WDFW NEWS RELEASE
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091
http://wdfw.wa.gov/
September 3, 2010
Contact: For Hanford Reach fishery: John Easterbrooks, (509) 457-9330
For other fisheries: Jeff Korth, (509) 754-4624
Steelhead fishing begins tomorrow (Sept. 4)
on Hanford Reach; more fisheries opening soon upriver
OLYMPIA – The first of several hatchery steelhead fisheries in the Columbia River Basin gets under way tomorrow (Sept. 4) with the opening of the Hanford Reach section of the Columbia River, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced today.
Hatchery steelhead fisheries also are scheduled to open Sept. 8 on the upper Columbia, Wenatchee, Entiat and Methow rivers. In addition, the Okanogan River will open to hatchery steelhead retention beginning Oct. 1, and the Similkameen River will open for hatchery steelhead fishing Nov. 1.
Anglers fishing the Hanford Reach section of the Columbia River – from the Highway 395 Bridge at Pasco to Priest Rapids Dam – will have a daily limit of two adipose fin-clipped hatchery steelhead.
Anglers fishing the upper Columbia, Wenatchee, Entiat, Methow, Okanogan and Similkameen rivers will have a daily limit of four adipose fin-clipped hatchery steelhead.
On all rivers, anglers may keep only hatchery steelhead measuring at least 20 inches in length. Steelhead with an intact adipose fin must be immediately released unharmed and must not be removed from the water. Steelhead anglers must have a valid fishing license and possess a Columbia River Salmon and Steelhead Endorsement.
Anglers will be required to retain any legal hatchery steelhead they catch until the daily limit is reached. After they have reached their daily limit, anglers must stop fishing for steelhead.
A strong run of wild and hatchery-produced steelhead returning to the upper Columbia River allowed WDFW to open the fisheries. As of Aug. 31, about 16,600 steelhead had been counted above Priest Rapids Dam, nearly double the overall return’s 10-year average of 8,600.
The selective fisheries, which target returning hatchery fish that exceed the number needed for spawning, were approved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Services (NOAA Fisheries). The fisheries will not impede recovery of the region’s wild steelhead, which are listed for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Steelhead fisheries are carefully managed to assure that natural-origin steelhead returning to the upper Columbia River Basin survive to spawn. WDFW will closely monitor the fisheries and enforce fishing rules to ensure protection of wild steelhead.
Fishing for hatchery steelhead opens Sept. 4 at:
- Hanford Reach -From the Highway 395 Bridge at Pasco to Priest Rapids Dam. The section of the river from the Highway 395 Bridge at Pasco to the old Hanford town site wooden powerlines is scheduled to remain open through March 31. The section of the river from the old Hanford town site wooden powerlines to Priest Rapids Dam is scheduled to remain open through Oct. 22.
Areas that will be open from Sept. 8 until further notice include:
- Mainstem Columbia River -From Priest Rapids Dam to 400 feet below Chief Joseph Dam. Night closure and selective gear rules apply, except bait is allowed. Floy tagged rainbow trout may be retained. There is no limit or minimum size on floy tagged rainbow trout.
- Wenatchee River - From the mouth to the Icicle River Road Bridge. Night closure and selective gear rules apply.
- Entiat River -Upstream from the Alternate Highway 97 Bridge near the mouth of the Entiat River to 800 feet downstream of the Entiat National Fish Hatchery outfall. Night closure and selective gear rules apply.
- Methow River -From the mouth to the confluence with the Chewuch River in Winthrop. Fishing from a floating device is prohibited from the second powerline crossing to the first Highway 153 Bridge. Night closure and selective gear rules apply.
Beginning Oct. 1, the Okanogan River, from the mouth upstream to the Highway 97 Bridge in Oroville, will open for hatchery steelhead. The Similkameen River, from the mouth to 400 below Enloe Dam, will open Nov. 1 for hatchery steelhead. A night closure and selective gear rules will be in effect on both rivers, which will be open until further notice.
For more information on the hatchery steelhead fisheries, check the fishing rule changes on WDFW’s website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/ .
Awesome steelhead season is opening early as predicted this year,but with an interesting addition.
