Fishing Reports (January 2001 - December 2001)
Curent Fishing Report
Fishing Reports (January 2001 - December 2001)
Curent Fishing Report
| 12/30/01 "Cold and clear, baby" Our rivers seem to have two modes. They are either
going up and out.......or dropping and clearing. Right now it is low,
clear, and cold. Got a chance to fish both the Sauk and the Stilly,
this past week. I know some guys are really down on hatchery steelhead,
but I am not particularly one of them. Reasons? Does the hatchery program have problems? Absolutely. Is it enough to abort the entire program? No, needs to be analyzed, on a river by river basis. Anyway, the fishing. Longer lighter leaders, lightly dressed flies in somber colors, (this is a great time for your spey ties) are the ticket. Even gear guys, go longer lighter, and smaller.....you should do the same. The good news is.....there are fish around! Hard to say if the fishing will hold, but the early component looks really good. Some big fish too! Word has it, Dave at the Rockport Store killed and weighted a 22 lbs. hatchery fish! That's a fish, I would have to see. The more good news: I have never seen a year, where the hatchery stock, out performed the wild fish.....even if we may never get the chance to fish them. Read Ask Dennis editorial taken from the Tacoma Tribune. Bad news: When the rivers go to low and cold......the steelhead tend to mill in the tidal waters.......the commercial netting can drill them. Pray for rain? Never thought I would say that! So there you have it: Better have a range of flies and lines. The article at www.flyfishsteelhead.com > Stories and Articles section titled, "Flylines Are What Catch Fish" is a good read. Fish the inside seam water on the bigger rivers such as the Sky or the Skagit. Sled boys tend not to fish here. Think summer low, and put it in their face. Think nymphing, if you are not losing a fly on occasion, you are not fishing. "Tink but don't klank" Brush the rocks....but don't dredge them. The TMC 7989 is a good hook, but the TMC 7999 is a great hook.......... for losing fish........(too fat) The Alec Jackson is a beautiful hook.......but terrible on the water. (Springy, hook point turns away from the fish)......but heck, what do I know? Steelhead Flyschools: These six member classes are going very well. Best to contact me for date availability. Hey, some guys are interested in putting together their own school. Sure! We can do that. Just need to find a date.......Hmmm. I have also been asked to put together an advanced steelhead school. I am thinking about it......just not sure of where in the calendar, I could schedule it! All our spring time trips are doing well. Sorry don't have more info about the Sauk/ Skagit C&R fishery tentatively scheduled for Mar-April. Know this: If they open it, I will have a guide to fish it....... Hope you are enjoying your holidays! Best of fishing, D For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information" Cold......fishing is good, but its cold. Mike and I have been splitting time between the Sauk and the Skagit.......by the number of cars parked along the North Fork Stilly, fish are there too. I feel like Sports Illustrated: Ever notice as
soon as they write about something? Floated the Skagit the other day with Yancey and Johnny B. Checked out some water I haven't fished for while.....but will again in later February. Johnny swam a nice hatchery buck on a blue and black spey......Yancey and I fiddled with our new lines and flies. Water is low.....but fishing well. Some of the pools have changed since the high waters, so reading water is paramount. Saw several other fish caught (all on gear)......looks like a fine year. Sauk is dropping like a rock, but the fish are there. One of Mike's boys released an eleven pound winter hatchery fish the other day.....don't see many of them on the Sauk. Dollies & Coho still doing their thing. Love fishing waters "where you would want to be there.....anyway". Plenty of Eagles......life is good. Water is cold so bringing the fly in "Low and Slow" is the rule. Even though steelhead will lay in many types of water......there are only those pools that you can flyfish effectively. Recognize this water and concentrate your efforts there. Good Karma is a nice read, helpful when you are standing up to your wazzo in ice water. River Etiquette can be timely, when the bait boy just walked out of the brush and hooked a fish in the very water you were working your way down the pool, to. Remember this: He may have also sent in his letter in support of wild steelhead release. We need each other, especially now. Mike is working a lot of Sundays now with the holiday outdoor rush going on.......thank you for being patient about Ask Dennis. In this holiday season, I would like to extend a special thanks to: Allen down at Swedes Flyshop, Rob and the boys at Bellevue Orvis, and Darrel at the Hook, Line and Sinker........and to you......for making www.flyfishsteelhead.com both enjoyable and successful. Couldn't do it without you. Merry Christmas, D For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information" 12/16/01 "Just when you thought it was safe to get back into the water" Client called in sick.......I asked my dad if he wanted to fill the vacancy. He said yes. As we headed up the North Fork valley, my windshield wipers were working overtime. I love the fall, enjoy the spring.......summer is good, but winter is.....winter. "Sure the Sauk is going to be fishing?....... a lot of rain." Pop asked. "Freezing level dad,.....I just checked it this morning." I answered. (www.flyfishsteelhead.com > River Levels) "It's all about the freezing levels." Sure enough, by the time we hit Darrington, rain had turned to sleet. Of all the weather.....I think this is the suckiest, Too warm to snow, too cold to just rain......Did I mention the wind? Thank goodness my dad is eighty, When he was my age, he could spend the whole day building logging roads in this weather, and actually enjoy it. He will tire by 2 PM, today. We put on light sinktips and six foot leaders. I fixed up dad with CC and I went with a new General Practitioner variation, I have been playing with. The Sauk was low, clear and cold.......at least the day is overcast. We fished a popular pool......by the fresh foot prints, I would say.... second. Pop didn't do anything with his streamer, but I released an upstream Dolly in the lower third of the pool, on the prawn pattern. We were going to fish the Porno pool......(long story), but somebody was already in there.....probably the early riser that beat us to the first pool. We decided to drive upstream. As we were slowing down to pull off, I saw the fire. "What the heck?" I said out loud. Sure enough, two good ole boys were leaning over a soggy fire, third was fiddling with his propped up rod. Weren't likely to be C&R kind of guys. Not a lot of hatchery steelhead in the Sauk, and the Dollies should be. No matter, They were definitely on top of the sweet water. We continued on upstream.......ended up on a lowly logging road that seemed to be following the river. Neither the 4-Runner, or my dad seemed impressed about where we were headed as we bounced along the rutted out trail. Could we turn around? Hmmm..... We found ourselves, pretty much river side........just like I knew what I was doing. One of the disadvantages of always traveling by boat.....you don't learn all the really neat trails like the bank boys do. We fought our way through the brush to the river. I really like this pool. Son Mike REALLY likes this pool. Always catches fish here. Dad (my dad) started fishing just above the sweet spot. Few casts later, he was into a pretty Dolly, it was big and dark, with white fins and orange spots. Bull Trout? Maybe. I followed him down the pool, lost confidence in my G.P. and put on my own CC. I was trying out a new 10' eight weight, Darrel at the local shop just built. At first I didn't like it......wasn't like my GL3, then it was "OK" and now I was beginning to enjoy it. The Yancey sinktip was doing its thing. I landed a typical Dolly around 19", stepped down and made a cast. This rod has a lot of power. The Yancey line complemented it well. The streamer had just settled in, when the line just stopped. I preset, the line surged. The fish wheeled and headed down stream......I probably yelled as I set the hook, because my J Ryall doesn't whine.....it hums. I just got my feet to shore and the line went slack. Early wild winter fish? Amazing the chemical reaction. How can you have all but two frozen clubs for feet one moment, and be all warm and tingly the next? Would have really liked to see that fish. Maybe it was just a wayward chum, a monster Coho........a world record Dolly. Guess we will never know. I did release another Dolly down in the tailout.......taped out at 25 plus inches. Downstream fish, been fighting, spawning.........I wished him well, warned him not to go river left down around the corner. Those bait boys probably wouldn't be nearly so kind. Dad is tired, we'll go home. Aftermath: The next day the freezing level jumped......so did the rivers, back to cold again. Hmmm.......Middle Skagit should be good, tomorrow. Several good articles on winter steelhead to pursue in the Stories and Articles section, while you wait for our winter steelhead classes. Ask any of my clients if these big wild winter steelhead are worth the weather. Bet they will all smile and say " Oh yeah,.....they are worth it." Merry Christmas, D For information
on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information"
12/9/01
