Chewelah Creek

Michelle delivers her own baby on I-405 Tuesday night so we headed back to Seattle Wednesday after being there Monday-Tuesday.  Thursday drove to Chewelah for a scheduled visit to Heather.  Drove to Boise today (Friday) to get stuff from Mary's mom's house (moving out) that Mary's brother is bringing in a trailer to Boise and then to bring back to the girls.  Driving back to Chewelah Saturday with the furniture and other items, then home after church Sunday.

However, even with all that driving managed to find time to fish with Heather and Simon this morning before leaving Chewelah.  Spent about an hour fishing on Chewelah Creek near their home and managed to find two browns and two rainbows.

Heather & Simon with the first Brown

Both Heather and Simon decided to try swimming in waders on the way back to the van.  Discovered a quick way to get cold and wet even on a warm day.  Also discovered that just because a creek is ankle to shin deep most of the way doesn't mean there isn't a seven foot deep hole somewhere in it around a beaver dam!

Found some Rainbows too

Pretty creek and needs a lot more exploring which I hope to do next weekend with Rick & Tom to celebrate their birthdays.

I love being scoutmaster

A backpacking trip to Horseshoe Basin with the scouts because our primary destination is aflame.  No need to worry, there are fish there too!  We camped just above Louden Lake on the side of Mt. Armstrong.  Wildflowers were stunning.

Brian amidst the Heather

Spent second day trying to find the trail into our favorite lakes in B.C. but it had been devastated by a wildfire a few years back.  We did manage to find the sign that forbade entry into the U.S. but other than short bits of trail spent 5.9 miles bushwhacking and climbing through thick timber and brush.  We did finally find a trail above timberline, but it only took us to the cliffs overlooking the lakes on the far west side of the Mt. Armstrong massif.

So close and yet so far.

If I'd been with my brothers we'd have climbed down the cliffs but since I was responsible for 8 boys I decided that might not be a good idea.

Not to be deterred, I went to the streams dropping into Horseshoe Basin and managed to find eight cutthroats in the first few holes of one dropping fast into the basin.  Then found 11 more in the one meandering at the trail junction.  Then found three more on the return to the first creek.  All this while the boys cooked dinner.

Did I say that I love being a scoutmaster?

Doubles at Little Nunya

Well, with the imminent free time that will come after August 3, I figured it was time to rise up and make a post!

Decided that a trip to Nunya and Little Nunya was in order.  Matt West accompanied me on the trip.  He quickly learned why some refer to this place as Rattlesnake Creek.  About 1/2 mile in, Matt was walking through the grass and found himself straddling a rather sizable rattlesnake.  (In this area, 4-5 feet is a sizable snake!)  Needless to say he will be investing in rattlesnake chaps the the Ex Officio Easy Wash/Quick Dry underwear in the future!

We started the day with a #8 plus OJ for good luck and arrived at Nunya to find the parking lot empty!  (Hooray!)  Fishing was slow at first and the sunlight was very filtered due to all the smoke in the air from the fires.  It didn't reach normal daylight brightness until about 11 am.  The water was VERY low.  We fished hoppers and had steady action.  I, of course, managed to break off two sizeable fish in the 20's, but both Matt and I landed multiple fish over 17 inches.  It wasn't "hot" by any means, but was a typical Nunya day.

After grabbing some late lunch, we headed to Little Nunya.  Where Nunya provides the size, Little Nunya provides the volume!  We fished hopper-droppers (with the Caddis Green Psycho Prince Nymph in size 14 being the dropper.

It is always cool to get a double when you are fishing with a buddy.  After Matt and I had several doubles, I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands!

Time to start getting doubles when I fish solo.

Little Nunya besides putting out the numbers also put out some good size.  I fought a nice rainbow that took the hopper that probably ran 17"+.  Matt also hooked a trout that took line, ran down and broke him off.  I saw bigger fish there this time than before.

The flow into the bridge hole did change, making it tougher to fish from the bridge, but the bridge fish was still claimed!

It was a good day.  A little smoky.  A little windy.  But still a good day!

Fish on!

More skinny water...

Return trip from Tacoma with three girls on a Saturday. Drove up Meadow Creek, where I had found some little cuts in the past where it crosses the main road. Creek alternates between near the road and down in a canyon. At a spot near the road I found some nice looking water, crystal clear and really cold, nice holes and runs, reasonably open and easy to fish. Found two beautiful cuts in the first hole, nothing in the next few. Fished dry dropper, one on dry, one on dropper. The dry rose up from the bottom about two feet in front of me - watched the whole thing, pretty fun. Action was not fast enough to meet my requirements to stay longer, so back to the car and on to a family favorite on the way to dropping Tory and Rachel off at home. Sometimes I find cutthroats don't warm up until later in the day, so this might be worth one more return in the full sun of mid day.


