A Pleasant Surprise On A Dreary Day...

Skunk.

Skunk.

Skunk.

That's what I'm accustomed to when Steelhead fishing on the swing. In fact, I have only had a handful of recognized strikes since picking up the spey rod and I've only made good on a few suicidal salmon from those chances. Needless to say, I've been desperate to catch a Steelhead on the swing.

That all changed when this happened last week.

The Cowlitz River on the last Sunday of September... A day so ugly out, that the normal hum and drone of jet boats running up and down the river was practically non-existent. I fished with my friend and guide Mike Sturza of Lost Creek Fly Shop, and it quickly became a day that I'd never forget.

We began by targeting Sea Run Cutthroat on the swing with a two handed rod. Mike worked with me on my casting and, more importantly, my hook set. I've suspected that I've had more than the few handful of swung fly strikes that I have made count, and I knew that my hook set/perception of strikes was a major weak point in my swing fishing game. Having over a dozen early strikes from Sea Runs and receiving coaching on what to do when these strikes happen was a HUGE help. 

Sure, I may have missed two dozen fish over the course of the day, but the dozen plus that I hooked went a long way in improving my confidence and angling abilities. Mike and I couldn't stop laughing every time I reverted to my old bad habits, but they gradually faded as the day went on. One of my few good qualities is my ability to laugh at myself and on this rainy day, I was laughing with nearly the same frequency as the relentless rain.

The first Cutthroat was special, and with each fish I grew more and more confident in my abilities. I hooked one Cutthroat so large (and aggressive in it's take) that we thought it was initially a Steelhead. The day was rapidly becoming something special and the Sea Run fishery on the Cowlitz had me on cloud nine.

After moving spots a few more times, I was still throwing long casts with the two-hander hoping for a big tug instead of the Cutthroat that were so kind to us. Mike began fishing with a 6 wt Scott single hander for Cutthroat at the head of a run that I had worked through already. Within minutes he had 3 feisty Cutthroat on the bank and he implored me to try swinging the single-hander for these eager trout.

I obliged and began to catch Cutthroat almost immediately. After observing October Caddis in the bellies of our catch we switched to an October Caddis pupae pattern and I made three casts which resulted in hook ups each time. Mid swing on my fourth cast, I had another strike which felt similar to every Cutthroat that I had landed. But after the strike, something was different. This fish was taking line!

Odd I thought... until it rolled. 

"Steelhead! It's a Steelhead," Mike hollered. 

He then told me that the rod was rigged with 5x tippet (5.3lb Stroft Mono to be exact) on the end of the line as there are few Steelhead in the river at this point. We were out-gunned for sure. 

I was in for a heck of a battle... It took nearly 10 minutes and overcoming some serious self doubt to land the 27" Steelhead. When Mike was able to net the fish on the first attempt, I was whooping and hollering in absolute joy on the bank. Our day in miserable weather had turned out to be better than I could've ever hoped for.

I had landed a Steelhead on a swung fly... on a single hander and 5x tippet no less! 

It was a day that I'll never forget... the weather, the education, the first Sea-Run on the fly, the laughter, and the best surprise that I've had in a long while. That Steelhead isn't the biggest that I've caught, but it sure holds a very special place in my mind. 

The lessons and experience that I took from my day fishing with Mike will hopefully lead me to more hookups in the season ahead. Besides, there always seems to be something to check-off on the fly fishing bucket list. Now that I've caught my first Steelhead on the swing, I need to get one on a two-hander!

If you're interested in fishing with Mike on the Cowlitz River (an extremely underrated spey fishery) check out the Lost Creek Fly Shop webpage here.

The Importance of a Weekly Retreat

Does life have you stressed? 

Get out! Fish!

That my friends is some very simple, but accurate wisdom. 

Lately, I've found myself out on the water once a week. A far cry from three days of fishing trout in Spokane, but the opportunities are fewer and far between for trout around the 'Couv. 

