Fly Times Old Timey Fishing Blog

Sunfish

2008-05-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

April 12 & 13, Seep Lakes, WA.
The 'gills crowded the shallow coves and took small poppers with abandon.
I fished for bass too, catching most of them on a bunny worm and - late in the day - two more on a deer hair bug.

"Drake magazine, you numba ten!"

2008-03-19T08:55:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago me and my Buster pals got together and invented The Drake the worlds best fly fishing magazine. Now after ten years...
What?
Oh, right. It was actually Tom Bie who invented The Drake while he was sending out letter bombs from a small, remote cabin somewhere in the wilds of Montana. er,something like that.
But we did invent The Drake's message board, sorta.
The truth is that the tenth anniversary issue of The Drake is out now. Be sure to check out the Jessica Alba centerfold, woot woot!

Bull!

2008-03-18T20:43:00.001-07:00

3/13/08
Sauk River: two bull trout, zero steelhead.

3/15/08
Yakima River: Three li'l pigs, all 'bows, each of 'em on a stimmy.

Ho-hum & Yawn

2008-03-11T14:30:00.000-07:00

Ho-hum, Yakima River Saturday, March 8.

South Fork Toutle Monday, March 3. Yawn

February 16th, 08

2008-02-26T11:09:00.000-08:00

Last seen at the end of fairly well executed double spey.

You Gotta Start 'em Early

2008-02-19T08:38:00.000-08:00

A man should tie his own flies.

2008-02-01T23:40:00.000-08:00

The other day a relative says to me something like, "There's a fly fishing store by my office and I thought of buying a Christmas present for you there. But what the hell am I gonna get for you; the angler that has everything?"
Two words for you Cousin Earl, two simple words. Bass Bugs.
Most times I do tie my own flies. Even if it means driving to three or four different fly shops to get the right materials for a particular pattern, gas prices be damned. In the long run it's cheaper though sometimes it seems like I'll have to tie flies for a long time yet to realize the cost benefit.
When it comes to bass flies, the big poppers, sliders and divers, I opt for the store bought variety. Too much work; spinning, stacking then shaping all that deer hair. A professionally tied deer hair bass bug goes for something like four or five dollars a piece. It would take me at least an hour to turn out a Dahlberg Diver or Messinger's Frog that looked half as good as the original. Hell even my boss thinks my time is worth five bucks an hour.
So....thanks Mom, I finally used that Bass Pro Shops Gift card you got me last year. Pass the word around, maybe Cousin Earl will catch on.

Gettin' The Spey Out

2008-01-17T14:41:00.000-08:00

Spent a few hours practicing with the double hander this morn. Things are beginning to make sense and I've almost got a couple casts figured out. I actually even fished a fly through some holding water. Didn't catch anything but that's only 'cause there weren't any fish around. If I had caught a steelhead you can be sure that this post would be about something far more interesting than learning to cast the long rod.
Anyhoo, since I'm slowly turning into a spey nerd I've added a link to Spey Pages to the link column on the right. It's under "Forums, Bulletin Boards and News"
So there ya have it, now I'm off to the tool shed to color code my Delta Spey [line] with a sharpie.
Have good fishing,
Wally

Edit: I went out again Sunday (1/20) morning. The river was running low and clear at ~ 600 CFS, just low enough for me to cross. Lots of casting, no fish, added a third cast to my repertoire. At the end of the day, and back on the river left side I was shooting lots of line with a single spey. Good times, good times.

Please Feed The Fish; Hughey, Dewey, Poncho, Lefty, Louie, Atticus and Delmar.

2008-01-15T15:42:00.000-08:00

Found this little widget over at Westside Fly. Give it a try, it's great exercise.

We Love The Drake

2008-01-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

The Drake bulletin board is back. The Drake is faster, stronger and less dumb. The Drake is new and improved and wants you to know that it everything is okay. Visit Drake Country.

Voluntary Beatdown Leaves Town

2008-01-09T10:16:00.001-08:00

It only took a year to change the way people read, write and talk about fly fishing. Jason boiled it down and painted it black. He made me want to fish for winter steelhead, then made me feel bad about myself. Now, after a year, he's calling it quits.

A few parting words from the Beatdown.

Fly Times: I thought a bond developed between us!
Voluntary Beatdown: No. Not really. You're scum, Wallace; you did it for RATINGS. You don't give a shit about us or anybody else except yourself; that's why nobody gives a shit about YOU. That's why "helicopters" were not "deployed."

FT: Now what? What'll you do?
VBD: You'll never understand. Me and you, Wally, we're not even the same species. I used to be you...then I evolved. From where you're standing, you're a man. From where I'm standing, you're an ape. I'm here...I'm right here... and you...you're somewhere else, man. You say why? I say why bother?

FT: Now what?
VBD: I realized my true calling in life.
FT: What's that?
VBD: Shit, man, I'm a natural born killer.

Spey: The New And Better Way To Not Catch Steelhead

2008-01-09T08:49:00.000-08:00

Thee Originoo Trouthole practicing his reverse slap cast.

