So fall is here and with every fall my mind turns to the Eastern Washington rivers and their summer run steelhead. I fish the Wenatchee, avoid the Methow and the crowds, hit the Snake or the Clearwater, but the one thing that I never miss is the Ronde. Some weeks are busy. Some weeks are slow with people.

Some weeks have been blessed with a bounty of fish and some have been the “should have been here last week” trips. All in all, no matter what week we have, its still a special trip. Fish or no fish, there is no place in middle to late October I would rather be.

Just like every year, the calls of the Skeena tribs call my name in my sleep and shout at me as im trolling the local waters in September for pinks (on the odd year) and the summer runs in the upper streches, but I still can’t avoid going to the Ronde.

The Ronde is a special river. It is not known for the record breaking steelhead you find in the Clearwater or up in B.C. It is not the kind of river where you can go expecting 17 hookups out of the boat like you might on the Methow. For myself, its not always about the size or the numbers of the fish during the trip. Its being on a river that is as rugged as it is beautiful. The lower and middle streach of the river gives you the feeling of total isolation in the wilderness. And, as you are surrounded by all the wonderment of pheasants flying above, big horn sheep scaling the rock cliffs, deer poking their heads out of the brush, and grouse and chucker thumping away in the early morning or late evenings, every fish ends up being a supprise with so much to watch around you.

Grande Ronde steelhead are unlike many summer runs that I have caught in my time. They are not big. They are not always the most acrobatic. But, for their size, they are in a way, bull dogs. Bright, early-June steelhead on the Sky in are a battle of cunning and skill with blistering runs and large leaps. On the Ronde, its a battle of braun. These fish exert sheer power from their little frames, which they should, they just traveled close to 500 miles of river and crossed 8 dams in the process of getting to your fly. I don’t know if it is this fish’s travels or just the nature of this river but they are a very aggressive fish to the swung fly, either on the surface or just below.

But the fish are not the only reason to go to the Ronde in the fall for me. For the last 19 years it is a trip with my father and, most years his long time fishing buddy. Over the years, there are many memories with past fishermen and friends that have come and gone from our camp on the river. Some years there are two of us and some there are six. But every year is rehashed around the campfire at night with our wonderful libations in hand.

Even the years where we didn’t find the big numbers of fish have a place in our hearts and minds around that fire. It is the river where I learned and grew my love of Scotch, and because this is now public record, I will not divulge my age at the time. It is somehow by magic or a gift of the gods that in all the time that I have been on this trip, with the exception of two years for me, busy or slow, we always seem to find ourselves in the same spot to camp. It is amazing how that drive down the steep little dirt road and setting up camp in the same spot every year puts a good mood on the trip no matter what happens. This year was no exception. It is these little things in life that make this trip special. It all started with the pursuit of a steelhead but has grown into so much more than that. This is the reason why I go to this little river, a great fishing trip doesn’t always involve multiple numbers of fish or a 45” fish on the beach, its a great trip no matter what happens on the water.

The overall trip this year was a great one. We found fish willing to play with us everyday we were on the river. We found very little fisherman pressure for the most part. We were able to fish our usual haunts and found some new ones this year, much like we do every year. We were in a way humbled by the Ronde fish this year. We were able to find many fish willing to grab our damp fly or dry fly on this trip, and we were able to get most of them to stick… albiet that most of the sticking was for a second or two. Even the fish that we missed outright were a “how did that happen” kind of moment. The fish that we were able to keep on for any amount of time found ways to wrigle off after a short while. In the end only two fish made it to the hand out of the almost two dozen that we found willing to grace us with there presence.

One would blame the hooks, the line, the fisherman, but out the three of us this year, there were different lines, different tippets, different hooks (just about everyone you can think of). My theory was, it was just the fish.

So as I sit and type this now, revisiting my last adventure, my mind already starts to wonder to next fall and what exciting things are awaiting me on the Grande Ronde next year.