Methow River Closed to fishing from a floating device the lowers four miles! Not so much of a problem for most anglers but anglers with wading issues can’t do it even with a guide. This will effect us only occasionally but I can not help to wonder there concern with floating devices since boater etiquette was outstanding. It makes those of us who have always operated in an ethical manor wonder why, was it caused form a few bad eggs or from unknowing observers assuming things. Like a punch in the dick while being an ethical angler stuart.
Methow River B&B
These accommodations are exclusively available to the clients of Brazda’s Fly Fishing, a B&B with a view of the Methow on Burma Rd not two minutes from where I stay in my RV. It will be very convenient and cost effective for any of you to stay here. I can simply pick you up in the morning and go have a wonderful day on the Methow River or Wenatchee River chasing the wily steelhead and then bring you back in the evening. Lodging and guided fishing will be 310$ per person based on double occupancy this includes the state sales tax. Take a look at the home and its location, what could better?
The B and B will accommodate up to 6 anglers and there gear, couples are very much welcome, single anglers are slightly different priced.
Your wonderful host will be Phil and Tiloura Lund and of coarse you can expect me and or one of the guides to hang out at the BBQ on party nights. Phil is an accomplished Spey angler and is picking up his fishing guide career after thirty years of operating a home building construction company. Phil guided fishermen on the OP for ten years in the 1970’s and is looking forward to stepping back in time and enjoying that passion once again. He is available for Spey casting lessons right from the house.
Other services (besides breakfast) which are complimentary:
1) Drying waders inside & out on the red room floor, heated concrete, ( this was very well received last year)
2) Refrigeration of fish
3) Minor wader repair
4) Fly line repair
5) Drying wet clothes
6) Late check out (items stored in red room or living room)
7) Breakfast @ any hour.
Wether you are fishing or not give me a call and I will book this lodging for you as guests of mine, 253-307-3210 or e-mail Jeff@Brazdasflyfishing.com
This is a fantastic opportunity for us all.
Thank you, Jeff Brazda
WDFW NEWS RELEASE
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091
http://wdfw.wa.gov/
August 11, 2010
Contacts: Pat Frazier (WDFW), 360-906-6711
John North (ODFW), 971-673-6029
Alternative commercial fishing gears
to be tested on lower Columbia River
OLYMPIA – Starting this week, fishery managers from Washington and Oregon will test the feasibility of five types of alternative commercial fishing gears on the lower Columbia River.
Expanding on a pilot project conducted last year, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will work with commercial salmon fishers to test purse seines, beach seines and trap nets.
In addition, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) will work with a team of commercial fishers to test commercial troll gear and tangle nets during fall chinook and coho salmon runs.
Additional types of fishing gear will be evaluated in the future.
This year’s test fishing, funded primarily by NOAA Fisheries and an Oregon legislative appropriation, will be conducted from mid-August through October at various sites downstream of Bonneville Dam. Tests will include five purse seines, five beach seines, two trap nets, two trollers and three different types of tangle nets.
“Our shared goal is to identify and develop commercial fishing gear capable of catching large numbers of hatchery salmon, while also allowing for the safe release of wild fish,” said Pat Frazier, regional WDFW fish manager. “These tests are a critical step toward achieving that goal.”
Gears that achieve that goal could be approved for future use on the lower Columbia River, where gillnets are now the primary gear used in commercial fisheries. While gillnets are highly effective at catching salmon, alternative gears may increase the ability to release wild fish in good condition, Frazier said.
“Because many wild salmon and steelhead populations are listed for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, impact limits on these fish often curtail fisheries even when large numbers of hatchery-reared fish are available for harvest,” said John North, ODFW Columbia River Fisheries manager.
Development of viable fishing gear that can selectively remove hatchery fish would not only benefit commercial fisheries, but may also contribute to the recovery of wild salmon stocks on the Columbia River by reducing interactions with hatchery fish, North said.
In that regard, the results of last year’s pilot project were promising, said Frazier, who oversaw gear tests conducted by WDFW. Working with a purse seine, beach seine and trap net, WDFW project members caught and sorted 884 salmon, of which only one died during handling.
