One could fly fish a lot of days and not top this one for fabulous weather, perfect river conditions, and eager trout. Long time customer Ben hosted friend and business colleague Steve for a day of streamer stripping, a totally new experience for Steve. Ben pricked his share of lips, but Steve was the guy bending the rod most often. Steve learned the cast very quickly and connected throughout the day. He even rolled a truly, memorable river bow in the 2-3 lb. class only to lose it when it rushed the boat. No matter, with minutes left in the day, Steve boated yet another beautiful bow. Again today, 300 grain sinktips with streamers did the trick. Suckers are moving onto gravel, though I didn’t see any spawning yet. A few steelhead are still in the river, but they are very, very spooky. At 9:30 AM, Grey Drakes were over the water, though no trout rose to them or the caddis that sporadically came off. Some sulphers in the #16-18 range were also hatching. Again, only recently stocked fish were taking them. Look for next week to offer some tremendous fly fishing opportunities on top and under the surface for the larger carryover trout.
The day’s takeaway? When one experiences fly fishing of this quality on a day with such absolutely perfect weather and so little fishing pressure, it frankly puzzles and amazes me why more fly fishermen don’t take advantage of this extraordinary fishery. Yes, steelhead are wonderful, and sure, big fish are great, but the charm and challenge of taking trout such as we did today, is truly special. Blessed we were, indeed, to enjoy it. Pictured is Steve trying mightily to hold his first trout—a fat brown—taken on the fly rod as well as a sampling of the some of the trout Ben and Stave brought to hand today. My heartfelt thanks go out to Ben and Stave for a terrific day.
Captain Tom Kuieck
