It’s late spring in Western Washington and June 1st signals the opener for our local rivers. Summer-run steelhead fishing has finally arrived. Although the calendar might say it’s the sixth month and New Years is January 1st, I tend to count my years starting mostly with the steelhead seasons. So June 1st to me is the start of a new year for fishing tallies.
Michael Bennett, and Mason Denger finally talked me into my first trip down the Yakima river in 5 years. It ended up being the best upper river day I have ever had. A handful of big fish to the hand, and plenty of missed opportunities to boot. The dryfly action wasn’t super, so we spent most of the day nymphing using Pats Rubber Leg Stones, Prince Nymphs, and Graphic Caddis.
Michael ended up pulling up this beauty cutthroat on the Prince Nymph. But the Graphic Caddis has seemed to be the go to fly if there has been any type of caddis hatch going on.
Pacific Fly Fishers hosts trips all over the world. Our most recent one just concluded, by Ben Zander, was on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. The trip was a success and is recommended to any angler wanting to pursue baby tarpon on a fly rod.
The trip started with a flight to Cancun, easy enough, followed by a 5 hour van ride to Tarpon Cay Lodge in San Felipe. We were greeted by our lodge host Bato with a tray of Margaritas that I think must taste exactly like holy water. Tarpon Cay Lodge is a three story building, the tallest in San Felipe, that boasts fantastic Mexican decor and air conditioned rooms that sleeps weary anglers well.
If you’re looking for something different, give Banks Lake a shot for great numbers of smallmouth bass. Mid- to late-May is a great time to fish Banks for the bass that are in pre-spawn mode. They are typically in five to fifteen feet of water and staging in or around rocky flats where they will eventually spawn.
Pacific Fly Fishers is excited to announce that we have recently added Hardy and Greys as new product lines to our store (coming to the web catalog soon). Hardy has a long history in fly fishing and is especially significant in Spey reels in our region. Another influencing factor in our decision was two spectacular value-priced rods from Greys (a subsidiary company to Hardy). Here is a run-down of what we’ll be carrying in 2014 from Hardy/Greys…
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.
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.
Please join us on Wednesday, November 7th at 7:00 p.m. for a presentation by Jon Covich on fly fishing Christmas Island for bonefish and giant trevally. Anyone is welcome to attend.
In late November Joe and I made a last minute decision to head to the Snake and Grande Ronde rivers for two days of fishing. We had originally intended to head into BC and fish the mighty Thompson River, but an outstanding Snake River fishing report from Garry Sandstrom, fly fishing manufacturer’s representative and former owner of the Morning Hatch Fly Shop, stirred our interest in heading east instead of north.
I’m sure you all heard me talking about going Lingcod fishing over the past week and a half. Now it’s time to put my money where my mouth is. Joe and I literally spent hundreds of dollars on rods, lines and tying material in anticipation of catching these honey badgers of the sea. Armed with his video camera, Peter was there to document the whole escapade. Let me first tell you that we really had no idea what fly or even what kind of water to fish. The interwebs do not have a lot of info for a fly guy, but we read everything we could. I spent a week annoying my wife and tying big flies, some of the largest flies I have ever tied. Fast forward to May 6th and, with enough gas to get us to Japan, we launched the Boston Whaler. Off we went.