“The immediate survival rate was very good, but we need to conduct further tests to determine if these, or other gear types, are viable on a commercial scale,” Frazier said. “We also need to test them in different areas and under different conditions. That will be a major focus of this year’s tests.”
This is a great start to having Selective harvest and sustainability in commercial fisheries, a big issue for the survival of Washington steelhead and Salmon runs!
Oncorhynchus mykiss,
The highly sought after game fish of North Western United states, the popularity of catching steelhead has risen to the for front in western angling, how you catch them will always be controversial. I have been using a Spey rod since 1990 and it dramatically increased my SENSE of catch ability, I say sense because it actually did not catch me more BUT I could fish it more, then came the higher catch rate, I definitely like to catch them more on the Spey rod than any other method!.
Now since I started nymphing steelhead on the fly rod I found that catching them in high percentages was better for the psyche and later found that my clients liked it MUCH better as well. Imagine that, paying to go steelheading and expecting to catch them, what a concept; it actually may have pissed off some of the guides and anglers that did not catch so many steelhead.
To this day I see many steelheaders’s that use the Spey as a tool to cast to the other side of the river or to throw300 grain heads and not as a tool to fish the water they stand in. The Spey rod has born a revival in swing fishing for steelhead like no other tool since High Speed Hi-D from Sci. Anglers.
What is not remembered or learned so much in the first few years or 10, of using the 14 ft tool is how to fish the swing, our fly fishing forefathers learned how to fish the swing out of necessity, but in the slow days for steelhead fly fishing 1970-1986 (the drift fishing era) it had been forgotten. Now armed with the POWER of the Spey, the shoot first maybe land a dumb one later approach, runs rampant! I know of very, very few anglers ( I do know a lot of anglers) that actually can go into a river with a good run of steelhead in it and catch one entirely on skill and technique. I do however know that by combining yesterdays approach to swing angling with today’s swing tool an angler can be pretty dam good at catching swung fish as a daily routine.
Teaching the old school methods take time, much more time than teaching new methods, old school methods are acquired from time with the line under tension wile swinging the fly, having a rod the caster is used to handling helps dramatically.
Fortunately for the other 95% of the self taught week- end anglers there desired subject will at times go berserk and attack shit just out of meanness.
This is one of the reasons steelhead are the coolest fish in fresh water. One of the best swing anglers I know Vern Olsen once told me he’s fishing for the ones that eat it with HATRED and he has found a lot of them.
Now since being a fishing guide I could not be happy taking MONEY for a job that was so often left unrewarded, I approached steelhead fishing from a new angle. Back when the upper Hoh River on the Olympic Peninsula finally went to catch and release and No Bait is when I decided I would take this love of steelhead to the next level. I started guiding clients for steelhead and we did not always use the swing. I discovered that even though all I had ever done was fly fish for steelhead on the swing, I did not get the feeling that clients where satisfied with a couple grabs or a few Dolly on an average day. I really know that I wasn’t, I simply felt I owed them more, they needed to see the fish, feel the fish on the line at a much higher percentage of the time, they needed to handle this great fish and get that feeling of total content, that the world is great again and life is good. I wanted them to see and feel as I did about the steelhead, that there beauty and power was respectable and obtainable.
The first day I tried nymphing for steelhead I did not really know how to even nymph for Trout let alone steelhead. I did know I felt dirty about it what I did not know was how great it was to be dirty! My convictions told me it was disrespectful to the fish, come to find out those where other peoples inherited convictions through the mystic of publications.
My upbringing as a very young steelheader was either bait or swing the fly, bait when we went plunking due to dirty water then swinging when we could. Pure bait during the competitive years,(82-88) buddy fishing, taught me where the steelhead lived and when. Swinging the fly with my grandfather taught me exactly that, how to swing old school. Swinging the fly religiously again after I felt I had caught my share drift fishing ’88- 96.
Now I was venturing into new waters so to speak and it was a complete turn around in success from just swinging all those hours for the grab or a really good day four steelhead.
