Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Thanksgiving



Your Olympic Peninsula Fly Fishing Guide,
Catch & release, Fly Fishing Only!

Thanksgiving


I can eat this entire turkey myself, without your help.
    
   On this eve of Thanksgiving I am thinking about the early winter steelhead runs on our Olympic Peninsula coastal rivers and streams. Over the past few weeks we have had very little rain, and our rivers are drawing down to low and clear conditions again. I was out in the dory here, on the saltwater, several times over the last weeks, and it was almost like an Indian Summer out there all over again. Hard to believe how mild it has been. One good thing is that over the last month or more we have gained some snow in the higher elevations of the Olympic Mountains, and that is helping to keep our rivers alive as the freezing levels are going up to higher altitude over the next few days, and we expect some rain, and likely some melting and runoff, at the same time. By this weekend we should be getting some rain here. Sunday in particular looks pretty wet. And about the same time that the rain hits here, the freezing levels will again plummet, through the weekend, to near sea-level freezing temperatures by Monday. As it gets colder we are going to be using some larger or heavier flies, perhaps sinking or poly leaders too, sink tips and shooting heads, and we'll be slowing it all down to get that fly working on a slow swing. This is where spey fishing really pays off, as the work is divided between two hands, and our presentations are so much more manageable all day.

      My sense of this situation is that along with some much needed rain, we will likely get a moderate reaction in river flows as the rains turn to ice and snow. I just wish it was happening today. It looks like a very mild, pleasant Thanksgiving for fly fishermen here. Friday too may be nice, with some rain expected, and colder temperatures beginning to move in by Saturday. With that kind of pressure and temperature change, we will likely get some wind too, at least through Saturday and into Sunday. After Monday it looks very cold and dry for the end of November and beginning of December. And by then the mountains will be loaded with fresh snow, the rivers charged and alive. I bet there will be some winter runs in the mix too. Please do your part to catch and kill as many of these hatchery-run steelhead as you legally may. Dress warmly. It should be interesting to see how this weekend shakes out.

   So there you have it- sunshine, rain, wind, ice, snow, fresh winter flows, and the promise of chrome bright winter fish- It must be winter steelhead season!


There are steelhead out there! . . .

   I don't know about you, but I am going to be eating turkey every day for a week to come. Happy Thanksgiving, and enjoy every minute of it! 

  See Dr Cliff Mass weather blog for the latest updates on this holiday weekend regional weather. We are especially blessed this year!http://cliffmass.blogspot.com

For a good read on Bull Trout fly fishing, from our friend Jon Tobey: 
http://gointothelight.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/hunting-bulls/


                           
   Autumn Cutthroat and early Winter Steelhead!

  We'll be walk and wade fishing these beautiful Olympic Peninsula saltwater beaches right through November- And any time that the conditions are right- all winter!   Our early winter-run Steelhead are coming into the Olympic Peninsula coastal rivers with each spate that we have been having, all through autumn so far. If you would like to plan a fishing date with me- do it well ahead of time.

  Remember: Catch & Release, Traditional Fly fishing Only! 

 Beginners welcome. Full instruction available. Complete support assured. Use of equipment available. Picnic lunch and soft beverages provided. Celebrating over 33 years of international fly fishing adventures!

Please call or write for booking details:

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.
U.S.C.G. Cert?BLS/BBP/HIV/CPR/First Aid.
Private and public presentations.
Row Boat Picnics on a local salmon estuary.

Telephone: 360-385-9618 / International Toll Free: 866-793-3595

Email: littlestoneflyfisher@mail.com

Web: Little Stone Flyfisher

Like us On Facebook! www.facebook.com/LittleStoneFlyfisher




Wednesday, November 20, 2013

"Winterish" . . .



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

"Winterish" . . .

