Man its wet outside. I hope everyone is safe while the rivers crest and things simmer down after this crazy atmospheric river we have had. Here in Gig Harbor it has been very wet but otherwise fine. We hunkered down during it. The Yakima and the tribs got pretty angry topping out around 18 grand in cfs. Which is crazy big!
The winter offseason has been anything but. As always I am honest and up front in these bloggings on the webasphere. The stress of the current state of stuff is just kicking the shit out of small business right now. Across the board it has just kicked the shit out of us. Combined Kristen and I lost roughly $45,000 due to the state of the things. Its not just one thing to point to either. We also had a drought this year that sucked. I work in the outdoor travel industry, tourism, and its just been hit hard. Losing money sucks, and costs of things have only gone up on the day to day, so the last season was rough as we get to the midpoint of the offseason.
That being said, and all the doom and gloom aside. And let’s just not talk about the water levels last season; except I will say this…it was very dry last year, and nature swings really hard now. This is what that looks like. Moving on.
This offseason has opened up the opportunity to put some serious work into Searun Cutthroat Trout and Puget Sound, along with working towards the captains license. It’s a slow process for me. I have a healthy fear of large bodies of water and small fortunes wrapped into tiny boats. I am also overly cautious these days, I’ve had plenty of adrenaline thank you, I am here to make money and keep everything and everyone safe. Motor boats are just a whole different thing that I had zero experience with prior to this boat I have now. So this winter and my partner have helped push and drive the fishing and learning this winter.
The sound is amazing. After seeing the salt in Florida and never really enjoying it. Puget Sound is very different and much more my speed. Its slower on the sound, and quiet. I do not care for the city…like at all. Seattle is also loud. All cities are loud, but the west side metropolis area is condensed and loud. It is gorgeous though. I have seen a fare number of the large cities in the country and the West Side is very pretty. Organized a bit like Orlando Florida, but…still pretty skyline, Rainer makes a huge impact, the jagged edges of the sound dotted with houses up the ridiculous hillsides. It is a very unique and chill place. The waterways of the sound are less intimidating than Florida or even Michigan but they still are very foreign and unfamiliar to me.
As we get closer to Christmas I am switching gears to Steelhead. I haven’t guided them in a while but chasing them the past two years has slightly…I say slightly reignited that want to chase them. Clients have been asking for a while so we will see if it works out to be a regular thing. Living over on this side made it much easier to say yet to throwing some dates up for guide trips in the late winter before the spring season starts on the Yakima. I am already getting bored this winter and am ready for the season to start. Steelhead gets things rolling a bit earlier for me and alleviates some of the stress of 2025.
I do love the Olympic Peninsula, yes its wet, but damnit it quiet….no one is over there! Except for fishing. The epitome of out of the way is the real appeal of Forks and the OP in general. To be able to share that space with clients is something I have held off long enough. To be able to learn and cast; while maybe getting a grab in one of the most amazing spaces to swing a steelhead is something every angler should give a try. And to experience the OP in all its wet misty soft quiet awesomeness.
I have had the pleasure of interacting with OP steelhead on several occasions in my younger days. I am looking forward to being there with clients and helping hopefully facilitate that interaction with them. Steelheading, in my opinion is best experienced in a small group. It is better as a team sport, each encounter celebrated, each run equally distributed, flies, heads, tactics are discussed in between sets. Its a lot better than standing in the run in the suck by your lonesome freezing your tootsies off while it rains sideways or up.
The OP is a good time and a welcome respite from the dreary slow offseason. It scratches that fishing itch before the trout season comes along in mid to late March.
The move over here has been a nice change of pace. I am a bit of a homebody and hibernater in the winter months. The soggy windy days spent in the camper are broken up by days on the sound that open up a world of fishing that not many seem to be partaking in. The solitude of the sound has been surprising and very appreciated. The occasional ferry wake or fancier Yacht, maybe a fishing boat motors by, crabbers on the weekends, a sailboat or two, kayaker in the bay, its enjoyable and feels like the place is all mine.
Dates are up on on the website, Steelhead and Spring Trout. It is getting full already with no weekend left open except the first one in March. The water is crazy right now but that is good news for the spring with lots of new spaces for trout and new lines to find fish in. Hope everyone is safe during these high water events. Hope to see you riverside this season as things settle down.