So there I am sitting in the upper Hoh with an 8wt and a dry line, twist on lead and orange yarn on a hook, I have just landed my 8th steelhead and am all by myself and within sight of the boat launch. I cannot remember the last time I had done that even with bait, I was ecstatic about steelhead again, fact is more than ever. I still stuck with the swinging thing; I was making custom lines for Spey rods all the wile nymphing whenever I felt like; no one was watching or catching more than the one a day. I soon found myself nymphing a lot going to zipper lip rivers and streams with my old bait buddies and crushing them, the same ones that thought I was crazy for fly fishing steelhead at all. I soon fell out of the loop and went rogue, I was on my own no support team. All the while fencing the Spey angling tradition, hell I was selling a hundred lines a year on the side, custom sink tips and Spey Lines. Rio came out with some great lines and finally made a GOOD loop on them so it gave me an out, I could get off the extra work train of looping lines at night and just go catching.
I started guiding a lot more and really learned how to nymph trout on the Yakima while guiding it. So here I am over twelve years later and catching steelhead like it was 1985 while tossing sand shrimp. I have pretty much developed my style of angling that generally keeps me and my clients happy. The big runs have returned to nearly all the rivers, the stream etiquette is the best of any state. I am using the nymph rod just as another tool in the big game of it all even though many still feel it is a sin. (Guide hint) What some anglers don’t adhere to is the use of a tool that will get them the end results more often even if it to catch a swung fly steelhead every day.
So at year 2010 I am more compelled to not fish the nymph rod when I go angling myself, this has been creeping up on me, this feeling of had caught enough on one type or another just as in 1989 when the bait rod started its cobweb collection. My Spey rods have all been broken numerous times from cliental abuse and I feel that I owe them some love and affection this is my year the year I come full circle again in my never ending pursuit of the Steelhead it’s time to bring back old school swinging!
King Salmon Alaska July 7-14, Alagnek River.
We all set off from different locations in America as far away as Florida and New York State to assemble in the small fishing town of King Salmon Alaska. Christian Elwell owner of “Borealis Outdoor Adventures” my good friend and outfitter for our adventure was there waiting when we got off the plane.
After some introductions and the customary Alaska BAR time we retired to our perspective cabins at Diamond Lodge.
Diamond Lodge is owned and operated by a German lady named Heidi that also has a salmon smoking operation on the premises, her motto is “Sustainably Harvested and Handled with Pride” she has the awards to go with it, and is the finest cold smoked salmon I have ever tasted.
We set off from a float plane dock with plenty of help loading planes and not to much organization, off to the shores of Nonvionek Lake and the beginning of the float. The flight out was breathtaking, a calm clear day not a bump in the sky, nearly worth the price of admission.
As you can expect anticipation was the emotion for the day and soon we were into Rainbows and Lake trout, and Sockeye running up the edges. Of coarse the Sockeye were not in a biting mood. The great day gave way to steady wind and soon we were casting from an ocean beach with treacherous waves, only swamped two of us but the Lakers kept eating the swung fly if you could get it done.
Next day we set forth with the rafts loaded and I had three anglers onboard flailing away in an attempt to catch these damn bows on the move, “we had gotten reports from two weeks earlier that fishing on the move was next to futile” naturally we need to prove that one wrong. Yea,,, should of believed that one as on the move was brutal considering we were floating the wilds of Alaska. Our first day netted 2 dozen bows and a dozen Lakers, we did get some rising trout but for the most part it was NOT on.
Fortunately the campsite was the bomb and the best fishing stop of the first floating day, there we padded the numbers and seeing Matt and Ringo each hook up twice on fat bows made my day. Dinner was served after smoked salmon appetizers from Heidi that melted in our mouth. Main course grilled Lakers, fettuccini with clams and mussels. The preparation was exquisite and not at all what is expected for camping. The food on this trip was top shelf, nothing short of amazing.
Day three started out with more of the same with tough angling on the move four to the boat on streamers right away did get us all jazzed. By 3 we had traveled ten river miles that looked as if the Madison’s Cameron flats had been relocated to Alaska. When we reached the Kucinich River things all changed!
