Goodbye Spokane...

Goodbye Spokane.

It's been an weird interesting past year and a half in this town, and I sure as heck won't miss the snow, crappy roads, plethora of tweakers, nor will I miss the under-abundant cultural offerings.

I will, however, miss the good fishing friends, awesome co-workers, the Spokane River, and the fact that I lived in a jumping off point to famous/wonderful fly fishing waters within just a few hours.

Since the next day plus will revolve around finishing packing and loading a moving truck, I decided to get some final urban river time in with good friends and my Dad who is in town.

First up, was a Monday walk and wade on the Spokane with Wayne, the Trout Jedi. I cherish every opportunity that I get to fish with Wayne because I try to observe the way he inspects water, fishes it, and how he truly loves and respects the resource. If I was told to choose one fly fisherman who I look up to the most, I'd answer Wayne without a doubt.

Anyways, Wayne and I did some hiking, missed a few fish, fell in the river minutes apart from each other, and then proceeded to hook into, and land, some sweet Redbands. Urban gold as I like to call 'em.

A Redband in the net with my Prince nymph still attached. 

Wayne with some morning gold on the Spokane River.

After Wayne left for work, I returned home to prep for the move and plan the evening's float with my buddy Blake.

Blake had a raft on loan and we decided to put it to use on the Spokane. We launched mid day, and within 10 minutes on the water I had quickly hooked and lost two fish. The strikes were short and I was far from surprised considering recent reports from this stretch of water. Slow fishing, soft strikes, and warm temps were the reports from friends floating the river...

Sure enough, my luck changed. I hooked into a PIG. It flashed hard and turned right into the current. A good 20 seconds of fight were for naught though as it came loose. I landed a scrappy Whitefish in the same run minutes later but Blake and I talked about the lost fish the rest of the float.

After another nearly fruitless river mile, we beached the boat and began to fish the bank. Bingo. Double. I landed a healthy Redband and Blake netted a fat Whitefish.

Blurry shot, but a nice Spokane River Redband. 

Back to the raft, I switched spots with Blake and took the sticks. Disclaimer, I had only once before rowed a raft and I was TERRIBLE at it. For the first 100 yards or so, I felt that a repeat of my previous rafting experience was occurring, but something miraculous happened. I figured it out. That's right, I took the sticks for most of the rest of the float, skirted by some nasty water, got Blake into fish (I got a few more myself...) and developed some sweet blisters on my palms. The best part of it was the fact that I now feel comfortable running a raft and can be of some use to my float fishing friends besides the obvious gas money contributions.

The evening was a success and I had a great time fishing with a good friend. But onto my last Spokane River experience of the year...

My Dad came into town this morning and I had a few surprises for him. First off was a shiny new fly rod... nothing fancy now, but still a good, fishy piece of graphite. Second off, was that I was going to work with him on his casting and get him on the water.

After a nice lawn cast with the Old Man, I got him out on the Spokane. In the first run, I managed to hook (and land!) a feisty, and very nice Redband. Dad was a bit new to the throwing junk game (double nymph rigs on big water are not the easiest things to manage as a new angler) but he managed to up his game throughout the day.

Showing the Old Man how it's done in Spokane. 

We fished hard in several spots, but being that it was mid-day, I wasn't expecting much. Our last spot of the day yielded another gorgeous Redband to my rod, and another fish that when hooked went aerial and came unhooked.

Sweet fish coming unhooked? On my rod? On the Spokane? No way?!?!? I see a pattern developing...

Needless to say, it was a great experience taking my Dad out to water that has meant so much to me over the past year, and showing him how to fish it, and why the Redbands that I rave about are so special.

When I landed the first fish and showed it to him, he remarked at how it was such a beautiful trout... yeah Dad, rub it in. Those trout are now going to six hours away from me.

On to new waters, and new adventures.

Thanks Spokane. You've actually been pretty great.

It's Been Awhile...

Life has been crazy around the house lately. Packing to our hearts content for the big move, applying for more jobs everyday, getting an interview (!!!!), and working 40+ hours at the restaurant has kept me off the water to a degree.