Anglers, it has been a while since I posted last. I have been busy. I just finished trip number 34 since I started back in March. My partner and I are very fortunate to be this busy with everything that is going on right now. The world is crazy at the moment…again…but thankfully the riverside life for us has been rather ordinary. I will take ordinary. Its these damn unprecedented times I have had enough of.
I am just a trout guide. And a bummy one at that. I run a bare bones kind of operation. There is little flash or pizazz except for my rather awesome demeanor. I run my own shuttles, you bring your own lunch, I tie most of the flies we use and this season even some of the leaders. Shit is getting a little too expensive even for me.
But all that nonsense aside the fishing has been rather good. As far as springs go. Good size of fish, good numbers of fish. Decent hatches, good flows. Weather hasn’t been too bad. Id say a decent spring.
What kind of ushers out the spring is the Salmon Fly and Caddis Hatch. This season the salmon flies are starting a little early. The 75 degree days last week kind of got them moving around. We have seen a few flying and the fish are just now starting to think about them. They are smashing the nymphs and as the hatch progresses and probably peaks around the 7th of May, they are going to start horking down big orange dry flies. It only lasts about 2 weeks if we are lucky. The trout will literally fill up on them, hunker down to digest, and then they switch over to caddis. Usually right when the flows start to come up.
Now I have a full schedule for the Salmon Flies. I think I have May 2nd open and that is it until May 12th. Then we switch over to caddis.
Caddis is some of my favorite on the Yakima. This river is a Caddis river. It is why this place can sustain the population of trout and other fish that it does. Because there are 13 species of caddis down there and all of these fish eat caddis throughout their lives but especially when they are younger. The Lower Canyon of the Yakima River can and does have blizzard caddis hatches. So thick you cannot see the other side of the river bank. A carpet of them on the surface of the river. And big ass trout snorking them into the evening hours.
Its the first time of the season where I will fish until dark and then fish for 30 more minutes. The largest trout in the river, after finally digesting all those salmon flies, and water temps starting to tick up, making them have to eat more…those big trout will wait until dusk, and then gorge themselves on all the caddis. Puking them up, and eating more. Its gross, and its really fun to fish. Nothing like size 12 and 14 dries, slightly skated in the evening and huge fish rolling and smashing them tight to the bank. Its what the lower canyon fishing is all about. Dry flies until dark:30. Awww ya….the slurps. Holy fuck some of the slurps we get during these two hatches anglers. Its awesome.
I have dates open for this caddis bonanza and weather and flows moving forward look exceptional for fishing. I for one am very excited. I thank all of the anglers who have come out this season already. A lot of new faces this year. As always I appreciate my regulars so much and am looking forward to this season. All the new followers, the website traffic, and the trips. Truly means a lot. Entering my 11 Full Time Season of guiding this year has been all I could ask for. Thank you everyone…now…
Damn…Anglers, I won’t lie. It is hard to focus right now. The world is loud, unpredictable, and the last several weeks have been soaked up by so much of what is happening in the world right now. Damn.
I just got back from a 2 week haul down to Florida and back. Kristen and I picked up our camper and our new puppy. It was a long trip. We had just finished steelheading for 2 weeks when we left. So on top of everything else its been non stop moving and doing stuff the past 4 weeks. The season is here. Its creeping in for me. I haven’t fished yet. Lots of prep work to be done and the boat needs to be patched before I can float it. I also had cancellations this upcoming weekend so it puts a slow down on getting ready. The weather is good. So are the flows. Bugs are starting, fish are moving, the spring is here. Its a bit somber. There is a lot of uneasiness hanging around. A lot of us are worried because the bookings are light, cancellations loom, people’s attention is occupied. For good reason. But to say that things are not funky would be a lie. Its funky.
The river still flows. The trout are unaware, and its less noisy riverside. We have good snow pack this year, the weather is looking favorable for spring fishing…less wind than last year. After travelling and being in and out through most of last year it is a reprieve to be home starting a new season. No matter what happens off river, I am home and get to fish…and that counts for something.
