 |
 |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
|
Fishing Report for January
6, 2004
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Happy New Year, and welcome to the Long Over Due, Winter Storm 2004, I Wish I Were Fishing Report… Yakima River: The Yakima can be tricky this time of year, or anytime for that matter, but it does fish well off and on all winter. Most reports we’ve heard lately are encouraging but none have been spectacular. Frigid temps usually have a big impact on the activity of the fish and bugs. However, if you are willing to brave the trip over the Pass you’ll probably have the river mostly to yourself and be able to wrangle in a few. Wintertime tactics consist mainly of dredging streamers off heavy sink-tips and depth-charge nymphing. If you have a type-4 or 6 sink-tip for your 5 or 6-weight you can swing some meaty streamers through any of the deeper slower water and hang on. The trick here is a SLOW swing and or strip, the fish have a hard time catching up to your bug when the water is so cold. For deep nymphing use a two nymph rig with a weighted or tungsten beaded stonefly as point fly and a small mayfly or chironomid pupa as a dropper. When temps warm up just a little bit start looking for midge hatches during the middle of the day and rising fish in the slower runs and side channels. Just think though, in two more months the river will be crawling with Skwala stone and Blue Winged Olives so get your “man, fishing sure is lousy” complaining in now because spring will be here before you know it. Steelhead: If you thought your chances of landing a steelhead this year were about as good as the Seahawks beating the Packers in Green Bay, you’re only partly right, and just because they didn’t doesn’t mean you cannot take advantage of what’s panning out to be one of the best hatchery returns in recent memory. Bait, jig, fly, it doesn’t matter. Everyone is getting in on the action. The Sky and Snoqualmie were, and still are full of fish just begging for your general practitioner to bonk them on the head so they can spank it. The downside has been an immense amount of pressure on the fish causing them to slide into some unusual water. That problem can be solved by simply covering as much water as possible, eventually you’re likely to find a willing fish or two. The best fishing has been early as usual, the first person through a run has the best crack at landing a jumbo. For tactics, as of today, the water is very low and clear so think a little smaller and maybe some brighter colors. Size 2 or 4 marabous and speys in pink, orange, red, mauve or whatever your favorite color is. When the water comes back up and gets a little color to it toss 1/0 dark colored marabous or anything with a large profile. Higher water will bring some fresh chromers into the systems to so just get out there and hit it hard. You too can catch a steelhead! Rocky Ford: “Rocky Fjord” as our Scandinavian friends would pronounce it, has been kicking out lunker rainbows as it always does. The cold weather here doesn’t affect the fishing so much as it does on the Yakima. Scuds, Chironomids and leeches are the flavor of the day at the Ford. If you can stand out there shivering in 20 degree temps and you go during midweek, you may be the only soul insight. More than likely that will not be the case but we can dream. Just stick to light tippets or fluorocarbon if you can afford it and watch them climb on your line. Well it may not be that easy but it’s very well worth the trip out there. Though some Rocky ford residents look like they could have been the main character in Finding Nemo, don’t despair because this little creek offers possibly the best chance in the state to catch the biggest trout of your life on public water. Lakes: While we are all feverishly tying bugs for the Eastern lake opener in March, there are decent opportunities to catch a few fish here on the West side. Pass Lake near Anacortes offers some great wintertime fishing on leeches and midges for monster rainbows and browns. Lone Lake on Whidbey Island also offers similar fishing and probably less people. Locally, Alice and Beaver are open year-round and Beaver was planted with some big broodstock bruisers, so if you have a full sinking line, some olive buggers and a chainsaw to cut through the ice, you’re good to go. If you have a boat, Lakes Washington and Sammamish fish well this time of year for perch, crappie, bass, and cutts and rainbows. The best part is you won’t have to spend any time yelling at jet skiers and you can concentrate on fishing. So there you have it. You demanded it, we delivered it. Today’s lesson should be that winter in Washington is a great time to go fishing so don’t pack the rods and waders away in October some of the best opportunities to catch big fish are this time of year. Be safe out there, and try not to end up stuck in the ditch, and if you do just take a few deep breaths and pretend you’re down in the Bahamas wet wading casting to sun burned bonefish. Brett Wedeking
©
2004 Creekside Angling Company All Rights Reserved
Click Here to see Fishing Reports Archives From Years Past... Please add me to the Creekside E-Mail Fishing Reports List. Click here to sign up. For additional or more current information on some of the fishing opportunities here in the Northwest, Please call or e-mail us:
|
||||||||||||||||
