Tag Archives: rivers

Fly Fishing Bears

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By Dennis Dickson

Fly fishing BC steelhead rivers is so magical. Sure, we have had our rain outs, wash-outs, busted boats, and broken vehicles. Somehow, these memories all jumble up in a warm and fuzzy place, and I can enjoy them time and time again. As I get older, I find myself pulling out these drawers of memories, for a taste of the good old days.

It would be easy if not tempting, to reduce these fishing stories to, “how many, how big” but that would simply never reveal the whole experience. In the many years of being out in a marvelous land, would you like to know what I most often reflect back on? The people. It simply wouldn’t have been the intriguing experience without the people, and for that, I am forever grateful.

I remember an invitation I accepted to fly fish the fabled waters of the North. Mick was heading North every year now. Frank was going up, too. I became  fishing buddies with both and subsequently jumped at the invitation.

It was there I met Plutonius. His  name was actually Pluto, but Frank dubbed him Plutonius, and somehow the name had stuck.
Plutonius was an artist by trade, and a full blown philanthropist at heart. His life was reduced to generating just enough money painting to spend the remainder of the year fly fishing for steelhead. A true fly fishing bum. A badge which he wore proudly.

Pluto wasn’t what you might call a great fisherman. Mick could cast farther, and Frank consistently brought more steelhead to hand, but Pluto loved his sport and loved the one Bulkley River pool he was successful in. We dubbed this drift the Maple Tree pool and it consistently held steelhead for Pluto each fall.

Instinctively, the other boys in camp seemed to know this. The rest of us fly fishers might jockey with each other to get first water on pools like “Blow Down,” or “Easy Money”, but nobody fished through “Maple Tree.” That was Pluto’s.

Maple Tree was an interesting piece of water. It was actually made up of two pools. Upper Maple had a good head, where the water would enter the pool strong enough that migrating steelhead would often hold before negotiating up through the rapids. The river currents spread beautifully, then scurried into a deep hole that was tucked in delicately close to the river bank.

A wading angler was left with no choice at the deep water but to leave the river and hike around to the downstream side of an ancient maple tree before he could wade back into the stream to fish the lower run. Hence, the Maple Tree pool. On a good day, Pluto could catch steelhead in both the upper and lower pools.

For all his many days in the wilderness, Pluto had his phobia: bears. For some reason, Pluto was deathly afraid of bears.
He bought and carried a magnum .45 pistol. Every day that he was out on the water, this gun came with him. I shudder to think what would have happened if he had ever had to use it. I almost witnessed it once.

Mick and Frank would often engage in drinking games at the end of a long day of fly fishing steelhead. These guys could get pretty soused on occasion before stumbling off to bed, of which I didn’t particularly mind. These both were expert anglers in my opinion, and a hard night of drinking meant a late morning to the water. I never drink so if I happened to fish down the river first, I naturally swam more fish. Pragmatic really. I liked it when they drank.

So this one night Mick and Frank got to drinking and playing. They came up with an idea! They should pretend they have a bear in camp! Now Frank was a big guy and stronger than a bull. Pluto was camped out in the back of his little Ford Courier pickup. Drunken Frank staggered over to Pluto’s truck and leaned his shoulder into it’s canopy.

Drunker than drunk, Frank starts rocking Pluto’s truck back and forth, while growling the most unearthly guttural bear sounds. Awakened by the noise, Pluto launches out of his bed, still in his skivvies, (not a pretty sight) and onto the cold hard ground. It took tipsy Frank all of a New York second to realize ……Pluto is not alone! He has his gun out and, though still half asleep, waving it around, ready to kill anything that moved! Right now that anything was Frank.

Do you know how long it takes to go from sloppy drunk to stone cold sober? I had no idea the human metabolic processes could move so quickly, but one look at that long barrel .45, and Frank fairly dove out into the pitch black Canadian wilderness, with un-clad, gun-waving Pluto in hot pursuit.

All we could hear was, “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot! It’s me, Plutonius! It’s me!” Somewhere before dawn, Frank wandered back into camp, and, Pluto went back to bed. Eventually Mick and I stopped laughing, but that might have taken a couple days.

Somewhere in all of this, Frank came up with the idea that the whole thing must have been Pluto’s fault. He must be taught a lesson.
A couple of days later, Mick, Frank, and I spent the day fishing together. I so much enjoyed our time. Somewhere in the course of the day, the subject of Pluto and bears came up.

Now we all knew that in the daily report of who caught what, Plutonius would always innocuously ask, “So, did anybody see any bears?”  Today we thought we would be ready.

The day on the river finished up in fine fashion. I think Mick swam the most steelhead (which was very common), Frank caught the largest, and I had a good time with my friends.

Plutonius always joined in the fishing report ritual, and sure enough he piped in, “So’d, anybody see a bear today?”
Frank in his most straight-faced way answered, ”Yeah, actually Mick ran into one.”

Mick just nodded.

Although we just went on in the conversation as if nothing had happened, Pluto’s mind was smoking.

“So tell me about the bear,” he asked simply.

Mick turned to him and said, “Wow, I am not sure if you are going to believe this but you know how we saw those bear prints down at Home Run Pool the other day?”

Everyone in camp knew Pluto wouldn’t fish any pool that had had any bear activity. It’s just the way it was.

“Yeah…” Pluto hesitates.

