Grandpa @ The Creek

The Creek is much more fishable after the flood.  Beaver dams are gone as far as we fished.

We set out to catch as many fish as Grandpa is years old.  The Creek was the place to make the attempt.  Grandpa caught a fish before I had even gotten my fly off my rod to get ready to cast.  We covered not a lot of water, but found oh, so many fish!

It took us nearly two hours, but we managed to meet the goal.  As you can see from the photos, a few nice ones in the mix along with more than a few "Chesters".

Sorry for the rotated photo

Grandpa tried "wet wading" in his jeans and while it was a lot cooler than waders, they also were a lot heavier when wet!

The Creek is Back!

I went to "The Creek" this afternoon.  Thunderstorms passed though our area last week with heavy localized rains and we were hoping that they were localized at the creek as well.  Garn and I went up to check it out.  As we went up the highway we saw evidence of flooding over the roadway and over the banks of the river channel along the way--encouraging.

As we got to the road crossing, it was evident that lots of water had passed there.  As we arrived and parked at the overlook to begin our descent to the creek it was evident that the grass on the sides of the creek had been pressed hard away by water, in some areas rolled back and away from the river channel like sod.   The river was still running high and somewhat murky, but the Renegade was the ticket.  I landed around 50 with the largest being 11" and Garn had between 20 and 30.  We fished from the big pool about halfway up to where the road crosses the river.

It was fun to even catch fish in the little pockets that had been inaccessible due to tall grass, bushes, trees and other obstructions.  While it is not scoured out, the grass has been rolled back and compressed by much of the water and it is much more accessible.  If you are up this way, it is definitely worth a visit.

Hollis' Birthday Present

I gave Hollis a float trip with his favorite father-in-law with Red's on the Yakima River tossing hoppers during high summer flows.  Only problem--a co-worker got called to jury duty and Hollis day off got cancelled.  What to do?  Michelle's response, "When the going gets tough, the tough go fishing!" so she came instead.  Our guide was Mike Canady of Red's.  Our first time fishing with him, but Dad & I will be with him for a week in Ascension Bay, Mexico next March so it was good to get to know him.

Great lunch on the river--thanks Mike!

We floated from Ringer to Milepost 10, a good 15 miles of river.  I'd landed two fish in the first four minutes of the float.  Fish most the day--way too many misses.  What do you expect? I'm a double visioned farmer.  We fished hoppers dry all day long.

In the last half hour we finished with four very nice fish, three of which are pictured with Michelle.  I didn't have her take a picture of mine because: #1 Mary says I have way too many pictures of me holding fish and #2 I think her biggest fish was bigger than mine, but didn't want to leave photographic proof.

Michellle--Happy Birthday Hollis!

Michelle again very happy for Hollis' birthday

Michelle with a pink hopper for her pink rod--this was the bug of the day!

A great day with Michelle and Mike.  Maybe Michelle will let Hollis go fishing if I give her a float trip for her birthday?

Did we mention that Michelle had a Happy Hollis Birthday?

Pasayten River

Went backpacking with the scouts this past week (56 miles--Brian 64 miles since he went back two days to help others into camp and carry their packs--he usually gets extra miles).  We entered dropping 3,000 feet in elevation into the West Fork of the Pasayten River.  Found small rainbows  (Renegade) at one of our stops while Brian and I waited for the other 8 in our group to catch up with us.  Beautiful stream with gentle gradient throughout almost its entire course.

West Fork Pasayten River

West Fork 

West Fork

Fording the Pasayten River after West, Middle, and East Forks converge

Small Pasayten River rainbow

Then at the end of day two after fording the Pasayten River (larger now) found some small rainbows on a small Humpy.  The next morning missed a nice cutthroat (red belly in spawning colors) that hit the Humpy but I had on very briefly, but knew he wouldn't hit again.  Changed to a bead headed pheasant tail and got him on the next cast. A solid 13" fish.  I hoped there were more in there!

Pasayten River cutthroat

Then proceeded to find this nice rainbow of 15".  There appear to be fish throughout the entire system.  It is a real grind to get into it, but was worth it.

Pasayten River rainbow

Hidden Lakes chain and Cougar Lake all held rainbows, brooks, and cutthroats.  We passed through quite quickly on our way out of the Pasayten River drainage.  One family at Big Hidden Lake lost about a 5-pound beast into a stump.  Big, healthy fish in this lake.

Had to cross Eightmile Pass and Lucky Pass on the way out--1,400 up then 1,200 down, then 1,000 up, then 800 down--so lots of elevation as well as distance. Maybe this is where I will hike the scouts next summer?

White Pass area, July/Aug 2013

A quick post summarizing a few quick casts while getting ready for and while at Girls Camp.  After hiking with Carlynn on July 20, stopped at a new part of the Tieton, about milepost 175.  Found some decent looking water, not a lot of fish or any size.  Elk hair caddis was the fly.  Lost the pic somehow.

 

After more hikes with Carlynn on July 27, stopped at Wildcat Creek and fished up from the Forest Service road crossing for the first time.  I think it gets more pressure here.  Also the stream is of a different nature, falling steeply through big rocks and pools.  Found a baker's dozen of little cuts in about 45 minutes.  Love the fish in this stream.  As always, elk hair or Goddard caddis is the fly of choice.  Then stopped for a bit on the Naches just before the town of Naches.  The wind was howling downstream, making any kind of fishing hard.  Found a few small ones on the psycho prince, nothing on a big stonefly nymph.  Dries were impossible due to the wind.

 

Wildcat Cutthroat

On the way to girls camp on August 7, I left early since I just had gear and stopped at another new stretch on the Tieton, between milepost 179 and 180.  Found some nice water and quite a few fish, maybe 18 or so, a couple of decent size.  Elk hair caddis or small stimulator chew toy were popular, a couple on the psycho prince.  Some of the best fishing I find on this river is along the steep rocky banks by the road.

Nice Tieton rainbow

Thursday afternoon during free time, I made a run up the SF Tieton for a couple hours of fishing where I had briefly visited with Mel a few weeks ago.  No fish in the hole at the bridge, found a lot of pretty water (fairly low gradient stream), but only found fish in a couple of the deeper holes.  This area was right by a popular horse camp, so I think it might get a lot of pressure.  Caught maybe 8 or 10, mostly in one hole.  They were healthy, fat cuts (look at the small head and large body), possibly because they get fished out leaving fewer fish with more food.  Anyway, in the one hole I had a large fish grab the nymph enough for a strong pull while I saw the flash in the clear water.  I'd estimate at least in the 15 inch range.  Oh, and I broke my rod while getting the fly out of a tree, about 4 eyes down, so I was fishing with a 6-ft stub.  Made a delicate presentation difficult, but still caught fish.  Some interest in elk hair caddis, but the most consistent and reliable interest was on purple psycho prince size 12.  All caught up on reports now!

Pretty SF Tieton cutt

Fat, healthy fish