Old Timey as Hayull, Part II

2008-01-07T09:23:00.001-08:00

Old Timey As Hayull, Part I

2008-01-07T09:22:00.001-08:00

Got Taimen?

2008-01-02T07:53:00.001-08:00

The Trout Bums/AEG Media have announced the
tour dates for this years Fishing Film Festival. Check it out now so that you can plan for the after party in your home town.

If Only There Was Fishing Like This In The Northwest

2007-12-28T21:00:00.001-08:00

Gosh, them trout are big.

Hopper Water

2007-12-21T09:50:00.000-08:00

Right now, somewhere in the southern hemisphere, there's a piece of water that looks like this and is fishing well with terrestrials.

Renegade

2007-12-19T00:08:00.001-08:00

Renegade

hook: TMC 900BL
tag: gold tinsel
aft hackle: brown rooster saddle
body: peacock herl, 4 strands
fore-hackle: white rooster saddle

Invented by Taylor "Beartracks" Williams in 1928, the Renegade should be the Idaho state bird.

"Grayling Dragged Through The Coals"

2007-12-11T09:14:00.001-08:00

Fly Fish Yellowstone reports on the how and the why the grayling is the Rodney Dangerfield of coldwater fishes.

"Suh-low"

2007-11-30T09:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I was finally able to take my new double hander out to the river. I only had a couple hours but had to get started sometime. I watched the DVD, gone over it in my head, I was ready.

"The most basic moves practiced over and over again become the most advanced moves."

Or something like that.

The first few casts were rough but I got the fly out there, which in the end is all that really matters. Then I slowed things down a bit and started thinking about the different parts of my cast. I worked on my pick up, then my anchor and "D" loop, and a little bit on the forward cast. Occsionally it would all come together and I would send a decent looking cast ~~across~~ toward the other side of the river.

Just as I was about to call it quits and head home to baby I met a guy from Michigan who had came out here to fish for steelhead for ten days.

"Do you fly fish?" I say.
"Yeah, for 18 years."
"Do you spey?"

Dude speys. Watching me cast he gives me some pointers, tells me to slow down. I've heard that about spey casting. "Go slow" they always say. Again he tells me to slow down, "slow on the pick up, slower." Then he shows me what slow is.

His pick up and back cast are in slo-mo, so un-fast that the line seemingly just hangs below the tip-top, barely enough motion to load the rod, back cast into a nice "D" loop then POW!, foward cast and the line lays all the way across the river.

Oh, that slow.

I repeat, "Suh-low" out loud and over and over again as he hands the rod back to me. I pick up and cast, laying the line out there. I slow down some more and cast again and again repeating my new mantra the whole time, "suh-low." It works and already my single spey is improving dramatically.

Thanks dude from Michigan, thanks a bunch.

Old Timey: Finn Style

2007-11-29T11:12:00.000-08:00

Olli over dere at Opax-Fly Fishing busts out some tradition and heritage in his latest post. He takes us to the historical epicenter of Finland's brown trout fishing scene and gives us a quick tour of the joint. He then finishes with this brilliant observation.

The tradition of fly-fishing is not static. It lives and evolves as we read, write, talk, and dream about it.

Good stuff Olli! I'm glad that someone is doing the heavy lifting around here.

Old Time Yellowstone

2007-11-28T08:52:00.001-08:00

Fly Fish Yellowstone fires up the wayback machine to bring us some old timey fishing photos.
Theres also copious amounts of near-nudity, conservation info and the latest fishing reports. All that good stuff makes for good reading, check it out.

A River Ain't Too Much To Love

2007-11-27T09:08:00.000-08:00

With Nature Trumps: An LA River Blog Jay Babcock demonstrates that good fishing is where you're at and also that water brings wilderness and renewal to the most unlikely places.

"Say Valley Maker"

Richmond Fontaine: Greatest Band in the West

2007-11-20T09:30:00.001-08:00

Off work at 5:00 am. Insert road tunes, merge onto highway. Interstate-90, eastbound. Yakima, Coeur d'Alene, St. Joe, Clark Fork, Kelly Creek, Bitterroot, Blackfoot, Rock Creek, Madison, Jefferson, Gallatin, Yellowstone, Boulder, Stillwater and rivers east; take your pick. The only hard part is coming back.

Johnny Cash - Ghost Riders In The Sky

2007-11-13T10:38:00.001-08:00

Howdy pard. Looks like you're gettin' ready to set down at the tying bench. It's that time of year I guess, lots of boxes to refill before spring. You might as well make yourself comfortable and click it on over to the Cowboy Cultural Society and get your GRITS on. While you're there have a seat at the virtual campfire and enjoy a few more of your Western music favorites.

Reminder

2007-11-08T11:47:00.000-08:00

Black Ant

hook: TMC 100
body: antron, black
hackle: black saddle

REMINDER:
- Fly Times is here to stay,
- trout love ants
- and Buster Wants To Fish is now banned in five states.