As we reached the confluence it was evident that the Sockeye Salmon run had arrived in big numbers, Bears everywhere we looked, wads of schooling Sockeye in the rivers currents, it was the beginning of the most awesome wildlife spectacle I have ever seen.
I had seen Brown Bears before on many occasions into Alaska and BC but these where different; they seemed uninterested in anything but the swimmers in the water.
As we floated down river we lost all idea of angling just floating amongst the living, operating, biomass had us awestruck. We floated past twenty some brown bear in thirty minutes heading for our next campsite none of us mentioning that now we are here and now we camp with them. This is where Christian and Jason’s knowledge of Alaska’s Wilderness came through, the first camp spot was taken by rafters that had been there for four days, we had seen them when we flew in. Christian took us down a ways and stopped on a bar and it was our turn to take a meal of Sockeye. Within thirty Minutes we had figured out what they would EAT, thanks to Bill Hart and his lake box that had made its way up to Alaska, a water boatman size 6, every third drift he would hook up the rest of us about every twenty. We kept dinner and off to the camp spot, as where we were standing there was way to much bear activity.
A mile downstream and four lefts and three rights through narrow channels and there it is a perfect swing and a perfect camping spot. By the time we got camp up and dinner cooked all of had caught and released ten –twenty Sockeye each on the Boatman or similar.
The next morning found Ringo with his mini fly tying kit out and cranking away with a cup of fresh coffee at his side, we tied them on as they came off the vice every one like camp GOLD.
After some morning angling to warm up, with Larry and Jess both swinging the honey hole and pulling on fish nearly every drift, we headed for the King hole just down river. Here we proceeded to catch every species in the system including Kings that pretty much used the heavy currents to take complete advantage. These were chrome bright 15-20 pounders that did what Kings do when there is not a jet boat two steps away, break gear!
By the end of day four it was obvious the rainbows had migrated else ware and the Sockeye where our game fish of the trip. Armed with the Ringo rendition of a water boatman (tung bead, heavy scud hook, olive dubbing, a pair of rubber legs and a tail of crystal flash and a flash back) we proceeded to float mile after mile watching Bears and stopping on pods of Sockeye staged up running riffles, it was nothing to hook a dozen from one spot in 30 minutes, ah that is a dozen per angler. Poppa Mac and Bill totally crushing them nymphing but Joey, Ringo and Matt used a light tip or even a dry line and long leader it would slide right over the pods and get the biter to come up. When we wanted we tossed dries to grayling and still caught the occasional good sized Rainbow on the swing.
Day five on the Alagnek found us in the famed BRAIDS region and that name fits, we hit a couple so narrow and fast the paddles where useless and we steered with Bill hanging out the back grabbing bottom with his legs snow sled style, thankfully it was only one wrong turn and a short one at that. Banking on the Sockeye fishing we tried to target Bows again but found only a few. The Braids did offer some interesting close encounters with Bears battling in the middle of narrow channels and some very Mousy looking water, maybe next time. We were now seeing huge Bears 8-9 footers staged along strategic points and riffles, I never stopped being amazed at the variety of there fishing technique, the jump inners, the chase to the beach and pounce, the head first biter and then the snorkelers all seemed to work as they were fat and happy. Again our choice camp spot was taken but by then we were ready for relaxation and another fine riverside dinner, besides the guys on the spot where constantly on guard with a twelve gauge.
Day six found us all rather rummy, could have been the reduction in alcohol weight we attempted the night before but who’s saying. We had great Sockeye angling most of the day even started catching them on the move with a two fly nymph rig, that was interesting with fast water and a ton of lumber in the river and three anglers aboard, we found the mother load this last day, a 100 sq yard bucket below a shallow riffle teaming with sea lice laden Sockeye, I was beginning to love these fish, there battle was vicious and the bite was rather light so it kept us on our toes. We stayed there as long as possible all of us knowing it would be the last stop on the last day, the fishing part was over. We just floated straight out to the pick up, we were all quite ready to be back in a real bed and mostly a good shower, and we silently reminisced about the journey we had all just taken one that will forever be highlighted in our internal journal, one with many angling accomplishments and wilderness experiences. Our two boats got there just in time to break down and load the first Beaver, perfect timing to a wonderful adventure; we came for rainbows got the Sockeye and made friends for a lifetime in angling memories, thank you Matt, Ringo, Larry, Jessica, Bill, Poppa Mac and Joey and mostly Jason and Christian for keeping it real.
