Diamond Fork with Ethan

So today is my off Friday, making this a 4-day weekend for me. I thought I would kick it off with a trip to the river with my favorite fishing buddy Ethan. We headed up to Diamond Fork around 9am. The time is important because as we were driving up Diamond Fork road, we passed at least 5 vehicles. This was making me a little nervous. All of my spots had cars in them. I kept driving to one of the spots Rob and I fished last month, just above the first campground. In fact it was the same spot Rob hooked into a couple of nice browns, so I knew fish were there. I tied on a brown stone fly with a psycho prince nymph. 2 casts in and landed this beauty.

It was Ethan's first fly fishing excursion and he loved it.  He asked when he gets his own fly rod.  It gave me goose bumps.

The Trip Home...

My route home from Metaline Falls was planned to maximize the number of streams we could visit, turning a 4-hour drive into a 12-hour adventure.  Mel was a trooper, indulging her dad's mania while serving as official photographer.  After all was said and done, I put eight new streams under my belt, bringing my uncertified total to 97 streams.  Here is the rundown for the day:

Silver Creek was a quick stop to pick up a geocache and a brookie.

Silver Creek brook trout

Fished Deep Creek at the highway crossing, but with the long cast laying across water and a small grassy mudflat, missed the only strike I had.  Beautiful meandering meadow stream, but private land.  So we moved on to Meadow Creek, which was a mismash of fallen timber.  In the first hole a cutt was found, but fell off on the way to hand, so we continued up a few holes until we found this nice brookie.

Meadow Creek brook trout

On to Mill Creek tributaries, first pulling a small rainbow out of the hole below the culvert at the road crossing on the Middle Fork Mill Creek.

Middle Fork Mill Creek

Next on to the South Fork Mill Creek, small and brushy in the publicly accessible areas, missed a small one in the first hole so we continued until I was able to entice this nice brookie to the fly.

South Fork Mill Creek

After recharging at McD's in Colville, it was on to the North Fork Chewelah Creek where I was surprised by a nice little brown.  This was a pretty little stream, but full of timber toothpicks and difficult to fish.

North Fork Chewelah Creek - brown trout

Crossing over the ridge to the nearby South Fork Chewelah Creek found a very small stream by the time we got to National Forest Land, but we were able to find a fish at the bridge crossings of the South Fork Chewelah and two tributaries, Wilson Cr and Six Mile Cr.  Good thing there were fish at the crossing, because these streams were so small they were virtually inaccessible once they entered the forest and brush.

South Fork Chewelah Creek

Wilson Creek

Six Mile Creek

It was time to turn for home, but since there were still a few hours of daylight left and we were north of Spokane, there was really only one possible route home - by way of Little Nunya!  Approaching from the north, I was again amazed by the sudden appearance of a trout stream in the midst of rolling expanses of wheat fields stretching from horizon to horizon.  We arrived shortly before sunset, and quickly made our way to the bridge hole.  This was psycho prince country now!  Melinda quickly was catching fish and learned and practiced the downstream mend.  After we had both brought a few from the bridge hole to hand (eight inch fish seemed like monsters after the fish I'd been catching earlier in the day), I told Melinda we had to move up to the little run above before leaving.  Only one strike in the lower section, but we could see fish actively feeding on the surface in the upper section.  Carefully moving up, she and I stood side by side taking turns, catching probably 15 or 18 fish between the two of us, all 9 to 12 inches.  Then as it got dark, the fish went to sleep and we turned for home.  No pictures here but those etched in my mind, fishing side by side with my daughter in one of my favorite places to visit.

Last Day in Metaline Falls

Today we toured a dam, a cave, caught fish in four new streams, and saw a black bear (that could have been the source of the sound of a large animal moving through the thick, dark forest at our first stop fishing before the dam tour).  The bear was in a clearing about 1/4 mile from where we had stopped to fish about 45 minutes previously.  No pic as when we turned off on the dirt road that went down into the clearing it raised its head, looked at us, then took off running.

Boundary Dam

Exiting Gardner Cave

Well, quick report.  PeeWee Creek lived up to its name both in size of water and size of fish, but had just enough water to find a couple cutts.