Baby's Toy's

2007-11-08T11:14:00.000-08:00

Out of all of baby's toys Daddy's favorite is the two handed rod, a 13.5ft Echo Classic, loaded with an 8/9 wt Delta Spey on a Bauer JM5. Now I have to learn to cast the thing.

Doomed to Succeed

2007-11-04T23:11:00.000-08:00

Infliltrating the blogosphere from all corners of the USofA, Buster Wants To Fish is on the ground and moving fast. Check your six.

I don't know but it's coming right at us!

2007-11-01T08:49:00.001-07:00

Your Fishing Rights Are Under Attack!

2007-11-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

Tom Chandler of Trout Underground fame has been fighting for our right to fish. It seems that there are a few Siskiyou County (Northern California) Commissioners who want to change the rules so that fisherman can't access area rivers. In short, The Man is paving the way for timber, mineral, and agricultural interests to have their way with public water.
For the latest on this issue visit Tom Chandler's Trout Underground. Read up then send some emails and make some phone calls because if they can take away our river rights down in California they can do it anywhere.

Trout Bums

2007-10-31T10:19:00.001-07:00

Looks like the Trout Bums have been in Mongolia chasing taimen, expedition style. Click it over to the Trout Bum Diaries and see for yourself what the hardest working crew in all of fly fishing has been up to.

This Is Fly: BLOG

2007-10-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

My intern has recently pointed out that This Is Fly now has a blog . I beat him about the head with a rolled up newspaper and scorned him for telling me something that I already knew.
Then I took a look at the new blog (apparently the link is on the bottom of the magazine page) and discovered that it has already been around for sometime. Hmmmm.

Hold Still For Your Picture Dammit!

2007-10-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

October Caddis

Burning Pram V - The First Cut

2007-10-27T11:29:00.001-07:00

From freshman filmmaker Snapdad. He's like, the next Scorsese.

Lone Angler

2007-10-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

I don't know who this guy is but it looks like he's standing at the head of a fishy run 'eh?.

Burning Pram V

2007-10-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

Beers, birthdays, bighorn sheep, blue wing olives, blue heron, bonfire, brownsauce, bugs, burn, campers, campfires, camping, canyon, dogs, dog racing, flies, fly fishing, food, friends, family, flames, hatches, mahogany duns, nymphin', pram, peppers, October caddis, orange stimmy, pheasant tail, pod, ram, riffles, risers, Rock! Paper! Scissors!, 6X 5X, size 20 poly, swingin', tents, trout, wading, water, wind, whiskey, wine, and wishes.

Son Volt: Windfall

2007-10-16T08:43:00.001-07:00

Here I am sippin coffee and fishing the internet when low and behold i-tunes shuffles up some Son Volt. So I click off the shuffle and start from the beginning. Then I thinks to myself that this shit is too good not to share. So here you are courtesy of the YouTube. Enjoy.

The Upper

2007-10-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

You sing happy birthday to the kid then you're out the door.
Driving over the pass you see one too many truck/drift boat combos. It's the weekend and seemingly everyone is going fishing.
There's only one "Blue Ribbon" trout stream in this, the second most populated state west of the Mississippi. It has more guides per trout than any other river in the West and they think that they own the water. You've got no love for the sonsabitches.
Just thinking about it depresses you so you decide to head to the upper end of the river, let the sports and weekend warriors (looks you're one of them now) battle it out in the canyon. The Upper, there's fewer trout but they're bigger. That's the rumor anyhow, been on all the bulletin boards and kiss-n-tell fishing sites all year. "The Upper, for bigger fish: more wild, more native."
You pull of the interstate and drive down River Road. Cars in every pull out. Apparently the rumors are true, either that or people believe everything they read.
Read this people: The steelhead rivers are full of record numbers of fish and they're taking anything that skates a wake, go get 'em!
You find some water and wader up. Having never fished this particular section you develop a baseless sense of optimism. "Yeah that far bank looks good, all the way up, right under those trees, through the riffle and right up to the head of the run, good stuff."
And it was good, not great just good. Only one boat floated by, down the other bank. You fished dry flies and rose some trout. Most were smallish, a few were of respectable size and one was what anyone would call a big trout. A good day. You would have caught more down in The Canyon but you hate crowds and besides these fish were more wild and native.

Fishizzle?

2007-10-10T20:24:00.001-07:00

My copy of Fishizzle came in the mail today. So I did what any housebound father of a newborn baby would do, I immediately loaded it into the DVD player and watched it.
Fishizzle is not the typical MTV Sports inspired fly fishing adventure-fest that you may have seen lately. It has a plot, a thin one but a plot no less.
A former Alaska fishing guide now living in Seattle, Steve has a job at Wooligan's (Filson) and a girlfriend who he rents dogs and goes on ferry rides with. But he misses Alaska and wonders if having a 9 to 5 for the rest of his life is a good way to go. Though he never openly questions the relationship with his woman I have to think that somewhere in the back of his head Steve realizes that this chick is going to want to get married and have a baby some day. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it.
To console himself Steve watches home videos that he shot over his 7 year stint in AK. Basically a very transparent way of injecting seven years (before editing) worth of fly fishing footage into the film. Which is totally okay because its, you know, ALASKA! and there's lots of giant rainbow trout and really big salmon. In fact the whole plot is itself just a vehicle for showing us all that fishing footage. Which is the reason of having a plot.
It's obvious that the filmmakers are going to show us a whole bunch of fly fishing footage, that's the point. That's why there's even a market for these things. But it's nice when someone takes the time package it all up in a nice little story. Rife with humor and bonus footage Fishizzle is all fun. Yeah sure there's some cheese in there but this film is laid back, like fly fishing is supposed to be.

