I had Sunday the 4th off work so my brother and I decided to pack up our eight weights and head up the Skykomish River and try to pick up some steelies.
Our day got started later than we wanted, mostly because my brother decided to stay up late and party that night, so we didn't get out to the river until around 7:30. We drove from Everett, to a nice well known spot east of Gold Bar. I think he was still a little hungover because it took him no less than 30 minutes to put his waders on and gear up his rod. I was ready to go in less than 10. Oh well. :beathead:
We hiked down to the river to find a ton of gear fisherman, and no room for a back cast. He hiked downstream a bit and I found a nice area to wade that looked like it was pretty fishy. I could not work my fly out to where I thought fish might be because I had no room for a back cast, and my roll cast was not going so well. Probably because I had too much line out to do it properly.
I then packed up and hiked further downstream to my brother who talked me into walking further downstream to try and find a spot that opened up so we could actually cast. We found a spot and worked it for a couple of hours. It was deep, but the current was a bit swift so I'm not sure if any fish were actually lying there. I tried swinging, but it didn't seem like my fly was getting down to the fish, so I tried dead drifting it - and that seemed to work. We were both using sinking tip lines. We saw fish being caught by the gear guys, but we had no luck that day. All the gear guys we talked to were nice.
Even though we caught no fish that day, it was great to be out on the river and I learned a few good lessons.
Lessons learned: I need to lose weight if I'm going to hike that much. I really need to lose weight. I need to work on my cast, casting a sinking tip line is difficult. Wind knots are not fun, but I was able to slow down my stroke and not get so many tailing loops. I really really need to lose weight. Boot foot waders offer you no ankle support for hiking, I learned this lesson after I rolled my ankle a couple of times.
The 5th my brother and I scored a trip with his friend who owns a drift boat. He is a gear guy, so yes we did fish some gear though I was able to use my fly rod a few times. I caught a little 10 inch rainbow trout. We put in a little east of Gold Bar and drifted down to Sultan. Once again we got a late start because my brother likes to party, and I didn't get much sleep either due to the fireworks going off all night. We did get the boat in the water by about 5:30 - an hour and a half later than we wanted to. We had a few good hits, caught that 10 incher, but my brother caught a beautiful steelhead that day.
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It was a native, so it was released. And yes I did bitch at him for taking the fish out of the water for the picture. I did tell him how to properly release it, and it vigorously swam off to hopefully spawn a few more beautiful natives.
All in all it was another great day on the river. I got to see some good spots to take my fly rod. I got to use my fly rod a few times too. I can't wait to get out there again.
Our day got started later than we wanted, mostly because my brother decided to stay up late and party that night, so we didn't get out to the river until around 7:30. We drove from Everett, to a nice well known spot east of Gold Bar. I think he was still a little hungover because it took him no less than 30 minutes to put his waders on and gear up his rod. I was ready to go in less than 10. Oh well. :beathead:
We hiked down to the river to find a ton of gear fisherman, and no room for a back cast. He hiked downstream a bit and I found a nice area to wade that looked like it was pretty fishy. I could not work my fly out to where I thought fish might be because I had no room for a back cast, and my roll cast was not going so well. Probably because I had too much line out to do it properly.
I then packed up and hiked further downstream to my brother who talked me into walking further downstream to try and find a spot that opened up so we could actually cast. We found a spot and worked it for a couple of hours. It was deep, but the current was a bit swift so I'm not sure if any fish were actually lying there. I tried swinging, but it didn't seem like my fly was getting down to the fish, so I tried dead drifting it - and that seemed to work. We were both using sinking tip lines. We saw fish being caught by the gear guys, but we had no luck that day. All the gear guys we talked to were nice.
Even though we caught no fish that day, it was great to be out on the river and I learned a few good lessons.
Lessons learned: I need to lose weight if I'm going to hike that much. I really need to lose weight. I need to work on my cast, casting a sinking tip line is difficult. Wind knots are not fun, but I was able to slow down my stroke and not get so many tailing loops. I really really need to lose weight. Boot foot waders offer you no ankle support for hiking, I learned this lesson after I rolled my ankle a couple of times.
The 5th my brother and I scored a trip with his friend who owns a drift boat. He is a gear guy, so yes we did fish some gear though I was able to use my fly rod a few times. I caught a little 10 inch rainbow trout. We put in a little east of Gold Bar and drifted down to Sultan. Once again we got a late start because my brother likes to party, and I didn't get much sleep either due to the fireworks going off all night. We did get the boat in the water by about 5:30 - an hour and a half later than we wanted to. We had a few good hits, caught that 10 incher, but my brother caught a beautiful steelhead that day.
It was a native, so it was released. And yes I did bitch at him for taking the fish out of the water for the picture. I did tell him how to properly release it, and it vigorously swam off to hopefully spawn a few more beautiful natives.
All in all it was another great day on the river. I got to see some good spots to take my fly rod. I got to use my fly rod a few times too. I can't wait to get out there again.
tyd
