Saturday, October 10, 2015

Aahh . . . October!



Your Olympic Peninsula fly fishing guide.
Catch & Release, Fly Fishing only! 

Aahh . . . October!


Autumn colors.

   As I write this, I am happily ensconced within the steaming warmth and comfort of my favorite coffee shop. While outside, just a few yards away, the bay is asunder with blowing spume and big dirty waves, and it has been raining hard. I had to cancel a few trips already, as the wind and waves were just too much in this storm. It's that time of year. Aside from an occasional inconvenience of high water in the rivers, or stormy conditions, this is still my favorite time of year. As a boy, growing up in New England, I often wished that every month could be October. Who doesn't love the refreshing cool mornings, colorful fall foliage, crisp evenings, wood smoke, fresh pressed apple cider, and the fall runs of fish. If you were to drive across the country during October, you would find good fishing almost everywhere that you tried. That's one for the "bucket list".

   Here on the Olympic Peninsula saltwater beaches we have been enjoying some good fishing this fall. We have caught and released many bright coho salmon and sea run coastal cutthroat trout. So far October has been especially good, with some beautiful, big fish to hand. In the weeks after the rains that we got back in September, there was some good fishing to be had, and then the rivers began to run low again, even though the Olympic Mountains got over a foot of rain. With this new storm coming in now, our rivers are bouncing back to life. Once the river gauge flows begin to drop again, the fishing should be very good. It wont take long.



The Hoh River fish are getting another good punch of rain.


   According to the 10 day forecast wizards at the Northwest Rivers Forecasting Center, we should be getting a nearly week-long break after this storm passes on Sunday. Generally I only trust these predictions within a 72 hour time window. But they are often remarkably accurate, if you combine them with other local readings. With 3 to 5 inches of rainfall expected in our Olympic Mountains now, it will take a few days for the flows to moderate for good fishing. And it is warm at higher altitudes now, so it will run off into the rivers quickly. I bet there will be some more good insect hatching activity out here for a week or more ahead. Usually that goes right through the first hard frost. But we can expect the beaches to be in good fishing shape here, even by this Sunday or Monday, (October 11th or 12th), if the local wind and wave forecasts hold true. Check out this wind prediction site for a good fishing trip planning tool: Windfinder.com  There's about three more weeks of good lake fishing still open out here too. And we have some year-round lakes too. Autumn is prime-time for that fishing. With all of this warm air the lake bugs should be keeping the trout actively feeding.

   
This bright coho had escaped the jaws of death,
perhaps only within a day or two previously, to survive and grab our fly!
(We let him go too.)

Happy Birthday to my friend, "Old Man River", Leland Miyawaki!


Bright waters wild fish
napping on the sun warm stones
Time is a river.




Your Olympic Peninsula Fly Fishing Guide and Instructor
                
Fly fishing for sea-run Coastal Cutthroat trout
 from a traditional Swampscott beach dory.
Guided trips, Rowboat picnics, Bird watching.
 

     I am guiding fly fishers on the Olympic Peninsula beaches, rivers and streams. We walk and wade, fly fishing for sea-run Coastal Cutthroat trout in freshwater and saltwater, and in the rivers for Cutthroat trout and summer steelhead. And we fish for Pacific salmon on the beaches. This is all strictly catch and release, traditional, barbless single hook, fly fishing only. Lunch, snacks, soft beverages, and use of some equipment is included. I also offer personalized and private fly fishing and fly casting instruction for beginners through advanced casters. I would be happy to help you plan your Olympic Peninsula fly fishing adventure, for all levels of ability. Public presentations, Naturalist Guide, rowboat picnics, tide pool and  river trail day trips. Please call, write or email for booking details. Now booking for April through October and beyond. 


Bob Triggs
Little Stone Flyfisher
P.O. Box 261
Port Townsend, WA
98368

Licensed Washington State Guide 
Certified Fly Casting Instructor
Trout Unlimited Aquatic Educator Award
2006 W.S.U.Beach Watcher / Water Watcher graduate
U.S.C.G First Aid/CPR/BLS/AED/BBP/HIV Certified

Phone: 360-385-9618