up for t big hoppers and foam bodies as the weather warms up. Starting at 11am on the river was a good time oget on the water.
Off I went, but the bridge was slammed with people. I drove further down and found a good place to pull off. Crossing into the middle of the river I fished the cuts along the roadside of the river and whatever pools of water I could find. In clear running water, trout like to be hidden as not to be eaten by birds of prey. Fish cuts, and rapids that aren't white and atleast thigh high, or pools shortly after rapids and the edges of the rapids. Fishing for about two hours on a quarter mile stretch of river I managed white fish and one beautiful rainbow. I saw a lot of fish and was amazed by the river habitat and scores of big fish I could see. One of the white fish was the biggest white fish I have ever caught (guessing around 3.5#).
Anxious to try more river I got back in my car and headed south. Turns out I was a little lazy and more anxious to find out what else there was to fish in the area after a good morning at Big Twin Lake. So I started to explore again. It was also was about 100 degrees outside.
Small Recap of what I learned: This river fished like many rivers east of the Cascades only a bit bigger. Use a bigger tippet and a bigger bug. My foam bodies and stones were sz 6's, my droppers were sz 10 or 12, my tippet was 3x with a 4x and 5x leader between bugs. My 5 wt. rod Gus did well, but the fish seamed safer on the 6 wt.
Summary:
Location: Methow River, between Winthrop and Twisp, WA
Time: 12pm-2:30pm
Rod: 5 wt w/ floating line and 6wt with sinking tip
Tackle: Used a big foam bodied stone with size 10 copper john dropper on the 5wt and a black stone nymph with a sz 12 rainbow warrior on the 6 wt.
Fish: 3
Species: Rainbow and white fish
Biggest Fish: 20" - ish (whitefish), 17" Rainbow
Smallest Fish: 16" (whitefish)
Rating: 9/10
This trip supports the reason I started blogging about my fishing. I have never been to the Methow River before in my life. I can find some information on what I should maybe fish with but no real exact details of how and where. (If I leave anything out or you have further questions, comment and I'll respond back) With that this is what I have learned. Leaving Seattle after 8:30pm I was scheduled to pull into Methow, WA sometime after midnight. Depending on where you live and what part of the river you want to go to there are multiple ways to get to the Methow River so google or bing directions before you go. Either way plan on the trip taking you between 3.5 - 4.5 hours on way from Seattle area. I wanted to see the majority of the river so I took the shortest route to Methow, WA and headed to Winthrop, WA.
After arriving in Methow, I needed to find a place to pull over and sleep. I slept at the Foggy Dew Campground which is located off of Gold Creek, a tributary of the Methow River. There are multiple campgrounds, rv sites, and motels up and down this river. Sleeping in my car I awoke around sunrise. I headed back along the Methow and started to follow the river north. Pulling into Winthrop around 8am the local fly shop was closed to kill time until it opened I went to Big Twin Lake. Once the shop had opened I spoke with the gentleman running the shop. What I already knew is this river fishes similar to most Eastern Washington Rivers. Nymph stones with a dropper and dry-fish hoppers, stimulators, rogues, pmd's, mayflies, and caddis. What I learned is that you need to throw big bugs with bigger line than what I expected. A 5 wt. rod is a light rod for this river. You probably want to bring your 6 wt. The bugs I had predicted where correct, but you also can use a dropper under any of your bigger foam bodies. Another change I needed to make to my set up was much heavier leaders. Instead of my usual 6x or 5x, I needed atleast a 4x and likely even a 3x. As he said, "The fish don't care too much about the line size, they're big, and the water is fast enough." Lastly, I didn't know where to fish. He told me to start at the bridge just above the fly shop and work my way down river to Twisp. Where ever you can access the river is a good place to fish. Sounded easy enough. Another piece of information he gave me is the river picks up for t big hoppers and foam bodies as the weather warms up. Starting at 11am on the river was a good time oget on the water.
Off I went, but the bridge was slammed with people. I drove further down and found a good place to pull off. Crossing into the middle of the river I fished the cuts along the roadside of the river and whatever pools of water I could find. In clear running water, trout like to be hidden as not to be eaten by birds of prey. Fish cuts, and rapids that aren't white and atleast thigh high, or pools shortly after rapids and the edges of the rapids. Fishing for about two hours on a quarter mile stretch of river I managed white fish and one beautiful rainbow. I saw a lot of fish and was amazed by the river habitat and scores of big fish I could see. One of the white fish was the biggest white fish I have ever caught (guessing around 3.5#).