“Well this time I stopped in to fish it, and there on the shore was a great big pile of bear pucky and it was like this!” (He is holding his hands out the size of an elephant swat). Frank and I almost lose it right there.

Pluto eyes get big and he says, “NO WAY!”
Heck, he is hooked into this story, already.

“Yup,” Mick continues, “ and guess what? It was still steaming!”

“NO WAY!” Pluto exclaims.

Now Mick is really getting into this. He leans forward as he lies.
He says emphatically, “TOTALLY WAY.”

Plutonius urges, “So what did you do?”

“I did what I came to do,” Mick answered, “I got out and fished.”

“So then what happened?” begged Plutonius.

“At first, I am thinking nothing, and then I hear something in the brush behind me!” Mick says.

“NO WAY!” Pluto yelled. You didn’t stay!”

I swear I thought this poor man was going to have a heart attack right there in camp!

Mick continues, “Absolutely. I see this really big steelhead just roll, right out in front of me. I mean, how could I pass that up? Right?”

“So what did you do?” Pluto kind of whimpered.

“I did what I always do,” Mick stated matter-of-factly, “I went back to fishing, until…..”

“I thought I hung up my fly on the brush in my backcast.” He continued.  “I turn to look, and I hear a huge ‘Woof!’” “Suddenly my fly line is peeling off my reel! Next thing I know, all my fly line, all my backing, is gone….!” Mick leaned back, sucking on his teeth.

“So did you get back in your boat?” Plutonius asks weakly. He is about spent just listening to this tale.

“Heck no. That’s an expensive fly line!” Mick proclaims.  “I went back into that brush to find my fly line, by darn!”

I interrupted, “Did you find it?”  Okay, even I was getting into the fabrication by this time, but it was a great story!

Mick turns from Pluto to me, and says “Yes. I did!  But guess what?”

Everyone in the group says, “What!?”

Mark leans closer to his audience and says really quietly, “When I bent over to pick up the line… it moved.”

Pluto all but screams, “NO WAY!”

Mick can’t hold it anymore, he busts up laughing! Pretty soon everyone is howling with laughter…..everyone but Plutonius. He is still wondering how much of the story is true. We all head off to bed.

Now Pluto was never known as an early riser, partly because he knew that nobody was going to fish Maple Tree before he got there. I really don’t think Pluto’s  gun slinging had anything to do with it, but I may be wrong.

Anyway, so next morning Frank heads his little pontoon raft off down the river like it is just another Bulkley River fishing day. What Plutonius doesn’t realize is that Frank is headed straight for the Maple Tree pool.

Knowing he is at least ten minutes ahead of Pluto, Frank rows his little boat into the shore at the lower end of the pool, pulls in, and stows his little boat and gear in the brush. He hides behind the Maple Tree. It isn’t long before he can see Pluto rowing his own little craft downstream. Pluto is headed directly for Maple Tree.

When you fish a piece of water, day after day, you kind of get it down to a routine. Pluto’s ritual was to park his craft at the head of the pool, wade and fish his way downstream, wade out and around the maple tree, then wade back into the river and fish through to the lower end of the pool. He wouldn’t hike back up to his boat until he finished. He went through this same drill, day after day.

The wading here could get a little deep, especially as one neared the water adjacent to the maple tree, so this was the one and only pool Pluto would unbuckle his gun and holster and leave them on the seat of his raft.

After fishing his way down through the upper run, Pluto did what he always did. He hiked out around the big tree and back into the water. Unbeknownst to him, he had walked within ten feet of the hiding Frank, lurking in the bushes.

Plutonius was still cursing his fishing luck. Although he had had a good grab in the upper pool, the steelhead hadn’t stuck. He recalled that he was contemplating fishing through the pool again.

As the events unfolded, Plutonius began reeling in, and walking back up along the shoreline as he finished the pool. He was about to enter back into the woods near the tree on his way to his raft.

Within his hiding place, Frank held a tree branch in his hands. He waited until Pluto got close. Frank broke it with a loud “snap!” Plutonius, not 20 feet away, froze in his tracks. He looked around. Instinctively, he reached for his gun. It was not there! He realized it was still lying on the seat of his raft…

Plutonius took a tentative step forward. Frank let out a low growl. Pluto had to get to his gun! Safety was only and all about getting back to the raft and his gun! He stepped forward again.

The woods rang louder, “Grrrowl”. Pluto simply could not go back through the woods, and the water here was too deep to wade. Poor Plutonius had another secret that only he and he alone knew…. he couldn’t swim.

Plutonius never made a big deal of this. Ever since Cabela’sTM came out with their water activated SOS CO2 Inflatable Life Jacket, he felt he could take on his worse-than-bear fear – - water!  As rivers may be the epitome of water, with his Cabela vest on, he felt he had conquered life in it’s most rudimentary form; rivers actually made him feel alive.

So how did life take such a cruel twist of fate? Bears and water at the same time?!  Plutonius looked around checking his options. He began cursing his late start. As all the other anglers from camp were already fishing downstream, there was simply no one left to rescue him in his predicament. Plutonius took a small feeble step towards the sound in the woods. Frank immediately let out his loudest growl, and rattled the brush, to boot.

Pluto later confessed he was ready to wet himself. Was he to die from drowning, or simply become B.C. bear fodder?  Which would be the least painful? With the despair of complete hopelessness, he waded back into the river.