No matter where you sit on things right now…doesn’t really matter. What is happening right now if being felt every where. I just drove through most of the country and travelled even more of it in the past year. No where is not feeling it. Just being in a grocery store and listening to people in Florida, Texas, Idaho, New Mexico, Oregon, it didn’t matter. Every where a TV was news was on in some form. If you can call it that these days. From gas prices, to eggs, to talking with my friends losing their jobs. It ain’t great anywhere. That sucks, and collectively we are all in it no matter what side of things. I expect things to get harder in my industry. I work in a luxury service that hinges on things like cheap travel, food, imported goods, strong economy, people feeling safe to spend money, things like that. A general good mood is required for people to want to go fishing and pay for it. I can’t blame or get mad or frustrated by any of it. That sense of dread from covid and the sheer lack of work and income is scratching. Not much else to do but wait and see…and go fish.
I am excited to fish this spring. Its a little subdued, this off season has been a trip. My mother going through cancer treatment and coming out the other side positively. Going back to guide life and living out of our camper. My eldest daughter getting ready to become an adult this summer and be around more. Travelling, working, trying to keep things going. I am ready to dig deep into fishing and let it rule over my brain for a while. With a dash of hopelessness, dread, and a sliver of maybe things will be okay I move forward. Chasing fish is about the only thing I am good at anymore these days. If the world is going to be loud I will go where its quiet for a while. Better place to think anyway.
I hope to see you riverside this season. While you are fishing on your own or if you happen to book a trip with me. We all could use a little time away from it all…in the pursuit of a simple trout on the end of a fly.
What a time to be alive another unprecedented time for my old millennial ass. I don’t care where you sit on issues or the state of America but things are exhausting and it holds no weight on this post or fishing. The feeling I have is reminiscent of covid. I have been in business for 11 seasons and this shit effects work on lots of levels. From price increases on gear and goods, to fuel, to taxes, the business side has had a lot of struggles post covid. It has been a constant stress. Business aside, the world is loud right now, and demanding attention like a small toddler. I can’t move through any space without it blasting me in the ears and eyes. Which I know is on purpose and a sick game I am tired of playing. The phone is in airplane mode a lot more lately. Sometimes for most of the day.
This isn’t the first time our brains have been wrapped up in things. Making everyday life seem like a slog. It’s hard to even think about unplugging. I tried my best while steelheading the past 2 weeks. A lot of airplane mode, a lot of actively trying to not think about anything but the fishing, people, and places I was in. But I was still checking in, reading up, and of course talking about it in various ways with everyone around. Everything seems to be on everyone’s mind in some way or another. Its noisy. Even on the water.
Its hard. And all I want to do is go fishing. But I also have to eek out a living. Sometimes the whole make a living thing takes its toll. With the current state of things the last thing people are thinking about is fishing, leisure activities, or spending money. I mean I know eggs are 8 bucks still. And I drive for a living and gas kicks guiding in the teeth. Trust me, all the money saved from the last season went really quick when you got to eat and it costs 3 times as much. There is a reason I don’t offer lunches on trips anymore. The heart of guiding is facilitating a stress free, fun, informative, and enriching experience. It doesn’t need the pomp and floof, the wine and dining; at least in my opinion. It only requires rich interactions with wildlife, nature, and the people sharing them. Something all of us need from time to time. A guide isn’t necessary but a good one will make your experience exactly what you need. As a guide the off river side of the gig can make the on river side hard to perform in if you catch my drift. All the things everyday folks feel and stress about so to do trout bums. Its still a career, a job, what every you want to call it and those things can have impact on work performance. I am fortunate in my career, at least I think so, and I want to do the best job I am capable of, so I do think about those things and how it impacts my work.
It gets harder and harder to just enjoy things when your mind can’t unplug. As a guide a skill I honed early on was helping facilitate that unplug. One of the reasons I am so loud, so boisterous, and so willing to share information and teach is because its a quick and efficient way to get people out of their head and into the fishing. And it doesn’t have to be fishing its just what I do for others. Myself I play video games to unplug, even from fishing. Some people rock climb, ski, hunt, build legos, knit, what have you. I got really good at helping people find that space for themselves through fishing.
Also its fun. We could all use a little fun right now. That’s all we are doing in my boat, is playing outside. At the end of the day just having a few hours of enjoyment, with less cares, something for your brain and body to chew on, and having fun is something we all need to seek out and hold on to.