Anxious to try more river I got back in my car and headed south. Turns out I was a little lazy and more anxious to find out what else there was to fish in the area after a good morning at Big Twin Lake. So I started to explore again. It was also was about 100 degrees outside.
Small Recap of what I learned: This river fished like many rivers east of the Cascades only a bit bigger. Use a bigger tippet and a bigger bug. My foam bodies and stones were sz 6's, my droppers were sz 10 or 12, my tippet was 3x with a 4x and 5x leader between bugs. My 5 wt. rod Gus did well, but the fish seamed safer on the 6 wt.
Summary:
Location: Methow River, between Winthrop and Twisp, WA
Time: 12pm-2:30pm
Rod: 5 wt w/ floating line and 6wt with sinking tip
Tackle: Used a big foam bodied stone with size 10 copper john dropper on the 5wt and a black stone nymph with a sz 12 rainbow warrior on the 6 wt.
Fish: 3
Species: Rainbow and white fish
Biggest Fish: 20" - ish (whitefish), 17" Rainbow
Smallest Fish: 16" (whitefish)
Rating: 9/10
Fish on the hook
Methow River
Big Twin Lake, WA
This trip was a wild trip. Sometime Sunday night I figured out that I would have Labor Day off. So what did I do? I jump in my van and drove to the North Central part of the state. I have heard many a times that the Methow River is a great river to fish. So I went to check it out. After pulling in sometime after midnight, I slept in my car at Foggy Dew Camp Ground. Waking up to sunlight and having no idea where I should fish on the river I headed further north up the river to the city of Winthrop. The fly shop wasn't to open until 9 or 10am and it was only 8am. In passing the tie I started to explore a bit coming across Twin Lakes. Big Twin Lake is still a small lake. There is a camp and RV site along the northern part of the lake as well. As I approached the lake an older woman getting out of the water told me I was about 2 hours late but could still give it a try. By now it was late summer and the water was well above 70 degrees. In these conditions fishing in the early morning produce the most fish near the surface. She also gave me a little clue that her yellow marabou was working the best. With that I hurried myself into the water with a black woolly bugger trailed by the only small yellow fly I had, a sand shrimp. Fishing for a little over an hour I produced several bites and landed 3 fish. The average size fish in this lake ranges from 14-17". There are also triploid that can get even bigger. If you can fish in the early morning when fishing in late summer. Getting to the water after or around 9am you need to go deep. I used a sinking tip with a 9 foot leader to get my bugs down. The most action seamed to be found on the south west side of the lake.
Summary:
Location: Big Twin Lake, Southwest of Winthrop, WA
Time: 9:00am-11:am
Rod: 5 wt w/ sinking tip
Tackle: 8 black woolly bugger with a 14 sand shrimp yellow dropper; would use a 14 marabou yellow, wine/brown/green woolly bugger, and emergers. (Fished from float tube)
Fish: 3
Species: Rainbow
Biggest Fish: 16"
Smallest Fish: 13"
Rating: 7.5/10
Summary:
Location: Big Twin Lake, Southwest of Winthrop, WA
Time: 9:00am-11:am
Rod: 5 wt w/ sinking tip
Tackle: 8 black woolly bugger with a 14 sand shrimp yellow dropper; would use a 14 marabou yellow, wine/brown/green woolly bugger, and emergers. (Fished from float tube)
Fish: 3
Species: Rainbow
Biggest Fish: 16"
Smallest Fish: 13"
Rating: 7.5/10
Big Twin Lake
Damsel Fly on Rod Tip
From the Water of Big Twin Lake
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Middle Fork Snoqualmie River, WA
Finally, I fished the Middle Fork after driving past it and fishing the Taylor several times. This river is great. Reminds me of the Washougal River, on the Washington and Oregon border. Another premature, Cascade river, the water was cool and the weather was great. My good buddy Sean and I took the day away from the city to sit by the river, catch some fish, and have a couple hot dogs at the end of the day. Stopping by the Creekside fly shop in Issaquah on the way out the gentlemen working their told us the fish would be slow to rise in the middle of the day. Being as we only had time to kill and weather to enjoy we fished a small section of the river slowly but thoroughly. Starting at mid day and finishing to a setting sun I caught many fish, while my buddy lounged on a rock formed into a chair. The man was right in that the fish really don't like to surface during the day but I found my ways around this. He made it seem like it wouldn't be worth my time but I beg the differ. On a river where fish will surface for most bugs small and close to resident bugs there are two solutions to catching fish during the day. The first is letting you dry bug sink and drifting it under the surface, and the other being nymphing. Both worked and both caught fish. There are bigger fish in the Middle Fork than on the South Fork or Taylor River. I saw several fish over 12" and most fish caught were 8" or better. Nymphing I used a black stone with a copper emerger for a dropper. Strip this set up through deeper holes where you can see fish and more fish will emerge for the chase. As I mentioned earlier, any small dry bug will work that is a common pattern (Elk Hair Caddis, Mosquito, Parachute Adams, and Black Nat). when your bug sinks at the end of the drift let it swing to the shore and you might get a sub surface bite on the line.