Meadow Creek cut in the morning light

Stopped at a new stretch of our perennial favorite when travelling across the mountains, with reasonable parking and access at a FS road crossing. Found the stream relatively open compared to other areas we've fished. One or two in every hole, beautiful stream, beautiful fish. Pretty, but not peaceful, for those who know. The last fish was the "biggest" and came from a little run below a bigger hole. The fly hit the water, and I saw this guy flying downstream from the hole above, headed for my fly just as the fly disappeared from sight behind a boulder. I estimated the timing (if fly "A" is drifting downstream at a rate of 2 mph and fish "B" is swimming downstream at 8 mph, and they are currently 3 feet apart, how long will it be until fish "B" and fly "A" meet? - I knew Algebra would come in handy some day!). Well, I didn't do the formal calculation, but instinct was good and I blindly lifted up at the right time to hook him. The silly fish probably ran 20 feet downstream to catch the fly! Maybe that is why he was the biggest...After 45 minutes of pleasure, I headed back to the car to finish the trip home. Another successful trip across the mountains and back.

Waiting patiently to be unhooked

 

Fish sized to the stream

 

Doesn't get much prettier than this for the ultra-skinny water

 

The very hungry fish

 

Special guest on an Ellensburg area creek

Somewhere near Ellensburg....

 

A good start to the afternoon

 

I had to go to Tacoma to pick Melinda, Tory, and Rachel up from EFY. Left work and 12:40 and got into Carlynn's sister's house in Bonney Lake a little after 9 pm. The reason it took so long? About 3 1/2 hours of wonderful fishing. I met up with Patrick Gould, a fly-fisher from Ellensburg who follows our blog and made contact with me last year on the WFF board. We met at the parking area, made a quick introduction, then hit the water. After I hit several with my double nymphs in the first hole, he accepted my offer of a psycho prince for a dropper off his dry. We caught a good number of fish, not much in the pocket water, mostly in the bigger holes. A mix on the dry and the dropper. We walked into some new water for me. Patrick was much nicer to fish with than Tom - I had to encourage him to toss his dry on my side of the hole, as opposed to Tom, whose casts always seem to end up on my side if the water looks better there (OK, I probably reciprocate, but I tried to be polite with Patrick so he might be willing to go out with one of us again). After a couple hours, his leash (which was a little shorter than mine) drew tight and he had to leave. We realized we had neglected to get a picture with a fish for the blog, so I snapped this one before he left. Thanks for the great company, Patrick!

 

Patrick - a fine fishing companion!

After Patrick left, I gave up on the dry dropper after seeing many fish flashing and hitting the nymph. I also abandoned the pocket water, which had produced almost no fish despite its enticing looks, and just started walking up the creek to the next substantial hole. And it helped that soon after I left Patrick, the gradient leveled off a bit and there were a few more holes. In the last hour, I started pulling two to four out of every large hole, Including this nice rainbow. Bows and brookies were the norm, although some of the later bows had a little color in the throat and some cutthroat like spotting and could have been hybrids. 

 

Nice rainbow

 

A good run after Patrick left - he needs a longer leash!

 

Nice buck on the way back

A look up the valley walking out

Diamond Fork Was A Gem Today!

A beautiful day on Diamond Fork

What a difference a couple of days makes!  I think that the fish had been pounded by the long 4th of July weekend holiday--Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday--and were resting and recuperating when we were there Monday.  When I left this morning Livi decided she wanted to stay home and play and Ethan was still sleeping from being worn out by yesterday so it was simply me, myself, & I fishing today.

It only took until the first hole I cast into to determine that today would be different.  First fish cane out of the first hole and was a preview of coming attractions.   

First brown from first hole fished

I was fishing a size 4 or 6 (not sure which) golden stone pattern about 24" beneath a pinch-on float (again, thanks Mike) that was trailing a green Copper John that you can see resting near the anal fin on the photo below.  After landing several nice fish, all on the golden stone, I left the Copper John off when I hung up and it broke and did fine fishing with only the golden stone.