So its Fathers day. Couldn’t hit the river with pops this morning which is too bad. But for the middle of June the river has been pretty non-forgiving as of late. June is the time of year on the Sky where usually a skunk doesn’t happen let alone three in a row. But today I finally got out of the foul odor of the skunk. It wasn’t a banner day on the river didn’t see anybody else with a fish. Hopefully this warm weather stretch will bump the river up to big and get those fish that have been hanging out deep in the lower river moving up and into the fly water.

With the river on the rise the last two days figured it was time to get out and give it hell again on the river. Typically I stay off the Sky during the weekend because of the boat traffic that is on it typically. And there were a few out there today that re-affirmed that for me. The fishing gods however were with me and not them. Hope Karma keeps kickin their a$$es for the stunts that they pulled today. I’m not one that thinks they own the river when I’m out there but common courtesy goes a long way. Most fisherman would come unglued had I or anybody else fished the way they did on the river. Please respect the water of others when you are out fishing it goes a long way.

With that vent over sorry about that; we can get back to fishing. for the most part I was able to get first rod thru the water that I intended to fish today which is always a confidence booster. The first spot one of the most productive spots on the river for me this year yielded me nothing. Figuring my fly was the problem I ran through it 2 more times with different patterns seeing if something completely different would turn the fish that wasn’t there. The next piece of water probably would have had a good chance but as I took the time at the top of the break to tie back on the dark water fly the two boats of who I spoke of earlier made there first appearance. Both proceeded to put their boats in the sweet spot of the run and then step on the oars through the entire run. Normally this wouldn’t bother me too much but the water that I am fishing is only about 2ft deep the damage was done and I wasn’t about to wait around for the water to rest so. skipping the next spot trying to get away from those guys proceeded on the the last scheduled spot on the trip this morning.

With the moron twins in the rear-view started in with the light tip swingin the shallows. Half way through them, boom goes the dynamite, and a nice 7ish pound hatchery buck explodes from the water after 15 mins it found its way to the beach and in a couple of hours from now the BBQ. Ive done my part now its time for you to go out and give our wild steelhead a chance and get yours for the dinner table.

Tight Lines, Joe Ewing PFF, Northwest Steelheading

After a 6 month hiatus for most of our local rivers they are all finally open to fishing again. That means no more traveling to the coast or the Columbia River trips to get my fishing fix in. After a brutal winter fishery with the wonderful weather we had this fall, winter and most of spring, this weekend finally showed signs of summer.

That means summer run steelhead are in full swing on a few of our local rivers. The Skykomish opened up on the first of the month and with it being at a fishable level for the majority of anglers in the state, they all showed up en mass. For as crowded the river was there should have been more fish caught. Which tells me that the low water levels we have had for the last month or so has yet to bring in the bulk of the run.

Do not fret though this warm weather weekend should help jump start the run. As it stands now the Sky is running at about 11,600 cfs a large jump from the 7,500 cfs on the opener. With that size she is carrying quite a bit of color and hopefully in the coming days quite a bit of fish.

As for the fishing the first three days as said it was slow, a very late start on the opener avoiding the heavy early morning traffic yielded us one fish only to be lost as the fight drew near to the end. After a senior moment at the take out with a pair of my rods it left me day two with really only one option of fish finder for the river. It worked as it found two but they didn’t want to stick around for a picture and just as they were there they were gone, but hey that’s fishing. That day was cut short due to driving rains and the fact that some honest people who found two of my rods found a way to get them back to me. A big thumbs up and thank you to all the guys on piscatorial pursuits for helping me find those things.

After having to go back to work on Friday I was forced to an afternoon on the river. With the proper tools in hand and only a few hours of fishing to be done off to the river for round three. With the rain and the warmer weather the river was up almost 2K cfs from the opener. Getting a little closer to perfect for these bright sunny days. Hit the first spot which has yielded 2 fish so far this year with great optimism even though it was 69 degrees and hardly a cloud in the sky.