Summary:
Location: Middle Fork Snoqualmie River, exit 34 off I-90, go North on 468th to Middle Fork Rd, follow road to river
Time: 2-8pm
Rod: 5 wt w/ floating line and 5 wt w; sinking tip
Tackle: Stone Nymph, Emergers, Olive/Tan Elk Hair Caddis, Mosquito, Parachute Adams, and Black Nat
Fish: 20+
Species: Cutthroat Rainbow
Biggest Fish: 12"
Smallest Fish: 4"
Rating: 8/10
Summary:
Location: Middle Fork Snoqualmie River, exit 34 off I-90, go North on 468th to Middle Fork Rd, follow road to river
Time: 2-8pm
Rod: 5 wt w/ floating line and 5 wt w; sinking tip
Tackle: Stone Nymph, Emergers, Olive/Tan Elk Hair Caddis, Mosquito, Parachute Adams, and Black Nat
Fish: 20+
Species: Cutthroat Rainbow
Biggest Fish: 12"
Smallest Fish: 4"
Rating: 8/10
Can you see Sean?
Middle Fork Snoqualmie River
Middle Fork Snoqualmie River
Middle Fork Snoqualmie River
Rock Chair
Middle Fork Snoqualmie River
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Taylor River, WA
Had no real intentions of fishing this river this day but after mountain biking got cut short what else are you going to do but grill and fish. So I hit the Taylor River again in a new location near the picnic area of the Middle Fork Trail head parking lot. Caught several fish on Gus. Not a hole lot to update on this river except that moving down river increased the average size of the fish and tried some new bugs that all worked. If you try to mountain bike the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Trail, it is not easy. The trail is wet, muddy, and the ground is very loose. Mix that with the possibility of fishing instead and you might not bike as long as you planned. At least I did not. I plan to post every time I fish so here was another quick outing.
Summary:
Location: Taylor River, 12 miles from exit 34 off I-90, go North on 468th to Middle Fork Rd, follow road to river
Time: 4:30-8pm
Rod: 5 wt w/ floating line
Tackle: Olive Elk Hair Caddis, Mosquito, Parachute Adams, and Black Nat
Fish: 7
Species: Cutthroat Rainbow
Biggest Fish: 10"
Smallest Fish: 4"
Rating: 7.5/10
Summary:
Location: Taylor River, 12 miles from exit 34 off I-90, go North on 468th to Middle Fork Rd, follow road to river
Time: 4:30-8pm
Rod: 5 wt w/ floating line
Tackle: Olive Elk Hair Caddis, Mosquito, Parachute Adams, and Black Nat
Fish: 7
Species: Cutthroat Rainbow
Biggest Fish: 10"
Smallest Fish: 4"
Rating: 7.5/10
Break on the Trail
Picnic Area
Taylor River
It wasn't this dark, we still had to cross the river...
Tolt River, WA
Planned today to go mountain bike the Middle Fork Trail, along the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River, but ended up with a late start to the day after an oil change and finding a bike for my buddy. He works in Redmond, so I pulled out my map to find where I could go. Originally, I planned to fish the North Fork Snoqualmie River, but with little time I ventured out to the Tolt River just east of Carnation. This river is much like other rivers flowing out of the Cascades towards the Puget Sound; cold water, crystal clear, large smooth rocks, and lots of trees along the shore. I ventured near the end of the Tolt River road to a public fishing pull out nestled between some local resident housing. There is a trail here that follows the river, how far I do not know, I made it about a quarter of a mile down river. Fishing with Gus and an Olive Elk Hair Caddis I managed 4 fish in the hour I was there. This river has some good size to it and like most other Northern Cascade Rivers finding a deeper hole or pockets behind boulders was not too difficult. The trip was short but the fishing worth it. I plan to come back another day with more time and find the bigger fish.
