Brian Boat Float--Yakima River

Brian and I took his first float trip ever with the guides from Red's Flyshop on the Yakima River.  We did an evening float July 3 followed by an early morning float July 4.  We started the evening with Craig tossing streamers and were not disappointed.  We tossed slightly upstream while drifting and slowly retrieved the fly to keep tension and keep it moving "head first" downstream.  Few things compare to actually feeling that tug on the line as the fish grab the streamer.

"Woah, that's a nice fish!"

We found quite a few nice rainbows this way.  Brian got the best fish of the day.   After that, I was the recipient of comments such as, "That's not even half the size of the one I caught earlier!" when I landed a "lesser" trout.  

We floated from milemarkear 20 to Roza and enjoyed seeing deer, bighorn sheep, young eagles in their nest, turkey buzzards, geese, ducks, mergansers--most of the waterfowl with young--and a turkey along the shoreline to round out our wildlife roundup.

"I like it!"

We switched up to big dry stonefly patterns as the evening drew on and had lots of fish up to the dry.  We fished until it was no longer possible to see the fly on the water, we got the boat to shore and got back to Red's Flyshop about 10:05 then headed to Ellensburg for our "nap" at the Super 8 motel.

Arising at 4:30am to meet our guide Eric at the flyshop, we began our float from Red's to Roza. We started again with big dry stonefly patterns and we found some nice fish sporadicaly as the morning light approached.  Once the sun hit the water we switched to a double nymph setup under a strike indicator.  Action really picked up once we made the shift to nymphs.

Today it was my turn to get the best fish.  However, the best part of the trip was spending time with my son.  Fishing is just a good excuse for doing so.

A well-fed Yakima River rainbow--19.5"

Emmett--a great nephew for a great-nephew

Emmett, the oldest son of my nephew Mark, asked me a few weeks ago if I would take him fishing.  Today was the day that worked with both our calendars so with the wind howling in Ellensburg our backup was to one of my "happy places"--The Creek!

The Creek is notorious for lots of overhanging brush, grass, and other assorted obstacles.  Not an easy place for a beginner, but Emmet was game to try.  As we arrived we donned our waders--Emmett's boots were about a size and a half too small, but we managed to wedge his feet into them and then hiked down into the canyon. The wind was moving down canyon which meant we'd be casting into the wind.

We decided that for ease of visibility Emmett would use a Dave's Hopper and I'd use the usual--a Renegade.  Casting was challenging because the wind was blowing right in our faces, making it quite difficult to lay out the leader for a good fly presentation and drift. Emmett found quite a few of the trees and shrubs that surround the creek--or better said, compose most of the riparian vegetation along the creek.  He also now knows how to say "wind knot".

Emmett with the wind knot wrap-around the rod move--he wasn't thrilled with this one

We fished several nice holes.  Emmett could see the fly--good. Emmett could see the fish eat his fly--better. Emmett could set the hook and then play and land the fish--not quite, at least not at first. Eventually he said he'd like to simply watch me for a few minutes and see what he could learn--I guess my verbal instruction wasn't quite like the great guides at Red's. And I didn't mind catching a few fish in the interest of the educating my great-nephew (or is it grand-nephew?)

When he finally connected and was able to hook and land one on his own, he gave it the customary kiss and thank-you before releasing it in keeping with family tradition.  He was feeling the rhythm and getting the fly where it needed to be.

Happy boy with the first fish on his own

He caught on pretty fast.  It must be hereditary. We were alternating fish except for the really tight quarters where rather than have him snag up in the grass or trees, I thought I'd show him how I snag up in the brush and trees. Near the end of our afternoon trip, there was a really small flat about three feet by three feet that was surrounded by grass with a stick across the river at the end where it dropped into the next rapid.  I helped Emmett position himself and told him to cast to the point where the water dropped into the hole and then be ready to pull the fly up to avoid the stick at the end.  First cast was right on target and just before the stick as he was starting to lift, the fish below hammered his hopper, he lifted perfectly and then fought him in the rapid below.  A great fish!

Happier boy with a bigger fish on his own.

Hopefully we will enjoy many more opportunities to spend time together on the stream in the future.

When the Wife's Away.....Go Fishing!