Boga'd!

2007-10-10T18:29:00.001-07:00

This little baby's gaining weight!

Every Story Has A Beginning

2007-10-09T10:26:00.000-07:00

dave perry photo
Thee Originoo Trouthole

And so it is written.

"So, at the local last evening, a plan was hatched... a big yakfest blowout involving all the scud draggers, their dogs, their gals, their probabtion officers, whatevah!"

"WT promised to use his pram as a giant beer cooler, tho he's stopped short of promising to fill the friggin' thing with beer"

"NEW NAME......Burning Pram."

It's been rolling downhill and gaining speed ever since.
See you there.

Burning Pram V

2007-10-07T22:26:00.000-07:00

Less than two weeks until Burning Pram V. Start thinking about your alibi.

Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C
Exhibit D

New RCP Movie Teaser - Huge Alaska Rainbow Trout

2007-10-07T09:07:00.001-07:00

I found this clip over at the Matadors Blog. Another film from Roll Cast Productions, who are the folks that brought us Fishizzle.
Wild Alaska, big fish, some humor and the ~~Smashing Pumpkins~~ Silversun Pickups. Check out the shot a minute into the trailer where the big 'bow throws the fly, good stuff. It looks like fun maybe Roll Cast will send us an advance copy when it is ready for release.

The Fishes In My Head

2007-10-05T14:21:00.000-07:00

Flytimes Foam Damsel
hook: TMC 200R
body: thin (THIN!) strip of 2mm foam, tan
post: tag end of foam body
hackle: grizzly cape, oversized
thorax: antron, hare's ear brown
note: hackle is tied as a parachute, post is then drawn forward over thorax and tied down over the eye.

Its late summer and the days are just now starting to get shorter. Nights are longer and cooler. Trout cruise the shallows of my favorite stillwater. The fish have a sense of the changing season. They feed mostly on unseen nymphs and scuds, occasionally rising to a bug on the surface.
Mid afternoon and the sun is high. There is no hatch to speak of and the wind is starting to blow. Through the clear water I can see well enough to tell the rainbows apart from the browns. There aren't many of them but if I'm patient and range quietly around the bay I find them.
I'm casting through the wind. The fly splats down above a fish. Without hesitation the trout rises to take the adult damsel imitation. I wait for the fish to turn down before I strike but it happens fast and I don't remember when I struck. I land this one and many more. I also break a few off.
The wind blows harder, the trouts continue to rise to my fly as it bobs along in the whitecaps. Sight fishing to big browns and rainbows almost as good today as it was the day I was out there five years ago.

Clark's Fork Pike

2007-10-05T09:34:00.000-07:00

Now that I think about it I'm sure that it was a giant pike that capsized my boat last spring.
From the Spokesman Review

Clark Fork pike bite: A few fly fishers have been startled recently to learn something fish biologists have known for years: Northern pike are hanging out in eddies and frog water throughout much of the Clark Fork River.

A fly-fishing guide, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of a shunning by trout purists, said he'd never thought of targeting pike until recently, when he saw a bait fisherman soaking smelt in a big eddy near Superior, Mont.

The fly fisher fetched a 4-inch trout streamer pattern from his fly box, tied it onto his 9-foot, 12-pound leader and gave it a try.

On the second cast with a floating line and a 5-weight trout rod, a pike approaching 20 pounds slammed the leech.

"It was a pretty epic battle," the angler said. "The biggest fish I've ever caught on a fly."

The exhilaration over landing the toothy monster transformed to shock as the angler and his partner eventually hooked 15 northerns (while the bait fisherman caught two).

"I couldn't believe there were so many," he said, noting that he bonked every one of the pike.

"It seems like this is a new thing, but then I ask myself how often I've cast a Bunny Leech into a back eddy this time of year."

Ladd Knotek, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks fisheries biologist in Missoula, said he's not surprised at this and similar stories he's been hearing from fly fishers recently.

"Pike have been in the Clark Fork system for quite a while, but in low numbers," he said. "Only recently have more people started to notice."

That's probably because the pike population is expanding.

"In about 2000, pike really took off in Milltown (Reservoir)," Knotek said. "We've been reducing their numbers for the past three years pretty effectively to prepare for the removal of the dam, but every drawdown flushes some pike downstream.

"Pike numbers are high below the dam and we've found pike intermittently all the way to the Flathead."

The good news for trout anglers is that the Clark Fork in the St. Regis region is a single channel that doesn't have much pike habitat.

"But anywhere you find big eddies or backwaters, you'll find pike," Knotek said.

