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.
Sunday, the beauty of this area is just what the title suggests. Was able to fish the upper sky Sunday morning before the sun came out to visit. Low water conditions are here for the summer. Which means light lines and more traditional flies. Was able to get two really good takes, well one really good grab and then the missed fish just subsurface. It is always fun to watch the boil even if you don’t hook up the fish. But there is something to be said about feeling something goofy and then seeing the boil of the missed fish. Tried a bunch of different skaters to try and tempt it back, but to no avail.
Ah, Pass Lake. I love this lake and feel so fortunate to have such a great trout fishery so close to where we live. Yes, I know… the road along the south side of the lake is noisy, but I guess that doesn’t bother me too much (except for the occasional dumbass that feels compelled to yell some incomprehensible garble while driving by in a ’84 Pontiac Fiero with a fabulous primer gray and Bondo paint scheme). Okay, other than that, I love this lake.
I guided on Lake Whatcom on Monday with customer Arne and his two sons, Blake and Dakota. We had a great day and good weather. The fish were pretty tough but we got plenty of little guys and had a couple good-sized smallmouth up to the boat but they managed to get off. Overall, we caught smallmouth, yellow perch and a few really nice cutthroat throughout the day.