Yakima River

Decided to try the Yakima River again and get out of the Seattle weather again. This time I took my good friend Johnny from Virginia hoping to get him on some trout. Unfortunately we did not prevail, but we did have a good trip with the puppies. Showed up about a week early for the skwala hatch. Heard they were popping the following week. Tried the mouth of Teanaway hole again and also a hole up by the Henry Ponds.

Summary
Location: Yakima Riverr, near Cle Elum, exit 84 off I-90, 85 min east of Seattle
Time: 1-5pm
Rod: 5 wt w/ floating line and sinking line
Tackle: Stone nymph with various midge droppers
Fish: 0
Species: N/A
Biggest Fish: N/A
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 5/10

Johnny trying at the mouth of the Teanaway

 

Feeding snow to my puppy Luna

Yakima River

Went fishing with my buddy Dalton, but I forgot my waders. The weather was fantastic and it was still a good escape from the Seattle weather. Tried to wade fish this trip and I know of a few holes that have produced near and around Cle Elem, Wa. There was still snow on the banks and the water was cold. No hatches happening so mostly nymphed all day giving Dalton a few lessons. I did stir up one bite but didn't manage to land any fish. Stopped in the local fly shop and was told of a new hole or two down the road from the usual ones I try. Was told to park by Taylor Rd and walk down to whatever looked good to me. There seemed to be some good holes and look forward to trying them again later when it warms up.

Summary
Location: Yakima Riverr, near Cle Elum, exit 84 off I-90, 85 min east of Seattle
Time: 1-5pm
Rod: 5 wt w/ floating line and sinking line
Tackle: Stone nymph with various midge droppers
Fish: 0
Species: N/A
Biggest Fish: N/A
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 5/10

 

Mouth of the Teanaway into Yakima

Snoqualmie River, WA (Steelhead)

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

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.

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

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

 Jon Fighting a Fish

 John Fishing

 The Kalama River and Jon's Coworker

Fighting a Fish Myself

You Can See A Few Fish Running Up River

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