Summary:
Location: Tolt River, East of Carnation, WA
Time: 12:45 - 1:45pm
Rod: 5 wt w/ floating line
Tackle: 12 brown elk hair caddis, I would recommend a Parachute Adams, Mosquito or Royal Coachman as well
Fish: 4
Species: Cutthroat & Rainbow
Biggest Fish: 10"
Smallest Fish: 7"
Rating: 7.5/10
Summary:
Location: Tolt River, East of Carnation, WA
Time: 12:45 - 1:45pm
Rod: 5 wt w/ floating line
Tackle: 12 brown elk hair caddis, I would recommend a Parachute Adams, Mosquito or Royal Coachman as well
Fish: 4
Species: Cutthroat & Rainbow
Biggest Fish: 10"
Smallest Fish: 7"
Rating: 7.5/10
Tolt River
Tolt River
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Metolius River (Upper), OR
My Grandmother might kill me for posting this river. It is a family treasure and one of the most best kept secrets in the world. If you ever do go here let me know how it goes, or even let me know before and I might give you extra pointers. Probably my favorite river to fish in the entire country, this river is challenging but extremely rewarding. The Metolius is a crystal clear spring fed river, with a consistent flow, and water ranging from 38-42 degrees annually. Once stocked (until 1996) this river is protected and is catch and release only. Fish found on this river are rainbow trout, brown trout, bull trout (dolley varden), kokanee salmon, and white fish. I have fished this river since before I could walk and now 20 years later I have experience the rivers ups and downs. The years after stocking of trout was no longer allowed fish were found few and far between on this river. Now over 10 years later the population of fish has made a comeback and with the right now-how you can certainly catch some fish. These fish are big and beautiful too. 100% native the average rainbow is around 18" and bulls easily reach 8-10lbs. There are certainly many ways to fish this river, it all depends on what you are looking for. In the summer months I recommend nymphing the day with and dry fishing at night, but a golden stone will work through out the day for dry fishing.
Fishing wet flies:
Over the past 5 years I have learned what holes produce big fish and what holes do not produce any fish. Also that if you want to have fun you can catch a bunch of smaller fish ranging from 6-10". My strongest fishing and best technique for this river is nymphing. There are two main ways to nymph this river as well. The first being to catch fish and the other being to catch trout. If you want to catch fish and when I say fish meaning white fish use a black stone nymph (size 6-10) with a dropper about 12-16" below tied directly to the hook of the stone. The white fish like bugs with flash; red copper johns, red or black serendipity, zebra midges, rainbow warriors, most any small bug with red, silver, or a bright bead will catch white fish when fished below the stone. If you want to stay away from the white fish I recommend hears ears, emergers, prince nymphs, green drake nymphs, and an other traditional cold water nymph below your stone. Smaller is better too. I have caught 4lb bulls on size 20 emergers.All this should be done with a 5x tippet from your fly line to your stone and either a 5x or 6x leader from stone to dropper. Switch your dropper periodically as the fish will begin to recognize it too. Rainbows will strike the same flies the white fish like but choose your dropper based on if you want to stay entertained with catching mostly white fish or if you want to try and catch mostly trout. I often use a sinking tip but have had success using a floating line and strike indicator. Put the indicator about 8' above your stone fly.
Fishing Dry Flies:
The water is clear and the fish are smart. I have seen fish waltz up to my fly and bump it with there nose knowing it was fake and turning around back to the bottom. I would recommend using the smallest tippet you are comfortable with. In the day time between 11am and 4pm during the summer there is generally a strong stone fly (salmon fly) hatch. Fish this fly and with its size you can get away with a 5x but I have always fished a 6x tippet on this river. Before 10am or after 4pm the river air is cooler and much smaller bugs are out. Switching to or still using a 6x tippet you can fish green drakes, may flies, pmd's, blue wing olives, parachute adams, and various other small bugs. Pluck one out of the sky and look in your box for a similar bug. You can fish these smaller bugs during the day but they will generally only produce smaller than average fish. Smaller fish will hold near or under fallen trees, merging waters, and what not.