It took about 15 casts into this spot to feel the slight tap of a fish. Giving pause waiting for it to come back a brief moment later a large heavy presence was felt on the other end of the line. The 9wt fish finder had done its job now it was my turn. Little did I know at the time it was to be a battle of brawn and little wit. Only being able to make out a shadow in the murky water after 10 min I was beginning to think that I had found a summer king that had wandered up river. After about 20 min I was able to get it close enough to see the rosy red cheek and the stripe down the side indicating the presence of a big winter steelhead. For a fish this late in season it had remarkable strength and stamina. Unlike many of the winter runs that I have hooked in June this one had not spawned at this time. To give you a better indication of the size of this fish. My right hand was unable to grasp the wrist of the fish the picture gives a nice illusion but my fingers are not on the bottom of the fish. As for the girth my left hand has a much of the fish as it can handle. For those who don’t know me in person who read this 6‘4” and able to barely palm a basket ball makes me wish I found this fish in April when it was a full, plump, fresh weight. I would have easily taken over largest steelhead of my life but for now its a tie for second. Why may you ask are we talking about a dark winter run in June, because it was a toad, thats why. And its the reason why I fish 8,9, and 10wts in early June as opposed to 6 and 7wts, along with 12 to 15lb test leaders. Shortly after releasing the fish and on the phone while fishing of course I got a similar but more agressive bump of the fly and giving brief pause again felt the line start to slide off the reel and get heavy and just like the day before, but just like the day before came back to nothing but the tension of the current. Bummer . So as the month progresses the fishing will only get better as long as we keep some decent flows in the river to continue to entice the chrome summer runs back to their home streams.

Don’t miss out on a great fishery because the water volumes are intimidating come in to the shop or book a trip to learn how to fish these things this time of year.

Tight Lines, Joe Ewing PFF, Northwest Steelheading

And an update on the lower river.  Its a much different river than last year, to those that are familiar with the Hoh this is not news to you but for those that don’t know how this little river works.  Rapids have disappeared, boat launches have moved back to gravel bars and take outs are no longer in main channels.  For those that are looking at taking out at Barlows bring a trailer with a wench and a truck with good tires and 4WD.  Here is a pic of my dads truck pulling the boat out at Barlow’s a little over a week ago.

Usually when we get weather like we have had.  Torrential deluges’, Flooded rivers and 2ft of vis in the river for weeks.  Every Saturday while in the shop talking fish, the topic always comes up about how bad of shape the rivers are in.  Last week I was in total agreeance with all that came in.  Yesterday after seeing the river on the way into work, and the silted steelhead green that it was flowing my mind began to wander all day about searching for the chrome that the pools and runs of the Skykomish holds.  Curious to see what changes mother nature has brought us with the second major flood of the year, looking for that magical run that holds more fish that one could possibly endure (she didn’t bring us that, but its always fun to hope), I set my sights on the upper sky come dawn this morning.  Fishing with my first fishing partner of my life, like many times I do in scouting the changes, we spent the day looking for the Skys’ bounty from sun up to sun down. 

Staring at about 2.5 ft of vis cloudy but not wet nor too cold of a day the only boat meandering down the river optimism and excitement filled the first part of the voyage.  Fishing the second run which has changed nicely for the fly every cast held the chance of finding the fish that was going to make the day that much better.  Walking back to the boat with our tails between our legs scratching are heads trying to figure out why there wasn’t a fish in that water we moved on the the dirty water beyond the slide.  On the third cast in about 1ft of vis 5ft from the bank and in about 2ft of water the cries of “Fish On” filled the air.  To be honest I pulled the Lani Waller and tried to dislodge the fly from the fish because I thought it was the bottom.  After a short battle the chrome bright hatchery fish was ready for the beach and then the BBQ.  He had other plans sensing his imminent doom, he fled the scene with a roll and a flip of the tail to say “F* you, not me” as the fly came flying out of his mouth.  Heartbroken and frustrated I handed the hole over to dad to see if he could entice that bucks better half.  Although the spot has changed some over the past few floods it still had the feeling of being able to find a fish on every cast much like it has in the past. 