I know its rough out there for a lot of us. Myself included. Only days away from my season starting and coming out of the offseason I am eager but also apprehensive to start. A lot of things are up in the air and there is a plethora of things happening. All of it has some impact. I tell myself, as I have said for seasons, the fish don’t care about anything other than fishy things. The money, the politics, the people fishing for them, no cares, just existence. A trout gives zero fucks. The more trout like I can be the better I feel. At the end of the day…at least we can go fishing.
I haven’t been on the Olympic Peninsula since 2020. A common theme with the OP and my fishing excursions over the past 20 years. I spent a lot of time bumming around in my early 20s. Caught some amazing fish, learned a lot, and then just kind of lost the bug. You get “Your” lifetime fish and some anglers chase more and some kinda go…okay what’s next. I was the latter. A long time ago now. The year my eldest daughter was born. So…2008, she was born September 2007, and on Feb 20th 2008 I landed my big steelhead. I have a picture of it somewhere. I had a clunky old digital camera that had a timer. Set it up after tailing the fish and snapped a photo. I didn’t even print the photo for another season. Had it framed for a while. Its probably in a box in a storage unit in Idaho. Seems like an age ago. Kind of was.
After that I didn’t steelhead on the OP again until 2010 when I worked for one of the fly shops and got invited. I would chase steel on the Met and Wenatchee, they were close to where I lived. They closed down a few years later and I stopped steelheading altogether. From 2012 to 2018 I didn’t even really think about them. I was in my trout time. I was learning and guiding by 2015 so I didn’t have time. In 2018 I hit the OP again after trying the Grande Ronde and Snake in Idaho and wanted something I was familiar with. Friends and I started venturing out and I encountered a few here and there but rare. 2020 I put serious effort into several trips, landed 3 so was happy. Then Covid, work, and here I am again in 2025 giving it another go in February.
For the next 12 days we chase steel. We reconned areas today. The rain and snows are here. Maybe a bump in flows, a high tide, and they should come through. The water is so low. 1000cfs. We have the boat but we are gonna hit it on foot for now. Patience they don’t have a lot of space right now.
The OP is gorgeous. It is this murky, damp, foggy, charmful place. It reminds me of Upper Peninsula Michigan in so many ways. We walked the the mouth of the Hoh today. Touched the Pacific. In a few weeks we will touch the Atlantic as we grab our house from Florida and head back to Washington for our season starting. Steelheading is our vacation before our very busy season.
I could live out here. Its warm in the winter compared to the other side. There is saltwater with sea run trout and steelhead and spey casting. I like the quiet of it all out here. Cle Elum is getting busy and loud. I miss the woods.
The OP has a special place in most PNW anglers hearts. These short little coastal rivers are true hallowed grounds in the angling world. These fish that run here are special and unlike any others I have every encountered. Truly special. Kristen has never met one, so there is some drive for her to meet one. I am hopeful, things are favorable as the week progresses. And I wouldn’t mind meeting one myself. I am a much different angler these days, wiser, more appreciative, less intense, and I am also indifferent to seeing one. One less encounter with a human means more chance at survival for the fish at the end of the day. And I have met these fish before.
But to be here for a first encounter with Kristen is something I am looking forward to. The OP in February seems like a proper place for a couple of trout bums to be.
I’ve been chasing trout for a while. I feel I’m pretty good and knowledgeable on the subject. I’m also constantly learning. And you never know everything, but you can know a lot. My skillset when it comes to trout is pretty adept now. Which makes learning new places and figuring things out a quicker process. It’s still a process. How many of my clients have spent more than a few trips learning how to fish. I myself took months to even catch a fish on a fly rod. I’ve met so many people that have encountered fish on their first try and many that haven’t. We all go through this process of angler development.
Angler development has stages and it changes. The simple version of it is, you learn the basics, stumble and fumble for a bit, start catching fish, start figuring it out, start losing a lot of fish, get better at not losing fish, then you might like big fish, or a specific kind of fishing like dries or euro, or maybe you like creeks and small rods, or maybe you are a two handed steel chaser, or just like plopping poppers for bass. We develop into anglers and change as we continue to fish.
