Pacific Fly Fishers' Fly Fishing and Fly Tying Blog

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.

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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.

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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.

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After a recent, very unfruitful, and very long trip to B.C. that resulted in almost no fishing due to high water and catching the cold of all colds, I was anxious to take advantage of some of the E. Washington steelheading that we are blessed with each fall. On Saturday, Oct. 10th, I met up with Joe’s dad, Bill Ewing, on what has to be one of the most beautiful rivers in Washington — the Wenatchee.

We decided to float the river in our pontoon boats and did a nice float from Cashmere to Monitor. It was a cool morning but by the time we got some breakfast, shuttled the trucks, and organized our gear, we shoved off around 8:30 and had already shed our jackets. By mid-morning, the sun was shining bright and the temperatures were getting into the 60’s.

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Upon arriving at Christmas Island and going through customs at their very small airport, each member of our group quickly found ourselves wearing a crown of woven leaves and flowers and a refreshing coconut beverage. We were quick to add spiced rum to our beverages. Contact us to book your trip to Christmas Island with Christmas Island Outfitters.

Like many fly anglers, I’ve read about how spectacular Christmas Island is for many years. It was a dream come true to finally be on a plane heading there. The fly boxes were full. My rods, reels and lines were prepared and ready. As we approached the island, I could see the massive array of flats that awaited our arrival. The day had come! Legendary Christmas Island guide, Moana Kofe, peers across a bonefish flat looking for the right conditions to begin a day of bonefishing. Moana was truly a joy to fish with and it was fun to try and pick up little pieces knowledge from his vast experience on the flats. It was also very fun to talk with him about life on the island and a whole bunch of non-fishing topics. Contact us to book your trip to Christmas Island with Christmas Island Outfitters.

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I think maybe it’s time to get some saltwater reports up here. Here is a little peek inside a guide trip with Sound Fly Fishing and Kenmore Air. We took off from Kenmore Air Harbor after a slight fog delay. We almost had to shoot the Narrows Bridge due to fog but Larry the pilot is fantastic at finding holes in the clouds. Hit the first beach and found a few smaller cutts about 50 feet off the shore. All fish taken were on a Imitator Oil Slick pattern. Off to the next beech keeping our heads up and all we found was wind. Back in the plane and up in the air again.

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I fished the Missouri River in Montana for the first time over the last few days. What a great river with great numbers of fish and lots of really big fish.

This trip was hosted by the folks at RIO and me and a two other fly shop owners had the pleasure of getting to know a few of the main guys responsible for the sales, marketing and manufacturing of RIO lines

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Once or twice a year a friend or customer tells me they encountered a big hatch of Callibaetis mayflies on Pass Lake. I’ve fished Pass Lake a quite frequently for about 15 years now and I’ve often seen Callibaetis, but I’ve never seen numbers of them big enough to stir much interest from me or the fish. I always told them they were almost certainly seeing the big chironomids bombers and that Pass Lake doesn’t get anything beyond a sporadic Callibaetis hatch.

Yesterday, I proved myself wrong.</p

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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.

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