Frank later confessed he didn’t actually make Plutonius swim. Starting with a snicker, he exploded into laughter so hard he couldn’t stand it.

It took Pluto a moment to realize what had just happened. To be honest, his first thought was his good friend Frank had somehow magically appeared, scaring away the monster bear in the process. He was saved!

When he realized he was nothing more than the butt of a most sadistically practical joke, Pluto became incensed.

“You are really sick,” he muttered.  Casting his eyes in the distance, he headed towards his boat.

Frank caught up with me while I was fishing the home run pool later that afternoon. He told me everything. We ran into some fish that kept us busy until evening. Neither noticed that Pluto had floated on down to the take-out. As we arrived at the boat launch, Pluto’s little truck was gone. He had left.

“Jeez,” Frank said, What happens if Pluto takes the prank poorly?” “A guys B.C. experience is kind of a sacred thing.

We shouldn’t have worried.

As we rolled into camp there was quite a gathering of anglers huddled around Plutonius. As we neared the group we could hear him say, “Yup, it was all I could do to make it back to my raft and gun, before that bear was all over me!” Frank and I decided, all is well. Pluto is just fine.

Such is life in the Canadian wilderness.

Dennis Dickson
Dickson’s Flyfishing
www.flyfishsteelhead.com

River Etiquette 101

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By Dennis Dickson

I was floating a popular run on the Sauk River one spring day. The April morning found the river in prime shape and I knew the flyboys were going to be out in numbers. As we rounded the corner of a long bar, there near the bottom of the half mile run, was another fly guide boat I hadn’t seen for a while. There is a nice slot in the tailout, so I figured they probably had already fished the upper drift, and were about to fish the lower. The day was still young and there could be new fish moving in so why not give this upper pool a go anyway? The guide and his client were just chatting in their boat. Couldn’t really tell if they were climbing in or getting out, and as they were not within shouting distance, I thought I would drop down and talk, after I got the boys fishing.

My guys had been fishing for a few minutes, and the guide heads up the gravel bar towards me so I waded out of the river to talk.

“How come you stole my water!” He demanded.

Gee, I am sorry,” I apologized. ” I saw you parked down in the lower run so I assumed you had either passed on this water to fish the lower pool, or had already fished it.”

“Everybody knows I always park my boat at the bottom of this run” He said. ” You should have asked.”

“No,” I said, “Obviously I didn’t know, (I had been on the water every day for the last month) and its not river etiquette to have ask permission, to fish the water behind someone, particularly, when they are not even in the river. Now, if it’s a really big deal, you take the pool, and we will slip on down the next pool.”

He declined.

Contrast this episode with an experience a few weeks before.

I was fishing some new water in early season, and we passed another guide with a couple clients. They were pulling plugs so I gave them a wide berth so not to disturb their water.

“Good morning Dennis!” Rod yelled. ” Swam anything this morning?”

Not yet,” I answered. “You?”

“Lost one in the upper run” He said. “Say, have you fished that new fly water down in the tailout?” “We hit two in here yesterday.”

I had to admit, it looked fishy. I shook my head, No.

“Tell you what,” He continued, ” Why don’t you fish it today, and tell me how you do?”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

I wanted it bad but it was his water.

“Yeah, What the hell.” He answered.

We hooked three steelhead that morning……all from that pool. I made it a point to thank Rod the next morning. As more and more anglers hit the rivers, it seems this fishing pressure brings out the aggressiveness in some anglers. It’s a little like driving in freeway traffic. We are all trying to get somewhere, but we sometimes forget we are All trying to get somewhere. The rules of the road get forgotten.

Here is a rundown on some of fishing rules on our local rivers.

Rule # One: First Comes First:
Anglers know that a steelhead undisturbed is probably going to hit the first thing that is presented reasonably. The Dawn Patrol is the angler that gets on the water in the wee hours of the morning to take advantage of “new fish”. The rule is ” If you are first on the water, you get to fish down through first, provided, you are on the pool ready to fish, and you are stepping downstream in a reasonable manner, so the next angler also has a chance to fish.” Standing at the head of a run and fiddling with your gear, in hopes that the angler who showed up, a few minutes after you, will finally get frustrated and go away, is not good etiquette. Neither is any reason that hinders or prevents an upstream angler from fishing down through the run.

My assistant Jackson said he was following a fellow down through the Buck Island Pool, on the Skykomish, when this downstream angler sees another fly boy walk up. By the number of patches on each of their vests, you would think they were in the armed services. This fishing angler wades out of the pool and begins a conversation with the new arrival.

Jackson continues to step down. The boys keep talking and Jackson keeps
stepping down.  When Jack gets even with these boys, the guy that was fishing, yells out, ” Don’t you be fishing down through my water, buddy!”

Fortunately for him, he caught Jackson in a good mood. He breaks people. The rule implies that, if he begins fishing upstream of you, he has every right to be there. If you get out of the water long enough to slow the progress of the upstream angler, let him fish through. The key, be reasonable.

Rule # Two: Don’t Crowd;
Just as you do not appreciate it when you have someone come up and tailgate you, when your driving, try to maintain a reasonable distance between you and your downstream buddy. Downstream buddy – read rule # one.

Rule # Three: Be reasonable about your concept of the pool. Little rivers tend to have little pools. Sometimes when I am fishing even two anglers, I will space them, allowing each to fish his own pool, if the waters are strategically close.