Electrofishing surveys routinely find 10- to 12-pound pike, but generally in areas where they probably aren't a limiting factor to trout, he said.

The fly fisher I interviewed generally confirmed this in several subsequent outings to target Clark Fork pike.

"I've caught pike every time," he said, noting that he's gone to a 7-weight rod and 20-pound leader, but has yet to land a 15-pike limit. "They've been from 4 to 20 pounds. I open them all up and they don't have trout in their stomachs, just whitefish – up to 15 inches long."

BREAKING NEWS

2007-10-02T21:06:00.000-07:00

This just in: Wenatchee River to open for steelhead fishing.
From Fishing and Hunting News.

The fishery will be open under selective-gear rules (barbless hooks, no bait, no scents). Daily limit is two 20-inch hatchery steelhead. Wild steelhead must be immediately released, and can’t be fully removed from the water, according to the statement.

At this hour the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife have not officially released a statment but our sources in Eastern Washington indicated that the following rivers in that area will open for steelhead; Methow and Okanogan rivers open this coming Saturday, The Columbia and Wenatchee on Oct. 22, and the Simmy on Nov. 15.
As always readers, know before you go.

Dispatch From Rock Creek

2007-10-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

From Ken via the Western Union:
arrived bitterroot flats 0100hrs sat [stop] chet and doc already set camp [stop] site #13 [stop] fishing good lots of baetis [stop] cutts browns and bows to 18 inches [stop] two days without brownsauce now [stop] thanks chet [stop] seen ten swamp donks [stop] no sign of the bull donk [stop] going to the big blackfoot [stop] just me and whizzo for 2 nights [stop] then back to rc to meet karl and colleen[stop] i hope they bring brown sauce [stop] regards ken [over]

Tougher Than Woodpecker Lips

2007-10-01T10:15:00.000-07:00

From ESPN via Fishing Jones a story of an athlete turned soldier, injured in the war and back on the mend.

Jimmie Rodgers - T for Texas (1936)

2007-09-27T18:10:00.001-07:00

Blue Yodel, can it get any more Old Timey?

Best hatch of the year

2007-09-24T21:48:00.000-07:00

Flytimes Poly Wing Baetis

hook: #18-#20 TMC 101
tail: brown antron
body: Superfine dubbing, gray olive
wing: ~1/3 to 1/4 strand of polypro yarn
thorax: same as body

Here at the Flytimes Ranch we call it the working man's hatch because it lasts long enough that nobody has to take time off to fish it.

Red Gold from Felt Soul Media

2007-09-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

"In some places you just have to say no."

BORN!

2007-09-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

I'm the FOB!

Baby Lola, 7bs 11 oz, 20.5 inches long, cute as all get out and adorable beyond belief.

AND NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING...

2007-09-19T17:11:00.000-07:00

Technical difficulties seemingly resolved.

2007-09-18T21:56:00.000-07:00

The picture actuator has thrown a Johnson rod, we appreciate your patience.

Olive Biot Parachute

2007-09-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

Flytimes Olive Biot Parachute

hook: TMC 100 #14
post: white turkey flats
tail: light dun micro-fibetts
body: olive turkey biot quill (long side)
parachute: brown saddle hackle
thorax: olive antron dubbing

Summer is over and the PMDs and PED's are still emerging while mahogany duns and various baetis species are just getting started. This time of year I'll fish this pattern all day. If the blue winged olives start to hatch I'll tie a tiny BWO pattern on the dropper.

This hatch is imminent.

2007-09-16T12:44:00.001-07:00

Imminent Hatch

Our baby girl is due on the 25th, but we all know that she can arrive any day now.

2007-09-13T23:47:00.001-07:00

Burning Pike

2007-09-12T09:49:00.000-07:00

From the Fishing Jones.

The grass is high and the water's low; it's hopper time!

2007-09-10T19:16:00.000-07:00

Jimmy Legs Hoppers

Native Trout Files: Westslope Cutthroat

2007-09-08T10:33:00.000-07:00

Westslope Cutthroat

Discovered near the Great Falls by Silas Goodrich and named by his superior officers, Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi was once the widest ranging of all the cutthroats. Since the Corps of Discovery Westslope cutthroat populations have retreated back to the tributaires and headwaters of its ancestral watersheds; the Columbia and the Missouri.

2007-09-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

Hey look its an internet magazine about fly fishing.
These things have come and gone over the years but I think that This is Fly is here to stay. It might even change the way we see our sport.
How do you jump into a new medium while maintaining the appeal of the old standby?
You start by taking out the garbage and the recycling: how to articles, file footage photos, product reviews and the like. Fuggem' we don't need no stinkin' product reviews!
Great fishing stories, original photos, west coast graphics and east coast attitude. Package it all in a feature filled flash player. The future in fly fishing mags? This Is Fly is it.

New! The "I can't believe I'm gonna post this" department.

2007-09-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

From the annals of The Drake.
"The Bandito is so hot right now."

Is it over?

2007-09-03T10:20:00.001-07:00

Colleen Riche: Fish Enemy

Definitely a lull in the action. We need a squirt of fresh fish for sure.