As good as the fishing is right now.......its hard to write about it. I will attempt to keep the editorial comments of the Wild Steelhead Release Forum located in Vancouver Washington in the Ask Dennis section. Needless to say, I came back pretty stoked. To that end, I would like to personally thank all those who have so tirelessly fought for our wild fish......and for so many of you for writing in to express your opinions. My little site alone was inundated with tons of letters of support. For all of you who were not at the meeting........know this, you were well represented. The Wild Steelhead Coalition (WSC) complete with their 100 plus page fact finding document......was nothing short of a surgical strike. This evidence was so completely over-whelming.........anyone who stood to argue for the killing of wild steelhead, must have looked like a complete idiot. KUDOS to all!!!!!!! No whitefish fishing here, baby: Am I suppose to tell you where I am fishing?......I can tell you that winter hatchery steelhead are showing, as well as some summer fish as well. Can you imagine if we actually had a 2 salt hatchery plant coming back to the Stilly, this past summer? Dolly fishing is excellent in the Skagit as well as the Sauk. Stilly is getting the steelhead as well as the Skykomish. Early fish are the 3 salts, and if the 2's perform, should be a good one. Chums are Still coming......but the normal timing fish are wrapping it up. Egg-sucking leaches (international orange imitates the chum egg) does the trick. Presentation is everything. Largest Dolly (Bull Trout?) was 25" this week. Pretty obvious what they are feeding on. Coho continue to come......last year we caught them until the first of February! When I am fishing around gear guys.....and I know the fish are seeing lots of color, I will go to the more somber colors of flies......especially if the water visibility is high. Instead of telling yourself, steelhead never get leader shy, and therefore think the answer is always, short fat leaders (I do too if the water is off color)......get your self a good disc drag reel, set the drag......and keep your fingers off the line. Since Mike and I have gone to this system....it is amazing how many more takes......how many more steelhead have come to hand. Oops! Did we loose some steelhead? Last summer I had a conversation with our local biologist. I applauded the fact that my clients catch per unit effort, (CPUE) has climbed for the last 3 years consecutively......he was happy to tell me the Deer Creek natives as well as the Skykomish wilds have been doing better, every year. He confirmed the Deer Creek population......although difficult to quantify, was estimated to be over a 1000 fish. Of course....... I used this number to demonstrate that hooking mortality did not effect the wild population, even as the baitless/barbless flyfishers are pursuing the summer hatchery steelhead. Somehow the number got dropped to 500 steelhead. Hmmm..... How shortsighted was that? Criticizing the Stilly North Fork flyfishers for
losing the summer hatchery steelhead plant, two years ago...(which was
done behind closed doors)....and then to say "because nobody cared"......is
like coming home to find somebody loading your belongings into a semi
and rationalizing......"couldn't have been too big a deal, nobody
complained while we were taking the stuff." Chosen River trips are filling Really excited about the Sauk,
Skagit and Olympic Peninsula schools........We will covering aspects
for both the single handed and the double handed rods. Thinking about a steelhead school or guide trip? If you would like to get a glimpse of the outings from anglers who have actually been out with Mike or I.........drop by Recommendations and Endorsements......drop an email to the angler......they will be happy to give you the scoop. Best of fishing in the holidays, D 12/2/01
One of the facts of life in the Northwest is that it seems, you never get the same winter twice.......last year you could call it the winter of "no winter".......looks like we are going to make up for it this year......big time. Fishing in the north sound streams has been fairly consistent, over all. Chums will be wrapping it up in the next week or two, although there are fresh fish around. Dollies continue. The egg sucking Cop Car is good, as is black Bart and Mrs. Black......Coho will be around for some time.....but some winter steelhead are begining to show! Speaking of steelhead: You have heard me on my soap box for several years about what is wrong in our game management, and what we need to do, to protect our wild steelhead...and our ability to fish them. Stilly Skykomish Rivers.......not much hope here......yet. Look for complete closure through the spring C&R season. Skagit system:....Pete Castle is the WDFW bio (he is a good one) running this show now.......and it looks like we MAY have a (C&R fishery). He will be under a lot of pressure to close the spring C&R from within......but the department is at least considering it.......keep your fingers crossed. Please refer over to Ask Dennis. It addresses the proposal of a Statewide Wild Steelhead Release. Word has it, even Trout Unlimited has come out in favor of it! The WDFW has to now take a serious look at it. They will be holding public comment on it in Vancouver Washington next week.......Boys, we haven't had a chance to make a real difference since the commercial net ban debacle. Let's not let this one slip through our fingers, come down to Vancouver.......write Mr. Jacoby.....or both! Thank you for the great response to the flyfishing schools. Sorry they got brought on line before we got the bugs worked out with the dates et al.. There is room on the Sauk (filling) Skagit and Peninsula streams. "Chosen River" is a pseudonym for a seldom fished O.P.river, I just as soon not disclose. You understand. Anyway, fishing is good, weather is wild, and you and me can help save our wild steelhead. We were just looking for a chance to make a difference, right? Best of fishing through the holidays, D For
information on booking a trip see "Rates and
Booking Information" 11/25/01 Stock Market Fishing: Trying to coordinate a fishing date when the rivers are down and fishable,.......is not an easy gig. We did have our moments though. A memorable one was fishing with Dan and Chris the other day in the Skagit drainage. We stopped at a favorite fly bar which has been fishing well....... Dan wades out to about his knees. A Cop Car was tied to his 3 foot leader (visibility about 2 feet), and 6 feet of type 4, sinktip. On his first cast, he hooked and landed a wild summer steelhead (totally cool!). On his second cast he hooked a pretty Coho, which threw the hook in mid jump. The third cast didn't produce but the forth cast......hooked a very strong Chum. We went on to find Dollies, another steelhead......and more salmon. Gosh, I love this time of year. I swear you can fish the same water, every day for a week, and every day, you are going to have a different experience. Ever notice we orientate our entire fishing seasons to those fish we decide we can kill? Wouldn't we better to regulate " all wild species must be carefully released, alive." Maybe if we focused on good C&R, (like we attempt to accomplish in our spring steelhead fisheries) we wouldn't be yelling harassment, every time a river salmon grabbed the fly. Will there be those that will use this as an excuse to snag and/or kill? Sure, but should we curtail our fishing for all, simply because the slobbery of a few? Better enforcement, I say! Given that, Mike and I try our best to target the legally killable fish (even if we release most everything) but if the incidentals decide to harass our flies......we handle them with care. Speaking of which; If we stopped fishing every place where non killable fish swam.....we wouldn't get much fishing done. Imagine, for example, closing the Yakima River in September to nymph fishing........ because Chinook salmon, will pick up a drifted nymph. Who is harassing who? Anyway, the weather has been volatile, and the fishing good, when the rainless skys permit. Winter hatchery steelhead beginning to show. There are so many Dollies this year, we will catch upstream fish and downstream fish.....all on the very same trip! Hmmm......the biologists say we probably won't have enough winter native steelhead on the Sky or the Stilly......because of poor ocean survival. We are also informed we have very healthy populations of wild summer steelhead, on both the Sky and Stilly because of good ocean survival. Question: Do you think that just maybe, the fact we have not allowed a kill fishery on the wild summer fish......but have had a kill fishery (except for last year) on the winter wild steelhead, might have something do with the health of the summer fish, and the demise of the winter steelhead? Biologists don't think so. Amazing. Anyway, thank you for the great response to our
up coming Sauk River Flyfishing Schools See our new format of www.flyfishsteelhead.com this week. Ask Dennis will discuss choosing schools or guide trips. Cold Water Takes in the stories and articles section, is a good read. Our local church reader board says " Happy Thanks Living" Amen, D
11/18/01 And we were doing so well........ Careful what you pray for. Our rivers were low and clear. Fish were kinda spooky. Fished a lot of floating lines, sparced out our flies, lightened our tippets. Then Monsoon Mary came roaring in........Rivers went from low and clear.......passed prime for about.......an hour ........and shot out of sight. Going to be a different show on the Stilly, after December one. Gear boys will be out, but with only a handful of older hatchery summer runs, not much will keep them there. Surprising how many Coho hens get whacked......in the name of steelhead. I prefer the Stilly when the waters are low. Some big Dollies still coming in! Sauk is my river of choice when the rivers are dropping in.......because I enjoy fishing it so much....... And the Skagit when the rivers are high.......(like now). Typical chum/Dolly flies are the gig. Watch for the egg pattern show to start working, as the chum start spawning.....now. I don't fish the Skykomish in the winter time....... insufferable pressure. Any word if Mr. Castle is going to recommend a C&R on the 2002, for the Skagit system? Don't forget to check out Ask Dennis Up and Coming: Sauk Steelhead Flyfishing Schools: Feb. 14,15,16,17,18 Olympic Peninsula Flyfishing: March-April very popular (space limited) Watch for more information....... Happy Turkey day everyone!!!!!! Best of fishing, D For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information" 11/11/01