By contrast, a river the size of the Skagit may have pools a half-mile long, if you were to fish the whole thing. The Mixer on the Skagit comes to mind….but the taking water may be only about one hundred yards in length. If you know you won’t be fishing the lower waters for a least a half hour, and a guy walks up to ask if he can fish, let him. If you are looking forward to fishing that water yourself, and you know you are fishing iffy water, you should reel up and go down and fish the prime stuff yourself, but do not hoard the whole pool, simply because you happen to get there first. IT’S NOT YOUR POOL! You just have the right to fish it first.

Don’t pull this crap about ” We consider this to be two pools”, which is your excuse to step down in front of someone into prime water. If there is a question about what the fishing anglers intentions are, ASK, but permission is only necessary, if they are downstream of where you want to fish.

Rule # Four: Hooked fish goes to the back of the line.
You really see this get abused on the popular waters. The idea here is, If you are lucky enough to play a fish and you are in front of somebody fishing through, give him a chance at the next fish. I once saw an angler get on a Grande Ronde pool and proceed to play and release five steelhead, always going back to the front of a long line of anglers after each fish! What was he thinking?

Rule # five When in Rome…..
Different rules apply to different waters. All these rules don’t mean jack to a combat fishery like Hoodsport ,or around a bunch of gear guys, or even a crowded morning at Fortson Hole. If you go waltzing in and start in on the locals as to where and how they can fish…You Are Out Of Line. Not only that, but you are probably going to get thumped.

Rule # Six No Sponging or Bragging
I was just pulling into the Ben Howard boat launch. It was the same two guys I had seen the day before, and the day before that. The conversation would start off innocuous enough with a “So how was fishing today?” and then they would launch into the twenty questions, about where, when, how many, which fly and yada yada…….. As soon as they would sponge as much information from one boat, they wouldn’t even say thank you, they were off to the next boat. I actually witnessed one guy sponge the new arrivals and walk back up and get on his cell phone to pass on the information, like he was doing the flyfishing kingdom this great service! I finally got so irritated by the third day, (didn’t these guys have a life?) that as sponge # one came up while I am pulling my raft up, before he could even open his mouth, I said, “look, I don’t mean to be rude, but I will make you a deal. If you don’t ask me the questions, I won’t lie about them.”

At first he was shocked, then he just laughed, and ambled over to the next boat. Some fellows want desperately for everyone to know, just what a wonderful fisherman they are, they can’t wait to tell everybody about it. Young guide want-a-be’s are bad for this. They will start by asking how the day is going, and before you can hardly answer the question, they will start in about all the amazing fishing they have had that day. If they are really feeling their oats, they will hang around the takeout and drill the guide boats as they come in. Kind of their way of saying ” Boy, now if you were in my boat today, you could have had thissss much fun. You could term this as “Reverse Sponging”. Very annoying.

You see, the problem with all the rule breakers are, they simply don’t care about anyone but themselves. The problem is, even if they read this, they won’t get it. Nothing tries my patience more than some flyboy that will scream bloody murder when they think someone else steps out of line, but will do the same thing, given the opportunity, and never even think twice.

The Golden Rule is still the best rule:
Simply treat others the way you would want to be treated, and we can all get along.

Best of fishing
Dennis Dickson
www.flyfishsteelhead.com

“There are only two types of anglers in this part of the world, those that catch steelhead on a fly and those that want to.”

SHOW BIZ 2013!

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For those of you that have not yet had the opportunity to attend, here’s a “Virtual hot lap” around the 2013 Seattle Boat Show at Century Link Field!

 

Stabicraft is here in Boat Country’s booth, showing off the new Pilot House design. One very salty ride here…

Master Marine of Mount Vernon has a huge display of Osprey’s and Weldcrafts just take your pick and Big Larry Carpenter will hook you right up!

 

Defiance Boats in ‘da house! In a relatively short time, Defiance has become synonymous with offshore success and with Arima joining the line they have added versatility to the mix!

 

Power to weight ratio is a HUGE aspect to choosing your next outboard. Look no further than Evinrude for trouble-free, dependable, low-maintenance power!

 

Three Rivers Marine is sporting a new logo and a new line with North River Boats joining the TRM family of brands!
Jeff Lalone and Annie from Bayside Marine are ready to answer any and all your questions and make your boating life a whole lot easier!

Looking for tackle and accessories??? Everything is right here in the Sportco/Outdoor Emporium booth and the gang is ready, willing and able to get you the right gear…at the right price!

I don’t know if the word “accessory” quite fits the Lowrance label… If I didn’t have a fishfinder as effective as my Lowrance, I wouldn’t catch as many fish…

Harbor Marine… “right on your way no matter where you’re going”, is showing heavy duty marine diesel power and transmissions to get you where you’re going dependably!

Cannon Downriggers? Don’t leave the dock without them… ’nuff said!!!

I sincerely hope you can make it to my seminars at the Seattle Boat Show! Here’s the rundown!

Tom Nelson – Seminar Schedule at the Seattle Boat Show:

Triple Threat Salmon Angling:

February 1st – 2:00 PM

February 2nd – 3:00 PM

Dirty Downrigger Tricks:

January 31st – 7:00 PM

February 1st – 4:00 PM

February 2nd – 1:00 PM

SEE YOU AT THE SEATTLE BOAT SHOW!!!

