Fly Fishing For Lincod.

Fly fished for lingcod on Saturday and Sunday with my cousin Jeremy and friend James. Saturday the lings bit pretty well and we manged four lingcod from 20″ to 29″ .

My cousin ended up with the big fish of the weekend, a 29″ ling that fought really hard.

Sunday the fishing was not quite as good because of the weather change. However, we managed one nice ling of about 27″ after sticking it out and fishing hard for a few hours.

Anyway, we had a great weekend of ling fishing and it was nice being out on the water. I also got to test out some new flies and the lings seemed to like them.

Two weeks until the Florida Keys tarpon trip! Might go out fishing a week night or two after work until then but that’s probably it.

Tight Lines

 

Fly Fishing Washington’s Coast

My cousin Jeremy, my friend Erik and I headed out to the coast for a few days of fly fishing for bottom fish. The weather was absolutely amazing with the exception of it being windy most of the time making for tough fly fishing but with patience and good boat control we were able to get into some fish.

We caught several small lings of about 8 pounds, countless seabass of all sizes including a few pushing 6 or 7 pounds that we did not get a picture of. But the coolest thing for me on this trip besides the awesome weather and spending time with my friends was my first cabezon on the fly.

Another cool thing was being able to fish deeper water with my 12wt and a 550 grain rio coldwater striper line. The cabezon and lings pictured in this post all came from 65 to 75 feet of water. A slow retrieve and dark drab colored flies seemed to be the ticket with the exception of the sea bass liking a particular streamer with a lot of blue flash over white yak hair.

Although the ling cod that we caught were not big they put up a great fight typical of the species with strong quick runs and heavy sulking as they resisted the pull of my 12wt.

Erik even scored a bonus red irish lord who could not resist a huge yak hair streamer fished deep and slow for lings.

Did I mention it was nice out!

Anyway we had a great time catching a bunch of fish and sun. And as always the beauty of the northern coast of Washington is amazing which makes it that much harder to leave and go back home. Now I just have to find a way to make the time go by until my tarpon trip in June. Some more fishing should help to pass the time.

Tight Lines Everyone!

Eastern Washington Rainbows!

I headed east with my uncle, cousin and family friend friday after work in search of some relaxation and healthy trout. We ended up finding both. We chose to fish a lake that does not produce high numbers of small to medium size trout but modest numbers of large trout with the chance for a monster bow on the fly.

The weather was great with little to no wind and moderate temperatures in the afternoon. However, it was cold in the mornings, somewhere in the low to mid 20s.

The fish were pretty active with a surface water temp around 44 degrees. They were primarily eating dark brown leeches and chironomids. We caught the majority of our fish on brown leech patterns and a few fishing chironomids under an indicator. The fish that we caught were all really healthy and bright with the exception of one 20″ male that was in spawning colors. The average fish was 16″ to 20″ with a decent amount pushing the 22″ mark and a couple larger fish to hand.

We caught quite a few nice trout over the day and a half that we had to fish and I was only able to take so many pictures as we were often times spread out but the big fish of the trip was caught by my uncle. It was a hefty rainbow that taped out at 27″ long.

He was pretty excited which was awesome to see and I am pretty sure it is his largest trout caught in a lake to date.

It was a short trip but a lot of fun, filled with laughs, fish, nights in the camper tying the next days hot fly and time spent with family and friends. I can’t wait until next time.

Tight Lines Everyone!

 

Large Washington Sea Run Cutthroat Trout!

Spent the morning and early afternoon fly fishing with my cousin Jeremy and friend James on a gorgeous March day. We elected to fish the first push and middle of a large outgoing tide throwing various bait fish imitations. This turned out to be a good idea as we landed about 20 gorgeous sea run cutthroat trout between the three of us, with Jeremy and James doing most of the catching today while I took pictures and caught a few.

The fish averaged about 14″ to 17″ today with a few smaller and a couple pushing the 19″ mark. It was a fun day filled with above average size cutts on the prowl for an easy meal and we were more than willing to fool a few. As a bonus it was an absolutely amazing march day made even better by being able to fish with family and friends.

Well for now its back to the tying bench to whip up some more steelhead flies in preparation for next weeks trip. Wish me luck as I go chase some winter metal.

Tight Lines Everyone!

 

Cold Water Trout

My friend Alex and I decided for a change of pace from chasing sea run cutthroat trout in the salt and steelhead on the coast. So we loaded the aluminum boat into the truck and headed to a western washington lake this morning. The weather was a bit chilly but overall pretty nice.

We started the morning slowly working sculpin and leech patterns off of sink tips. We ended up having a few short strikes until Alex finally hooked into a fish. The rainbow hardly fought at all due to the extremely cold water, which I am sure was the reason for the overall slow fishing and the short strikes.

Overall the chilly water temps made for some really tough fishing but we did get a chance to see a fellow fly angler land a chunky 26″ rainbow, which was cool. However, that was the only other fish caught on the lake besides ours which was a bit discouraging. Despite the slow fishing it was nice to spend some time on a lake and have a chance to wet a line with Alex.