Peewee cutt from PeeWee Creek

Flume Creek was fished under the powerlines, which made it nice and open rather than brush covered.  Caught quite a few small brookies here.

Flume Creek brookie

Sweet Creek was pretty sweet.  Stopped at the rest area/park for the short trail to Sweet Creek Falls.  After hiking to the falls, I grabbed my rod and we went down to the creek right in the picnic area and promptly caught a nice rainbow.  A little later, Mel was fishing a hole right next to the trail and pulled out a nice cutthroat right in front of a couple people walking by.

Sweet Creek rainbow - rare on this trip

Cedar Creek was small and the road to the upper reaches on NF land was closed, so we returned to the bridge just outside Ione and caught a cutt and a few small brookies from the bridge (gotta love bridge fishing for a quick pickup of a new stream for the total).

Cedar Cr cutthroat

To end the day, we returned to Harvey Creek and fished a couple different places.  Walking back to the car I saw a nice hole in an area we had to bypass walking up the creek.  I told Mel just a sec, made a cast from the road, through the branches, into the hole about 10 feet below.  An immediate take and a quick pull and the poor thing was flopping on the road 20 feet behind me.  Mel picked him up and we restored him to his proper place.

Mel expressing concern for the bloody eye that I gave the poor fish

After dinner at the last light of day, we went looking for a geocache on top of the cliff just across the river from town.  Didn't find the cache, but got a great view of the town and the valley, a fitting farewell.

Metaline Falls from the top of Washington Rock

More from NE Washington

Another day and four more new streams to my tally.  After hiking to the top of Hall Mountain and some incredible 360-degree views, we explored the Slate Creek drainage a few miles to the north, the last major stream before you hit the border with Canada.



View East from Hall Mountain

I drove upstream until I came to Styx Creek, a small, brushy, ice-cold tributary of Slate Creek.  First hole, dabbed a small stimulator and watch a nice cutthroat about 8" long nonchalantly rise up from the bottom and suck in the fly.  It fell off the fly before I could get a photo, so I got my photographer and found another one further upstream.  It is said that trout living in the magical river Styx cannot be caught by the fly of any mortal fly-fisherman.  That must mean that I am a fly-fishing god!  I'm sure Tom would have no problem catching the fish here (and maybe Rob, too, but the cast-a-bubble might spook them).

Immortal fish of Styx Creek meets his match

Since I was right at Slate Creek, I wandered down the trail to the creek, climbed over numerous blowdowns until I found a hole I could fish.  Promptly caught a small cutt after missing a couple.  I also stopped further downstream after squeezing through brush to try and find a trout in Uncas Gulch Creek (unsuccessfully) and found a lot of willing cutts in Slate Creek where it was a little larger and a little easier to fish.

First Slate Creek cutt

Another Slate Creek cutt

The last tributary of Slate Creek was Slumber Creek, even smaller than Uncas Gulch, but I spooked a trout when I looked into the tiny stream from the road, so I knew there were fish in it.  Just getting to this stream was a challenge, and once there, getting a fly to the water was even more of a challenge.  After finding another hole and spooking another fish, I continued upstream and blind dropped my fly into a nice little hole, saw a shape dart towards where my fly would be, so I lifted up and had this very small and dark brookie.  Yes!  Off to a more fishable stream (I thought).

Slumber Creek brookie

Last stream of the day was the North Fork of Sullivan Creek.  Fished this just above the highway as it drops down the mountainside to join Sullivan Creek.  Did I say drops?  Looking upstream is like looking up the mountainside.  Add to the steepness criss-crossing blowdowns that make it practically impossible to work your way upstream and fill any hole there is with a tangle of logs and branches.  Despite the difficulties, I was able to coax a small cutt onto my fly after about 15 minutes, just before I was going to give up on the stream.  Then Mel and I headed across the highway to Sullivan Creek, where she broke the fly off in one and I caught a few more before dinner.

N Fork Sullivan Creek cutt

Flies of the day still the Renegade and Stimulator, although the caddis green psycho prince caught them in Sullivan Cr at the end of the day.  More new creeks in store for tomorrow, and maybe revisiting Harvey Creek to just spend some time fishing - Mel's choice of place.