With nearby rivers either blown out, or nearly devoid of anadromous fish, I'm getting impatient. I keep feeling like I need a fix. My past few trips to the Cowlitz produced mixed results (mostly great casting practice) but no true prize. I need that tug on the end of my line... I'm a damn junkie, and I admit it. 

On the way to Merrill. A gorgeous, albeit cold, day!

This week, my fix took place at Merrill Lake. I hit the water around noon and as soon as I launched my float tube, I realized I had forgotten my stripping apron at home. Genius! Oh well, I had a few hours to fish before hopefully meeting up with Mike Gamby, an original Early Morning Freestone Pimp (much like Jay Johnson, my early fly fishing mentor). 

I found feisty Coastal Cutthroat all around the lake that day, and despite the smaller size of many of the fish (12" average), I felt elated to get some good mojo back. Add the fact that these were my first lacustrine Coastal Cutts, and I was quite happy with the day.

Mike and his friend Chad showed up later and we worked the shoreline, replete with downed logs and a raised water level in search of fish. Mike nailed several Cutts and I took back to my tube for a few more fish before the sun set behind the hills.

I would post pictures of the day's catch and scenery but in typical fashion, I lost a piece of gear on the water. Yes, for the second time in five months, I lost my camera. Remember that missing stripping apron? Setting my camera in my lap in lieu of the apron was a terrible idea... slipped right out of my lap and into the drink. Perhaps the floating attachment would've been a good idea when fishing a lake. But alas, a sweet Fuji waterproof camera is sitting at the bottom of the lake and there's nothing I can do about it. 

The day was an overall success (though I'd trade the many cutthroat caught for my camera back!). It was nice to fish with some new friends and explore water that I hadn't touched before. Heck, it was nice to know that I had still had some skills on a lake! But in this season of transition, I find myself checking water levels, hatchery escapement reports, and weather patterns. While I'll never be over trout, it's almost time for winter steelhead and this guy is going to be relentlessly chasing them.

A real fly fishing junkie can never get enough.

Cutthroat, Dry Flies, and Bats...

I'm moving away from Spokane soon. The end of August to be exact. It will be bittersweet... I'll miss the Spokane River, my fishing companions, co-workers, and the proximity to Montana. I won't miss the crazy tweaked out meth addicts, the terrible roads and drivers, nor will I miss the awful economy. I guess I'll miss the fishing most of all though...

That lead me to this week's short fishing trip, originally planned for a two-day trip on the St. Joe River in North Idaho. The Joe is a tributary to Lake Coeur d'Alene and is renowned for its Westslope Cutthroat fishing. I hadn't been on the Joe since last September and sunny skies greeted my fishing partner and I when we arrived on the river this past Wednesday.

This 18" Cutt fell for a Stonefly Nymph. Caught by Dustin Bise. 

The intense heat and cloudless day was not great for hatches (sparse PMDs, Golden Stones, and Caddis) but fish were still active. Combining nymphing slots and buckets and throwing attractor dries, we quickly got into fish. In fact, our first fish of the day was actually one of two on the same cast. Yes, my first one-man double... a 16" Cutt on the stonefly and a 6" Cutt on the Prince dropper. The day was looking solid until an incident on the next hole.

Two Fish = Win! 

While I was hiking down a trail to a boulder that created a huge eddy, I reached forward to brace myself (going downhill) on an old tree stump. I looked at the stump before I reached for it, and saw nothing unusual. As soon as my hand touched the top of the stump (and my fingers reached over the edge of it) I felt a sharp prick and heard an odd screeching noise. A small creature of some sort fell to the ground and started crawling around while I quickly jumped down to the river bank, scared to death. I looked at my finger and saw two small puncture wounds (practically superficial) and looked on the trail to see a small bat (silver haired bat) hissing/screeching at me.

Now, I was scared, didn't know what to do, and in hindsight I should've captured and killed the little bastard, but instead I went to the river, got out my soap and began washing the wound out continually. We continued to fish for the rest of the evening and set up camp that night. I figured/thought that rabies took some time to set in and the bite looked mild enough that I'd be fine if I waited till the following day to trek back to Spokane.

