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*This is the fishing report that ousted
Milosovich; that turned the NRA against Gore; beat the Yankees (once)
and will catapult you to new angling frontiers (or, not.)
The Yakima is fishing very well. October
Caddis, Baetis, Pale Evening Duns and small (#18-20) caddisflies.
Black stonefly nymphs and small (#18-20) pheasant tails & Prince
nymphs. October caddis emerger....midday hatches in the sunshine
are happening, and seem to be shedding off in the rain. Pretty fall
, lcolorsots of sheep, deer and upland birds are around for your
viewing pleasure, or, if their beauty really impresses you, you
can shoot them. In the upper river, key in on faster water to fish
the October caddis, not the slower water, to increase your batting
average. Water levels are good to great....again, this is arguably
the best time to fish the river, particularly if you're consigned
to travel on foot, as the canyon is largely wadeable. Scattered
showers are predicted throughout next week, which shouldn't have
much of a negative effect on the water.
Steelhead: Hatchery fish seem to have
bolted; the windfall week or two prior to the heavy rain in the
cascades a couple of weeks ago has subsided. There are more salmon
in the rivers, and they undoubtedly push the steelhead up into less
'steely' water...Silvers are showing good numbers around the Snohomish
river system, so look to catch the steelhead below the salmon or
in faster water. Use wide gape hooks to make salmon-snagging easier.
Salmon: Chum forecasts are favorable for those anxious to rope into
them...start tying green stuff, maybe with a little weight. Numbers
are predicted to be strong, and everyone knows that 'they' are rarely
wrong about such matters. Perhaps when they start cloning the salmon
they'll use Alaska fish that are willing to eat flies more readily
than the NW anadramous populations. Maybe they can cross a sockeye
with a bass and get them to take poppers. Use your imagination-
the possibilities are limitless.
Eastside: Lakes are fishing very well,
but typically volatile weather can make the long drive fruitless
unless you like sideways frozen rain. Keep an eye on the weather
forecast and if things look mellow, the ride is well worth it. Lenice,
Nunnally, Dry Falls, etc. all have but a couple of short weeks left
in their seasons, so if you've missed out so far this year, don't
be left out in the cold when the only thing you have to get you
through the torrents of rain and winter misery are memories of fish
hooked and lost and landed. Fish the usual stuff- buggers, nymphs,
streamers, midges...dry fly action will primarily consist of callibaetis
& midges...probably. We've been wrong more than once. More than
more than once. You have no one to blame but yourself if we're wrong,
except possibly the moderator, or the Palestinians.
Rocky Ford is kicking ass, in a word,
with lots of Tricos, baetis, callibaetis...decent hatches for good
dry fly fishing, although most of the enthusiastic reports we've
heard around here lately have been the result of going down on the
ford, i.e. buggers & streamers. Scuds always work. Midges. Yessssss.
The Wenatchee is closed, which leaves Mason creek, the Chiwawa (spelling?)
both of which open until the end of the month, I believe, the little
Wenatchee, icicle creek....fish lake is good in the fall for browns
and rainbows...For flies, in the creeks, October caddis (orange
stimulator), baetis (bwo #16-22), caddis, maybe some green drakes...attractor
patterns such as parachute Adams, humpies, wulffs, etc. are generally
good go-to flies. Obviously if fish aren't up at all, try hare's
ears, prince nymphs, pheasant tails...
Fish lake, according to our guru Mike Kinney, is awesome this time
of year. Minnow patterns (in perch colors, preferably), maroon woolly
buggers, terrestrial dry flies, callibaetis imitations- both nymphs
and adults. Ideally you'd have a sinking or sink tip line to deliver
the streamers and nymphs effectively.
Kamloops area lakes are just starting
to cool down and fall fishing has
really not yet happened. Many lakes still have remnant algal blooms
which
will soon disappear. Mild weather lately but finally starting to
cool down.
Expect some great fishing during the last 2 weeks of October and
well into
November for those crazy enough to be on the water. The benefit
is minimal
or no other competition for the water. Lakes such as Tunkwa, Leighton,
Roche, Stump, Lundbom, Community, Island and Bose are all known
as good fall
waters. Anglers should come armed with bead headed leeches in maroon,
black, dark green and dark brown as well as shrimp, bloodworms and
even
chironomids. Fall fishing almost always means fishing in shallow
water,
often less than 5 feet deep so floating and intermediate sinking
lines a are
must. Bring a toque and gloves and have fun. (Many thanks to Brian
Chan).