Continuing the Quest for 100

We started the day driving to the end of the Sullivan Creek Road at 6828' at the Salmo Mtn Lookout.  What a view!  Then we worked our way down from there, seeking fish in the main creek and any tributaries we could find.  The top fly was the Renegade, which as Rob's posts remind us, is the go-to fly in the mountain streams, although I found quite a few on a smal stimulator also.  Nothing on various nymphs as a dropper.

Salmo Mountain Lookout

The first stop on the upper reaches of Sullivan Creek was great, a hop-across stream tumbling from one pool to the next, with fish in nearly every pool.  Melinda's face says it all.  This was her favorite stream of the day, and she became pretty adept at dabbing the fly in the little pools.

Sullivan Creek Cutthroat

Next tried to find Leona Creek; I had seen a photo of a fish in the creek on the internet, but didn't feel like bushwacking through the brush trying to find it from the end of the road.  So on to Gypsy Creek for lunch and fishing just long enough to pull one small cutt out next to the heavily used camping area.

Gypsy Creek

Next stop at Rainy Creek found a tiny stream that might have fish, but not in the couple holes I could reach without a full-fledged scramble through the brush.  So we instead fished some more in Sullivan Creek, larger now, where Mel was able to cast and catch some more.  Just a little downstream I found a small cutt in an even smaller stream, Stony Creek.

Stony Creek

From here, we left Sullivan Creek behind and made a final stop at Harvey Creek, a nice size stream falling quickly over large boulders with nice pools.  We both caught a good number of cutts in the short section we fished, and given time might revisit this stream (and possibly some tribs) later in the week.  This was really fun fishing and really pretty water.

Mel stalking the trout

Drifting the fly

Fighting the fish

"Releasing" the fish just before the shutter clicked

  

We stopped at Ione to get gas, found cell service there and had a quick call to Carlynn, then back to Metaline Falls for an evening of playing catch, then watching movies.  Four more streams, and another great day together with Mel.

The Quest for 100...

Mel and I are staying in Metaline Falls for four days to explore the far NE corner of the state; it also provides a great opportunity to pad my lead over Tom in my quest for catching trout in 100 streams in Washington.  I planned a route on the way to visit a number of streams and tributaries, and but reached only about a quarter of the ones I intended - combination of late start and good fishing.

First stop, Winchester Creek west of Usk.  Quick access with a steep climb down from the road at the highway bridge.  Quick catch of a monster brookie.





Just in case Tom tries to impose a size limit on acceptable trout for the quest, I found another brookie a little larger.  One down, on to the next.

After two looks at tributaries that were merely a trickle, we found a beautiful stretch of the North Fork Callispel Creek meandering through a meadow from broken beaver dam to broken beaver dam.  And quite a few willing fish.  Melinda got a chance to fish solo without Dad hanging over her shoulder too much, and finally got one to stay on her hook.  This was a really nice stream with lots of smallish fish.

Mel and a small brookie

On to the Little Pend Oreille River at the Little Pend Oreille Wildlife Area.  Larger stream, somewhat larger fish.  Had a few, finally got a picture of this beautiful cutt that fell off the dry and got caught on the dropper (I had other fish in the stream, Tom, in case you are thinking about adding a rule about fair-hooking the fish).  This could be a fun one to explore more if in the area.

Finally, stopped at a couple other brushy, small creeks on the refuge.  North Fork Bear Creek could have fish, but was very small and didn't yield up fish immediately.  Went a little downstream to Bear Creek and got about 50 times as many mosquito bites as I did fish (one).  No photo as my photographer was downstream.  Very brushy, coarse sandy bottom.  Hard to fish.

So, four more new streams today, looking for more tomorrow!

Mad Lake & Two Little Lakes with scouts

Spent four days in the backcountry with the scouts this week.  The upper Mad River valley was our destination.  Since I knew from four years ago that there were fish in the meadow about 6 miles into the first day's hike, I booked it with Brian and the other fast hikers to what I was sure would be a good "lunch spot".  We had lunch upon arrival and while Brian and Garrett took an after lunch nap, Chad & I stepped into the upper Mad River for some fun (though the water was limb-numbing!)