We fished through the night, netting 20 fish between the two of us, mostly Cutthroat with a few Whitefish thrown in for varieties sakes. The following morning, we fished for a few hours working fish on dries and nymphs in the nicer buckets on the river. Even a big pool produced fish for us, which was shocking considering how much pressure these fish had seen recently.

Great Cutthroat from the "Bat Hole."

It turned out to be a near 40 fish trip for us, which is phenomenal considering the chatter from most anglers on the river was that fishing was terribly slow.

Nice Cutthroat following release.

Wrapping up early, we drove back to Spokane where I went immediately to the hospital. It was determined that I needed to get a Post-Exposure Rabies treatment (series of 5 shots, plus an EXTREMELY expensive anti-body shot to start off with)... the bummer is that insurance will barely cover any of it (read none... just adjustments... they say it's not a preventative thing but rather an injection) and the average bill for people bitten by bats who need the treatment is $10,000. No joke. In fact, that first day I had 11 shots at the Hospital including 6 of the anti-body into my fingertip... painful freaking stuff.

So a trip that went from being a cheap, camping overnight for Cutties, turned into the most expensive and frustrating ordeal of my life (wait... maybe college takes that title).

I won't be posting too many fishing reports in the near future as medical appointments, work, and packing for our move will occupy most of our time. I do have a float planned for next week on the Spokane and will have a full run-down on that.

So next time you're out fishing/hiking/exploring in North Idaho, be aware of bats and stay the #%#@ away from them. They do have an important role in our ecosystem but they sure can be expensive and possibly deadly.

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.

Dry Flies and Redemption, NW Montana Style.

After last week's 19-hour, one-day fishing adventure, I figured I'd take it easy for my fishing trip this week. I've got a 2+ day trip to Montana with the Trout Jedi planned for next week, and while gas is getting cheaper, me falling and destroying gear + not being home does cost money. And that rest and sleep thing... underrated in my mind.

Icing on the cake... 17+" small river Rainbow. Thank you Caddis hatch.

With all those factors in mind (and a Montana fishing license in my pocket), I figured I'd hit the St. Regis River for some mountain freestone action. A straight shot over I-90 (which parallels the river for most of its length before it dumps into the Clark Fork), the St. Regis River is a bit of an enigma. Not known for great fishing, it runs cold and features high gradient fishing in it's channelized waters (thanks Interstate!). Some of my friends swear by the river and gave me excellent intel about where to go and what to use... others said to stay away from it (they used less appropriate language). I decided to give it a shot.

What I found when I got to the river was interesting. Some fishy looking spots, freeway traffic blaring in the background, and very few fish. I several promising looking spots and saw just two fish (one of which said "no thanks!" to my Golden Stone pattern) in 3 hours of fishing. I followed my friend's advice but with water temps just barely over 40 degrees, I figure that most of the fish aren't terribly active yet... that and there wasn't much in the means of obvious holding water in the heavy-ish flows.

Dejected, I pulled into St. Regis, conferred with some locals (who also scoffed at my fishing their local river, telling me it'd been poor this year), and grabbed a bite to eat. I couldn't head home yet. A two hour drive with nothing to show for it? No. I decided to jet north an hour to the Thompson River... get a few hours in on the Thompson and then cut over Thompson Pass and be back by 8 pm. Not a poor plan it seemed. Worst off, I'd be down two more gallons of gas... but at 30 MPGs and $3.40/gallon (sad that I'm stoked about that), I couldn't pass up the opportunity to catch fish.

Last week on the Thompson, it was a nymphing clinic that my fishing partner and I put on... This week was slow on nymphing. I had one strike while nymphing a usual hole that produces for me. I worked my way upriver (which was substantially lower than last week) and pulled up to a favorite spot of mine.

Pulling off the road, I looked into the water below and saw rises... lots of them. I could literally see 30 fish stacked up in the current below... smallish fish, huge fish... it was like looking at a wild trout aquarium, and these fish were hungry. Money.