Any Time is a Good Time to Chase Wild Steelhead

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Do you ever run into a situation where you are looking to find information on how a river is fishing? I do, and sometimes you just need to decide to make your way out to the river and get a report yourself. This is the situation that fellow Outdoor Line “Young Gun” Joseph Princen, Phantom Custom Rods owner Kris Jellesed, and I were faced with early Monday morning. Ideal conditions were all around us on many rivers but we were in search of much more than a limit of hatchery fish. It may seem a bit early for the chase of natives to begin for most but the search for a trophy with the anglers involved in this trip never stops.

After making a three hour plus drive to where I had landed a 21.5 buck last year in April, we began our journey. The area on this morning was completely void of any other anglers which makes you think “has the river changed since last year? Is it safe? I wonder if there are any obstructions I cannot navigate through safely?”

I do not recommend to anyone blindly floating a river but in the quest for being a hero risks must be taken. As we ventured out on the “steelie green” water we noticed that the water was about 500 cfs lower than our previous float, but the obstacles and sections of river where fish were caught last year were remembered.

On the right side of the river about an 1/8 of the way down the float Joseph recognized a rock shelf that had deep slow rolling water which produced a fish last year. This time was no different. With a three plug rod spread and a K-13 Kwikfish attached to all of them the slow back troll began. Right after the boat had passed a large boil and the plugs began to track straight again…..BOOM…FISH ON!!!

I took control of the oars as Joseph grabbed his rod and the fight was on. The 13-14lb chrome hen gave us a great fight that lasted about 6-8 minutes and then came to the boat as I gently netted the fish. I rowed to shore quickly to begin the revival and the snap a picture but before my camera was out of my bag the feisty native slipped out of Joe’s hands and slowly disappeared into the emerald water.

Anglers remember this! Steelhead pair up, so if a female is caught there should usually be a larger, more aggressive male nearby. Repeat the process that was used to hook fish number one and it should yield the same results.

With all of minds thinking the same thing we began to slowly back troll again with my rod on the far right closest to the rock shelf and again…..BOOM….FISH ON!!!

I had thought that the fish had come off after about thirty seconds but of course she was just running with blinding speed right at the boat. After that she took about 40 yards of line of and then I began the slow retrieve to bring her back to the net. As I lifted the head and Joe scooped her into the net the hook of course fell right out. The power of a steelhead is amazing!

Personally, I have landed many fish on plugs over the 20 pound mark and I have not until this day seen a hook bent back 30 degrees by a 14lb fish. Joe rowed to shore as before and we snapped a couple of pictures for the fish album, I revived and released the beautiful creature, then we began to move down river to another section of water that had similar features.

As we approached the long back troll slot which produced my 20 last year and gave birth to the Dubb Club it was a very slow to get a fish to take. When back trolling a section of water be sure to completely cover the water until the plugs reach the tailout and start striking bottom. Seconds away from instructing Joey and Kris to reel up, the left rod in front of Kris went off….FISH ON!

This situation was a little different due to the fact the fish came off after about 30 seconds but again in the same type of water we had already hooked fish in earlier that day. Recognizing the water you need to produce fish is very important, so when you find fish continue to work that same type of water effectively.

Knowing that time was not on our side and that a very long moped turnaround was ahead of us we decided not to run the plugs again and move down river. During our push toward the takeout Kris hooked a very nice fish on a pink worm that came off due to the speed of the boat moving down and the fish running  up.

This is a very hard situation to control but if you can gather yourself after the excitement of hooking up, dig the oars very hard and try to stop the the boat without throwing anyone off board. Going 2 for 4 is not a stellar day by any means but searching and finding wild fish on a river with no reports is a wonderful feeling. The opportunity for success is always there, all you need is the confidence in yourself and your fishing abilities to make your day memorable.

Good luck and tight lines,

Lael Paul Johnson, a.k.a. LPJ
Outdoor Line “Young Gun”
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

$49 Plus Tax and a Column Idea

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I’ve been known to be indecisive.

So Friday after school I headed north on Interstate 5 but needed some direction once I hit Sacramento. Would I go right and fish the Truckee River, turn left and spend the weekend on the Russian, or simply stay the course and end up on the Upper Sacramento? I had to call for help. Help told me North.

I arrived in Redding five minutes after The Fly Shop closed, a disappointment that paled in comparison to what was to come.

I found a bargain hotel, $49 a night. The stained towels were supposed to be pool towels, but based on the debris in the pool it was either out of order or they were getting ready to stock it with Tilapia. The door to my room had been kicked open at some point in its life, but repaired just enough so that it locked. Both chairs were worn hard, like they’d been attacked by belt sanders. The toilet paper had a circle of something in the center of the roll as if it had been sealed with wax, like it was the 17th century and the 2-ply scroll contained information vital to the king.

I pulled back the bed spread and found what looked like toe nails that had been put in a dryer lint-trap, or digested by an owl then picked out and spread on the top sheet.

I got a new room.

The sheets were funk-free, the towels cleanish and door worked properly. I settled in to watch Back to the Future. There was a knock and I discovered the special feature of the new room, the peep hole was blocked. I opened the door. It was a dude in a nice dress shirt holding a plastic bottle containing what looked like apple juice, but two other things were probably better guesses. I expected the, “sorry wrong room”. I got something even better.