Very rarely do I get the opportunity to fish TOTALLY new water with a client, water that I had never even seen. The type that you carry a map in the river and keep track of mileage and bridges so not to pass the GET OUT. It is definitely not something I would ever do with a paying client had they not totally understood that I had no idea of what was around the next bend.
Earlier this week I spent three days on the Missouri river by Craig Montana when all the good water in SW was a raging torrent. Of course we could of went to the Beav and jammed our boat between thirty others and fifty bankies but I would rather T-BAG a chainsaw than do that. Chuck Keenan, Harry Lee and his son Chris where up for the adventure of traveling north to the big rainbows of the Mo. Now, I have spent a few weeks above Mid Canon in the last two years and had a good handle on that water but below that was just the Atlantic Ocean as far as I knew. Of course as soon as we arrive the same snow melt issue was traveling there and the Mo was rising a couple thousand cfs a day, NOT what you want for the blind mission I was on.
With the best advice we could find from Headhunters fly shop, we headed into the great beyond with some crazy ass new RAINBOW CHEK NYMPH and the GAFF a SW pro guide special. It really felt like fifteen years earlier when we would road trip it to far away rivers in hope of finding what we had recently read in some shiny dream laced publication. Loaded with enthusiasm of a pointing dog on opening day of pheasant season we hit everything hard and found fish on most corners and drops, probably the best scud fishing in a river I have ever seen. Soon we were out of the CHEK nymph and scratching out a few on felt penned ray Charles.
Every year I add to the list of clients that will do anything that it takes and Chuck Keenan was on the top of that list, a very educated and seriously calm hearted man with a lust for gods natural beauty that makes us all proud to just be a human. We had a stroke of genus the next day along with some in-tel from fellow guide Scott Wison a few days earlier and headed for the never seen stretches down from Mid Cannon. Armed with ten different worm patterns and more Chek nymphs we hit the insides at four to seven feet deep and semi slow to slow. Pumped a few fish that were full of 18 PT’s and nothing else, and no they did not eat PT’s. It was worms or nothing, and the bite was ridiculously soft to the point of NOT hooking the bite, none of them. Harry Lee was totally on point and ripping them at a twitch of the bob he landed 7 or 8 before lunch and Chuck and I were shooting blanks. Just when diving head first into the next rock pile seemed like the best thing to do, I go desperate and pull out another new fly (if you can call it that) the gummy I had ONE,, mostly as a novelty. Oh yea you know what happens, drift thirty feet and two foot of Rainbow trout is skipping all over the river. The trout where hanging onto that THING like it was gold on wall street. After the initial shock hitting the EASY button I remember that we only have one, out comes the 1X and all knew knots. 10 fish later and a few reties we loose the gummy to a giant Brown that left us holding on a little too tight. With that action came the overwhelming confidence and a certain speedy reaction that gave us another good chunk of fish on the Gaff.
The float down from Mid Cannon is breathtakingly beautiful, the rock formations, evergreens and big trout are certain to see Chuck and myself again and we may just have to go farther to repeat Winging it!
Olympic Peninsula 2010 (Video)
Over the last 30 plus years I have been chasing steelhead in Washington state, the last 15 years have been bordering on psychotic tendency, my wife of 24 years will attest to that. About every seven years the natural cycle makes an up curve and generally peaks every 10-12 years. These peak years to a fishing guide is nothing short of a gift from GOD. This past season has seen a spike of monstrous proportions, one like I have not seen since 1985/86 in Puget Sound. I spent a few weeks on the OP that year but found ten fish days the norm on my then home water the Green and Puyallup and my measly wages and 63 VW was not in for the constant haul to the holy grounds.