Waters have fallen back to low and clear. Early winter steelhead are going to be sneaking in, late summer fish are hanging around. Good numbers of Coho in the systems.......chums are mean as ever. Good time.....good time to be out. I change up tactics quite a bit when the waters get brutally clear. Fish get spooky. We fish allot more floating lines. We lengthen our leaders, go to lighter stuff......pray we don’t hook and monster chum......stuff like that. Still seeing god numbers of Dollies coming down into the Skagit. Swinging Cop Car, or egg patterns bounced along the bottom, can roust a big fish. Seen several fish in the 26” class, already.....this is going to be good. Dollies not as hard to find, as you might think. Think Alaska. Eagles = Chum = Dollies. If you were looking for the big numbers of Chum, that you found last year, remember this. Chum and Pink Salmon, both compete for the same nursery areas in the estuaries, as juveniles. Even though the chum fry are bigger, the pink fry outnumber them about a gazillion to one......well maybe not that much. What does that mean? Nature does not produce as many Chum on the Humpy years, as she does on the non Humpy years. It is a carrying capacity thing. Of course, WDFW, in all their wisdom, try to exploit this, so they set the escapement goals low for Chum on the odd years........ heaven knows we wouldn’t want an extra salmon swimming around in the river, some commercial might yell “wastage!” Anyway.......do to some high waters, and good ocean survival, we got our Chums and Coho, and Dollies........and even a few steelhead. Not so bad. All in all....... good time to be out. If you are thinking about building a steelhead flyline, might want to check out Ask Dennis. Christmas Gift Certificates are now available for our upcoming Steelhead schools and 2002 guide trips. Click off home page. It’s getting near Thanksgiving time. Proud to be grateful. Best of fishing, For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information" 11/04/01
We were finally able to get out of the rain shadow for a few days.......the rivers are fishing well. Skykomish River: Plenty of Coho, chums are in and coming. Green works.......cerise is even better. All the fly pools holding fish from Gold Bar to Monroe. Skagit: Appears the chum run is stronger than anticipated. Probably will open for kill.......if it hasn't already. Dollies are bailing......some big boys coming out. Marabous and bunny leaches will get them. Sauk: Fishing well. Couple nasty sweeps in the upper run......so be careful. Stilly: Fishing well both above and now below Deer Creek. Everything is in there, now. Some late hatchery steelhead have even shown in Fortson. Hitting a variety of flies. Hazel area is good. Released a 16 pound Coho, a 6 pound summer steelhead.......and a 26" Dolly, all on the same day......that was pretty fun. I just love it, when WDFW predicts low.....couple that was a couple freshets, and Voila!.....we get fish in. Now watch it rain tonight.......... Fishing stories: www.flyfishsteelhead.com > Stories and Articles section Thank you for participating! Top vote getters: Men's division: Women's division:
D For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information" 10/28/01 " Its good to be home but......" Seems like all I did in 2001 was travel. Went to the Chosen River out on the Olympic Peninsula in March and April. Over on the Quality lakes and Yakima River, in May and June. Camped out back on the O.P. chasing summer steelhead, in July. Over to Neah Bay, and back to upper Skykomish......back down to the lower Stilly in August. Sept. was on the Skagit, kissed my wife, on the way over to the Grande Ronde in October.......and finally home in time to meet the rain. Already making plans to do it all over again in 2002! Its been raining. Rivers are swollen, but fish
are coming. Stilly took a beating, as the Pink Anyway, Pinks are trying to wrap it up, Coho are in, Chum are coming in, SRC will start heading up their natal tribs, Dollies will be coming down from spawning......and they will be hungry. Much to do about something. Good time to be hitting those Hood Canal trib. mouths, as the Chum will be smelling for home. I will be splitting time between the Stilly, Skagit and the Sauk, this winter. It's a cold time, but a quiet time........until you hook a Chum headed south. Don't hold your breath, but WDFW is considering a C&R season for the Skagit in 2002. That's the good news......they may have to lower escapement, and allow a kill fishery, to get it. Sad. Skykomish and Stilly?......Forget it. Watch for a new format on the home page. Working on a new wrinkle. Ask Dennis is back.......Also, if you want hands on look, at what the people who actually fish with Mike and I think about Dickson Flyfishing.............drop by Recommendations & Endorsements. I will write more specifics, as I get into the home town fishing, again. Many have read some to all of my Stories and articles. My favorite is "Charley". What's yours? Best of fishing, D For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information" 10/22/01 "Home at last" Just returned from the Grande Ronde River. Apparently, it has been getting a lot of press lately. Zig and Zag: The weather was variable, fishing was too. Lowest point was a zero day followed by tying an all time high.....a 15 fish day! Go figure. Most everyone really enjoyed themselves. Much thanks to Mike as an assistant, and Loren Isaac and Jamie for running the camp. A group effort for sure. Already making plans for next year. Way too much fun. Even I marvel at how effective the Floating Line Head System fishes. Kudo's to those came out with them. I know what a pain, many of you have had, coming up with the components.......especially when you have a guy behind the counter, trying to talk you out of it. Fine, I will start building them this winter for retail. Be sure to drop by Ask Dennis. Back at the ranch, we are looking at a bunch of rain. Fall has fallen, and now we look more like, early winter. Coho are in, Chums are coming.......and Dollies will be showing up in the next few weeks. Been a very busy year. Thank you so much for sharing it with Mike and I. Best fishes, D For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information" 10/07/01 " Way too much fun!" Just finished the last month camped out on the local rivers. Weather was stellar, and the fishing was fine. It was SO good seeing many of you.......! A couple days off, and it's away for the Grande Ronde River, for our two day campouts. If you haven't received an itinerary, please contact me ASAP. Oops! Late cancellation for the 16th-17th trip. Should be awesome. Silvers are hitting the local streams. Read Flyfishing Pacific Salmon In Freshwater, has strategies for many of the salmon species, including Coho. Totally fun fish. Chum will be right behind them. Great time to hit the local tributaries for SRC. Stilly has some great fishing......if you can get around the Humpies. Hmmm.... I will be home again after the 21st. I apologize for not keeping up with Ask Dennis. I promise to do better in a couple weeks......then life gets back to normal. No fishing report next week. Best of fishing, D
9/30/01 "God didn't build enough Octobers" Mike and I have spent the last month camped out, on the rivers. Sundays are the only days off. Weather has been fabulous.......but the fishing could be better. Low water and sunny days.....you know. Rivers smell of salmon now. Absolutely amazing how nature works. Studies now conclude, that the very carcass of the adult fish provide the nutrient loading for the juveniles the following spring. God always seems to have an answer. Sorry, but not surprised about the outcome of the steelhead symposium. Go back and read an article I wrote a couple years ago called " Ten ways we can enhance our fisheries." Almost prophetic. Answer? Pray for retirement.......there is no accountability. One last week on our local streams, then off to the Grande Ronde....Normally, I would be up playing with some monster steelhead on my FLHS.......and yes my 5 wt. Ma8 fish in the teens. Now, how much fun is that. Just be sure you back it up with a real fly reel. My Hardy Zenith came back in a box. Now I use my J Ryall. Watch for the SRC to head up their tributaries........right now they are huddled around the mouths waiting for a rain. It is our one chance at large trout in a small stream setting, here in western Washington. Pretty cool. Some salmon are in, Coho are staging.......too many choices......way too many choices. Mike and I head over to the Grande Ronde after next week, sorry to be so slow on the e-mails, November will be business as usual. God Bless, D
9/14/01 "Oh sure, at first it's the oohing and ahhhing.......but then there is the screaming and the running!" Fall. Way too many choices, way too many fish to pursue. Upper Sky: Salmon are in. Steelhead are where you find them. Look for slots and runs, heads and broken tailouts. Dry lines and surface flies of course. Lower Stilly: Coho, pinks, SRC, are playing the game. Water is back to low.....so playing with the tides below Silvana is good......if you can find some room amongst the Humpy chuckers. Lower North Fork: Full of Humpies.....but plenty
of Searuns hanging around the edges. Traditional spider patterns are
working when the light is off the water. October Caddis is moving now,
and the Cranefly will be good until we get a freeze. How much fun is
that? Skagit is still seeing bunches of pinks coming in along with Coho and SRC. Dollies are moving up into their tribs. and both wild and hatchery steelhead are around , if you could figure out how to get by the Humpies.......Hmmm. Weather is stunning. Life is gaining some normalcy. Floating lines, and surface flies.....it doesn't get better than that. Bookings: Oct. 4th has a couple slots available. Grande Ronde: now has two openings on Oct. 17-18th. looks like a another big year. The floating Line head System is golden for this trip. Surface flies for steelhead and The Grande Ronde and Mrs. Black are good reads. Thanks to all who have joined Mike and I in this summer/fall. Way too much fun. Only home on Saturday night thru Sunday.......so if you need to get in contact with us......that is when it happens. Best fishes, D For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information" 9/16/01 "Best compliment I have ever had" I have pondered of what I might be able to say that would mean anything for this fishing report. Sorry, there is no Ask Dennis this week. As I brought Steve back to his truck, he turned to me and said quietly, "You know Dennis, I almost didn't come today........but I am glad I did.......it is what I needed." Amen, D