Though the fish were small I found myself drawn to the entire birthday/years of life theme that I'd experienced the previous week and before I knew it I succumbed to the intense desire to catch as many fish as years I've spent on earth in this mortal state.  I almost managed to do it entirely with cutthroats but near the end landed a small bull trout.  The first photo is from there and though the fish were small, their hearts were eager as they did their best to help me fulfill my goal for the day.  Renegade was the ticket.

We then spent two days at Mad Lake and found the fish there quite cooperative.  Brian had refreshed himself with his trailside, no make that across the trail nap, so he rigged his cast-a-bubble and fly and enjoyed those two days.  We had fish cooked on the fire with garlic powder, salt, pepper, dehydrated onion inside, lime juice and butter flavored PAM to keep it from sticking.  Wrap in foil and cook on the coals--delicious!

The last night was spent at Two Little Lakes (Lake Josephine & Lake Ann) that were beautiful lakes that had bigger cutthroats.  I caught the biggest backcountry fish I have seen and had another evening meal of fish with eager scouts jostling for their share.

We traveled 29 miles on foot and had a great time.  I love being scoutmaster!

Dover Delights

Went fishing today with Mike Dover.  He has every other Friday off.  Lucky me--I was here on the off Friday.  We went to a couple of his favorite spots, the Provo River below Jordanelle and Diamond Fork.  We each caught a fish but the angler to fish caught ratio was about 43:1 so we headed out for roomier climes.

Diamond Fork wasn't as active as when Heather and I went, but it was still producing.  We fished several different stretches so saw some new territory.  In one of them we caught the beast pictured below.  Notice how thick he is in the photo from the top.  Mike was ready to net him but then the fish took another run downstream and with 6x tippet, you go where the fish wants to go, so Mike dropped the net and down we went.

I had a delightful time with Mike, hence the title on the post today.  Done fishing in Utah for the season since we head for home tomorrow morning with Brian and Tory from EFY @ BYU.  It has been a fun week and it's been great to stay with the Dovers, see and have dinner with Bill & Kristy Winskowski see Heather and Simon, fish with Heather and Simon, fish with Mike.

Heather Happy Birthday to Rick!

Heather & I (and later Simon) celebrated Rick's birthday today.  Heather didn't get called in for work so after she drove down to Amy & Mike's, Heather and I fished Diamond Fork with stoneflies nymph on 5x with a dropper nymph on 6x under Thingamabobbers for a couple hours this afternoon.  Heather's first time using indicators so she did well with that.  Heather also learned to use a net in a stream and that big fish in fast water can break your fly off pretty easily!

While we had hoped to match yesterday's effort and catch more fish than years since birth for Rick, we came up 7 short in our valiant attempt today.  While numbers at Diamond Fork were Rob-8, Heather-3, I managed to pad my numbers with Simon in American Fork River this evening after he got off work for a little father/son-in-law bonding time.

However, Heather had the fish of the day and if we went by poundage, we far exceeded yesterday and probably even the weight of Michelle & Hollis' new baby Leroy.  I told Simon that we weren't going to find a fish like Heather's so she was certain to have the daily record.

Fishing with the Merrill Girls

Monday, July 30 
Jessica and Sarah and the first international flyfishing trip in the family.  A guest post from the next generation, I'll just post the link until I can figure out how to copy it to here. http://cupcakesaredelish.blogspot.jp/

A Heather Happy Birthday to Tom!

So today Tom turned the big 4-0 so Heather & I decided that since she didn't get called in to work today we should go fishing in his honor.  American Fork River was calling us and didn't disappoint.  To celebrate Tom's birthday we caught more fish than he is years old--a mixture of browns and rainbows.

We set up a hopper-dropper setup with a medium grasshopper trailing a green copper John, size 16 about 16" below the hopper.  Heather managed to fish without losing a single fly.  Quite an accomplishment given the overhead trees, overhanging brush, and feisty fish.  I, on the other hand, went through 11 green copper Johns and 6 hoppers that were sacrificed to the trees up well out of reach.  I did break some off on fish (Farmer!) and on one of them I watched my hopper slowly dive under the water and then swim away upstream into the depth of the hole.

A hearty Happy Birthday to you Tom!