Spending well over 100 days a year on steelhead water coupled with the best run in any lifetime has padded my steelhead numbers to epic levels. I feel blessed to have experienced such a season and am preparing for the norm come next October when I return to the river of my ancestors, my beloved Methow. We should all be thankful for this return of our majestic steelhead as there is one rule that a die hard angler should always heed ‘ NEVER TAKE STEELHEAD FOR GRANTED”
I say this as we should all realize what we have when we have it, I know that there are dozens of anglers out there who caught fish at first try this last year and now may think that steelhead are not so hard to catch. We forget the trials and tribulations of the down years, we forget to pay amish to those that are working hard to recover the lost salmon and steelhead runs, the conservation clubs, CCA, Wild Steelhead coalition, various river trusts and these are but a few, they all still need the help and financial support from anglers.
As I gear up for my next four months guiding trout in SW Montana I relive every new push of steehead into the rivers of my season, they gave me so much to live for, they left there prodigy in the gravels of my world hoping the same as I to return again in an endless cycle of life.
Left the windy lands of Ellensburg Washington for my second trip for Permit and Bonefish on May 1 and returned yesterday planning the next trip. I don’t think I have been this jazzed about new angling in over a decade. The whole experience is a learning curve, from climate adaption to leader tapers.
Rex and I began by road tripping it to Hobox island in hopes of finding a guide for whatever time we had. We managed to fish a ½ day in the mangrove sloughs catching many 20 inch Snook on sardine patterns. Good fun and a great warm up. Lesson one: gas stations don’t always have gas! But someone in most towns will even if it comes from 2 litre coke bottles.
Arriving in Xcalak we found the town nearly stopped as the tourist season was finalizing, fortunately the winds also had slowed from a gale the prior three days.
The next five days gave us all many shots at Permit, we had 20 fish schools of 5 pounders and singles to over 30 pounds. They would chase shrimp patterns right to the rod tip and most never bit but many gave us good intentions. Many times our well placed crabs or shrimp would be gobbled by bonefish feeding on the bottom below the Permit. Reminded me of ol’ whitey on the Big Hole in July!
I again managed to catch a permit on bonefish gear, a 6 wt no less, wile on foot what a battle thank god for backing. Chris and Darrell had great fishing and a few days could have caught 50 plus Bones a day but the frequent passing of Permit kept us hunting them.
Rex and I went on exploratory trips to the far inside of Chetumal bay finding huge unfished flats with larger uneducated Bones and very fast schools of Jacks hunting baitfish. Chucho then took Daryl and myself far up the ocean side in search of large untouched Permit, only to find all four flats species in a single large lagoon a ½ mile inland. The Snook and Tarpon proved too sneaky but the Permit and Bonefish made the trip.
As for the next trip, I am thinking Early December right after Montana Deer season the guides say that there is a month window there before the north winds arrive cooling the water and moving the larger numbers of Permit out. I will share more on booking that trip later in the season.
Flats fishing has bitten my soul, the new challenges and its beautiful environs have me wondering will I ever feel the same about trout fishing again.
40 inch chromer
March 8 2010
Every year we are looking for that perfect fish, this year we have been settling for the 10 pound chromers with a few teeners and the odd giant. Then we catch this brute and start hooking them daily without much landing success. The planets do align at times….
If you want yours, get in touch and we can get you fishing ,,dates available next week.
Brazda’s fly fishing bringing you the best of private Basin Lakes:
Issak’s Ranch Lakes
Premier private lake fishing in eastern Washington
Fly fish for rainbow and brown trout in the 22 to 30 plus inch range. With spring run off on our trout streams the lake fishing is at its best April thru June.
We can accommodate up to ten anglers on the lakes, you will have both the upper and lower lake to choose from during your fishing. That’s over 100 acres of private water. The upper lake is best for sinking lines and buggers where the lower lake being the shallower of the two, fishes well with an intermediate line or dry line. Bugger fishing starts off in April followed by Chironomids late April early May and then Damsels and Calabatis in mid May into June. With good conditions experienced lake anglers could expect to hook an excess of 30 fish in a day. Some gear can be furnished with prior request. Lodging is available at Banks Lake.
Available dates; Sunday May 16
Daily rod fee’s: 225 per angler plus tax.
Sign up by calling 253-307-3210 or e-mail Jeff@Brazdasflyfishing.com