It's never too late.

2007-08-30T20:21:00.000-07:00

From today's PI

The pink salmon finally showed up in their usual north Sound spots, with large catches now in the Mukilteo-Edmonds area and good catches being reported along the beaches on the west side of Whidbey Island. They're also still thick off Sekiu in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and scattered from there inside all the way to the mouth of the Puyallup River

Load the Slough Buggy, warm up the FTL and program the following coordinates into the launcher...

2007-08-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

The Launcher

Pink Salmon On The Run

Pink In The Net

Bob Jacklin's Fish of a Lifetime

2007-08-27T19:26:00.001-07:00

Last summer Bob Jacklin and this fish were big news on all the fly fishing blogs and bulletin boards. Lots of folks were distraught that 'ol Bob didn't release it. That's right he killed it and had it mounted. Its been a year so I hope that all the hippies, PETA freaks, and weekend warriors who got upset are over it by now.
Thanks to Fly Fish Yellowstone for the heads up on the recent availability of this video.

The Flats Buggy Sails Again

2007-08-23T23:43:00.000-07:00

Banks Lake Carp Flats

Nothing more than a glorified barge the Flats Buggy performs its duties flawlessly. When it comes to hauling my cooler, camera and a spare rod nothing beats the Buggy. As it turns out there wasn't much else to take a pic of, brutal day on the flats.

Middle Fork

2007-08-20T22:45:00.000-07:00

Middle Fork Snoqualmie

Me and Ken hiked up the Middle Fork the other day to do some small stream fishing. The forks of the Snoqualmie, like so many other headwaters on the Western Slope of the Cascades, are small trout waters. Up there a 14 inch fish is a lunker, a 16 incher would be a trophy catch. We only managed a bunch of dinks , a few went 8 inches, cutts and rainbows. Slogging streamers on the beach for tardy salmon can be tiresome so it was nice to fish dry flies on moving water for a change.

In other news Pete over at Fishing Jones is running a writing contest. Inspired by only six words from Papa Hemingway its a simple affair and should yield some intersting, albeit short, stories. Give it a swirl.

Gone Fishing

2007-08-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

Brown Trout Lake Redux

2007-08-16T08:47:00.001-07:00

Big Brown Trout

'ol Sven and I rolled into camp just before sunset. Sven stayed in the truck whilst I chased all the snakes out of the campsite. Sven "don't cotton to no snakes." While drivin the last snake out of camp, an especially tenacious bull rattler, I heard a flushing sound. I looked up just in time to see a bowling ball sized void in the lake's surface. The void was in the center of large swirl which was itself in the center of an expanding circle of waves. Then with a loud burp the hole quickly filled with water. Sven saw it too, then he asked me if all the snakes were gone and if it was safe to get out of the truck.
We raised camp in no time. Set the fire, opened bottles and kicked back in less time yet. Then me and Sven spent the rest of the evening pontificating life, the universe and the meaning of the flush and swirl of big fishes.
The next morning we skipped breakfast, opting for an early start. I was on the water at the crack of 0930hrs. You just wouldn't believe how crisp the air is that early in the morning. Sven got out there even earlier than I did.
I spent the next four or five hours throwing the wrong flies, losing the right flies, and spooking rising fish. In short, I fished like an asshole.
Sven had a stellar day. Even calculating for the usual BS Sven had outfished me 4 to one. Surely there is a first time for everything.
The wind came up early in the afternoon prompting both of us to take a break for the rest of the day.
Evening comes early to the bottom land of Brown Trout Valley. The entire lake was in shadow by 7:00pm. We fished the evening hatch. Sven stuck with the dry flies and caught himself another "easy dozen." I trolled a streamer around the middle of the main lake and picked up a couple of fat rainbows.
Beer, fire, food, more beer and fire and eventually retirement to the fartsack.
Then the frogs began. Its a nice sound, an organic sort of white noise that a body can fall asleep to. Thousands, nay hundreds of thousands of frogs creating a cacophony of croaks.
At midnight a full moon rose over the eastern hills. The cliffs on the west side of the valley were awash in the proverbial pale moon light. Venus rose too. The whole scene was astronomical to say the least.
I lay in my cot with the bright moon shining through the tent door listening to the song of a million horned up toads. Seemingly an idyllic setting that one would like to find himself in at the end of every day.
At some very precise point in time every bird in the forest thought that the full moon was the rising sun. They sung their little hearts out accordingly, all at once, nonstop until morning. All those birds must have been real confused when the real sun rose over the mountain.
More fish, beer, fire, etc.
Packing up camp, return of the bull rattler. Little snakes will try to bite you in the leg, BIG snakes go for the tail swipe/leg sweep. BIG snakes want to bring you down to their level, then bite you in the nose. This was a BIG snake and he took me down quick. Thankfully Sven, who had posted himself on top of his truck cold beer and Ruger 10/22 in hand sniped that snake mid strike. "I don't cotton to no snakes!" said Sven as the now dead viper fell two inches from my nose. Buisness as usual for outdoorsman of our caliber.

