Ken brought his friend and customer, John, for a day of fly fishing for king salmon today. Both guys were experienced: Ken, an avid outdoorsman (who is off to the West for an elk hunt next week, lucky stiff!), fished with me in a downpour last fall and, despite the weather, liked the experience so much he decided to invite John. For his part, John is an experienced “C & D” fly rod guy who fishes the PM frequently. So, off we went, only to find more fish than yesterday and the fish more active, due, in part, perhaps to the rain over night and cooler water temps. Both guys drifted the flies very well, and, as I told John, he is extraordinarily skilled in presenting the flies drag free in just the right drift lines—so skilled that he surely must rank in the top ten percent of fishermen I’ve ever guided. Maybe the fact that both guys are engineers has something to do with their understanding casting angles and the like. Whatever the case, the result was numerous hookups throughout the day with a much better than average lip hookups. Our best fly was a steelhead orange nuke egg. Great job, guys! With some cooler but nonetheless beautiful fall color weather, it was a terrific day. As for the salmon, they grow darker by the day. Chrome should be arriving in good numbers soon. Pictured are Ken and John with two of the fish they netted today.
Tom Kuieck