I casually worked up to a hole well above where the fish were working and examined the hatch... PMDs, Drakes, and an odd Golden Stone. And big looking ones. I tied on a Golden Stone, PMD double dry set up and went down the bank stealthily below the active fish. Now, I'm known to be a clumsy, piss poor wader. I could scare a fish across the river from me, but on this day, I was smooth. On my hands and knees, ninja-style smooth wouldn't even describe it. I made a first cast upstream to the rising fish and it was game on.

Westslope Cutthroat... A fishing partner would've made for better photos!

Cutthroats, Browns, Rainbows... it didn't seem to stop. While I didn't hook them all, and I certainly lost a few fish during the fight, it was a glorious time. Over the course of a few hours I landed several fish on the PMDs.

Feisty small Brown trout.

I rested the hole for 10 minutes at a time (it's a big run and you can fish different sections in it without scaring too many fish), and eventually noticed a lull in the action. I moved upriver to a different locale (which was a big producer last week) but came up empty handed... the lower flows made the hole less suitable for holding many fish.

Back downriver, I saw that a Caddis hatch had broken out and the fish were working the same hole that I had fished earlier. Re-rigging to a Yeager's Neversink Caddis/X-Caddis trailer, I played the same game working the bottom of the hole to the top... Money. It was just that kind of day. I landed the largest fish that I've caught of the Thompson... a 17" Rainbow that looked a lot like the Spokane River Redbands that I love so dearly.

Big Thompson River Rainbow. X-Caddis.

After three more fish in the same hole, I realized it was nearing 5:30 (PDT) and decided I should get back over the pass. It was my first time taking the Thompson Pass road, and I doubt I'll go another way again! I saved 40 miles and nearly a half hour of drive time... Only downside was a robin that decided to play chicken with my car on the CDA river road. My car won and I felt a little bad about the whole affair.

All in all, it was a great day on the river. I wasn't gone too much longer than I had originally planned, I caught nearly double digits trout on the dry, and got some stealth wading practice in. Always have a back-up plan, and never let a skunking ruin your day on the water.

Now it's time to gear up for my extended Montana trip next week. More reports to come! 

Lake Season Wrap-Up

It's nearing that special time of year where rivers are opening up and coming into shape. Combined with the fact that I'm almost done with my time in Cheney (my usual jumping off point for lake fishing) and the end of my Spring lake season is near.

I'm one of the few younger guys around here that truly enjoys stillwater fishing, but I must admit that running water brings more excitement to me then sitting in a float tube getting blown around a desert lake. This Spring, it has been predictably windy, fishing has been hit or miss, and I've explored some new waters. There are moments when I'm on a lake and I feel completely lost, not knowing why my pattern that worked the day before is failing me, or where the fish are at. I know what bugs are hatching/working, but I wonder if weather system changes, lunar phases, or something else keeps fish down.

Needless to say, I've experienced a few skunks on the lakes this year, but I also had some dynamite days. I'm happy to say that I hit the local lake Trout Slam this year... 4 hours on the water, 3 different trout species to hand (Brown, Tiger, Rainbow...) and all were BIG and healthy. Not bad work... especially since they took my own tied chironomids and leaches.

Big (read long) Tiger Trout

Lacustrine Brownie (not a fan of the net)

Gorgeous Rainbow in my Sunburned Hand

To wrap it up, I had a great time this year spending days on the water with good friends. No truly banner days (4 fish days were the norm) but some fun experiences. I got my first Amber Cutthroat (on a dry fly no less), finally caught fish on chironomids (definitely worthwhile... with a beer in hand), and had my first experience with ticks (not a pleasant thing to find on your float tube after taking out). 

Blurry Amber Lake Cutthroat

My last trip was a fun one but water temps were nearing the mid 60 degree mark which means that fishing the area lakes (for trout!) will soon end for me until the cooler days and nights of Fall arrive. Not necessarily a bad thing though as I have many squiggly blue lines to follow and fish, as well as some road trips to high altitude lakes brimming with eager fish waiting for my fly.

