Doug Rose Flyfishing

Believe me, I haven’t forgotten about my blog. I have been on the water just about every day since I posted the Spring Newsletter. I also did a slide show on Olympic Peninsula steelhead for the Fidalgo Fly Fishers, a really great club,  and Ron Hirschi and I put on a saltwater cutthroat clinic at Waters West. On top of that, I had to write several articles. That’s why I haven’t written a blog for awhile. 

Speaking of clinics, I have some slots left in two  spring clinics:

ALL AROUND THE ISLANDS–APRIL 18 & 21, MAY 19

Spend the day with me fishing the saltwater cutthroat beaches around Indian and Marrowstone islands, near Port Townsend. During the course of the day, we will visit a number of different types of beaches at various tide phases. We will also fish a variety of fly styles, including chum fry and juvenile sand lance, and use a number of lines and presentations. Each date is a separate class and is limited to 6. $60. 

WEST END CUTTHROAT AND SUMMER-RUNS-MAY 23-24

This is an intensive weekend seminar on fishing sea-run cutthroat and summer steelhead on West End rivers. It is designed for mid-level fly fishers who want to polish their skills and learn more about coastal rivers. We will begin with a slide show and fly and tackle discussion, then spend the rest of our time on the Sol Duc, Quillayute and Hoh rivers. These rivers are open in May, and they will give participants a chance to refine their water reading, fly selection and presentation skills in advance of the regular June opener. Limited to 6. $250.

                          NOW ONTO STEELHEAD  

The West End rivers have been in pretty good shape most of the time, if not low, and some nice fish have been taken. But it has never really gotten hot or even consistent for fly fishers who swing flies. Indeed, I just guided two of the best and most experienced fly fishers I have had all year for three days. We fished all of my best spots on a number of rivers, and they didn’t get a fish.  Other veteran Spey fishermen and women have had similar experiences. A couple of times, the fish checker has told me that even the plunkers on the lower Hoh struck out. However, I know of a 40-incher taken on a swung fly on one of the Quillayute rivers recently. (more…)

Well, here’s the Spring Newsletter. We’re already into the second week of March, but there’s new snow on the ground in Forks. I am pretty much booked solid for steelhead through March, but have a few openings in early April. I won’t be guiding for steelhead after April 15, when I’ll switch over to saltwater cutthroat for the rest of the spring. The ”fishing” page of the website describes the type of saltwater cutthroat trips I offer.

                     Springtime Clinics and Classes 

Saltwater Cutthroat Clinic–Saturday, March 28. Join fisheries biologist Ron Hirschi and me for a morning of seining cutthroat beaches at Dungeness and Sequim bays, to examine the marine fish and invertebrates that cutthroat feed on in saltwater. After lunch, we will meet at Waters West Fly Fishing Outfitters in Port Angeles for a discussion of the creatures we have seen and fly tying demonstration of patterns that imitate them. We will also talk about tackle, lines and presentation. Cost–$60. Call Waters West 360-417-0937 to register or email me.  (more…)

It’s hard to imagine an angler living a more charmed life  than Van Gorman Egan.

Originally from Wisconsin, he fell under the thrall of trout and fly fishing early. As a young aldult, he obtained a copy of The Western Angler, Roderick Haig-Brown’s seminal book on West Coast angling. That inspired him to make a pilgrimage to Haig-Brown’s Vancouver Island home. Deciding to make the island his home, he eventually married a local woman, also an avid angler, and became a high school biology teacher at Campbell River. Until Haig-Brown’s untimely death in 1976, he and Van Egan were neighbors, good friends and fishing companions. (more…)

In my writing and clinics on saltwater cutthroat fishing, I have focused quite a bit on fishing chum fry patterns in spring. There was little literature on the subject when I discovered how avidly cutthroat pursue chum fly, and I was excited about sharing the information with fellow saltwater anglers. On a personal level, there are few things I like better than wading one of the Olympic Peninsula’s rain shadow beaches in March and April with a 5-weight and my chum fry imitation, the Keta Rose.

But my fascination with chum fry doesn’t mean that I ignore the major–and definitely more extensive over the course of the year–role that Puget Sound’s forage fish play in the lives of saltwater cutthroat.

In Puget Sound and along the Washington coast, the principal forage species, which are also commonly called baitfish, are herring, sand lance and surf smelt. (more…)

 “Keta Rose” by Doug Rose

 “Zostera” by Doug Rose

 “White Ghost Variation” by Jeffrey Delia. Tied by Joe Uhlman

 “White Ghost” by Jeffrey Delia

 “Fall Surprise” by George Binney

 “Delia’s Conehead Squid” by Jeffrey Delia

 “Chum Baby” by Bob Triggs

 “Candle Light” by George Binney

 “Andy’s Stavis Bay” by Andy Rogers.  Tied by Ron Hirschi

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I have been doing a lot of guiding, writing, new-book-related-activities and,  mostly, working on the Spring Newsletter. It’s almost done,  and all of you who are signed up should receive email notification that it’s up by the end of the week. In addition to the regular newsletter, I will have an essay on fishing forage fish patterns for cutthroat in saltwater and a book review of Van Egan’s new book, Shadows of the Western Angler. This issue will also inaugurate the Olympic Peninsula Fly Gallery. It will feature dressings created by local anglers for our waters. The spring page contains saltwater cutthroat patterns by Jeffrey Delia, George Binney, Bob Triggs, Ron Hirschi and me. New gallery pages will now be part of each edition of the newsletter.

I will be signing my new book, Fly-Fishing Guide to the Olympic Peninsula, at Waters West Fly Fishing Outfitters in Port Angeles on Saturday, March 7. I will be there from around noon until 4 or so. Dave and Curt will both be there, and I have asked a number of friends who contributed flies or photos or helped in other ways to participate, as well. It should be fun. There’s a link to the shop on this page if you need directions. 

It’s been raining the last two days, and the rivers are up significantly and the wrong color. I’ll write more about steelheading when they come down a bit. If you’re interested in my take on the killing of the 30 pound wild Hoh fish, I have a few things to say in the newsletter. I imagine you can pretty much guess what I think.

I will be guiding more or less every day beginning next week, so you can expect more regular, if brief, reports.