  November 21, 2013 Update

  We are enjoying one of the mildest autumn-into-winter transitions here that that I can remember. Timely rains have kept our Olympic Peninsula steelhead rivers alive, with great fishing between the spates, and now a long stretch of sublime weather is moving in, and the rivers are on the drop- Again. Meanwhile, our beaches are fishing just fine, thank you! The forecast for the next ten days is looking very good, with some of the mildest weather predicted through the weekend here. Hatchery run winter steelhead are moving in on the recent spell of brief high water, and these fish will be encountered throughout most of the rivers here now. Flows are on the drop and just about everything should be eminently approachable for walk and wade anglers, and especially for traditional swung fly steelhead fly fishing.

 It's rare that we can expect to get a bit of a sunburn while winter steelhead fishing out here. Normally, by Thanksgiving, the winter runs will be full-on here, and the hatchery runs hold well through December and through New Years week. With these frequent rains we have had, and the resultant runoff, I expect that more fish are on the move, perhaps a little earlier than expected. But Thanksgiving is over a week away, which is an eternity for winter weather forecasting here! So, when the sirens call, when the stars converge, when the muse whispers in your ear, and when were talking about no serious rain for the next week or more here- Do not wait to get on the water and enjoy it! (P.S. Bring sunscreen!)

 With the river flows dropping back into good condition for fly fishing now, we will expect water clarity to continue to rapidly improve over the next few days. By this weekend many of our favorite runs will be gin-clear, or nearly so. Just lately the night time temperatures have been very cold, and we have had some bright sunlight too, with more of that in the forecast, so we can expect that we will encounter some fish holding in the deeper and shadier niches. And this means that you will need to get your fly to slow down and hunt for them. As much as we have become accustomed to going to the heavier sink tips, sinking leaders and sinking heads, to accomplish these deeper presentations, sometimes a dry line will do it better. When the rivers are on the drop, and the flows are slowing down, try using a floating line and a longer leader. Now is the time to get out that traditional spey rod, and long belly spey line, and slow it all down. An six to nine foot leader, tapered to a 10-12 pound test tippet at most, might be very good. Using this approach, paired with using sparser flies, on heavier hooks, you can often happily eschew the dumb-bell eyed monster flies, and still get a very controllable presentation. In fact, the lighter the conditions get, as far as improved water clarity and slower, lower flows, the smaller and sparser the flies I will be using. I will include some surface waking flies in this mix too. Yes, I know- "It's winter" . . . But we have learned to go with the flows, not the calendar.

Hatchery Steelhead do not belong in the Hoh River . . .
But we catch them here every winter!

 Speaking of the Saltchuck . . .

"Meanwhile, our beaches are fishing just fine, Thank you!"


Gratitude . . . The Salmon Festival is back!

www.nosc.org/
    Our friends over at the North Olympic Salmon Coalition are throwing a little party, this coming Friday November 22nd, 4-9 p.m., Chimacum Grange Hall, and you are invited! 

 See: www.facebook.com/NorthOlympicSalmonCoalition  

The many ongoing salmon habitat restoration projects being undertaken by NOSC have succeeded in returning tens of thousands of wild spawning Salmon, Steelhead and Coastal Cutthroat trout, and more, to our north Olympic Peninsula regional waters. If there is anyone to credit for our having such coincidentally good wild sea-run Coastal Cutthroat trout fishing here- it is the dedicated and extrordinarily hard working, inspiring staff and volunteers of this organization. Please support them! 

Happy Thanksgivukkah!!

 See Dr Cliff Mass weather blog for the latest updates on this holiday weekend regional weather. We are especially blessed this year! http://cliffmass.blogspot.com


My neighbors are getting nervous . . .
   
Autumn Cutthroat and early Winter Steelhead!

  We'll be walk and wade fishing these beautiful Olympic Peninsula saltwater beaches right through November- And any time that the conditions are right- all winter!   Our early winter-run Steelhead are coming into the Olympic Peninsula coastal rivers with each spate that we have been having, all through autumn so far. If you would like to plan a fishing date with me- do it well ahead of time.

  Remember: Catch & Release, Traditional Fly fishing Only! 