Fish Story

2007-08-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

"Native trout are returning to America's rivers and streams, thanks to new thinking by scientists and conservationists"

Via Midcurrent News an article from Smithsoninan.com about native trout and wild trout fisheries. Lots of words and very few pictures yet still definitely worth reading.

Native Trout Files: Coastal Cutthroat

2007-08-13T12:13:00.000-07:00

Sea Run Cutthroat

Patrolling the beaches and estuaries of the Puget Sound Oncorhynchus clarki clarki exists at the fringes of the ecosystem. Competing directly with Pacific salmon and steelhead the sea run cutt lives on the edge of what is considered suitable habitat for salmonids. Spawning occurs in the smallest streams and thinnest headwaters. Once hatched the young cutthroat are forced into marginally productive nursery waters by its larger cousins. Coastal cutthroat fill what must be the smallest and least fertile niche in the coldwater ecosystem. Not just enduring but thriving, benefiting from mandatory catch & release regulations and providing a great fishery for Puget Sound area fly fishers.

A Bad Pink Habit

2007-08-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

Pink Salmon From The Beach

Humble, gracious, saintly; the pink salmon is truly the Mother Theresa of the salmons.

Your 4 seconds of fame are up.

2007-08-09T18:59:00.001-07:00

This was supposed to be a snapshot but our friend Snapdad was having technical difficulties. Crank the volume and you'll completely understand.
Anyhoo... here's Asshooked with a salmon from the beach.

PINKA PINKA PINKA PINK!

2007-08-07T14:58:00.001-07:00

Two pinks and a cutthroat! First pinks of the '07 run for yours truly.

They're there...

2007-08-06T09:03:00.000-07:00

It's official, as per Jon Aqui the pink salmon are in. It looks as if Browns Point is the place to be to intercept a large portion of the
3.3 million Puget Sound humpies that are vectoring in on the Puyallup River.
Don't forget that there's coho out there too! Get to your local beach and drown some flies. Let us know how you do.

Ideations of Doom

2007-08-03T16:16:00.000-07:00

It finally happened, our pal and close personal friend Thee Orignoo Trouthole has left the building. Had a break, gone nuts, is cukoo for coco puffs, off the reservation, bonkers, daft, crazy or whatever. I've always suspected it now I know for sure, Thee Ass Hooked Whitey is mad.

Getting Close

2007-08-03T11:44:00.000-07:00

Looks like the humpies are starting to trickle in down around Browns Point. Those fish had to swim by Seattle to get there so there should be some pink action around here. Right?

Stay tuned to this fly fishing blog for the latest in pink salmon action.

SUH-WEEET RIDE!!!

2007-07-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

Some of the rif-raf from the Drake Bulletin Board met up for war stories and beer somewhere in Montana last week. Word is you had to be there.

2007-07-29T16:16:00.000-07:00

Doug Rose, one of my favorite writers, has put his own website up on the internets. The best part is his fly fishing blog, lots of current info on the beaches, rivers and lakes of the Olympic Peninsula. RAH!

Wikipedia: As true as anything else you'll read.

2007-07-26T17:08:00.000-07:00

I had no idea that Brian O'Keefe is the "greatest saltwater fly fisherman in history."
Wiki it!

edit, 8/8/07: it looks like the folks over at wikipedia have cleaned up the fly fishing article, removing the "famous fly fishers" section completely.

Hot Lips!

2007-07-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

First they took the salmon from us, then the steelhead. Now it appears that some folks from the Midwest have taken the tiger carp from our beloved Columbia River and planted them in the the Great Lakes.
It seems that Bacon can never get enough big fish action. But really, who can? The only dif between him and the rest of us is that Bacon does get big fish action. Lots of it.
Check out the Skirt. Huckmomma?

2007-07-23T09:20:00.000-07:00

Tom Chandler of Trout Underground lives an old time life of sports and leisure in New England. Check it out.

"Woot"

2007-07-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

Rain, outgoing tide, bait present; decent conditions for some mid-day salmon action on the neighborhood beach. A good way to kill time before we hit the pub.
Thee Trouthole and myself hit the water at about 1:30. By 1:45 I had landed the one and only fish of the day.
The resident coho squirted out of the water in low hurdling arcs, except for my fly in its mouth looking like the bait that it was chasing moments earlier. A couple of splashy tail walks thrown in for show.
First salmon of the year, Huzzah!

The Case Of The Missing Flies

2007-07-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

Two flies have seemingly been stolen from my close personal friend Trouthole. He tells me that the flies, "WHICH I TIED MYSELF" were stolen on the night of Wednesday, July 11.
Described as "pink" and "size 6 or 8 or sumthin" the flies were last seen at The Beveridge Place Pub.
My investigation has turned up evidence which suggests that the flies may have been taken across county and state lines.
If you have ANY information regarding the whereabouts and disposition of these "pink, 6 or 8 or sumthin flies" please leave a comment on this post or send an email to this blog.
TIA,
Flytimes Office of Inquiries and Investigations

Yargghhh!