9/8/01 "and the hits just keep on coming" All over the place, really. Lower Stilly is loaded with Pink Salmon.......few Coho showing. North Fork is just excellent for Searun Cutthroat. Been fishing spider patterns......with rubber legs......adds a wicked action on the fly. The SRC love it. Hooked two Deer Creek steelhead, down in the canyon......so they are not all up the creek. Lower Skagit has some color but the salmon are in. See Marks Play by Play in Ask Dennis. Upper Skagit can be a real sleeper for the Marblemount bound steelhead, fishing the surface will avoid most of the salmon. I riffle hitch the fly and keep it small. Some days you will find them, some days you won't that's why it is called "fishing". Next few weeks will pretty much be the same......always bouncing around, looking for the the best of the best. Anglers should have their itinerary, including directions. Watch for a change of location, but if you haven't heard from me.......everything is as planned. No need to reconfirm. Fall is always a busy time............even the Grande Ronde is just around the corner. Best office in the world, D For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information" 09/03/01 "Summer is closing, Fall is sneaking in. Winters suck........My idea of a good winter is warm water of Mexico. Spring, is a relief, knowing I made it thru another winter.......and the arrival, of the late winter native steelhead. Summer is fun, because I travel a lot, and chase a bunch of different types of fishing, but fall is best.......by far the best. Fall means salmon, and every species, has his own flair. This says nothing of the summer steelhead, which means surface steelhead, or his little cousin, the Searun cutthroat. Yup, fall is king......in my book. Spent the week split between fishing the upper Sky, the Stilly tidewater, and the lower North Fork. Way too many choices, all of them good. I live to fish in the surface, and I love "cross-over" flies. A c-o fly is one that will take multiple species. There is simply nothing finer, than having a large fish roll over your fly, and leave you guessing, what fish grabbed you, as the line tightens. Can't tell you my pet pattern, but if you experiment. I am sure you will come up with one of your own! Will fish the same waters this next week. Guide rule # 3: Never leave fish to find fish. Son Mike came up with a great idea.....and I am going to pass it on to you. Many times I will make a reference to a reel, a line or whatever. I get emails everyday, from guys going into their favorite shop, and can't come up with an item. Cobra running line, case in point. Simply, click on the Cabelas on the home page and it will lead you not only to the latest catalogue, but to the very item on the correct page. A couple clicks and your toy is on its way, back to you! Pretty cool, huh? No more running around. Many are building your trout rod, into a steelhead machine with the Floating Line Head System. I recommend it for all our fall fisheries. Want to fish thru that pool of salmon, after that steelhead, without snagging fish? Leave your sinktip home, and fish above them with your floating line.......now that is the sport I am talking about. Skagit River fall fishing is here, if you haven't received your itinerary......drop me a line. Still a few openings including a cancellation of two on Sept. 13th. Ditto that for the Grande Ronde Trips. A single cancellation for the 10 15-16 trip. All others are full. Some wonderful fishing on the Stilly and Skagit, in November....... Clients: will try to get a newsletter out for the spring of 2002 in the next couple months. If you are lined out to fish me and Mike this fall.....you will be seeing (and fishing) the cross-over skater. If you have any questions on building your FLHS.......just drop me a line. Don't forget to check out this week's Ask Dennis Only gets fun from here, D For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information" 8/25/01 "Rain! Like money in the bank, baby!" The Good: The water stayed so low, the fish were not even moving. They were simply flushing in and out with the tide. We fished down in the tidal waters, and did really well. Lets see; we caught silvers, pinks, SRC, and steelhead.......sometimes all on the same trip! We fished nothing but floating lines, both surface and wet flies. Totally cool. Then the rains came or "Lord, we don't need
a gully washer.......just a good sod soaker." What it did do, was flush all the fish out of the bay, and up into the rivers.......that is good, because the netting can get pretty intense, when fisheries know the fish won't enter when the rivers are low and warm. The rain couldn't come at a better time. Even the upstream steelhead, will perk up, as the water cools. See Ask Dennis for an article on weighted flies on the North Fork. Look for some good fishing, as fall is rounding the corner. Our Skagit trips will be starting soon. Some days we will be fishing the lower river, targeting the large Pink Salmon return, other days, we will be fishing the upper, fishing surface flies for steelhead. I will keep you posted as to time and place. Grande Ronde Trips are pretty full. Couple slots. No Cancellations as yet. Run looks huge. November steelheading is coming up. Getting to be a popular fishery, Ah, ...............life is good, D For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information" 8/19/01 " Ok, whoever took the water......would you please put it back?" Always run into summer low flows this time of year. Always seems like we get a rain around the 20th. Spent the week camped out in the lower North Fork, chasing Deer Creek steelhead, and early SRC. Adventures of Keith and Frank: Keith has been fishing with me for a few years now. Frank is his colorful brother-in-law, I wrote about on our chosen river trip last spring. Frank has this knack of bringing every fish to his fly........but can ever keep them on. Keith is always Franks good luck.......but never his own......except early this summer, when Frank couldn't make the trip, then Keith spanked them on the Skykomish. Anyway, by the time the trip is winding down, Frank has lost a couple steelhead, fell in once......on the hook set, (saw this move on the OP, his mom never spanked him, for not setting the hook, or Is there any tuna in this river?) All Keith was able to muster was a few Searun Cutthroat (SRC). This steelhead rolls out in front of Frank, then just below Keith, who is upstream 50 feet. His leader tangles........he fixes his line. When Keith got himself all straightened around, he proceeded through the holding water, but Mr. Steelhead didn't come. As we were all but wrapping up this trip, Keith Really wanted this fish (but was too classy to say so)......I Really wanted him to get this steelhead. Not sure what I was thinking. I often pack around my 5 wt., but don't fish it much. When it was pretty obvious, Mr. Steelhead wasn't coming.......I waded into the pool about 50 feet higher than where Keith started. I made a short cast, and let the caddis imitation swim. It hadn't gone 2 feet in the swing, and this steelhead comes up and .....Splash! Keith looks upstream as the steelhead rolls over the fly........ Sometimes life is like that. Looking for this rain. Need it to really get the fish moving. Look for final details in Aug guide trips.......it is all about the rain. We have already made some modifications......I will contact you personally. Oh yeah.....we are fishing! Skagit trips are right around the corner. Fish are entering the lower river now........looks promising. Be sure to read Ask Dennis. I address, how to approach, a steelhead who has come to a surface fly, but did not take. The followback technique became so effective on both the Grande Ronde and BC waters, we have since dubbed it, "The Closer Technique" You can get a full description of it now, in the lower 1/3 of the Surface Flies For Steelhead article. Life is pretty busy for Mike and I.......but then, that is good. Best of fishing, D For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information" 8/13/01 Things are heating up" Just got back from a few days on the Coast. Saltwater school was fine. Think everyone had a pretty good time, fog and boat motors not withstanding. We would meet and talk shop see Neah Bay article. A recess was to jump in a boat (some brought theirs, others rented, headed out and fished. Met back in a few hours, went over some do's and don'ts........finished up the lecture and Mike's BB-Q lunch. The die hards went back out for some evening fishing. Seems like everyone had a story to tell. Summer steelhead is happening on both the Skykomish and the Stilly North Fork. Now, if we can get by this heat wave. Many salmon are staging at the river mouths.....and a few are sneaking in. SRC are with them. Only gets fun from here: I will be on my local waters, skating flies, waking flies, until the 6th of September. Surface steelhead are high on the list. SRC and Pinks, not far behind. September is our steelhead/Humpy salmon show.........will never have enough skaters for that one. Have you seen the dam counts on the Columbia? Steelhead are just rocking. Come on October! Grande Ronde with a river full of fish........now that's a happy thought. Better get out there and help my son clean up the gear, got a busy week coming up. Best office in the world, D For information
on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information"