 Beginners welcome. Full instruction available. Complete support assured. Use of equipment available. Picnic lunch and soft beverages provided. Celebrating over 33 years of international fly fishing adventures!

Please call or write for booking details:

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.
U.S.C.G. Cert?BLS/BBP/HIV/CPR/First Aid.
Private and public presentations.
Row Boat Picnics on a local salmon estuary.

Telephone: 360-385-9618 / International Toll Free: 866-793-3595

Email: littlestoneflyfisher@mail.com

Web: Little Stone Flyfisher

Like us On Facebook! www.facebook.com/LittleStoneFlyfisher



Thursday, November 14, 2013

Early winter, Perfect flows . . .


Your Olympic Peninsula Fly Fishing Guide
Catch & Release, Fly Fishing Only!

Early winter, Perfect flows . . .

Early winter run.
 11/14/13 Update

 For the last month or so we have gotten intermittent rains here on the Olympic Peninsula, and thus far this has been very beneficial to fish and fishermen alike. Our coastal rivers have not been terribly affected despite several very brief high water events. If anything, each spate has brought new fish upriver. There are fish- Coastal Cutthroat trout, summer-run Steelhead, early winter-run Steelhead, Char and Salmon- spread throughout most of these systems now. For the last week the flows have been on the drop, and the fishing conditions have been near perfect. Right now the river gauges are reading about average for this time of year. Over this upcoming next weekend forecast in particular we have a nice mix of moderate rainfall and very cold air, low altitude freezing levels in the mountains, which should sustain these current moderate river flows through next Monday or Tuesday anyway. This is shaping up to be a very good weekend to fish on these rivers. By Thanksgiving we will likely be seeing a lot more winter run steelhead around here.


Hoh River morning.

   On the Saltchuck- people have gone downright Chum Crazy lately! The Chum Salmon run is turning out to be about double the numbers of what the managers had forecast it to be this fall. For some observations and resources on seeking out these fish, Blogger Christopher Dunagan's blog, "Watching Our Water Ways," recent notes on this Chum salmon run may be helpful. And over at the Orvis Bellevue Facebook Page, Fly Shop Manager Jason Cotta has provided a brief video on rods and rigging for our Chum Salmon fly fishing. So, if you are inclined, this is one heck of a fun game to get in on it out here; Using a 9 to 10 weight rod, a floating line, or a clear intermediate sink tip, 4-6 foot level mono leader of 16-20 pounds test, small, heavy bright flies, pink, cerise, chartreuse, etc. Some of these fish are very tough and big. We're still catching some bright sea run Cutthroat here too. And with the autumn being so mild, I expect this to continue through the month or more ahead.

Autumn sunset on the Saltchuck.


Happy news for us locals!
The documentary film "Kiss The Water"-  the life of Scottish classic salmon fly tier Megan Boyd, will be playing in Port Townsend at The Rose Theatre, this Saturday and Sunday, 11:30 a.m. each day only. For details see here:
www.rosetheatre.com/film/kiss-the-water






 This is it! Autumn is here! The run is on! You should be fishing!

 We'll be walk and wade fishing these beautiful Olympic Peninsula saltwater beaches right through autumn, with September, October and November offering us some of the best guided beach fishing opportunities of the year. Our winter-run Steelhead are coming into the rivers with each spate that we have been having all through autumn so far. If you would like to plan a fishing date with me- do it well ahead of time.

 Remember: Catch & Release, Fly fishing Only! 

 Beginners welcome. Full instruction available. Complete support assured. Use of equipment available. Picnic lunch and soft beverages provided. Celebrating over 33 years of international fly fishing adventures!

Please call or write for booking details:

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.
U.S.C.G. Cert?BLS/BBP/HIV/CPR/First Aid.
Private and public presentations.
Row Boat Picnics on a local salmon estuary.

Telephone: 360-385-9618 / International Toll Free: 866-793-3595

Email: littlestoneflyfisher@mail.com

Web: Little Stone Flyfisher

Like us On Facebook! www.facebook.com/LittleStoneFlyfisher