With Carlynn and Mel off in DC for a week and a half, I decided I could leave Sarah to fend for herself tonight while I made a quick, after-work visit to my old moving-water standby. I was a little concerned that a large flood that occurred this last winter may have scoured the stream and wiped out habitat. Not to worry, things were just fine.

Beautiful colors

Arrived about 6 pm and was in the water a few minutes later. Some minor changes in where the main flow is within the same established channel, but it is pretty much the same river. Had 44 fish in the first run, lots more were coming up to the indicator, but I stayed with the double psycho. Size 18 psycho got a lot of love fished with the heavier size 14 above. 

Love that little green fly!

A little late on the shutter

After breaking off both psychos from Thingamabobber damage to the leader. I switched to a size 8 or 10 stimulator chew toy with a psycho dropper. About the same action, about half and half dry vs dropper.

Plenty this size to keep things interesting

Finished with 125 fish in the 1/4 mile stretch. Stopped at 8:30 pm. There was still some light left, but I really, really had to pee, especially with the sound of tumbling water all around. Size range was smaller than the last couple years, maybe 20% to 25% of the fish in the 8 to 10-inch range, with the remainder in the 5 to 8 inch range. Lots of visual takes of the indicator. All in all, it is pretty great to have a place like this close enough to visit on a summer evening. With all my overtime and electrician work for Jessica, this actually make it feel like I have a life outside work.

Towards the end of a great evening

Learning to Long-arm

An elusive Saturday with no morning commitments led to an easy decision.  Time to go fishing!!!

Hannah and I made the 1.5 hour exodus to the pond to find ideal conditions.  Blue skies, light wind and Rob leaving the pond with a friend and his son.

After a quick debrief on what was working between vehicles on the dirt access road, Hannah and I were at the pond stringing up two 5 weights.  I saw a trout cruising the shallows and made a quick cast to connect with a nice 18" bow.  One cast.  One fish.  Not a bad start!

We made one pass with Hannah dragging a rust colored bugger on an intermediate clear camo line.  She immediately saw some action.

Hannah with her first fish of the day!

 She fought it valiantly all on her own and we successfully landed it.  A nice decent sized bow.  She wanted a picture, so we tried it on her own.

Not a bad hold.  The fish had seen some raceways judging by the appearance of the fins.

We continued trolling and action was a bit slow, so we tossed out a floating line with a heavily weighted olive and white Dalai Lama.  It was immediately crushed!  Hannah landed this smaller bow quite quickly and like a pro!

Fish #2.  A little better hold this time.

We continued on.  Hannah was having a great time and getting pretty good action.  She got another healthy little bow for #3.  This time, she was introduced to the fine art of long-arming!

Hiding the arms nicely!  Only the hand size is the giveaway!   Did I mention Hannah has HUUUUGE hands?  #DonaldTrump

We decided to make one last pass before making a run to Red's Fly Shop for me to pick up a few last minute items before my trip of a lifetime to Christmas Island (Kiritimati).  The last pass was successful as we got one nice bow (pictured below) and another one that was not pictured.

Long-arming a larger fish!  Great job, Hannah!

Hannah finished the day 5 for 5.  Not a lost fish!  That's better than the #MerrillBoys can usually say!  It's good when you're ending a fishing trip and your daughter asks "When can we go again?"  Proud dad moment!!

Anniversary!

I've been married to Mary today for 34 years.  My sweet wife sent me fishing with Brad, my son-in-law, this morning so we went to Leeds Creek since we are visiting St. George again and helping care for Mary's mom.

Wonderful combination of blue sky, red rock and green plants

The day was sunny and clear which made for vibrant colors up the beautiful canyon.  With careful examination, there were actually many flowers in bloom in this desert ecosystem.  The stream tumbles down from the slopes of Pine Valley Mountain and this was my second visit.  We elected to try a different stretch than last time and hope to get a better idea of which parts of the stream are best for access, scenery, and fish populations.

A closer look up the red rock found this cactus in bloom

I was casting first but ended up breaking off in the tree tops. This is a very brushy creek.  While I was tying on another Renegade, Brad stepped up and cast his Humpy up into the run and quickly hooked our first fish of the day.