8/6/01 Quite the week. Took off with my eighty year old father for the north country. Brought my power raft and jet, so we could spend a little time on the Frazzier River chasing Sockeye. Found a lovely little island below Hope BC and managed to hook a nice salmon on a chartreuse chum fly, but the big muddy and the Sockeye got their way.......and I didn't have to worry about packing a dead salmon around on ice for the week. We ended up at one of my old stomping grounds, Roche Lake. The Fishing Dog (see stories and articles) came from this lake. Fished a bit that evening, but the wind and weather had other plans.....so we called it a night. Drove up to Savana, and made camp and headed for the water. The Thompson was up a good three feet due to heavy precip. that all but wiped out the upper north and south forks above the lake. Fishing was tuff......but the fish were there. Hopper patterns and Stonefly nymphs were the ticket. Always amazed how strong these rainbows are. As the river was barely fishing, we decided to head off for some lake fishing the next day. Tunkwa is fishing well.......but Dad had the itch to find Hi Hune. We headed north up Dead Man Creek. (Should have told us something). Anyway, an hour later and a half a tank of gas, it became pretty obvious, we were not finding the lake. We headed back down.......I am staring at this creek along the way. I asked Dad to stop. Now we are WAY the heck back out in the bush. I could hear the creek, and saw the steep little driveway, at the same time. As it lead to the creek, I wandered down, noticing the fresh tire tracks. At the bottom was two old pickups, both facing up the grade. A couple six gallon can were along side. A pretty little foot path crossed the stream, and a rustic log cabin could be seen through the trees on the far side. A large No Trespassing sign was scralled on a wooden plank on a tree above the bridge. I had no intentions in crossing that bridge, I simply wanted the take a look at the stream. The setting was right out of the movie Deliverance. As I was facing upstream, I noticed someone walking through the trees on the cabin side, of the stream. I decided I better leave. Could be moonshine country. I no more started up the steep grade back towards my own truck when I hear, "Sick em boy!" Hear comes this junk yard dog running balls to the wall, down the driveway and across the bridge. Now most dogs will run to the end of their property, and stand and bark. This one wasn't stopping, and the bark was more like snapping and growling. The hair on the back of his neck was straight up. This was not looking good. I glanced around to see if there was anything I could pick up.......no luck. The dog barely broke stride, as I turned and faced him. He lunged, and I managed to side step. As the dog missed on his first bite, he wheeled to attack again. I was Waiting to hear the jerk call off his dog! No such luck. Fear was immediately replaced with anger. Alright I was pissed! As the mongrel lunged again, I swung and caught him square across the face, that fairly spun him around. I was ready to kill him.......and the SOB who sent him. The dog jumped back up, cocked his head, and tore off for home. I won't tell you what I yelled at Mr. Hiding in the brush. Dad and I ended up doing some lovely meadow fishing. Fish weren't big, but lots of them. The two weight was golden. Hoppers ruled. A full day back on the Thompson. Water had dropped three feet, and visibility was good. Love to tell you we found them in the riffles, but not the case. Moguls, cutbanks, and back eddy pools were the big fish waters. Did manage to take several fish in a steelhead run on an island side. Two fish broke in the backing. Totally cool. Off to do the family thing at the in-laws, then back here at home. Tomorrow Mike and I do some client fishing on the upper Skykomish, before heading out to the Coast for our Neah Bay School. Be back home next Sunday nite (Aug. 12th) Take a minute on the home page to catch the up and coming trips. Appreciate your patience on the correspondence. Busy time. Best of fishing, D For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information"
July 29, 2001 Fishing Friends People often ask me what kind of impact www.flyfishsteelhead.com has given me. Although it takes many many hours, by Sandy, Mike and I to maintain, it has been good for the business........not necessarily for all the reasons you might think. Flyfishsteelhead.com doesn't just bring anglers, it brings angling friends. You see, by the time people peruse through the site, they kind of get to know me. I am not what you might call, a one toothed fishing bum. Neither am I a celebrity, no big name around the fishing circuit. I don't draw the Who's Who chasers. But when anglers read my stories and articles, they begin to get a sense of who I am, and what I am passionate about. I am here to help people with their fly angling. It is what I do. My little web site doesn't just bring me anglers.......it brings me the right anglers. Steve traveled over from Austria. His request was pretty simple. He wanted to catch a steelhead on a surface fly.....and he didn't want to see other anglers. I said we should fish my waters on the Olympic Peninsula. Bottom line. We fished four rivers in five days. You spend long summer days for a week with someone, you are going to get to know them. Steve began the trip by telling me, he had just spent the last week in Alaska, up to his waist in bright sockeye. He was tired, his arms were sore. I took him by the shoulders, looked him in the eye and said,"Steve, this is Not Alaska sockeye!" He proceeded to tell me he already prepared himself, to come down out of his wonderland. He knew the fishing could be tough......he just didn't know how tuff. We started out on the lower end of the Peninsula. The very first pool, Steve couldn't get a steelhead to rise, but hooked and released a beautiful small wild summer steelhead, minutes from the ocean, on a Cop Car and sinktip. Not a bad way to get started. Although dollies SRC and a gazillion steelhead smolts, harassed his fly all day, no steelhead to the surface. The water was bone low, and day was totally bright. Steve visits the Atlantic Salmon streams of Europe. He never seems to hit it right. Bright days and low water. "You should have been here last week, the water is far too low" He mimics in an Irish brogue. Steve's prowess for brutal fishing weather, transcends the seas. We talked about my business, we talked about his, as we both work with people. I learned a lot. We simply became closer. We fished the Chosen river, where I hang out, when the north sound rivers close in spring. Although, again, we never saw another angler, the fish simply hadn't entered.....it was like fishing in an empty aquarium. Elk, eagles.....I even saw a black bear.......but no surface rising steelhead. We headed north. Rivers were as low as what we had left. I told Steve if he decided to abort, the option was his. This was going to be hard fishing. We started fishing ultra early and very late. We found some steelhead by the end of the week. Steve rolled a fish on his floating line and weighted fly.....it didn't stick. We really needed that fish. He stuck another fish that evening on the sinktip........didn't hook up. I decided Steve was one of those rare individuals you meet on occasion, fishes very well. Unlucky, as hell. Friday found us high up in a god forsaken wilderness stream. Boulder jumping is for kids.......not grown men. Steve fell in, I fell down. We did manage to find ourselves in a pool of happy summer steelhead. No Walt Disney ending here. Steve rose a magnificent fish to a riffle hitched Freight Train, but the hook pulled, just as the line tightened. Thought I was going to be sick. Another crazy fish kept rolling down in the tailout. Steve worked his way down the pool. Ever notice the one place on the entire pool, you Need to make the cast, there is a tree branch , a bush.......something, in the line of fire, you just can't get it done. Steve was casting. I was trimming bushes and retrieving flies. He was finally able to cover the steelhead. The fish erupted the surface..........the line simply didn't come tight......the bloody fish had missed. It didn't come back. As we mused over our last meal, I told him how sorry I was, the trip had not worked out. (It is hard enough to give up a client on a bad trip, it is especially hard to give up a friend.) Steve was gracious enough to tell me, although Alaska was almost more fun than he could stand, he has decided not to go back there again, he was coming back next year to fish with me. I wasn't confused.......I was stunned. He explained he had learned more in his week of fishing with me, than he ever did, even in Alaska. So my question to you is - How do you put a measurement on a fishing friend? Off to BC to fish a lovely Canadian stream for
the week. From there Mike and I am putting together the summer steelhead last minute details, as we speak. Skagit trips are golden. Grande Ronde trips are too. More best of fishing, D For information
on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information"