So here's this week's excerpt from the lifestyles of the rich and
famous fishing journal for the trip undertaken by Yours Truly last
week to the famed Snake river near Lewis
& Clarkston, WA.
Left around 8 am Thursday and took my time getting over there and
arrived around three. Drove up the river to the Grand
Ronde and took that road up to the bridge that crosses over
and checked out the water there, which is lovely...it seems like
when you really get into steelhead mode you're more able to identify
water that potentially holds fish, but then again if you're like
me, you've caught so few steelies anyway that you find yourself
doubting your initial instinct and wondering if those driving by
are saying "What the hell is that gaper doing in that water?"
(Gaper- with the long A as in Grape.) Anyway, I was very fortunate
to have the tutelage of a 14 year Snake River Fly Veteran, who was
kind enough to jot down a couple of likely spots to fish....If you're
not familiar with the Snake, it's one huge mother of a river. At
least 100 yards across- twice that in many spots...jet boats holding
50 tourists periodically cruise by carrying (gapers) up to the Hell's
Canyon. Not to mention the plethora of 'guides' in jet boats and
unenthusiastic Back-Trollers, hoping to hook anything. The high
level of excitement involved in the back-trolling process was amplified
for one group when one of the occupants, while the guide was attempting
to wrap the belly of my flyline in his engine, hooked into what
turned out to be a 4 1/2 foot sturgeon. But after running downstream
to land the hapless fish, they did at least have the consideration
to come right back and stomp "my" water again to tell
me about the sturgeon. Not as though there weren't like 50,000 square
miles of vacant holding water at their disposal...at least they
had confidence in my choice of runs, which is nice.
Anyway, to make what seems to be turning out to be a very long story
somewhat less long, in the first two hours of fishing the snake,
after the sun left the water, I hooked three fish and landed one...hatchery,
maybe 6 or 7 lbs. The sun went down, I went back to camp to concentrate
on freezing my genitalia off overnight, then got up, went right
back to the same spot (after cranking the heat in the car for an
hour) and landed a fish on my third cast, then another within 5
minutes, making the grand total for those keeping score 3 landed
and 5 hooked in basically 2.5 hours of fishing. So, given that the
average spey cast and swing took between 30 and 45 seconds in that
water, and the run was about 75 yards long, I casted approximately
75 times, and landed a fish about every 25 casts, on average. However,
had I stopped fishing the second morning immediately after having
landed those two, and only counted casts from the previous evening
starting at the first fish landed, it would have brought the average
up quite a bit to roughly 1 fish every 4 casts, so the batting average
went from a .040 to .250, but who's keeping score?
I should have gone home then, as the sun came out with force, so
did droves of additional jet craft, not to mention the weekend crowd
which probably doubled the number of anglers on that area of the
river. The mouth of the Ronde was packed, so after a day of light
napping and snacking, Sat I headed up to Bogans and the grand ronde
to get away from the crowd. My confidence was jarred once more,
however, when there were too few people on the ronde. To recap the
thought process: too many people on the river; split. Too few people
on the river- assume no fish; split. I did cruise down river a bit
and looked around and fished for a few hours, but hadn't touched
a fish with the sun on the water for almost 2 days on the fish-infested
snake, so felt that I should either wait until dusk or bail. I chose
to bail. Unbelievably beautiful country and water. The grand ronde's
picture is in the dictionary under 'awesome looking steelhead water'.
It'll be packed with fish, if it isn't already, in the next week
or two. Bring warm clothes and a hat to sleep in.
That's all. Go M's. Look for my Creekside Hat in the stands on Saturday.
*The contents of this quaisi-accurate report
are intended for the eyes of the active and semi-active Creekside
Angling Company clientele. If you do not fall within the wide definition
thereof, please take one of the following courses of action: 1)
Immediately go to Creekside and browse, act interested, maybe find
something you actually need, or 2) Cease and desist all reading
and come to creekside to hear the report in person from our courteous,
friendly, knowledgeable, apt, enthusiastic, willing staff. Thank
you.
Hugh Pastoriza
Creekside Angling Company
1180 N.W. Gilman Blvd.
Issaquah, WA 98027
www.creeksideangling.com
email- info@creeksideangling.com
ph. 425.392.3800
fax. 425.557.8928
Copyright ©2000 Creekside Angling Company All
Rights Reserved
Creekside Angling Company
1180 NW Gilman Blvd. Suite C5
Issaquah, WA 98027
425-392-3800 (voice)
425-557-8928 (fax)
info@creeksideangling.com
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