Many spots later we ran into the only bank angler that we saw all day.  Telling us that he thought that he felt something fishy in the top of the run we decided to run our bugs through it.  As we were getting our rods from the boat a small boil right next to the boat in the soft seam.  Pointing it out to me was my dad and to that I replied “glad I picked above the boat” with a smile on my face.  Doing everything that I could to make my fly swing in that foot and a half deep water right up next to the boat trying to hook the purple peril with my fly (one hook in the side is enough right now thanks) the line draws violently tight and line comes off my reel.  The thought of fish on flashes through my mind I come back on the rod to set the hook deep in the corner of the mouth and there was nothing there except disappointment.  It could have been a dolly it could have been a cutty but there has never been an occasion with the big rod in hand where those have taken line off the reel in the initial take.  We will never know exactly what it was but if I was in Vegas I’d put money on the steelhead. 

I write this to tell those who give me the funny looks when I talk about love of the sky running at 8000 cfs and above and two and a half feet of visability that finding fish in those conditions can be very easy.  You are not needed to make a booming cast you do not need to chuck a big weighted fly with 7ft of T-14 to find fish.  You do not need to cast 30ft to catch these fish, these fish are where they are supposed to be they are sitting at your feet and if you are wading past your shins in most cases you are way to far out in the river and the fish are most likely behind you.  Anybody can be a steelheader if they want to when the conditions are like this if they are willing to trust what they know and dont overfish these beautiful creatures. 

Tight Lines,

Joe Ewing, PFF, Northwest Steelheading guide

Knowing this rain was on the way and with the Christmas season starting to get crazy at the store, I fished the lower Skykomish today since it could be my last chance to get on the water until January.  I fished two runs pretty hard but didn’t find a fish willing to eat.

The river was dropping from the rain a few days ago and I was hoping to find some newly arriving winter steelhead in the lower river.  I put the boat in at Lewis Street in Monroe and motored up about a mile.  I fished two spots pretty hard for a total of four hours.  The monster rain storm that has been predicted in the news appeared to be starting so I cut the day short (but it turned out I should have stayed the rest of the day).  The river was in good shape, flowing at about 5,000 cfs and 2.5 to 3 feet of visibility.  Just the way I like it.

So, no grabs for me except a sucker that probably has a sore back today and about a four-foot long stick that drifted downstream, took my fly and started taking line.  Man, I would have bet serious cash that I was hooked up with a nice fish when that stick started pulling line!!!

Today one of our customers, Allen, came in and he fished higher on the river above Sultan.  He found a nice hatchery fish to take his fly but it found freedom just before he could beach it… the way steelhead often do.  I’ve talked to a few other guys that have also been finding some fish in the river so they are in there… just a matter of being on the right spot at the right time. 

Hopefully this flood won’t take too long to go away.  The river is currently at 57,000 cfs.  Ouch.

Well a couple of cancellations gave me a few days to fish with Mr. Zander and Mr. Ewing, on the Wenatchee.  I’ve been trying like mad to get Ben on a steelhead river for a day.  We’ve been Shad fishing, Cutty Fishing, but no Steelhead.  So with a day off from the shop he headed over and met my dad and myself in Cashmere.

It was a bright sunny, cold morning on the river, with every fly fishing guide in Eastern Washington having a boat on it.  As the boats scattered down the river we finally got to get the boat in.  Running clean up has its perks and drawbacks. 

Ben found one of the first and almost only perks of the day.  Finding a nice Natch steelie on the Halo.

