Last Roadtrip of the Year

To make a long story short, one could not turn water into wine and instead turned it into cold Coors Light. The cold fertile waters of the Skeena will have to wait until another year when wallet is filled with more then receipts. The plan changed to a roadtrip to visit some buddies in Montana, catch a Brown Trout before it finds a Fall Partner then go visit some river in Idaho where pigmy steelhead have to travel 600 plus miles to get to.















Tamarack in the Hills of Montana.














The short cold Fall days turned to the beginning of Winter in the Rockies and the drive slowed to the pace of snow and ice filled passes and rollovers. Seeing good friends along the way and staying in towns along the way made the drive seem shorter and the lack of tourists made the scenery in Fall colors a different perspective of what I have seen while making fishing trips in the Spring and Summer months.














Ian Majszak lecturing us on good photography.

Each day brought a different river and scenery to the menu. The trout seemed to target the same thing specifically no matter where we were. Fish were caught and good times were had. Though after a few days and seeing freezing guides every morning I could not help but look into the future and what this winter will bring while in search of Winter Steelhead that are just starting to trickle in on the West side of the Cascades.













Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout from a Montana Spring Creek. Note the talon marks from a raptor.

With the weather turning colder and a forecast of 15 degree in the location in Idaho, we made yet another change of plans to yet another venue and one I know well. After yet another long drive through two states we found ourselves on the big river once again. We spent a couple days enjoying the last fruits of Fall then came home to the smiles of our families.















Rick Matney with a Montana Steelhead. If lake run rainbows in the Great Lakes are Steelhead, then this lake run fish in Montana is no different.

Though not the trip I was looking forward to and planning for a year, getting out of Dodge before Seasonal Effective Disorder set in was a must, and like always, lots of things were learned on the river and road to make it worth the carbon footprint.















Classic wets still work just under the surface in the cold!!!

I Guess He Wanted it!

So there I was fishing in the dark the other fight trying to cover water in a boulder field. Water temps were down and working through the run I kept snagging up. Lame as hell really so looking at my tip wallet I went to an old SA clear intermediate that I could not get the curls out of (bullshit PVC crap). While taking five feet per swing I kept tripping on the boulders in the dark as I stepped through the run. Then all of a sudden my line stopped and instead of dropping a loop I just raised the rod thinking it was another boulder then it was there. Weird as hell take and even more so when I found my Fall Favorite in the back of its mouth. Oh well this Buck thirty went to the dinner table. Great end to already good day on the Eastside.

Steelhead Camp Part 2

Justin Koller working the run.

It is always nice coming home to water you know well, though this year with rain and wind it wasn’t the same and challenging in new ways. Fishing the same water for years, the water conditions this year was not the same. Water clarity was not as good and water flow was almost twice that of years past and thus lies and patterns learned over the years changed. Fish were still in many of the same places, but consistency with a dry line was not the same and methods were needed to change over the days to find what we were looking for.





























Keith picking my pocket like always.

Day one brought many fish to a dry line and even the surface, but as the water rose and the clarity started to change the fish were moving though in waves. It was not consistent and by the second day, much of the water that held fish did not hold as many the next day, or at least did not come to the consistency of anything with peacock and gold like years past. Still fish were found, but tactics and fly size really started to become a factor.
















I got hammered three times skating this little one in pocket water before bringing this one to the beach.

By day three large flies were the ticket but as the clarity started to come back we were able to find more productive holding lies and dry lines started to come back into play. Day four produced the same and by the time my father and I left, it was perfect. Fish were there and starting to hold more consistently.
















One of several fish my dad caught.

Despite drinking less and being first on the water, each day just seemed shorter then in years past. Sharing water with my father and good friends was a blast. My dad finally got to see why I travel around the Pacific Northwest in search of these anadromous trout and he even got to catch a few in the process. Watching his hands tremble while holding up his first steelhead was well worth the price of admission and a memory I will always remember.
















Josh Mills from Chucking Line and Chasing Tail lighting up the place.














The traditional last day skated fish on a new creation.

More Work On Condit Dam's Removal

This is awesome and it is happening today! Check it out, White Salmon Restored!

Pacific Northwest Fly Tyers Rendezvous

The 2011 Fly Tying Rendezvous will be on Saturday, November 5, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Sam Cox Building, Glen Otto Park, 1106 E. Columbia River Hwy, Troutdale, Oregon 97060. This is the same building as last year. There will be many of the N.W. best tyers tying their best flies. No better place to learn the latest techniques in fly tying. Admission is free so bring your family and friends. There will be tables setup for a silent auction with 50+ dozen flies and lots of fly fishing equipment. Food will be available on the premises as well. Have fun!

Check out the Pacific Northwest Fly Tyers Rendezvous.

Shamburg's at it Again

Got a text last week from my good buddy Mark Shamburg. You remember the bamboo spey making, machinist who likes to make his own click pawl reels and who caught a Spring Chinook on his birthday in January a few years past. Well he is off in the British Columbia wonderland slaving away on the river. The quality craftsmanship of his work is amazing and he sent me some pictures the other day of the fruits of his labor. I can't wait to make it up there. Hmmm..........maybe next week.














Mark with the first fish on his trip and the first on his new grass rod and Shammy Reel.

Quick Klick Float

This weekend I was able to take my daughter Lillian out to visit our good friends Jeff and Jan Cottrell in Klickitat, Washington. Jeff's been fishing the Klickitat for decades and spending time with them has always been more then spending time on the river. Jeff and Jan have been like family to me for years. This last year my daughter got to spend some quality time with them. Last week my daughter asked me if they were going to forget her since they had not seem them in months. So of course with a weekend off and a boat in dry dock, I knew this was a great opportunity to get out.

















After eating the usual gourmet dinner at their place on Saturday, we slept in Sunday morning. The Klickitat River this time of year is crowded and this year it has been a downright zoo. There are over a dozen fly shops and outfitters both fly and gear that are guiding on the river these days. Though most of the Chinook Salmon are on the beds already, it prime time for Silvers. Whoopie, but the omelet hatch is on that thus the bobber brigade is out in force.

Now this is prime time to skate a fly. October caddis are out in force, water and air temperature is perfect, yet with the amount of pressure on the river, you got a chance in hell bringing one of them to the surface. Its a crying shame and the asshats trying to pump it with more hatchery Steelhead and non native Silvers, it may get worse.
















Photo: Jan Cotrell

At any rate we had a great little float. The Klickitat in the Fall is breathtaking and the weather was perfect. The best part of the day was seeing my daughter connect once again with my good friends and see that Mother Nature is fun for both girls and boys. It also nice to know she will always want to go back to Klickitat, which means I will indeed get some water time with her in the future.






















Oh yeah and the pumpkins, I don't know. There were scattered in every good nymphing and yes swinging spot on the river. I figure one of the fly guides was marking his spots for the newbie guides following behind him. It would figure anyway and yes Lillian took one home.