I did manage to sneak in a trip to the Thompson River nearly two weeks ago. I can say, with some certainty, that I'm not a fan of high-summer fishing. Water temps get warmer, fish are less active, finding them isn't necessarily hard, but fishing responsibly (read... not when water temps are over 68, fight 'em fast, bring 'em in, release them after plenty of fishy CPR) becomes more paramount. It all has me longing for June and early July. I don't mind a little run-off when fish are accessible and ravenous.

Big Rainbows like this guy will be much easier to fool come Fall.

It's truly become a "dog-days" of summer routine with temperatures in the high 80's-90's in Spokane. The Thompson River has experienced the same type of temperatures that we've gotten here in Spokane with the exception of slightly cooler nights. Needless to say, my trip over there was slow going. I found fish yes, I found some very nice fish (seeking refuge from the Clark Fork and warmer water temps) but there weren't as many players compared to previous trips over the pass. 

Typical Thompson River Rainbow. Feisty and beautiful. This one had someone else's fly embedded in it's jaw. I removed it and let it go... no more extra lip jewelry for you.

Biggest Thompson fish for me yet. Caught 300 yards above the confluence with the Clark Fork... wonder where this Lacustrine looking guy normally lives? 

Gorgeous fish... it really worked the four weight. 

CDC Caddis emerger patterns were the hot ticket for me. Hoppers and Chubby Chernobyl's caught a few fish, but the big boys were working the caddis. Nymphing wasn't the winner that it typically is for me on the Thompson with just a few fish to hand sub-surface. 

I can't complain when I'm in Montana, catching trout, having to work harder at it (and learning new skills the whole time), but hot dang do I miss my trips of early July. It makes me wish that I had taken an extra-day off work to fish more before life got crazy (or to have just avoided the whole bat incident...). 

Speaking of bat bites, rabies, and other stupid fortune, I received my last post-rabies exposure vaccine this week and am done with treatment. We're just waiting for the first bill to arrive at the house, and for reality to sink back in again. Until then, I'm happy to be safe, rabies free, and not extremely poor... yet. 

I sure hope to get out before we leave Spokane at the end of the month, but work will likely dictate otherwise. Aside from a few short jaunts to the Spokane (thanks Upper River for the HUGE hookup and lost fish the other day...) I'm about done over here. It'll be Steelhead and Oregon trout in the near future for this Trout Bum. I'm excited to move back to the area and see what kind of fly fishing opportunities exist over there that I may not know about. 

Keep reading, please follow along regularly, and most importantly, keep on fishing. 

A Float Through an Urban Wonderland

Yesterday evening, I was fortunate enough to join my good friend Wayne "Trout Jedi" Jordan on a float with Sean Visintainer, the owner of Silver Bow Fly Shop here in Spokane. I've floated the river before with Silver Bow, but that was last summer with my Father-In-Law. In fact, last year's trip was one of my first forays back into fly fishing and it occurred almost a year to the day prior.

Big Spokane River Redband.

This year, lower flows then the previous season coupled with rising water temps and lots of pressure had me thinking that the trip would be good, but perhaps not red hot. After being on the water for 10 minutes, I stood corrected. Wayne and I, under the direction of Sean of course, put on a friggin clinic. We netted countless Redbands, got a token pikeminnow, and I of course landed two Whitefish...

Another BIG Spokane River fish.

These weren't just any fish though... we caught some HOGS! I got my two best fish out of the Spokane ever, with both over 18" and chunky. Wayne got one that was pushing 19" and looked more like a Triploid out of a local lake. It was insane. Perhaps the best part was the fact that we used our own dropper flies (Wayne's Bastard Prince and my E-Z-Wing Caddis). Several fish also destroyed our Pat's Rubber Legs.

The "Jedi" Strikes Again!

When fishing with more experienced fisherman, I like to try and pick up some new tips or learn new tactics. If I'm lucky enough, the other fisherman will catch a flaw or two in my methods and help me improve my catching ability. A guided trip is an ideal time to pick up these pointers and tonight I was thankful that Sean noticed me pumping the rod too much while fighting fish. I was creating slack in doing so much and lost several nice fish early in the float because of this habit. Lesson learned, and by the end I was sticking and landing nearly every strike.