“Is your wife here?”

Is my wife here? C’mon Redding.

“Uh, no. Don’t have one of those.”

Idiot. You just admitted to sleazy dude that you are staying in the dirty cell alone.

He said okay and left.

I thought about the filet knife in my truck, but then remembered Atticus Finch’s mantra about carrying guns being an excuse to get shot.
Somehow I fell asleep once Marty made it back to 1985. At midnight, yelling woke me up. Someone was counting down from 10. Oh boy, what happens at zero?

Nothing.

The countdown restarted. I peeked out the window to see a new guy standing next to the dumpster. I thought he was marking it with a batch of processed adult beverages, but he wasn’t. He resembled a quarterback looking down the offensive line calling an audible and the ball was to be hiked when the countdown reached zero. Since the ball never came, the countdown restarted. This quarterback’s cleats had no traction on reality.

This place officially became less comfortable than the hotel across from the Mega-truck stop in Winnemucca, Nevada, where every couple minutes a voice announced the availability of shower stalls for wary truckers. In the morning, the shirt I wore to school and on the drive up smelled better than the clean shirt I slept in. It might have to be burned.

Oh, and I did go fishing during my time in the Redding area.

It was fun.

–
Jeff Lund
jlundoutdoors.com
Teacher/Freelance Writer
Manteca, CA

"Its the coming back, the return which gives meaning to the going forth. We really don't know where we've been until we've come back to where we were. Only, where we were may not be as it was, because of whom we've become. Which, after all, is why we left." – Bernard Stevens  Northern Exposure

The 2012 Salmon Forecasts!!!

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I know, I've got issues..I await the salmon forecast numbers like a kid waiting for Christmas morning. Hello, my name is Tom and I am a "salmon sicko".

After watching the numbers for a number of years (never mind how many…) I've found that you can "call some shots" by digging into the forecast numbers. The PFMC (Pacific Fisheries Management Council)  chinook and coho abundance estimates take some pouring through to find the real "meat" but don't worry, I've done all the leg work for you right here!
 

2012 Preseason adult Chinook Forecasts (in thousands)

Stock                                  2009                    2010                    2011_    _2012
Willapa fall                            34.8                     31.1                    36.8             45.2
Hoh fall                                  2.6                       3.3                      2.9              2.7
Nooksack/Sam                       23.0                    30.3                     37.5             44.0
Skagit summer                       23.4                    13.0                     15.9              9.6
Stillaguamish                           1.0                     1.4                      1.9               0.9
Snohomish Wild                       8.4                     9.9                      7.4               2.8
Snohomish Hatch                     4.9                     5.6                      5.1               3.9
Tulalip Bay                             4.0                     3.4                       3.5               5.9
S Puget Wild                         17.2                     12.7                     8.9               8.9
S. Puget Hatch                     93.0                      97.4                   118.6            95.8
Hood Canal Wild                      2.5                    2.4                       2.1               2.9
Hood Canal Hatch                  40.1                    42.6                    38.3              43.9
Key Stock totals                255,600            253,100               278,900       266,500


From the above numbers, We can take a guess that chinook seasons may be similar to last year. The total number of these selected stocks are down overall, most notably in the Skagit, Snohomish and south Sound. However, on the coast Willapa is up sharply and the Nooksack/Samish checks in with a strong forecast as well.
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The Silver Story! 2012 Preseason Adult Coho Forecasts (in thousands of fish)

Stock                                 2009               2010               2011__ __2012
Straits Wild                            20.5                8.5               12.3             12.3
Straits Hatch                         7.0                 7.8                12.7              18.6
Nook/Sam W                          7.0               9.6                  29.5              25.2
Nook/Sam  H                          25.5              36.0                45.7             62.8
Skagit Wild                             33.4                95.9             138.1            48.3
Skagit Hatch                           11.7                9.5               16.2            14.9
Stilly Wild                               13.4               25.9               66.5             45.5
Stilly hatch                            0.0                5.4                  0.6               4.1
Snohomish W                          67.0              99.4               180.0           109.0
Snohomish H                          53.6               24.5                8.4             8.5
S Sound W                             53.6                 25.3              98.9          43.1
S Sound H                            188.8               186.4              173.3         162.9
Hood Wild                              48.6                 33.2               77.5          73.4
Hood Hatch                           52.0              51.2                  72.1             62.6
Key stocks Total                 338,600        320,800         916,000       628,600

While down overall, we should still see a solid coho opportunity in the Sound. The drop in Skagit stocks is troubling and look at the Snohomish numbers have me thinking that 2012 will not make many anglers forget the banner coho year that was 2011.

Keep in mind that these numbers are but the "raw material" that the co-managers will use to craft our local seasons and only by attending the North of Falcon meetings can you have an impact on the process. We will keep you posted here but I sincerely look forward to meeting some of you….at the meetings!!! 

Tom Nelson
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

Winter 2011/2012 Steelhead Smolt Numbers Released!

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Throughout all this talk of budget cuts, ocean survival and La Nina the fact remains that the hatchery steelhead are on their way!  

Here's why I'm looking at this year's hatchery runs more positively that the last couple years:

Look at the "bumper crop" of pinks & coho we've seen this year! There couldn't be a better indication of more oceanic forage and better feeding conditions  available to this seasons winter run.

