Hey everybody!
My name's Tony, and I've been a registered lurker on the site since I moved to Bellingham 5 years ago. I figure that it's time to join in on the conversation, since I've taken so much from this site.
I started fly fishing when I was 9 or 10, in rivers and lakes around my boyhood home of Kettle Falls. Soon after, I began tying flies -- I still use the same old stationary vise that I started with, almost twenty years later. I fished using both gear and fly equipment for a number of years, but since moving to Bellingham, I only used gear a couple of times.
Following high school graduation, I did a year at EWU, then joined the Navy. I participated in both Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, and when I got out of the Navy, I moved up to Bellingham to start a band and be at one with myself. I am currently in college studying Entertainment Business, and graduate in March. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to go straight through in pursuit of a Master's, but it's starting to look that way.
My fly experience lies in Eastern WA streams, spring creeks, ponds and lakes for rainbow, brown, and cutthroat trout. I spent almost my entire childhood in the woods, and found my share of secret spots.
Since moving to Bellingham, I've fished all over this side of the state. I marvel at the breathtaking views one will see when swinging a fly through a run on any one of the fine rivers on the west side of the mountains.
Although I can't seem to dial in anadromous fish on the fly (there's no salmon/steelhead where I grew up -- thanks Grand Coulee Dam), I have had decent luck on stillwaters over here for trout. I have, however, experienced the thrill of having a steelhead on the end of my line, and it was enough for me to dedicate several dozen days a year to chasing them. I haven't had the fortune of catching another one, but my excitement for this fish hasn't wavered.
I look forward to participating in future conversations on this site, as well as meeting some of you on the water.