Bull Trout:
Being as this river is protected mostly for its bull trout population I recommend a sturdy 6 wt rod but also for safe measure bringing a 7wt or 8wt rod. Go ahead and put some heaver tippet on you rod with about a 8-10lb test. Fish half rabbits, mice, and other big streamers. Good bull trout are found by canyon creek or below the fish hatchery. Below the hatchery is actually Dolley Hole, where what looks like a small log under the water is actually a giant fish. Be patient, fish for long periods, and big fish can be caught.
Holes:
I don't plan to give away too much but will tell you general areas to try. Above the store where the road runs out is blue hole, just above the Camp Sherman bridge (protected 100yds both directions) is Cabin hole, below the bridge is popcorn hole, there are two holes in the Camp Sherman camp ground, one off the road before Allingham Campground, above and below the Allingham bridge, two holes in the middle of Smiling River Campground (one being Granddad's hole), Pine Rest Campground, between Pine Rest and Gorge Campground, and Gorge Camp Ground. I have caught fish in everyone of these holes this summer. Generally you are looking for the river to drop to 6-12' of depth and/or cut under some brush. There are loads of other places to fish but these hole consistently produce for me.
This Trip:
I came down to the river for a day. My Mom was camping with four friends from California that had there doubts of the river and to that point no fish. Within 20 min on the water Sue (So Cal) landed a white fish. She proceeded to loose a trout and land other white fish.I should mention that was her first fish ever on a fly rod. I fished minimally but in the two holes I tried on Sunday I caught 3 white fish below Pine Rest, and 1 white fish in Cabin hole fishing a total of 2 hours. I also lost an 18" rainbow in Cabin Hole and had several trout rise below Pine Rest. Two of my buddies caught there first fish and trout on a fly rod in the Gorge hole; one this summer and the other five summers ago. The river is slow in the morning but picks up around 11am when the sun hits the water and the stones start emerging. As mentioned above I would nymph as long as there is some sun on the water (6pm or so) and use dry flies in the morning or evening. Stone fly will work fine in the middle of the day. I forgot to mention that a Clark Stone is probably the best pattern although switching to a Rogue Stone, Cat's Vomit, or Simulator can through the fish off and get more strikes. A few summers ago I started a hole with the Rogue and watched a fish look at it twice. Switched to each of the other three bugs, each getting a look of there own, but finally switching back to the rogue landed a 19" 3+lb rainbow. They are beautiful too. They have a green back, with a solid dark red band, and black speckles. The single most beautiful rainbows I have seen in my life.
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, see above for other flies to use and go ask the guys at the shop.
Fish: 4
Species: White Fish
Biggest Fish: 19"
Smallest Fish: 14"
Rating: 9/10 (Should be a 10 but I didn't get to fish all that I wanted to and with no trout today that hurts)
Fishing wet flies:
Over the past 5 years I have learned what holes produce big fish and what holes do not produce any fish. Also that if you want to have fun you can catch a bunch of smaller fish ranging from 6-10". My strongest fishing and best technique for this river is nymphing. There are two main ways to nymph this river as well. The first being to catch fish and the other being to catch trout. If you want to catch fish and when I say fish meaning white fish use a black stone nymph (size 6-10) with a dropper about 12-16" below tied directly to the hook of the stone. The white fish like bugs with flash; red copper johns, red or black serendipity, zebra midges, rainbow warriors, most any small bug with red, silver, or a bright bead will catch white fish when fished below the stone. If you want to stay away from the white fish I recommend hears ears, emergers, prince nymphs, green drake nymphs, and an other traditional cold water nymph below your stone. Smaller is better too. I have caught 4lb bulls on size 20 emergers.All this should be done with a 5x tippet from your fly line to your stone and either a 5x or 6x leader from stone to dropper. Switch your dropper periodically as the fish will begin to recognize it too. Rainbows will strike the same flies the white fish like but choose your dropper based on if you want to stay entertained with catching mostly white fish or if you want to try and catch mostly trout. I often use a sinking tip but have had success using a floating line and strike indicator. Put the indicator about 8' above your stone fly.