July 22, 2001 " He was a bad man, LeRoy Brown" Spent the last week week dodging storm cells, and fishing the upper Deshutes, below the dam. It was........interesting. This is big time brown trout, waters. Log jams, blow downs, undercut banks, and weed beds. Not actually the pools and riffles I am used to, in the more typical of the lower river, but it was fun and occasionally exciting, with my 7.5' Orvis 2 wt. We caught a bunch of small fish fishing surface hatches, but ran into a really nice fish during a PMD hatch. The heavy weights were hanging low, and strike indictors and bead head PT's were the ticket. It would go something like.......flash, indicator down, bigger flash,........reel smokes, tippet broken, and fish gone. And I thought Washington was stupid. This is a world class fishery.......if they would remove the bait fishing, and kill. The upside was, we saw very few anglers (unlike Warm Springs to Trout Creek), and the solitude was stunning. I was suppose to hook up with Toshi to fish the Crooked River, but the family plan took up stage, and I didn't quite get there.......next time. Will it ever take the place of the Bitter Root, or my Big Hole, in Montana? Not in this life time. Fun though. Heading off to the Olympic Peninsula, for the week. We will fish four different rivers in five days. Looking forward to it. Neah Bay Flyfishing School: I don't why I should wonder.......seems like it happens most of the time. It is either too many or not enough anglers. As we speak, we have officially: Cancellations: One slot available for each day. The 10th, 11th, and the 12th of Aug. Tons of fish. Itinerary still available. Look for the August guiding itinerary out soon. Sept. Skagit/ fall salmon trips. (space Limited) see Ask Dennis for some follow details. Grande Ronde 2 day campouts........(space limited) Calendar Recap: or Where is Dennis now? Lets recap: I will be out on the OP for the next week. I will be back next weekend (7-28) to answer e mail and phone calls. I will heading up to BC to flyfish another chosen river leaving on the 30th of July and home on Tuesday the 7th. Fishing report on Tuesday (not Sunday night), that week, I will take off for Neah Bay by Weds. Morning (the 8th) and back Sunday night the 12th. Got all that? Not sure I do! A funny summer steelhead story is Allen " If fishing is a religion, then flyfishing
is the high church" Best of fishing, D
July 15, 2001 "School is out" Fished in upper North Fork, early on this week. Swam a lovely one salt steelhead, but the pleasant surprise is the number of Dolly/Bull trout that are in. Sculpin and baby Cop Car patterns are the ticket on light sinktips, will take both steelhead and the char. Pretty cool. My bad: I don't know what I was thinking. I ran the Stilly school for only two days this year. (trying to squeeze in a vacation down in the Deshutes country). I ended up, having to turn as many anglers away, as I took in the classes. Why not just do another school? No two days in a row available, until Thanksgiving. Stilly school: Other than the fact, that I have no voice, after ten hours a day of river lecture and demo. We had a marvelous time. (The fish could have cooperated better). From Ron climbing tree to get his fly, to Becky's baptism......everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We covered sinktip flyfishing in the morning, and surface presentations in the afternoon. Everyone tried my floating line head system, and a few even brought out their own lines, built from the recipe from the article Surface Flies for Steelhead We almost had another eagle story (gotta read ride em cowboy, it's pretty funny) I was fishing with Eric and Chuck, when well down in the tailout, this mature bald eagle crashes the water, and nails a nice fish. (Looked about the size of a 3 pound Dolly). Eric yells, "He stole my fish!" Eagle
was downstream some two hundred yards......... Thanks to all for coming to the Stilly School........be sure to drop a line when you hook up! (See Jim's letter in Ask Dennis) Off to Oregon, next week. Promise to get to the E mails, as soon as I get back. Neah Bay schools are locked and loaded. If you have not received your itinerary list, drop me a line. Not many openings left for the Skagit fall fishery. Wish the Pinks came every year. Bought a new Orvis 2 weight for the surface action......we will see. Grande Ronde campouts are not so far away. Happy to be going. Booking November and December, as we speak.......where did my year go? Happy fishing, D For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information"
July 8, 2001 "Wild Thang" Started off the week fishing the Skykomish river. Never found a good reason to leave the Sultan to Monroe area. Pick the low water pools, concentrate on the riffley heads. Type 4 sinktips and summer time marabous, Floating lines and the Crystal Caddis* (Muddler with a orange crystal flash wing), riffle hitched and skated, of course. I have never ceased to be amazed, how much better the wild fish rise, than the hatchery steelhead. Saw a couple dandies. Congratulations Dan and Gary. Floated the Stilly North Fork towards the weekend. Water is clear below Deer Creek, but the flows are good, and the wild steelhead are coming in. A couple near misses on Friday.......poor Tony, he could cast beautifully.......until we saw a steelhead rise, and then his casting would go to.......well, you know. As luck would have it, I just had to stop off at one more pool, on my way home. Yup, forth cast and Slurp......down goes the 5 wt. and zzzzzzzzzzzzzz! goes the reel. Just like in the movies. Frustratingly grateful, I muttered, "Where were you an hour ago?" I let the Deer Creek native go. And that is why we call it fishing. Timing couldn't be better for our Stilly School. Flies? Everything that works on the Grande Ronde or the Deshutes, will work here. Read latest Ask Dennis for my recommendations. I will be fishing and hanging out in Bend Or. on a busman's holiday the following week, after the Stilly school. The week of the 7-23 to 28th I will be out on the Olympic Peninsula, doing the coastal thing, then up to the BC waters, to float and fish from the July 30- Aug 7th. I could tell you where, but then I would have to .......well, you know. Keep you posted. Beat feet home because Neah Bay then, is just around the corner: Everyone should have received their itinerary. A late cancellation, has an opening on the Aug 10th.......Sorry- so far - that's it. Read the Neah Bay article if you haven't yet. Summer steelhead guide trips take up later August-early September. Promise to get last minute details to you........soon. Ask for details, couple dates open. Skagit River trips are locked and loaded. I will show you a surface presentation, that will make your buddies sinktip, feel like trolling. Way too much fun. Guess we can't leave without mentioning the Grande Ronde. Everything points to another stellar year. (Space limited). Don't forget to make your reservations, prior to campout. Early birds are talking about late fall, and late fall is time for our poporrii of summer Steelhead, Coho, Chum salmon and Searun Cutthroat grand slam. Fast becoming, one of our top three trips. Think November. I refuse to start talking Dollies and Chum. Makes me cold, just thinking about it. Best of fishing, D Fishing report July 1 For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information"
This last week started off with nice weather, decent fishing, moved in a huge weather front, that knocked to cr*p out of the Sky fishing, and back to stunning again. Took Bill from Olympia, up on an offer to float and fish the Cowlitz on Thursday. I know a few of you down south fly flingers are squeezing your mouse and holding your breath.......don't worry. The Cowlitz has a bad rep. as a meat haulers jam show.......and we saw some of that. We also found some very pretty fly water, and believe it or not, a little seclusion. Bill is kind of a throw back from the sixties, and wonderful company. He promised Mike and I SRC and a shot at steelhead, and this is exactly what we found. News note: If sleds really bother you.....don't go here.....there are lots of them. But I was so impressed with the water. Bill asked me what I thought. I told him the fish were great.......and they should make the river flyfishing only, C&R. He just laughed. He kidded me about the single handed 5 wt. and I poked fun with him about a 12" SRC on a 14' eight weight. Thanks Bill, we had a great time. Stilly upper river is already very low......not much fish around. Water below Deer Creek is looking good, few wilds staring to sprinkle in, give it a couple weeks. Kings are showing in the mainstem, but you can't fish for them. Be sure to check out this weeks Ask Dennis . Everything looking really good for our Stilly School coming up. We will cover subsurface presentations in the morning and surface techniques in the afternoon. We always have a fine time in this school. Mike will be assisting me. Oh, if you have a raft, and you want to bring it.....thats cool, just let me know. Bring water, dry sack (if you have one) and a PFD. I will be heading to Bend Oregon the following week, to do a little fishing and camping but Mike will be here to run the local guide trips. The 23rd thru the 29th, I will be fishing out on the coast, then Mike and I head up to Canada, until its time to beat feet back for the Neah Bay school. Oh! I have an opening on Aug. 10th and also another single for Aug. 12th if you are interested. Supposed to be tons of fish showing. Details coming. Skykomish and Stilly summer run guide trips are looking good for August, and of course, I am already tying surface skaters for the Skagit, in September. Sorry, another pet pattern. BTW: Check out the new fall section of the photo gallery, Mike did a nice job. Anyway, Grande Ronde trips are coming.....good time to be thinking of reserving your stay, before your trip. Bogans Oasis 509 256 3372 Fish are coming, life is good. Best of fishing D For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information" 6/24/01 Only fished a bit this week, due to some vacation travel. My wife and I headed east for a few days........I never fish when it is just her and I. My summer - fall is so busy, after next week, my next real break comes around Christmas. Really glad son Mike is guiding with me, I need it.......not that being busy is not good! Skykomish River: Water is dropping, but fishing is good. Wild summers haven't shown yet........but 8 to 12 pound hatchery fish, are doing well. Watch for the wild fish after the 4th of July. Can't wait to start fishing the surface.......but, not yet. Hatchery steelhead are keeping us busy. Concentrate on the low water pools, both above and below the town of Sultan. Type 4 sinktips and 8 pound ultragreen tippets are golden. Presentation is the normal. Bring it in low and slow. Hot fish. Stilly: Pretty much a waste of time........but that can change any time. Wild winters are finally gone, and no two salt hatchery steelhead will show.......because WDFW didn't plant two years ago. I will let them tell you why. No, it wasn't because they didn't have the fish. They are back to planting again, so next summer we will be seeing steelhead in the Stilly upper river. Stilly wild summer steelhead will show soon, and simply