Heftiest Rainbow of the Spring Season

The Calm Before The Storm

Before I get too down and dirty with details, I'll disclose that I work at a very busy restaurant and I'm finishing up the last quarter of my Bachelors Degree. Did I mention that I'm married and the "house" husband in addition to the other "jobs" that I hold? Well, I am, and I can cook up a solid dinner, do laundry, and bust out term papers like it's nobody's business.

All work and no fun is not a recipe for happiness. My job is about to get crazy in the next few weeks (our busy season begins with the start of June) and finals are quickly approaching... all the signs pointed to a midweek retreat on the friendly currents of the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River for some Cutthroat action.

Meeting up with a good fishing buddy in CDA Idaho, we gassed up, got our morning coffee and headed to the river in my wade fishing transportation gem CR-V (30MPGs, no rod breakdown required when going between spots, and enough amenities to keep me happy). Sure, I had a class that afternoon, but with nothing due and not a single day missed all quarter, I let Senioritis get the best of me.

The CDA was on the drop (it looks like run-off came a bit earlier this year than in years past) and while still running relatively high and fast, there were fishy looking spots as soon as we hit the road. Sure enough, 8:00 AM, first spot, 3rd cast... fish on. It may have been a small little Cutthroat, but the strike on my self-tied Prince of Darkness pattern made my morning. The rest of the early hours were a bit of a bore...

My fishing partner got a pure Rainbow in the next spot (rare for being so far up the river!) which was attacked by something BIG in the pool while he fought it (Bull Trout? big Cutty? Hmm...) and I brought in another smallish (10" cutt). The spot would've been a whole lot better had I not fallen down a riverside embankment (nothing new) and bruised my palm up pretty nasty. My fishing partner took a spill and cut his thumb later on the same hole... curse? Perhaps...

Our next spot is a hole that I love in the summer but it produced with high flows for us. 10 AM, raining... Stoneflies up top? Why not!? I love catching fish on the dry in the AM.

We had to call it a day earlier than we would've liked as we had found a new $ hole around 2pm. My luck had picked up and it was a hookup per cast. Nothing like a little "Hook to Mouth" action to keep you on the river later than planned. At one point, it was 7 casts in a row with fish on in the same spot. The fish really liked the Prince of Darkness pattern, and it was only rivaled by a TB Golden Stone pattern. We lost a few nice Cutts but I landed one worthy of a streamside picture with my friend.

Wrist tattoos and Cutthroat trout. 

All in all, it was a 20 fish landed day for us, and a good one at that. The average fish size wasn't too terribly large (we lost a few legitimate 16" fish) but the action was consistent once the afternoon sun came out. As a relatively new fly tyer (started in January), I took great joy in the fact that my Prince of Darkness pattern (an Idylwilde pattern that I modified) was getting fish hooked like powerbait. 

My "Charlie Murphy" Prince of Darkness Nymph

The pattern is essentially the same as the Idylwilde pattern available in shops, but I modified the dubbing out (instead of plain black dubbing for the body, I've used Hareline Dubbin Peacock Black Ice Dub) to give it a bit more pop. This is a great searching pattern when the water is a bit off color.

Charlie Murphy Prince of Darkness recipe:

TMC 2457 (scud/pupa style hook) sizes 12-16

Black Tungsten Bead to Match Hook Size (2.4 or 2.8mm)

Black 8/0 UniThread

Ultrawire Silver size Brassie

Black + White Goose Biots

Mix of Hareline Dubbin STS Trilobal Black and Peacock Black Ice Dub

Hungarian Partridge tied in as throat

After my CDA trip, my free time is limited until the third week of June. I'm staring at 40 hour work weeks and finals with nary a day off to fish before Graduation. And of course river levels are dropping into PERFECT shape. Oh well... I guess I'll have to sneak in some bench time so I'm restocked and ready for that elusive day off.

My first crack at Green Drake nymphs

I've been working on Green Drake nymphs and am happy with my progress in experimenting with new materials and styles. We'll see if they fish well the next time I get out... whenever that is.