Fishing Dry Flies:
The water is clear and the fish are smart. I have seen fish waltz up to my fly and bump it with there nose knowing it was fake and turning around back to the bottom. I would recommend using the smallest tippet you are comfortable with. In the day time between 11am and 4pm during the summer there is generally a strong stone fly (salmon fly) hatch. Fish this fly and with its size you can get away with a 5x but I have always fished a 6x tippet on this river. Before 10am or after 4pm the river air is cooler and much smaller bugs are out. Switching to or still using a 6x tippet you can fish green drakes, may flies, pmd's, blue wing olives, parachute adams, and various other small bugs. Pluck one out of the sky and look in your box for a similar bug. You can fish these smaller bugs during the day but they will generally only produce smaller than average fish. Smaller fish will hold near or under fallen trees, merging waters, and what not.
Bull Trout:
Being as this river is protected mostly for its bull trout population I recommend a sturdy 6 wt rod but also for safe measure bringing a 7wt or 8wt rod. Go ahead and put some heaver tippet on you rod with about a 8-10lb test. Fish half rabbits, mice, and other big streamers. Good bull trout are found by canyon creek or below the fish hatchery. Below the hatchery is actually Dolley Hole, where what looks like a small log under the water is actually a giant fish. Be patient, fish for long periods, and big fish can be caught.
Holes:
I don't plan to give away too much but will tell you general areas to try. Above the store where the road runs out is blue hole, just above the Camp Sherman bridge (protected 100yds both directions) is Cabin hole, below the bridge is popcorn hole, there are two holes in the Camp Sherman camp ground, one off the road before Allingham Campground, above and below the Allingham bridge, two holes in the middle of Smiling River Campground (one being Granddad's hole), Pine Rest Campground, between Pine Rest and Gorge Campground, and Gorge Camp Ground. I have caught fish in everyone of these holes this summer. Generally you are looking for the river to drop to 6-12' of depth and/or cut under some brush. There are loads of other places to fish but these hole consistently produce for me.
This Trip:
I came down to the river for a day. My Mom was camping with four friends from California that had there doubts of the river and to that point no fish. Within 20 min on the water Sue (So Cal) landed a white fish. She proceeded to loose a trout and land other white fish.I should mention that was her first fish ever on a fly rod. I fished minimally but in the two holes I tried on Sunday I caught 3 white fish below Pine Rest, and 1 white fish in Cabin hole fishing a total of 2 hours. I also lost an 18" rainbow in Cabin Hole and had several trout rise below Pine Rest. Two of my buddies caught there first fish and trout on a fly rod in the Gorge hole; one this summer and the other five summers ago. The river is slow in the morning but picks up around 11am when the sun hits the water and the stones start emerging. As mentioned above I would nymph as long as there is some sun on the water (6pm or so) and use dry flies in the morning or evening. Stone fly will work fine in the middle of the day. I forgot to mention that a Clark Stone is probably the best pattern although switching to a Rogue Stone, Cat's Vomit, or Simulator can through the fish off and get more strikes. A few summers ago I started a hole with the Rogue and watched a fish look at it twice. Switched to each of the other three bugs, each getting a look of there own, but finally switching back to the rogue landed a 19" 3+lb rainbow. They are beautiful too. They have a green back, with a solid dark red band, and black speckles. The single most beautiful rainbows I have seen in my life.
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, see above for other flies to use and go ask the guys at the shop.
Fish: 4
Species: White Fish
Biggest Fish: 19"
Smallest Fish: 14"
Rating: 9/10 (Should be a 10 but I didn't get to fish all that I wanted to and with no trout today that hurts)
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Taylor River
Today Dalton and I set out for the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River and ended up fishing the Taylor River. Located just north of the Middle Fork Campground, the Taylor River flows from Snoqualmie Lake into the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River.
Mission of today was to fish a new river while giving my buddy some one on one lessons of how to fly fish. Dalton has never caught a fish on a fly rod (before today that is). Choosing to take my car we parked on the east side of the bridge crossing the Taylor River. From here we set out up river. Much like the Middle Fork and South Fork of the Snoqualmie River, the Taylor River is mountain clear water with boulders scattered in the water. The boulders make great holdings for fish. The rocks are slippery, and Dalton fared much better in felt bottoms than my Vibram soles.