improve through out the summer. Searun Cutthroat are a fall fish. Watch for them in August. Focus your fishing from Deer Creek downstream. These wild summer fish take surface flies very well so if you have never taken a steelhead on top.......well, you're just letting the best part of life, pass you by. I won't bore you with the up and coming events. The home page has the scoop. Oh,...... don't forget the Stilly School is just around the corner. Details are on the Stilly page. Happy to answer any final questions......e mail please. We will be seeing many of you in the next few months. I hope you are looking forward to it, I know Mike and I will. Be sure to check out our updated Photo Gallery, Fall section Best of fishing D For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information" 6/17/01 "And the hits just keep on coming" Good week. Never bothered to fish the Stilly this week. Friends fishing, say the wild winter fish are still hanging around. By this and the numbers of late redds.......either the run came in very well...........or very late. Word around the Darrington Mill is, not many poachers spent time on the Stilly, they were too busy hammering them on the Sauk. I will always maintain, the best enforcement, we will ever have, is a good C&R fishery. Now lets do the math. Every poached steelhead is worth 20 to 30 steelhead caught and released......So you mind telling me what closing the river does, if you can't protect the fish? Anyway, I spent another week over on the Skykomish. Spanked them. Fishing both upstream and down from Sultan was golden, for new hatchery summer runs. I will grant that wild steelhead are better biters.....and definitely better surface risers....but a better fight? Not the thousands I have witnessed over 30 years. It is a romantic thought but....... I get asked all the time, when do I fish the sinktip and when do I fish the surface for steelhead?......my stories and articles section has two written pieces I would refer you to. North Fork Strategies and ABC's of surface steelhead. Bottom line: Anytime I am fishing around 50 degrees water temp., and fishing over wild summer steelhead, I will fish the surface. Right Now: Both marabous and General Practitioners in 4's and 2's are the ticket. Sinktips will perform better than surface presentations until the wild fish begin to show. Forecast is good for both. Stilly schools are full.......but never hurts to check for cancellations. Looks to be another fun one. Details here. Summer guiding is meant for summer steelhead. The other day, Bert was my 9th angler this year to catch his first steelhead on a fly. Last year I ended on 21. Few dates scattered through out the next couple months. Son, Mike is guiding with me, won't be long before he will be outfishing his old man. Skagit fall steelhead/salmon trips: Forecast is good, flies are tied........well, most of them. Should be a great time. Grande Ronde 2 day trips are lined out: couple slots on the 19th-20th. After that, it's home until Christmas..........Well, somebody has to do it! Best of fishing, D For information
on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information"
6/10/01 "Successful guiding is nothing more, than fishing every day, and paying attention" Dennis Dickson
The Sky has dropped, but the fishing is good. We were catching old native fish, early on, but now it has switched to new summer hatchery fish.......and these suckers are hot! Best day was Keith and I, which handled three. Look for low water lies, lengthen your leaders and use your summer flies.......can't wait for the wild summers to show. Should be good. Sky school is behind us. Only suggestion I have heard........is there is so much information packed into one day, maybe I ought expand it into a two day school. Hmmm......we will see. I am guiding now until the next gig, which is the Stilly School. Look for details of where and when and what to bring, on the Stilly School page. I will be out on the coast for a couple weeks in mid July. Sorry, all my coastal trips are booked. Neah Bay Schools are not too far off. Watch for details in next couple weeks. Few scattered slots for the surface Skagit gig. Son Mike, has been guiding with me, as well as doing schools. And here I was hoping he would be smarter than his dad.......but he loves the outdoors. Not doing Alaska guiding this summer. Grande Ronde is projecting another fine return. Couple opening left. Mid October. Good time to make reservations at Bogan's Oasis 509 256 3372 Yup, you can book for our late fall fishing now.........happy to do so. Thanks for all input.......and special Kudo's for Mike, who has taken over Ask Dennis Best of fishing for you and yours, D For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information" 6/4/01 "Bitter Sweet" The north sound rivers finally opened. It felt so good to be out. I just hope the closure wasn't more political than it was biological.......Whatever. Fished a brookie lake early in the week......that was fun. The third annual Skykomish steelhead school ended up very well. Seems like everyone had a great time. We saw steelhead, on two of the three days, which was pretty cool, being as I will be out guiding this next week. Water is high but very fishable. For all the folks that joined Mike, Yancey and I,..........Thank You. Up and Coming: Stilly Steelhead Schools: Are the classes full? Probably......but I will be logging the deposits, as they come in. First come first serve, and thats the deal. Neah Bay Schools: Stand by status only. Skagit fall trips: Few openings.....scattered. Grande Ronde 2 day campout: Same Sorry its not much of a report.......promise to write more next week! Off to bed. Best of fishing, D For
information on booking a trip see "Rates and
Booking Information" 5/25/01 "Mostly, just hanging out" Been kind of a weird week. I was going to head back to the Yakima for a few days, but a consulting project, and a funeral, pretty much botched that up. I fished a couple local waters.......but mostly just preparing for the Sky and the Stilly summer guide seasons to get under way. Yeah! Hoping to get up to BC this week. My in-laws live in Kamloops, so I try to get there, when my wife needs to visit her folks.......You understand. Last minute hustle and bustle: Well, Sky Schools
are just around the corner, and sure enough.......we have a cancellation
on the 1st and also a cancellation for the 2nd of June. Other than that,
we are golden! Stilly Schools are full: I promise to do a better job, hanging on the standby list. GRRRR! Neah Bay: Was full,...........Now has a cancellation on the 10th Summer Steelhead guide trips are split between the Sky, Stilly and the Olympic Peninsula. Looking good. Stilly will be down, but both Sky and OP should be golden. June- Aug. Check out the updated home page. Both, the Skykomish River plus the OP Streams will be on it. Skagit fall trips only have a few slots left. Grande Ronde over-niters has two slot open on the 19th-20th Each flyfishing page will have a description: Watch for the Stilly school Details page coming up! Summer is coming........rivers are ready!............are you? Best of fishing, D
5/20/01
Every year at this time, I get a little reprieve between the winter/ spring steelhead season, and the summer fishing. My dad and I have taken this week off for several years now. I want to fish anything and every thing, besides steelhead.......you understand. We were trying to decide, should we go north and fish some BC lakes or east and find some Spokane waters. The weather looked "iffy".......we decided to go east. I got a hot tip on some lake fishing for some bruiser rainbows west of Spokane. When we finally found the lake, we were met by a gentleman who informed us, most of the anglers have left. "The guy who belongs to that camper over there.......drowned last night." He said. I felt sick. We had traveled so far.......we decided to fish anyway........the wind was kicking up. The next morning: After fighting through the recently planted hatchery dinks.....WDFW had just planted the lake......(which we didn't know).......the lake was turning over.......and the dead guy, who they hadn't recovered yet, we decided to reel up and head for shore. As I was reaching over to borrow my dad's sunglasses......I had forgotten mine, I must have knocked my 4 wt. outfit off the side of my pontoon raft, and into the lake.......it was gone. I searched for an hour with a weight and hook. Nothing.......I couldn't get out of f this lake fast enough. We decided to continue south and east to Amber Lake. Really pretty country. The rolling hills and pine forests reminded me of many areas of northern Idaho. Having never been to Amber, we rolled in to find, there is no lake side camping.......and they close the gate at dusk. We had no alternative but to head off to find some camping, we would never get back that evening in time to fish. Amber Lake kind of reminds me of Chopaka,......... without the people, or the long hill. I was pumped for tomorrow's fishing. Somewhere in the night, gale winds came in, that I figured, were trying it's best to separate us from our tent trailer.......and we were in a trailer park.......down in a hole! We got up the next morning, to find the lake in a froth.......realized the wind was never going to quit, and we headed back towards Ellensburg. So much for Amber Lake. The weatherman was right. The front that all but wiped out northern Idaho with 50 mph winds, was leaving us. That evening found us down in the Yakima River canyon. We set up camp, and headed off to fish. YEAH! I still had my favorite rod, my GL3 5 wt. We didn't have a lot of time, but on the Yak that last hour of the day, is golden and sure enough, some really nice trout were slurping and glumping on the tan caddis/ peacock hurl body. Found the smolts but also located the bigger fish lying out in second and third seam. Dad broke a big fish, and I landed some, including a 18.5 " football. I was so impressed. Every fish we caught that evening and the next day......from the smolts.... grrrrr..... to the upper teens fish, were very heavy and well conditioned. The bigger fish were no