The rest of the day was fun with fishing, and relearning the spey cast.  Picking in up well from the left side of the river, Ben looked like a natural.  The right however is a different story.  The spey rod was put down about halfway through the trip, after a nice size 3 Last Light got buried to the shank in the back of the head.  It has happened to all of us and we laughed about it.  Turns out between my dad, Ben and myself.  Ben has put the smallest hook in himself, where both of us have buried a 3/0. 

In the last spot of the day Pops got the funny pull of a fish, but we cannot confirm or deny what it was but where it happened it was a fish.  Ben pulled the stick and pull then gone fish.  And I ended up with the only skunk of the day with not even a sniff.  That’s the drawback to running clean up for the clean up crew.

The next day Ben had to go and open the shop, so it was just my dad and I on the river.  Still plenty of boats and pretty high and clear, we got our first water of the trip.  With that the first and only fish of the day on the Halo again.  Lots of sun Lots of fisherman and didn’t hear of a lot of fish from any of them. 

Might have a few more days on this river but its off to the Ronde Wensday for a couple of weeks. 

Tight Lines,

Joe Ewing PFF, Northwest Steelheading 

Not that I am a fan of that show, but according to the stats it is always sunny in Wenatchee.  Well I have been spending quite a bit of time on this river since it has opened.  Mason beat me to one of the posts and its been busy going back and forth.  But although fishing hasn’t been red hot like it was last year around this time.  But for the venturing few that have been out there, there is a few willing takers.  

As a heads up the Wenatchee has been and for the next week or so will continue to be running very big.  Fishing hasn’t been easy by any means and the fish that we have found to come to the fly have been worked for.  Only to be left with a curse word and total disappointment because you missed or lost your chance.  It took 14 of those tries to get the first fish to hand on Sunday.   We ended up loosing one more on this trip to make it the most fish as of yet for a day with 4.  But after just shy of 8 hours on the river the fishing gods shined upon us.  Big ticket fly was the Halo and the bruiser found one. 

Going back for a few more days and hopefully it will be a little better with more updates. 

Tight Lines,

Joe Ewing  PFF, Northwest Steelheading

Every year I try to take some kind of big steelhead trip in the fall.  Usually that means the rivers of the Skeena system in northern British Columbia.  This year I went up there with buddies Christian and Nic and we had planned on fishing for a total of six days straight.

We headed out of town on Monday night with a plan to arrive in the town of Smithers around 11:00 a.m. and be fishing by noon or 1:00.  In normal conditions, Smithers is about a 15 hour drive from Mill Creek.  Unfortunately, on this trip it would take a lot longer to get up there. 

As we were about to find out, apparently you cannot get gas at night between the towns of Hope and Cache Creek.  None.  Zero.  Zip.  That is nearly 200 km or about 125 miles without a gas station that is open at night!  What’s that?  You can get gas in Spences Bridge you say?  Well, you used to be able to get gas in Spences Bridge… now there isn’t a single gas station in Spences Bridge.  They are gone.

So we found ourselves stuck in Spences Bridge with enough gas to go 10 miles and we needed to go about 30 miles to get to Cache Creek.  We found a quiet street to park the RV trailer and sleep until morning when we could figure out how to get some gas.  We snuggled into our sleeping bags and just about got to sleep…. and that’s when the first train went by.  We had managed to park the trailer right next to railroad tracks!  That first train sounded like it was going right through the trailer as we rocked back and forth in our little sleeping bags laughing at how loud it was.  The next forty trains that went by were less and less entertaining.

Morning came and we got to know about half the locals of Spences Bridge while on our quest for gas.  We met a Woody, a Harry, Harold and Andy.  We were referred to each of these gentlemen by another local that thought they might have some gas (diesel, actually) that we could buy off of them.  Eventually, we hit the jackpot and actually got permission to siphon gas from a tractor to get the three or four gallons we needed to get to Cache Creek.  Thanks to Nic for volunteering to siphon the diesel!!  Lets just say it did not look tasty at all.