2007-07-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

Close personal friend and lights out photographer, Dave Perry, seeks beer and trout in the Treasure State.
When Dave's not gaining private access to little known and isolated trout streams in Montana he's in his garden; planting, weeding and blogging.

The Commando Way

2007-07-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

Mike and the rest of his team. Early morning pre-combat checks, old timey Scottish Commando style.

2007-07-14T08:08:00.000-07:00

For the latest speculation on the incoming pink salmon run check out the Saltwater Forum over at WAFF. Watch the anticipation build over the next few weeks as lies are told, predictions are made and fly recipes are swapped. Pink salmon sightings will be reported, rumors of early fish whispered.
Then it will all stop. The local internets will be quiet re: pink salmon. And that is when you will know that the pinks are in.

It's gonna be a long, hot summer.

2007-07-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

Wildfires have been a part of the Western landscape longer than hayfields, logging roads and subdivisions. Of course the ecosystem isn't what it used to be and I'm not so sure that these fires are part of the 'natural' order.
Looks like the Little Chopaka fire isn't getting any better. Our friend Matt Bascoe's got his work cut out for him. Good luck Matt, stay hydrated and be careful out there.

Capr On A Rising Tide: or A Gentleman's Carp Fishing Primer

2007-07-09T08:56:00.001-07:00

Despite constantly rising water Ken and I managed to catch arm loads of capr and smallmouth basss.
I landed three noteworthy smallies; 3 lbs, 4 lbs and 4.5 lbs. Ken ~~caught,~~ broke off a huge smallmouth. I guess we'll never know how big it was. Serious carpers consider the smallmouth bass to be the whitefish of the flats but I think they're kinda fun. Some people even fish for them on purpose.
It took the better part of the day to find feeding capr but when we did Ken broke off four of 'em. They were tailing and mudding over the top of the flooded road bed/gravel bar we call The Reef. Me and Ken spent the last two hours of the day out there wading through a quater mile of Grand Coulee Koi.
When Ken figured out his place in the order of things he started to catch capr. By the end of the day he had brought 4 to hand, typical for a freshman carper under my tutorage.
Good times... good times. We were doubled up twice. I Boga'd 8 or 9 of 'em before the winds came up. The biggest capr weighed in a t 14.5 lbs. Fly in the kissa, every time. The first whitecaps rolled in around 5 o'clock, the winds were full on nuclear fifteen minutes later. A good time to leave the flats.

2007-07-06T16:00:00.000-07:00

...for basss and capr.

Happy 4th!

2007-07-04T08:40:00.001-07:00

Carp '07

2007-07-03T21:41:00.002-07:00

Banks Lake Mirror Carp
Gas up the rig and head out to the Grand Coulee Country, the capr are waiting.

Richmond Fontaine: Thirteen Cities

2007-07-03T09:24:00.000-07:00

2007-06-27T12:51:00.000-07:00

"A huge pink salmon return this year is close to twice as many as returned in 2005"

Basss Country

2007-06-21T09:38:00.000-07:00

Seep Lakes
After a day on the Flats of Capr I drove another 40 miles into the desert for some more of that basss action.
The cool thing about bass is that they eat surface flies; poppers, sliders, frogs, mice, whatever. Toss your bug into the weeds and give it some action, or not. The basss will know what to do.
There are at least five different ways a basss will take a surface bug; The Sip, The Slurp, The Slash, The Gulp and The explosion. I like the all out fury of The Explosion best but the slurp is cool too cuz sometimes the biggest fish can make the smallest sips. Basss are all about suprises.
The carp flats didn't dissapoint either. Visibility was tough at times, clouds over the flats aren't a good thing. The water was still cool and some of the capr were still in spawning mode. Things should shape up nicely in the next week or two.
Conditions aside I landed almost a dozen. The first few were foul hooked though. I'm always a little twitchy on the trigger the first time out.

Basss

2007-06-18T09:20:00.000-07:00

An evening on a bass pond a couple hours east of here, in the desert. Started out fishing for 'gills. Caught a mess of 'em on a tiny frog colored popper. Biggest one might have taped out at five inches.
After sunset I picked up two bigmouth bass. Fished a green deer hair bug, casting it to shore and stripping it back across the mats of weeds. I'm new to the bass thing so I was surprised at just how explosive the takes were. Good stuff. I could get into that fishin' for basss.

Food Chain

2007-06-17T18:47:00.000-07:00

Stay Outta The Kitchen, Hippy.

2007-06-17T08:51:00.000-07:00

Camp Kitchen

Close personal friend and all around outdoorsman Matt "Buckskin Tammy" Bascoe prepares skirt steak and 3lbs of freshly picked morels, simmered in a white wine sauce, for our enjoyment.

Strange Mays

2007-06-12T21:48:00.001-07:00

Big Mayfly

Weird bug, whatever it is. As soon as one of 'em would hatch it would attack and eat the first one of its kind that it saw. Then, if it didn't fly off quickly enough, it too would be eaten by one of its own. It just goes to show you how cheap life is up there at Brown Trout Lake.