I had the same set up on my rod as the previous day (floating line, size 12 elk hair caddis) and Dalton started with a March Brown and finished with a Mosquito. All bugs were struck at but only the caddis secured any official landings of fish. The Taylor river is much smaller than the Middle Fork but simular to the South Fork. The fish in the Taylor are the same as well. Fish caught today ranged from 4"-10", the question is what are you looking for? If you just want to catch fish then hit every holding you see before and after rocks and I promise you will have fish biting. But, if you take the time to walk river, you can find deeper holes that produce nicer fish. Dalton and I stumbled upon one of these holes where we not only caught bigger fish but lots of fish. Dalton caught his first fish on a fly rod with his first cast of Gus. I stepped into the hole after he landed two and lost several more. My first cast landed the biggest fish of the day pictured below. Had we fished longer and traveled more river I'm sure we could have found more holes similar to the one we found, with more fish, and more size. That is TBD with future visits.
The day was capped sitting by the car with a cold beer and grilled chicken. Dalton and I promised we would come back soon, next time planning to camp (if conflicting schedules allowed) to allow more time to fish more river. As Dalton said, "You could probably spend a lifetime back there trying to fish everything (multiple rivers and alpine lakes). What a day that was."
At this point I extend the invitation to fish with anyone that needs a fishing partner or lessons. Let me know and I'll take you out free of charge (except traditional splitting of gas and food, etc.)
Summary:
Location: Taylor River, 12 miles from exit 34 off I-90, go North on 468th to Middle Fork Rd, follow road to river
Time: 4:30-8pm
Rod: 5 wt w/ floating line
Tackle: 12 brown elk hair caddis (fish), size 14 March Brown (bites), Mosquito (bites), I would recommend a Parachute Adams or Royal Coachman as well
Fish: 20+
Species: Cutthroat Rainbow
Biggest Fish: 10"
Smallest Fish: 4"
Rating: 7.5/10
Mission of today was to fish a new river while giving my buddy some one on one lessons of how to fly fish. Dalton has never caught a fish on a fly rod (before today that is). Choosing to take my car we parked on the east side of the bridge crossing the Taylor River. From here we set out up river. Much like the Middle Fork and South Fork of the Snoqualmie River, the Taylor River is mountain clear water with boulders scattered in the water. The boulders make great holdings for fish. The rocks are slippery, and Dalton fared much better in felt bottoms than my Vibram soles.
I had the same set up on my rod as the previous day (floating line, size 12 elk hair caddis) and Dalton started with a March Brown and finished with a Mosquito. All bugs were struck at but only the caddis secured any official landings of fish. The Taylor river is much smaller than the Middle Fork but simular to the South Fork. The fish in the Taylor are the same as well. Fish caught today ranged from 4"-10", the question is what are you looking for? If you just want to catch fish then hit every holding you see before and after rocks and I promise you will have fish biting. But, if you take the time to walk river, you can find deeper holes that produce nicer fish. Dalton and I stumbled upon one of these holes where we not only caught bigger fish but lots of fish. Dalton caught his first fish on a fly rod with his first cast of Gus. I stepped into the hole after he landed two and lost several more. My first cast landed the biggest fish of the day pictured below. Had we fished longer and traveled more river I'm sure we could have found more holes similar to the one we found, with more fish, and more size. That is TBD with future visits.
The day was capped sitting by the car with a cold beer and grilled chicken. Dalton and I promised we would come back soon, next time planning to camp (if conflicting schedules allowed) to allow more time to fish more river. As Dalton said, "You could probably spend a lifetime back there trying to fish everything (multiple rivers and alpine lakes). What a day that was."
At this point I extend the invitation to fish with anyone that needs a fishing partner or lessons. Let me know and I'll take you out free of charge (except traditional splitting of gas and food, etc.)
Summary:
Location: Taylor River, 12 miles from exit 34 off I-90, go North on 468th to Middle Fork Rd, follow road to river
Time: 4:30-8pm
Rod: 5 wt w/ floating line
Tackle: 12 brown elk hair caddis (fish), size 14 March Brown (bites), Mosquito (bites), I would recommend a Parachute Adams or Royal Coachman as well
Fish: 20+
Species: Cutthroat Rainbow
Biggest Fish: 10"
Smallest Fish: 4"
Rating: 7.5/10
Taylor River Shot on the Water
Dalton's First Fish on the Fly
Taylor River from the Car
Taylor River Shot on the Water
Cutthroat, Gus, and I (Its a George Fox College, Bruins hat too)
Taylor River Shot on the Water
Cutthroat
Eleanor (a.k.a. Base Camp for Today)
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