A true La Nina winter -still in place from last year- could provide stable water conditions allowing us more fishing days (better opportunity) than the El Nino "Pineapple Express" river-level roller coaster.

Stabilized oceanic productivity back when this run's smolts hit the ocean (spring '10) might add up to better survival resulting in improved catch numbers.

The biggest fact in favor of a decent winter run this year? Brothers and sisters, WE ARE DUE! We've had a couple down years and 2011 and 2012 is PAYBACK TIME!

Agree or dissagree, love them or hate them; here are the State, tribal, federal and regional enhancement groups steelhead smolt releases between April 15 and May 31, 2010. Smolts are defined as hatchery reared juvenile steelhead released at a minimum size of 10 fish per pound. The majority of the adult returns from these releases are expected during the 2011-2012 seasons.

Here are the regional "major players" with the river system listed first, followed by the hatchery plant and the change from last year.  If you don't see your favorite crick check out the entire list at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/plants/steelhead/2010.html

Winter  Steelhead Smolt Stocking – 2011/2012


Skagit  231,500 (up from 174,000 last year)
Nooksack 106,200 (down from 146,500)
Snohomish  339,500 (down from 370,000)
Skykomish 148,000 (down from 153,900)
Snoqualmie 167,600 (up from 155,185)
Stillaguamish 76,600 (down from 125,165)
Green River 56,900 (way down from 270,800)
Puyallup River 26,300 (way, way down from 239,100)
Elwha River 124,700 (up from 98,889)
Bogachiel 120,300 (up from 100,000)
Hoh 79,200 (down from 99312)
Quinault 224,300 (up from 217,173)
Chehalis 368,100 (up from 331,280)
Wynoochie 175,000 (up from 140,380)
 Satsop 64,100 (up from 47,400)
Kalama 99,600 (down from 115,344)
Lewis 210,200 (up from 115,335)
Cowlitz 719,000 (down from 808,359)


There's the numbers! Now go out and get those hatchery fish out of those streams and don't forget to post your reports on The Outdoor Line's Fishing Report Page!!!

Tom Nelson
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com

 

Four Techniques for Fall Coho

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Steve Maris and I with limits of chrome coastal silver salmon from last fall

When I opened the door to the house this morning to hustle the garbage out to the street corner I was greeted by rain. Lots of rain!

Dragging the can out to the street in my usual morning coffee outfit of shorts, slippers, and a worn out Prince of Wales Sportfishing t-shirt I was getting soaked. Indicative of my fishing addiction I hardly noticed the wet dog look as I hustled back into the house not to get out of the rain, but to pull up a handful of river graphs on the computer to see what they were doing. There were more important things at hand than getting wet.

Sho’nuf! Some were going straight up and others were just starting to bump up a little. Silvers staging in Puget Sound, Sekiu, and off the coast of Washington would be headed upstream soon, very soon!

Here’s a handful of tried-and-true techniques that I always had in the boat during my days as a full time river guide here in Washington. You can bet I’ll be pulling this gear out of tackle storage soon, today in fact, to start hitting these rivers festooned with silvers.

Spinners

Hucking spinners for fall silver salmon in the river is one of my all time favorite things to do because it’s hands-on, somewhat technical, and they simply crush it when they hit these puppies. Silvers are prone taking refuge in downed timber in the river and slowly spinning a standard Vibrax or Vibrax Bullet spinner by those holding fish can be ultra productive. Spinners are also a great way to cover water and pull wary fish out of cover, as they give off a lot of vibration and silver attracting flash. That combination makes them super lethal in stained or off color water too. My favorite colors are chartruese, flame orange, blue, and purple with either a silver or gold spinner blade. The latest craze for coastal silvers is to add a hoochie skirt to the spinner to give it an impressive action. Silvers go nuts for this riggin’s!

Twitching Jigs

Twitching jigs is a technique that’s really caught on the last five years to the point of being downright mainstream. Prior to that it was a pretty closely guarded method used by some of Washington’s top guides for catching silvers and even kings in the fall. Not so much anymore. It involves casting a 1/4, 3/8, or 1/2 ounce marabou or hoochie jig into an area that holds coho, letting it sink into the fish holding zone, and then slowly twitching the jig back to the boat or bank. Silvers jump all over a twitched jig, with hits occurring anywhere from the first twitch to within inches of the rod tip. Colors span the spectrum, but jigs in pink, cerise, purple, blue, and orange seem to get bit the most. To learn how to twitch jigs check out this great Jig Twitching Video featuring Forks area guide Bob Kratzer from Anglers Guide Service.

Dick Nite Spoons

It’s hard to believe how hard a big hook-nosed silver will crush these seemingly microscopic spoons. Dick Nite’s work in all sorts of water conditions, but they really produce in low water conditions when silvers are lock-jawed. The most popolar method of fishing these spoons is along the bottom with a dropper weight. Drift them thru the run and then reel them slowly back to the boat or bank at the end of the drift. Like both jigs and spinners, don’t be surprised if they hammer the spoon as you’re just about to pull it out of the water. The best colors are the 50/50, Froggy/UV, silver/chartreuse, and silver/orange.