Eventually we made it to Smithers after 23 hours of road tripping.  We were beat tired and I think Christian was about to loose it (he did almost all of the driving).  We pushed ourselves, though, because tomorrow would be the big first day on the river… and the reports were that the fishing was HOT on the Bulkley.

It has been a couple years since I was last on the Bulkley.  Lots of the favorite runs that Mason and I fished in previous years are no longer there or have changed like all rivers do.  Our first day of fishing this year, we found a couple good spots and hooked five fish between the three of us, landing only two of them.

Day two on the Bulkley.  The fishing was on FIRE.  We missed a lot of fish that seemed to be masters at ripping three or four feet of line off the reel and then coming off.  By mid-day we’d had 21 fish grab the fly!  All of these fish came to swinging flies on floating lines.  The floating line can often be more productive than sink-tips and this day was a prime example.  For flies, we caught fish on Morejohn’s Bantam in Black and Blue, and the MVP of the day was the Halo.  The highlight of the day, however, was when Nic encountered a pod of rising steelhead.  He quickly changed to a Strung Out Skater and hooked three fish, one after another, landing one of them… his first steelhead on the skater.  By day’s end, we had landed eight fish for the day.  Not too shabby and a great day I won’t soon forget.

Day three started out every bit as good as day two.  We hooked a lot of fish, eventually landing five between the three of us.  It rained like crazy, though.  We were wet and cold and the fishing got tougher and tougher throughout the day.  By the end of the float, the river was beginning to rise and we worked hard to pullout one more fish on a sink-tip at the end of the day.  It didn’t look good for day four.

Day four.  The rain continued throughout the night.  Our original plan was to fish the Bulkley until the rain came, and then move to the Kispiox which was running incredibly low.  Unfortunately, though, TOO MUCH rain came and it not only blew out the Kispiox, but also every other river for miles and miles.  The upper Bulkley doesn’t get dirty very easily but by 10:00 a.m. the river was loosing visibility by the minute.  It was chocolate brown by noon.  First thing in the morning we were able to get a couple fish to half-heartedly grab the fly but we couldn’t stick ‘em and the river was just too dirty to hope for anything beyond that.  Day four was pretty much a complete loss.

Since we had to leave in two days, we couldn’t wait for the rivers to come back into shape.  We had no other choice but to come home early.  Nic and I were kicking ourselves for not having any trout gear with us as we were driving right by Dragon Lake, one of the premier lake fishing opportunities in B.C. and a place where the trout don’t turn any heads until they’re over ten pounds.

We packed up camp the next day, said good-bye to our gracious host, Gary, of Fort Telkwa RV campground, and hit the road.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only thing we hit that day.  While driving along the Fraser River Valley, a small black bear sprinted into the road in front of the truck.  Christian barely had time to get his foot on the breaks and it was already too late.  Poor little guy.  I hope he is in a place where the salmon swim slow and the berries hang low.

That’s it.  Nine fish total landed for me in the three days when the river was in shape.  That’s great steelheading any way you slice it.  It was a bummer to have those great days suddenly come to an end, but if steelheading was easy… it wouldn’t be steelheading.

I asked my good friend and high school buddy to join Joe and me for a trip on the Wenatchee for steelhead.  Mike has fly fished for trout for probably close to 20 years, but like so many others he hasn’t quite taken the leap to chase steelies.  Ok, I’ll give it away early…  let’s just say he’s glad he did!   I really wanted to put him on one of my Spey Rods, just to give him a taste of what a different casting style is like.   We all know someone like Mike, he is one of those guys that has CRAZY, natural athletic talent (think a .9 handicap in golf, yes “point 9” not “9” - and pro caliber baseball background…) so I knew he’d pick up Spey Casting quickly.  Yep, he did, by the second hole, with Joe’s help, he was getting every other cast about 60-70 feet out.  It was more about his ability to easily manage the line and not hang up on the back cast than the length of the cast into the run. 