Brad with the first fish of the day

A short distance upstream and Brad spotted what he thought was a tarantula crawling up a rock in the middle of the creek.  I got out my camera for a close up photo and as I approached was surprised to see a very wet bat that had somehow ended up in the stream and was crawling up and out of the stream onto the rock to dry off.  I don't know how effective a bat pattern would have been for the cutthroats, and I don't know if it would technically be considered a terrestrial since it does fly, but I didn't have a bat fly so didn't bother to try.  I just kept working the Renegade.

First swimming bat I've ever encountered

Trying to dry off

I finally found a fish not far upstream from the bat/swimmer.  There were a wide variety of flowers in bloom along the stream bank. What a beautiful day!

I finally found one!

Streamside beauty

We were fishing and finally came to a point when the road got close again to the creek and decided it would be a good stopping point. After one more fish, we hiked up the hillside back to the road and then down the road to where we had parked for the drive back home. From the road walking back we had views across the valley into Zion National Park. But now it is time to spend the afternoon with my sweetheart visiting a local gathering of artisans.

My final fish of the outing

Beautiful cutthroat

A multitude of blooms on the walk back to the car

View across into Zion National Park

Slightly different angle looking further north into Zion National Park

FRC wake up with Mark

Yesterday was my first visit to the FRC this year and it was with Mark, my nephew.  After the usual Rob "number whatever" breakfast at home, we made the drive to Ellensburg.  Water was flat calm with just a very light breeze.  No surface activity visible, but we were there to stalk them. It was about 10:30 when we got started on the water.

We quickly had a small one that grabbed the fly, tail-danced, then broke off--tippet too light or too old--leaving a limp line to reel in.  Several more grabs and brief runs--yes we were farming them, but we are in the farmlands after all--and then we finally got into a rhythm.  We had tried black buggers, purple buggers, fuschia buggers, smaller nymphs and didn't have much early interest.

A fat 21" rainbow--first fish to hand.  Great way to start the season!

As the day warmed up, the fish did too.  We found the most success with green or greenish buggers, weighted.  I used an intermediate line and Mark had a floating line.   I caught all rainbows, with two over 20" and a couple 18-19".  Mark had similar results, but also managed to bring in a couple of brown trout.  We spent two productive hours enjoying the sunshine, the fish, and the friendship--and then had to head back to Wenatchee to pick up kids from school.

Mark adds a nice brown to his tally for the day

I look forward to more visits to the FRC this spring to make up for my lack thereof last year.  My Dad's illness took a toll on our fishing trips there together, though as I started on the water with Mark it brought to my memory my last time there last spring--it was the last time I went fishing with my dad at the club.  Good memories!

Leeds Creek

A number of years ago  (September 2010) Rick fished Leeds Creek during a visit to St. George, Utah.  I'd been wanted to fish it for quite a while, but hadn't gotten around to it while visiting family in St. George, but I decided that I'd do it this trip.

Quail Creek in Red Cliff's area

I tried yesterday to go to what I thought was Leeds Creek, but the area was wall to wall people playing in the creek and hardly a place to park.  Not amenable to fishing, but I did hike a bit and enjoy the beautiful country.  It wasn't until I got back to home base in St. George that I took a closer look at the map and discovered I was one watershed away from the Leeds Creek drainage.  Tough to fish if you're in the wrong drainage I guess.

Leeds Creek, one watershed to the east

So today, I resolved to go to the proper drainage basin and see if I could find some fish!  Early on it was quite cool and in the canyon where I started there was no sun anywhere.  In the second hole I saw a fish dart as I moved forward so that was encouraging.  The water temp was around 40 degrees and leaves were just starting to break out on the trees surrounding the stream.

First small bonneville cutthroat

As it got brighter and the sunlight began to creep down the walls of the canyon and get closer and closer to the creek at the bottom, visibility improved and I started to catch fish.  I had tried four different fly combinations, but ultimately all the fish were caught on the Renegade.

Trout number two

As the day got brighter the fish were more active.  I think the cool water temps may have had them moving a bit slower.  I'd like to come back when water temps are a little warmer and see if they are more aggressive and there are perhaps some insects around that may have them keyed into more of a feeding rhythm.

Nice spot distribution-and the sunshine shows the coloration better

I spent a couple of hours and had sixteen fish to hand.  A half-hour drive had me back into town and I was at my mother-in-law's in time for lunch.  A nice way to spend the morning!

Stream looks lots better in the sunlight!

Interesting lack of spots around the lateral parr marks on this specimen