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Good News - Bad news !

3K views 10 replies 4 participants last post by  FrenchCreek 
#1 ·
Good - It snowed about 5 inches overnight
Bad - It is April 8 and I'm supposed to be fishing, not shovelling
Good - The Bow was great on Friday, caught 6 fish in 1 hour, 5 Rainbows, 1 Brown, all over 20 inches & fat
Bad - spent more $$ on tackle (well maybe not so bad!)
Good - Bought a new 15 Ft. Clackacraft today
Bad - Have to wait 6 to 8 weeks to get it
Good - Trout fishing with a drifter will not start until May
Bad - That's only 3 weeks from now
Good - Will use the other boat and do some lake fishing in BC for Kamloops trout using chironomids
Bad - Have to stay with my mother in law in BC
Good- Pike fishing starts May 18
Bad - Water is still frozen on pike lakes
Good -Weather forecast is for a warming trend, at last
Bad - Weather forecasts around here are mostly wait & see for it to change
Best - Will get pike fly swap flies real soon
 
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#4 ·
Yeah, right!

Hey Pete,

I'd already guessed you were a little Bipolar!:devil:

I, along with most steelhead flyfishers, appreciate you're 2(3?) sided approach to fishing conditions.

My favorites are as follows:

Good: They're catching Steelhead in the Sauk
Bad: Bring your own rock

Good: A little rain has finally put a bit of color in the water
Bad: It will be out by the time you get there to fish it

Good: I just found a great new run to fish
Bad: Others know this too :rolleyes:

Also glad you hear some other city's meteorologists are as bad as those in Seattle :D

Hope all is well!!

Brian in Seattle
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the update, I was worried about it more than anything else and just hope the run is late and not messed up.

Looks like I was a week or two early for the Cascades from the reports. Maybe I will sneak out for the casting clave in May :)
 
#7 ·
Good to hear that the steelies are in the rivers. Hope to connect with you guys again sometime for the summer run.
What would be a good time to plan another week out there?
What would be the "best bet" rivers to focus on?
What about the first 2 weeks in July?

Hey Ryan....
Went to the "site", almost lost my sight!

Hey Brian.....
What color rock works best & can you send the tying pattern?
 
#8 ·
Let the former WA guy spout off a little but feel free to ignore it :D

September - coho and summer run combination trip. All you need is your striper rod for coho and a floating line for steelhead. Well OK bring some light tips.

What rivers? They're just about all open in the summer and there are king salmon in the tidewater if you want to break your 8wt.

July is a tough time to hook up, although there will be fish in the river from the Columbia Tribs from Camas on up to the Lewis, Kalama and Cowlitz; Cascades - Stilly and Sky, and on the OP: Sol Duc will have good numbers as well as the summer fish shooting up the Bogey for the Calawah. Those honkin Hoh summer natives will be gnawing thru surprised angler's tippets and the Elwha will have a few in it's 4.5 miles to the dam as well. The Green has fish through Auburn with most holding up as they reach the gorge until a little later, the Snoqualmie will have a few around but we won't mention where :devil:

All that being said I got my first butt-kicking from a bright summer fish on Father's Day almost every summer in my years of bliss out there. You can tie a knot without a flashlight at 4:30am and to get one of these athletes of the supertrout variety in June you need to be there 15 minutes before that at the latest.

Best chances, if you must go in July, would be on the Columbia tribs IMHO.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Pete-
It was great fishing with you as well...hope you did not mind the local 'culture' (if you know what I mean). :D

Anyways, Juro has hit it right on.

I am usually of the Stilly by mid-August (my home river) and have made my way over to the Sky. The Upper Sky is filled with aggresive hatchery steelies in September and the SF Sky above the falls has large numbers of trouty aggresive wild summer-runs.

And then you have the coho in the saltwater which can be awesome...

And sooner or later the Wenatchee will open back up which is arguablly the best summer-run steelie river in the state...especially if you are flyfishing.

The nice thing about September is that the waters have cooled a tad, and late summer showers have woken up the summer-runs from their warm water hiding places of August.

The first two weeks of July can be AWESOME on the Stilly but the river is small and does get crowded...but with the hatchery fish returning again to upper river, July would be an excellent choice and I will do whatever I can, to assure your trip will be a success. :)
 
#10 ·
Your Rock . .

should be big and flat. :smokin:

Likewise, your rivers should be (1) fishable and (2) infested with Steelhead for a reasonable chance of success.

The problem with July on a high snowpack year is (1). That leaves you the rocky Columbia tribs (especially ones that have dams) and a few Puget Sound rivers like the Sky and NF Stilly if the weather is cool.

Flows usually stabilize by early/mid August. The levels drop and floating line/fly becomes the preferred way to fish. August fishing is usually good in all areas - OP rivers like the Sol Duc, Hoh and Elwah. The Puget Sound and Columbia tribs are all worth a shot as well.

That being said, summer fishing is usually quite a bit more relaxing and productive that winter/spring fishing.

My .02,

Brian
 
#11 ·
Great information guys, I'll stay in touch. Looks like a multiple conflict coming up for August & September.
1- The best time to fish the Bow
2- My annual pilgrimage to the Cape & area
3- Great upland bird time
4- 2 Invitations to do BC Steelies
I may have to leave here in mid August and come back around October 15. Just in time for migratory birds and deer & antelope season.
 
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