Casting Plugs

This technique consists of casting a Wiggle Wart into deep water that’s holding coho and then cranking it bass-style back to the boat or bank. When silvers are in the mood for a plug fished in this fashion they will pound it agressively. I’ve had them explode on plugs within inches of the surface just as I’m ready to lift the plug out of the water and make another cast. Simply awesome! Since most plugs come adorned with two treble hooks you won’t typically miss many fish. Just make sure you check the regulations before tying one of these babies on. The most productive colors are fire tiger, flame orange, pink, cerise, purple, and gold/orange. They also work well trolled or back trolled from a boat.

The silver salmon forecast is great for the Southwest Washington and North Puget Sound rivers this fall and this rain is going to seriously jump start the coho bite. Get acquainted with a couple of these silver salmon catching techniques and head out to the river to scrap with these great fighting and eating fish.

Rob Endsley
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com 

 

Your Final Exam is an Alaskan River

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My buddy Daniel is coming up to Alaska this summer and wants to trick trout with flies, but he’s never done it before.

I told him there is no better place to learn than the 49th state, particularly a submerged log on the Thorne River that’s an underwater metropolis for trout. I stood there last summer with Steve the Guide and Steve the Cook and caught fish for hours, moving only to circulate blood.

My task now is to help Daniel prep for his time by that log.

I’ve got the basics but am far from anyone that would be deemed a qualified instructor. I have a piece of paper from the University of Arizona that says I satisfied the college-level journalism requirements and the State of California sent me one that says I am competent enough to teach English.

Though as a self-taught fly-caster that learned through watching A River Runs Through It until my DVD player got a fever and passed out, I don’t even know if what I am doing would be considered the ‘right way’.

I catch fish, it’s fun, even looks a little pretty, so it can’t be that bad.

I told Daniel right off the two things I do poorly. Once in a while I will open my shoulder during the backcast sending the fly way off to my right and into branches rather than the space behind me.

I also catch stripped out line in my reel because I don’t keep the facedown. With those two things in mind, he was free to come up with new exciting flaws that I hadn’t seen and didn’t know how to fix.

I started him with my low-end premium rod, a Sage I bought from a buddy of mine that either felt sorry for me or incredibly generous — or both.

I substituted the reel that came with the rod for one with old fly-line that wouldn’t mind the slightly abrasive gravel of my neighbor’s driveway.

Since Daniel is a coach and pretty competitive, he picked up the rhythm required to throw a tiny casting fly that weights almost nothing, though I’m sure being a coach and or competitive does not always lead to success when it comes to fly-fishing. It might even be a detriment.

We worked backward from that 7-weight rod, to a lighter TFO 5-weight rod that does not load and shoot the fly-line as efficiently as a stiffer fly-rod in rhythm. After a few minutes, I moved him down again to the starter rod and reel set up I bought for $59.99.

“Oh yeah,” he said as the cheap, heavy rod left his cast in puddles rather than the surprisingly tight loop he’d made with the medium and premium rod.

He could tell the difference.

It might be proof that better materials make better fly-casters, or it could just be a coincidence.

After half an hour, he left with the starter rod to practice in his own yard. It felt good to share something I enjoy doing. I drifted around in memories of when I was learning to fish as a kid and later my first casts with that startup kit I had just given to a friend.

There is no point in keeping a passion to yourself. There are probably a ton of people that won’t get why you love what you do until you show them.

Daniel might not end up loving to fly-fish like I do, but if he passes the Thorne River log-test, he might just understand it a little more.

To contact Jeff Lund, email aklund24@gmail.com.

Best Hatchery Steelhead Year Since ???!

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Throughout all this talk of budget cuts, ocean survival and La Nina the fact remains that the hatchery steelhead are on their way! 

Here's why I'm looking at this year's hatchery runs more positively that the last couple years:

This fall there were less coho salmon "in front" of the returning hatchery steelies leaving the possibility open of more oceanic forage available to this seasons winter run.

A true La Nina winter could provide stable water conditions allowing us more fishing days (better opportunity) than the El Nino "Pineapple Express" river-level roller coaster.

Stabilized oceanic productivity back when this run's smolts hit the ocean (spring '09) might add up to better survival resulting in improved catch numbers.

The biggest fact in favor of a decent winter run this year? Brothers and sisters, WE ARE DUE! We've had a couple down years and 2010 and 2011 is PAYBACK TIME!

Agree or dissagree, love them or hate them; here are the State, tribal, federal and regional enhancement groups steelhead smolt releases between April 15 and May 31, 2009. Smolts are defined as hatchery reared juvenile steelhead released at a minimum size of 10 fish per pound. The majority of the adult returns from these releases are expected during the 2010-2011 seasons.

Here are the regional "major players" with the river system listed first, followed by their biggest tributaries and the associated hatchery plant. If you don't see your favorite crick check out the entire list at:
http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/plants/steelhead/2009.html

Skagit  174,000 (Baker 28,000, Cascade 146,000)
Snohomish  370,000 (Skykomish 148,000, Snoqualmie 155,185)
Stillaguamish 125,165
Green River 270,800 (Mainstem 208,500, Soos Creek 62,300)
Puyallup River 239,100 (Mainstem 34,000, Carbon/Voight Cr. 205,100)
Bogachiel 100,000
Hoh 99312
Quinault 217,173
Humptulips 129,509
Chehalis 331,280 (Wynoochie 140,380, Satsop 47,400)
Kalama 115,344
Lewis 115,335
Cowlitz 808,359

There's the numbers! Now go out and get those hatchery fish out of those streams and don't forget to post your reports on The Outdoor Line's Fishing Report Page!!!