The weather was beautiful, 55 degrees in the morning reaching to just over 80 midday, and not a cloud to be seen.  Yep, it was beautiful for humans, or for time in Hawaii, but not so beautiful for steelhead fishing.    The river temp was above 50, warm.   Joe and I felt the bright sun would probably put a damper on the fishing, pushing them deep into the slots given the 8 feet of visibility.  The river flow was solid, about 900 cfs and on a slight drop.

  We launched at Monitor; nothing home at the bridge hole, but damn it fished well.  After another hole or 2 we find ourselves at the highway run as I call it.  We start Mike up high in the riffle, and I take the lower half, mainly because I can cast further and it’s a lot wider down low.  By now we’re getting itchy for a tug, really itchy.  Joe plays coach from the dugout helping Mike with casting and showing him the finer points of mending.  I’m thrashing the water down low and starting to salivate at how great it looked.  Joe wanders down to my stretch and comments on Mike starting to get his Spey groove, then we hear it.  FISH ON!!  We both turn, and for a split second I’m kind of expecting to maybe see a trout or white fish, not sure why, probably just an unconscious and stupid thought of “some rookie isn’t going to hook up before me.”  Sure, dream on.  Mike is tied into a hot steelhead and she was blasting like hell down the run and bucking around like she’d just been told her ass looked fat.   I instantly have that feeling of pure joy from seeing someone’s face with their first real encounter with the worlds most revered freshwater sport fish, it was simply awesome!!   His face was lit up like a thousand pipes at Woodstock.  She was thrashing about and took 2 strong runs, sizzling the reel in his hands as he looked at me with eyes the size of Lady GaGa’s gaga’s.  He got her to the beach twice, but that 2nd big run took him 80 feet down the hole and…  poof…  gone… just as quick as it started.  He looked, well, dejected, as expected of course, and Joe and I were really bummed for him.  But, while technically not a “landed” fish, Joe and I reinforced to Mike that it was the better part of the whole experience.  A minute+ of pure adrenaline rush from a hooked steelhead is very hard to beat.  And feeling the weight of something on his line that might as well have been a whale compared to most of the fish he’s landed.  He REALLY wanted another fish, mission accomplished!

Joe is nuts about reading water, in a good way.  He picks slots and runs I’d pass right up, but then I get to casting and he’s right, nice run Joe.  He calls it “funny water,” and you may ask, “as in funny like a clown, Joe?”  No Peschi, as in funny like “you’ll be laughing your ass off at the droves of fishermen that pass up that water while you land a steelie” funny.  Not sure if I like that skill or the Moosedrool Ale he serves better, hell, I’ll take both.   But just keep the ink pen out of my neck please.

Mike was using one of Joe’s beautiful Pimped Up Purple Peril’s, awesome fly (thanks Joe!) and an intermediate tip.  The fish took hard and fought better than most.  We estimated that she might be pushing 7-8 lbs, probably a wild hen and quite bright to boot.  She took the fly about 1/2 way through the swing in what looked like about 4 feet of water.  The flow at that spot seemed a bit faster than you’d expect to hook up, but not by much.  Maybe it provided more cover with the riffle/whitewater or maybe a bit more oxygen from the riffle with the warmer water?  We’ll never know, but that doesn’t matter, the most important thing is that we were all smiling for the rest of the day.  But as for the rest of the day, well, it produced not a single tug.  Oh well, it IS early season steelheading.

To top it all off, we only saw one other boat on that beat, which was pure heaven!  Well, that was second only to the burger of the gods and “the milkshake that can stop time” at the Heidelburger in Leavenworth - crazy delicious!