Hopefully my next outing which will most likely be in pursuit of steelhead will be a little more productive and I will have more of a report to post for you guys. Until then I will be tying flies and hoping that the recent rain has brought in a bunch of fresh chrome from the sea.

Tight Lines Everyone!

Winter Steelhead learning Curve

I headed out of town for a couple of days to meet up with a friend from work and do a bit of steelheading in spite of the lack luster reports lately. Saturday morning I met up with my buddy and we headed off to the river.

We decided to fish our spey rods today and we swung some fishy water and then we swung some more, and some more, and some more without so much as a grab all day. Pretty disappointing but it is still early February and the native run is still not in full gear. However, it was slower than normal talking to everyone else up there and had been for several days.

So after a disappointing day of fishing I swung by my friend Tom’s place to get the fishing report and see how he was doing. We got to talking and he confirmed the reports that fishing had been unusually slow. So since he knows that I want to buy a drift boat in the near future and have been eager to get some time on the sticks he offered to take me out in the morning and let me row his boat while he gave me some pointers.

So the next morning I met up with Tom and we headed to the river. Since he does not fly fish he grabbed a couple of gear rods to throw some plugs out while I got used to rowing the boat and maneuvering around obstacles. We launched the boat and headed down stream fishing here and there along the way.

About half way through the float my rod went down and we were into a nice fish. We pulled up on a gravel bar and got out to play the lively buck. He took several long runs and thrashed about on the surface several times until he tired enough to allow us to tail him. Although it was not a fly caught fish it was still a blast and it is always a treat to be able to catch such an amazing creature. We snapped a couple of quick pictures and then sent the 12 to 14 pound buck on his way.

Although the fishing was extremely slow I learned a lot as I do every trip. And getting a chance to log some time behind the oars on a drift boat was awesome. Hopefully I will be able to get my own boat sometime soon and continue to learn and catch more fish, especially on the fly.

Tight Lines Everyone!

Sea Runs With An Old Friend

I have to tell you that this was one of the best days I have spent on the water in a long time. Being on the water with an old friend that I have not seen in years on a gorgeous day in an awesome place was great. Despite the extremely cold weather we were able to fish the morning tide in relative comfort with the lack of wind.

I was stoked that my friend was able to get into a few fish and it was a pleasure watching him become a better caster and get in the zone fishing well as the morning went on.

I even managed a few fish, although I missed far more than I caught as they seemed to be biting pretty light possibly due to the unusually cold weather.

Tight lines everyone!

 

Searun Cutthroat Trout Report

Decided to go chase some searuns with my cousin Jeremy this morning. We ended up fishing a few beaches before finally finding one that was fairly productive. We ended up catching about 15 or so fish between the two of us. The average size of the cutthroat today was pretty impressive being about 15″ to 17″. We landed three that went around 18″ to 19″ as well. All of the fish caught were very thick and fat and in great shape which was good to see.

It turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous morning on the water. It was really nice to be able to spend it with my cousin who I have not got a chance to fish with in quite a while. Hopefully that will change this year.

Tight Lines Everyone!

Resident Coho on The 0wt!

Decided to brave the twenty degree temps this morning and take the boat out for an hour or so and try to find some resident silvers. The night before I made up a shooting line for my Sage 0wt in hopes of getting a little more fight out of the 12 to 16 inch coho that are around right now.

It turned out that the 0wt worked great. It was a bit of a challenge to cast in the wind but when hooked up the fish put a good bend in the rod for their size. I only ended up with four fish to the boat and a few short strikes but I did not fish very long so it was not a terrible outing.

It was good to be on the salt again especially on my home waters and a nice way to start off the 2013 fishing season. Happy New Years everyone!

Tight Lines!

Winter Steelhead Success!

Well I finally brought a few winter steelhead to hand this season. I fished for three and a half days and hooked 15 fish, 4 of which I landed. I had a couple of fish in the teens freight train me out of the run I was fishing and it was impossible to chase them so they won the fight. The first fish I landed was a gorgeous hatchery buck of about 8 or 9 pounds.

The second fish that I landed was a chrome bright 6 pound hen that managed to wriggle free while I was trying to get my camera out of my jacket. The third fish that I landed was a bright 8 pounder that put a good bend in my 9wt Sage.

My friend Erik and I floated a couple of days in his raft as well and he manged a gorgeous 6 pound hen. The fishing was a bit slow but we had some good laughs, took in some great scenery and learned some things.

The fourth fish that I landed was a strong 10 to 12 pound wild fish that was promptly released after I removed some drift fishing gear from its side that someone had snagged it with and broke off.

All in all it was a great trip filled with a few fish and friends including a new one that we floated with and I hope to fish with again. I definitely need to restock the fly box after this trip but I can’t wait to get back on the water especially after some large native chrome in the coming months.

Tight Lines Everyone!