I just realized I haven’t posted anything in more than two weeks. My excuse is that I’ve been busy writing and duck hunting. That’s what I usually do in January. As you know, I live really close to the Salmon and it’s hatchery run of winter fish, but it was way too crowded for me when the fish were around. Besides, I’d rather hunt ducks than nymph fish any day. I did catch a nice, 8-pounder late in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve, and I got about a 10 pound buck, with a little color on its gill plates and lateral line, the other day. I caught them both swinging flies. Both days were pretty bright and cold, and the water was in great shape–a luminous green. The other day it was just under 40 degrees. I caught the New Year’s fish on a Type 6 tip and a Marabou version of a Winters Hope that Trey Combs had in his big steelhead book. I got the fish the other day on a geranium colored General Practitioner. I really like orangish-red flies when the water is green and not too cold. Now that the waterfowl season is coming to an end–and I am somewhat caught up on my writing for money–I plan to hit the rivers as much as possible. I’ll try to post my On-the-Water-Log every Thursday, like I did in summer and autumn.
By the way, I’ve heard pretty good reports from a number of rivers. A guy I know connected with three fish on the Sol Duc last week, and another got a nice fish, about 14 pounds, on the Bogachiel. Driving back from Forks the other day, I saw the first fly fisher I have seen in weeks on the Hoh. The river looked in good shape, the first time in a long time. But the upper Hoh Road was still blocked 8 miles east of Highway 101 the last I knew, preventing you from reaching the national park’s fly-only water. There have also been major changes on the Hoh and Queets, and some boat ramps may no longer be accessible. Nonetheless, this could be one of the better weeks out here this winter. Just be careful driving through Indian Valley and the upper Sol Duc if you are coming from PA and between Lake Quinault and the Queets if you are driving north from Hoquiam. The roads had some icy spots this morning.
The site’s email has been fixed. You can contact me that way or by phone now. All subscribers will be notified when the spring newsletter is available in March. I’ll be talking a lot about sea-runs in the salt in it and the feature fly will be my Keta Rose, the chum fry pattern I fish almost exclusively in spring.
Speaking of March, I will be one of the headliners, along with Phil Rowley, at the Olympic Peninsula Fly Fishing Exposition in Port Townsend on March 22. I will give two slide shows–one on steelhead fishing, the other on cutthroat–and I’ll have a table with information on my guiding and books. I have a lot of new slides and flies for the slide shows this year, including some beautiful Spey flies and pictures of Dick Wentworth and Syd Glasso that will be featured in my new book.