Healthy 14" Redband. Native, Feisty, Beautiful.

The float was a great time, and I highly recommend a trip with Silver Bow in the near future. They are a great shop with wonderful staff who know their stuff.

Putting a bend in the Winston. Thanks again Sean and Silver Bow!

The photos used in this blog entry were taken by Sean, Wayne, and myself!

Not What I Wanted...

This was a first for me. A sucker. A fairly big, nasty, slimy, stinky, sucker fish. Native... yes. Lame... also a yes. Fought like an old tire. 

Thankfully I got a few Redbands to start the day... I'll be back at it in a few hours with some friends. It's a good day off work despite mid 90 degree temps. 

Here's to hoping I'll be catching more Redbands than suckers in the evening.

Second cast of the day... the preferred quarry. 

Montana Trip Recap

This past Tuesday afternoon, Wayne "Trout Jedi" Jordan and I embarked on two days and nights of camping and fly fishing in the Missoula area of Montana. We planned to fish for sure on a few rivers and would "wing it" according to water flows, fishing pressure, etc if our destined waters were not fishing well.

We hit a few big name waters, some relatively unknown creeks, and a few quiet but excellent rivers. 

I had a few goals before the trip...

1. Catch my first Bull trout. A must.

2. Catch a big Brown.

3. Drink good beer.

4. Catch all the available gamefish/trout species on the waters that we fish... nearly improbable but a good ultimate goal.

5. Work on my dry fly game... ie. Reach cast effectively, stalk fish, and make my first cast count.

In the end, I accomplished four out of five goals. Only number two eluded me, but I hooked a MASSIVE Bull trout on the ******************* River that took me to my backing before coming unhooked. That one still grinds my gears. Oh well...

PMDs, Caddis, and Drakes up top seemed to be the main meal tickets, and my self tied Z-wing Caddis Pupae was a winner nymphing. Wayne of course caught fish in all manners, and he even enticed a fish to a purple/glitter Chubby Chernobyl dry fly... and it wasn't just any fish, it was an 18" Westslope Cutthroat. Not your average Cutty!

Enough text for this post though. How about some pictures?! Wayne took the shots of my fish and I threw a couple of Wayne's victory photos in for good measure as well.

Rock Creek, Montana.

Rock Creek Brook Trout. Small guy, dry fly. Only Brookie of the trip.

Wayne's Big Cutthroat.

Hello Cutty. How was that Chernobyl pattern?

Biggest Cutthroat to date for me. Just shy of 19". Great fish.

Close-up.

My first ever Bull trout. Small but native and gorgeous.

Dry fly stalking Cutthroat. Always fun.

Feisty Montana Cut-bow.

Riverside refreshments. Critical to a good trip.

Redbands Love Caddis Pupa...

The title says it all.

After Wednesday's dry fly success in Montana, I was productive Thursday. Applied to a few jobs, researched for my upcoming Montana overnighter, and cleaned the house. All done in time to hit the urban river for an hour of fishing before dark.

Native Redband trout were very willing to eat, the flows were lower, and I even managed to have a few fish break me off... not too common.

Did I mention the crazy guy walking around area howling before dark? A little entertaining, but mostly uncomfortable. The group of Juggalos (look it up... they're awful, and abundant in Spokane) having a picnic on the river were another surprise. When you hear things like "Woot! Woot!" while fly fishing, you know that you're in Spokane!

The best surprise was this fish though... 17"+ and very healthy.

Pat's Rubber Legs and a tan caddis pupa is a money combo at the moment. With flows dropping in pretty big increments over the next few weeks, I recommend letting the river settle for a day or two before venturing out. Let the fish get comfortable in their new homes and then head out, as they seem to respond better when they get comfortable with current levels. Just be ready to see your indicator go under when you get out there!

As always, practice catch and release on this river. Fish densities are very low, and these are truly wild trout. Savor every fish you catch, enjoy the moment, treat 'em with respect, and properly release them. If you see poachers on the river, call them in. You can dial 911 and report fish poaching or call the WDFW poaching hotline. I haven't encountered poachers yet this season, but I'm certain that they're out there affecting our local native trout population.

Now get out there and get some hook to mouth.