Ok so I spent my B-day fishing the Klick for a few days.  Hot sunny weather, good camping, fishing not so good for the swingin guy.  For the temps the river was in pretty good shape.  Not to cloudy but not to clear either.  In my opinion I was kinda hoping it would be dirtier or clearer.  There were plenty of fish in the river and talked to a few of the locals that have been finding quite a few in the upper teens.  If the conditions stay the same fishing in the upper float, Stinson to slide, are going to be tough to swing up a fish in the midst of all the conventional and bobber boats on the river.  Try the lower river if you plan on swinging less traffic and just as many fish or hope for some dirtier water or a good cold snap to clear that thing up a bunch.  Also be prepared to share the river, the Saturday float came with about 18 boats, the Sunday float wasn’t as bad with about 10.  Also don’t keep stuff in your rig.  Lost the drivers side window along with some bags parked right there at the slide take out.  If you know this takeout the nose of my truck was about 2 ft from the main road.  Busy Sunday with plenty of fisherman and rafters on the river and the punks had the balls to do it right in the middle of the day.  I could have stayed and fished the sky for no steelies and parked at reiter and had the truck window smashed.  Just watch your stuff, its getting worse everywhere we go now.  As for the fish Idid catch, if your into bows found plenty of those in the river landed a couple didn’t even try to play about 15 not so much fun on the 7 wt Scott.  Average size was about 13” and they were willing players, most of them were taking big spey patterns and even a few bruisers.  Probably could have had a bunch of fish if Iwas targeting those with the right flies.  Hopefully soon we get word on the opening of the Wenatchee, and Methow rivers.

Tight Lines,

Joe PFF, Northwest Steelheading

Mason and I took the boat to the Cowlitz and headed up river from the town of Toledo.  We fished water from Toledo all the way up to the Blue Creek area.  It was fun to spend a day on a river I have never fished before but have heard so much about.  There were lots of other jet boats but only one other group of fly anglers.  We only watched one steelhead get hooked by other anglers pulling plugs but I bet the gear guys were finding some fish in the deeper water.

The river was pretty clear with around 8 to 10 feet of visibility.  We found a few good holes that fished well and found a million cutthroat to take our flies but not much to report on steelhead.  The cutthroat were from 4- inches to 16-inches and actually got to be annoying (at least the little ones were) and more than once we switched to larger flies to keep the little guys away.  I hooked one fish that was either a monster cutt or a small steelhead but just as it got close enough to tell what it was, it came off.  Mason had an encouraging grab that was probably a steelhead but that was it for the day.  I think a less sunny day and more color in the river would have helped us a lot… but that’s steelheading I suppose.  With all those cutts around, I was wishing I had my 3-weight more than once, though.

Nonetheless, it was a fun day to be on a new river that was fun to explore and fish.  We’ll certainly hit it again some day soon and are planning a Cowlitz steelhead and Lake Mayfield tiger musky combo trip.  Fun!!

Fishing on the upper sky has been great.  We have had lots of bent rods, plenty of swings and misses.  Much like the Mariners lineup we cant seem to score but we can get to the plate. 

Between lost cameras and plenty of lost fish this will be a summer to remember.  Biggest problem of the year so far and a little tip for those coming out for the first time or just getting into it.  Please if your making the transfer from trout fishing to steelheading, never assume you will be playing these fish with the strip.  The reason we have these nice big reels with lots of stopping power is so we can play these fish on them.  Do yourselves a huge favor if you have yet to catch one of these beautiful fish, let the line go and play it on the reel.  We have lost 6 fish because of that this year so I thought I would mention it because it looks like its not just a one time deal. 

I did however manange to get one bent rod picture from the last two weeks. 

 We waited to get the rod in before we headed out.  And on the virgin trip to the river we were able to find a nice little 6 pounder to put a good bend in it.  To bad we lost it seconds before we were able to get it up on the beach, but the visual was spectacular, just a chrome bright beauty. 

Fishing is starting to get a little bit tougher, but there are still plenty of fish in the river to the angler who is willing to give it a go.

Tight Lines,

Joe Ewing PFF, Northwest Steelheading