push-overs, and seems like every rainbow had multiple hook scars in his mouth. The caddis was always consistent, but the fly system that really attracted the big fish, was the rubber legged, stonefly adult. The flashback PT, in a bead head, as dropper was golden. Ran into some PMD's the next day around 2 PM........that was fun, but I ended up doing a lot of experimenting with both imitations and attractors, dries and nymphs. Seems like everything worked.......nothing was awesome. Presentation was everything. Water was down, so we were able to fish a good many riffles, which I really enjoy. I was right in the middle of the PMD hatch, landing several nice rainbows (no browns), and I was landing a feisty little bow around 13", when my line goes slack. I look up, and eight inches of the end of my 5 wt. is dangling down my line, like a defeated boxer. I was so mad, I snipped off the leader, took the broken rod tip off, shoved it down my waders, and retied the fly. I did manage to catch a few trout, but by the time we hit the boat launch that evening, my shoulder was hamburger. We decided to get up the next day, find some breakfast and head for home. Looked like it was going to be a killer day on the Yakima.......but would my karma change? Didn't have a third rod to find out. Sky School is coming up: Details are on the Sky page. Stilly Schools are full.......but a couple deposits are still hanging. Neah Bay Schools are full Summer Steelhead will be down on the upper North Fork, due to no two salt plant. (No comment). Deer Creek and below will be good for steelhead and SRC, after August 1. I will be chasing fish on the Stilly, Sky and Olympic Peninsula, this summer. Skagit fall trip dates are few. Grande Ronde trips are almost full. Life is good. Best of fishing, D
5/13/01 " Sometimes you eat the bear.....other times the bear eats you" Just returned from fishing the Sol Duc River for springer Chinook. Started off the week with moderate flows and a little color in the water. We hooked a dandy springer in the first pool........lost it at the shore, and landed a hatchery summer run and lost a dark native steelhead. I wasn't feeling too bad. The water went to air clear, and fish got ultra spooky, through the week. Couldn't even move the steelhead, until we reverted to grease lining in the surface. Don promptly hooked and landed a 14 pound buck summer hatchery steelhead.......that was cool! Started catching some lovely SRC, riffle hitched muddlers were particularly effective. Second to the funniest episode: Bob was throwing a 300 grain tip for the kings. We call this "chuck and duck". The wind shifted in mid cast and poor Bob realizes the line (and fly) are coming right at his head, instinctively, he ducks......looses his balance and falls in......all in one motion. Guess it wasn't nearly as funny from where he was standing. Funniest episode: I was having trouble convincing Earl and Chris, birds live in the trees and fish are in the water. My morning was reduced to pulling flies out of bushes and lower tree limbs, from errant back casts. It is getting toward lunch, and I was up by the boats putting some gear away. Earl places yet another fly, not only in the same tree......but in the same branch, in his back cast. Funny how trees don't move. Anyway, he had just taken this fly out of my box, so he really didn't want to loose it......so he wades back to shore, and manages to get enough limb to pull it down......almost. He is left holding the rod in one hand, and the big Alder limb, in the other.......he doesn't have another hand to get the fly. I see his predicament and run down the bar to help. I decide to grab the branch. Physics: I weigh less than 200 lbs., Earl weighs more than 200 lbs. I grab the branch, Earl lets go of the branch. Dennis leaves the ground! Chris looks back to see his guide hanging from the tree, going; "Earl,...... EARL!!!" As the dangling leader was right next to my face, I could just see the leader snapping the fly right through my anatomy.....letting go didn't seem like the best option, until after I had launched. Anyway, I dropped down, the fly fell out, and Chris and Earl finally stopped laughing. Wasn't nearly as funny, where I was standing. (Well, maybe a little funny). The Kings just became all but impossible to move, steelhead were tuff at best, and the weather and water were stunning. Fishing was awesome.....catching was awful. Next week I will be fishing some lakes above Spokane. Stay tuned. Yancey S. will attend the Skykomish Schools to
demonstrate the single handed spey line. Sky Steelhead Schools:
Full Sky Page will have details. Stilly Steelhead Schools:
6 anglers/ class cost $150. Skagit Fall salmon/steelhead trips six angler guide trip $150/ angler (space limited) Grande Ronde Steelhead 2
day campout 6 anglers $425./angler Caution!!!!!!!!! DATES CANNOT BE HELD WITHOUT DEPOSITS. If you have a question about your trip status, please contact me ASAP. Send $ to: Dennis Dickson, Flyfishing Best of fishing, Dennis For information on booking a trip see "Rates and Booking Information" 05/06/01 " And so we go to plan B" Never made it the Coast due to high waters. Did manage to fish several lakes this week. Pass Lake: Rainbows are moving off the bombers, and onto the "little hatches". Fish are off the ledges......use your fish finder to scope them out. The most amazing experience, was last year. Rivers were blown......and the boys were from out town, looking to do "something", so we traveled to Pass Lake. Choronomids were moving in the morning, but things died down in the early afternoon. By this time, we were fishing the rock ledge in the northwest corner of the lake........which is about as far as you can get, from the boat launch......and my lunch. We decided to do the long row back in our little kick boats, so I figured what the heck. I dug out my dredge line, and I was going to put on a seal bugger........but I put on a Cop Car, instead. The big streamer sank out of sight. I only went about 30 feet, when the rod did the slow pull.....I lifted, thinking it was weeds. It shook its head! I hadn't bother to change the 5x tippet, so I wasn't exactly in a position to take control. The heavy fish stayed down and towed me around. The boys paddled over to watch. Every once in a while, Leroy (the fish) would stop and shake his head. Five minutes of towing and the line simply parted. Never got him up, never saw the fish. Weird huh? Fished a couple lakes in the Oso area: Cavenaugh fished well for some cutties. Little orange soft hackles, and parachute Adams were golden. Very pretty setting. Evening rises are worth the travel. Lake Riley is only a few miles away by crows flight. Fished planted rainbows along the western edge, with midge patterns and water boatmen. Did very well, especially when the cloud cover moved in. Floating line is all you need. Traveled east and met Bob, who just flew in from Minnesota. My son Mike had the time off so we headed off for Winthrop to fish Big Twin Lake. Funniest episode had to be first night. Mike was
set up with a seal bugger, a nine foot leader on a Stillwater sinking
line. Right at dusk he starts hammering fish. I ate dinner, and took
my time. This isn't my favorite fishing anyway, so I was planning to
just bang the shoreline with a big woolly-bugger, in the dark. Four
problems: By the time I finally did get rigged, I looked up, and I was WAY down the lake. I had no choice but to paddle back. I decided to troll. When I had gotten back to where Mike was fighting another fish......He asks, "Hey Dad.....How come black is so effective, on a dark night?" I was about to answer, when I looked down at my left tube. Even in the dark I could make out something dark on the pontoon. I picked it up. I was my fly......the one I thought I was trolling in the dark. I reached down the leader, and realized I never tied the fly and tippet on the leader. Down the lake I went. Struggling to tie the tippet to leader. Somehow, I do it. I start rowing back. If I could reach that far, I would have kicked my butt. 40 years of flyfishing, 15 years of guiding......I was suppose to do better than this. I took my time and made the cast......I let out some line. I thought I better fasten the rod down.....don't want to loose it in the lake to a runaway fish. I Velcro it down, but must have caught the line. The reason I know this, is because when I had traveled about ten feet, the rod lurched forward.....but the reel didn't even chirp. I managed to drop the anchor, and strip the line in.......the fly was gone. I rowed quietly back to shore. In the distance I could hear Mike's reel take off......he had another fish on. The next day we met Bob, and thanks to Yancey (who had already been over for two days) who shows me the Choronomids that are working, (green and grey) and we spent the next day handling rainbows and cutts. Pretty fun but no bruisers for us. Next week I will be chasing springers, out on the coast. Tuff job but somebody has to do it. Sky Steelhead Schools: Full Neah Bay: Full......a cancellation on Saturday. Stilly Steelhead Schools: One slot on Friday, two on Saturday Stilly and Methow Guide Trips Aug 15- Sept 10th (space limited) Skagit Humpy/Steelhead trips 80% filled Grande Ronde 2 day steelhead outings: Oct. 12-13 1 slot Best of fishing, D 05/02/01 This and that.....here and there" They say that variety is the spice of life. This weeks fishing was more like poking around. Spent some fishing the tides for SRC. Candle fish and Chum fry patterns were the ticket. Nothing really big, but some pretty fish to 16". The Stillwater line worked well. with a 12' leader to 6 lbs. maxima ultra green tippet. I like the open loop knot, which allows the fly a little more action. Out going tides are golden. Fished the lower Skagit around tide water. Breather patterns, chum smolt, and mini Cop Car worked for both Dollies and Cutthroat. Watch for rolling fishing, and spraying fry. Flashed a couple monsters but.......only the smaller fish to the boat. Same gig, same flies, out going tide. Fish the current seams along the shady banks. Caught a few on dries. Presentation is everything. Getting r |