Another nice brown

The fish were holding in small pockets very near the edges where they could hide under debris or overhanging grass and I saw many of them come out and grab the fly.  Landed a couple dozen only one of which was under 11".  Most were in the 11-15" range. Missed a lot of fish including some nice ones.  Largest fish landed was 16" but unable to get a photo.  I had the camera and was holding the line to position the fish when he gave one hard thrash, broke the 4x tippet and was gone.  He was about 1.5" thick across the back.  A big fish that did take a pretty hard run when I first hooked him in a deep pocket behind a large boulder.  Ended up fishing a little more than a mile of water for a great last day of fishing.  Tomorrow I head to St. George to pack up Grandma's things into the van to take home and distribute.

A fine Diamond Fork specimen

American Fork Creek

Fished today at American Fork Creek where it breaks off toward Tibble Reservior.  There are about 2.6 miles of really nice water.  I fished a mile of it today with no sidekicks.  Broke off quite a few flies in the trees.  Very tight quarters and tough casting.

Lots of brown trout ranging from 6-14" with lots that I missed.  Unfortunately the water is super clear and if a fish comes up after the fly once, that's it.  You only get one chance.  All except one caught on a size 16 green Copper John about 18" under an indicator.  (Thanks Mike for the use of the indicators.  I bought you a replacement pack since a fair number of yours are now in the trees along American Fork Creek. Pretty convenient having Cabela's right on the way home!)

One of many browns today

I did manage to catch a half dozen rainbows ranging from 8-13" that were spread throughout the mile that I fished.  There seemed to be plenty of company on the river.  I had to get out of the river and walk upstream past two fishermen during my time fishing.  I could tell when I reached the stretch they'd fished, because the action pretty much stopped.

Beautiful stream.  I'm glad I was able to fish it again.

Ethan & Livi & Nebo, oh my!

Olivia, Ethan & I went fishing today while Brian and Tanner are at the Remix Vocal Camp in Provo.  About the time we stepped into the water of Diamond Fork both kids said, "Is it time for lunch yet? We're hungry."  So after fishing five holes with six different flies with nary a fish looking at them we decided to stop for lunch.

Is it time for lunch yet Uncle Rob?

 After lunch we headed to Nebo Creek where there was more success, though the fish were incredibly skittish in the clear water.  I spooked six fish before I had a single one rise to the fly.  Ethan is pictured with the first fish of the day.

Brown trout--"Is it smiling for the picture?"

Hold it so I can see it but easy on the squeeze please.

 The Irresistable was the fly of choice once again.  Even in the pocket water had to cast about 20-25' to avoid spooking the fish.  Once we got it dialed in caught 14-15 browns.

Livi with a nice brown.  (Her dad needs to teach her how to hold fish for photos.)

 In one of the last holes was surprised to watch a nice fish come up and eat the fly and when it came in it was a cutt rather than a brown.  I don't remember catching any cutts in this stream before, but it was nice to see one.  I like staying at Amy's!

Bonneville cutthroat?

Quick report from a post-Independence Day celebration with Tom. Fish from five bodies of water, two new streams for Tom, one new stream for Rick. Plenty of fish, but not quite like Rick's day two weeks ago.

 

Started on the Touchet and found enough fish to keep it interesting. Rick bested Tom at the fish-off-the-bridge contest, landing a reasonably nice Touchet trout from high above the water. Dropped in near the forks of the Touchet and caught fish in both the NF and SF; SF is quite small with a few deep holes, undercut banks, and small fish. NF is good sized and some nice fishing water and fish.

 

After getting food at drink at a food mart, it was on to the Tucannon, first trying a stretch a ways below the wildlife area. Water is clear, but still running above summer levels. A few small fish, but not many. Came to one deep, turbulent hole where we saw two very large fish; thought they might be bull trout, but checking online indicates that salmon start entering the river in early June, so probably more likely a couple salmon.

 

Left this stretch and headed to Big Four Lake, a fly-fishing only, man-made lake. Caught fish sporadically, mostly cookie-cutter planters about 12". They'd come up and flash at flies as soon as they hit, then not come back. Rick finally discovered an olive green bugger under an indicator was the ticket, cast out and let it sit. Eventually they'd pull it under. After many fish this way, we decided it was time for moving water, so we caught a few more in the Tucannon before leaving for home, with a stop at Ray's, of course. Tom ordered a large shake, to which Rick asked, "Do you know how big a large is?" (44 oz. of goodness). By the time Tom finished the shake, we were most of the way to Burbank and he had the AC off and windows rolled down to try and warm up a little. Another great day on the water!

 

Fighting from the bridge

Landed!

 

Tom and a SF Touchet trout

Nice little hole on SF Touchet