Nothing too exciting for me to report fishing-wise for this last week… but I did fly down to Denver for three days to go to the International Fly Tackle Dealer (IFTD) show. This show is for the manufacturers to show their products to retail buyers and the press. It is also where most manufacturers announce their new products for the year.
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.
Hit Lake Sammamish and had a great time catching around 12 to 15 quality smallmouth. The lake got pretty windy in the afternoon plus the waves from all the water skiers, but the morning bite was great.
Ben joined me in the afternoon and, although it was much slower than the morning and early afternoon, we still managed to catch a few more fish. The big fish of the day was a smallmouth of around four pounds and the average fish was probably two pounds. I was primarily fishing dock pillars in around 10 to 15 feet of water with a 6-weight and a type IV full-sinking line . I did loose about three fish that broke off in the docks… one of them was a solid three to four pounds and another I never did see but it felt like a big-un!
Fished the Skykomish on 6/28/2010 with my buddy from S.Cal, Steve. Steve and I worked together at Sport Chalet in the Fishing Department when we were in college down in the L.A. area. Steve was raised down there and is proof that just because you’re from S. Cal, you can still be a great fly fisherman. During our day on the water, I was reminded of how spectacular it is just to watch him cast.
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.
Another good day on the upper Sky, we were able to miss a few fish and land one nice one for the fish box.
The river has been up a dirty for a little while now, but anybody who knows me, knows that I wont be deterred by those conditions. The flies of choice for these kinds of water conditions are big and burly. Light lines and big flies end up for some good early river fishing. Bennett’s Steelhead Exasperator is one of the favorite patterns for this type of water conditions.