Learning new places helps anglers really figure out what they like. It also makes you a better angler. And travel is good for you. I myself after 20 years am still developing. Fly fishing, and I have had a lot of time to settle. Changing it up helps with getting stale. I went to Florida and wasn’t impressed with saltwater fishing. But for some anglers, it’s their MF jam dude, and that’s rad. I’m all for passionate anglers. I love trout fishing in the west. Coming east, of course, has shown me how unique Western fishing is. There is nothing like what we have in Montana, Idaho, B.C., the OP, the Oregon coast, or the heavy fast water of Colorado, and all the stuff in between. Those rivers are special in that there aren’t any like them expect there.
Michigan trout fishing from my perspective is wittled down to three big rivers, and a few smaller creeks, lakes, and the big areas where the lakes and rivers meet. For comparison to western stuff, it’s like the state has three Rock Creek Montana sized rivers that cut through the state flowing south and then east and west into the big lakes. Which catch all the water. Everything flows into the big lakes.
The Pere Marquette, the Ausable, and the Manistee River are the big three. They each have branches or forks, or tribs, depending on where you’re from. They call them branches out here. There are some smaller streams or creeks. Teanaway, East fork of the Root, upper Blackfoot size, and a few creeks that resemble Flint Creek MT, or Black Tail Ponds WY. Less than 300 cfs. These rivers are the Pigeon, Black, Rifle, Sturgeon, and so many others. They make up the majority of the 29 rivers that call Michigan home. There are more in the Upper Peninsula, which is a 7 hr plus drive. It’s kinda like driving from Missoula MT to the OP in Washington. We explore those later.
Max cfs for fishing out here is less than 1800 on the big rivers. They kinda blow out after that. Big rainstorms will do that here, just like MT. These are small meandering rivers like the smaller spring creeks of Idaho and Montana. They have fish, not as many as Western anglers are used to, and there is a robust stocking program for all these watersheds. Blue ribbon means good access, good fishing opportunities out here. Large fish are throughout the rivers accordingly in structure, deep water, like browns do. Hanging out being lazy on the bottom a lot of the time. Hiding in structure like shelves, grass beds, logs, the few rocks, and all of the underwater sand dunes. These fish will slide up and around the sandy bottom like Sandworms from Dune looks to smash food.
It’s a low light game in the summer. Just like out west, but it’s more like that 2 hrs window of caddis fishing as it gets dark. The fishing during the day is slower than I anticipated. After over a dozen days on 2 different rivers and a few smaller creeks, the activity is low during the day. Like dead silent most of the time. Fish that do eat are small. The larger ones eat at night, they’ll move for a streamer, but it’s pretty uncommitted so far.
The rivers are easy to wade, but soft bottom and sand are taking me a little, getting used to. I recommend boots, not chacos. The rivers have current and lots of fun places to punch streamers and dries in. It’s all structure, bank, and shelf fishing. Tail outs, recess water, subtle riffles, multiple seams of cross current, its all there, its all trouty anglers. Different but trouty. There are bugs, but nothing that rivals anything out west yet. The Hex have started, and I’ve been able to observe fish eating them in the 45 minutes of the hatch from about 9:30 10pm to about 11pm. Night fishing is an interesting game, and also one that isn’t consistent. They may eat hard one night and then not at all the next, which I have also observed.
I am going to snorkel these waters. They are clear, tannin but clear. The best way to understand how fish be fish is to just go look. My years and my experience, as well as my little bit of time on these Michigan rivers, tell me that fish hold in deep and tight and move in the mornings and evenings. Browns are naturally more nocturnal. They are set in that all too familiar early am late pm cycle. Which is a summer thing. The spring and fall are different, of course. Population is something else. There isn’t a lot of room on these rivers compared to places out west. Are there 1000 fish per mile in sections, absolutely. I’ve seen pods of 30 plus large trout feeding on midges on the Ausable, and I’ve heard and seen pods of 5 to 15 feeding in various places. They are there. I want to know how they compare to Western trout. How do they move about these strange rivers, the sand and grass beds, how do they use them, the deep water and structure, how do they pod up, how territorial or friendly are they, do they react more to light, or movement, are they sensitive to boat traffic and people.
All of these things have now spiked my curiosity to learn more about these places so that I can better understand and appreciate them. I don’t particularly care if I catch fish most days. And when I do, it’s usually just for one. But I do want to understand how a river system works, and these rivers are oranges to apples from what I understand. The fish are the same. But their environment is not.
Michigan is a fucking deciduous jungle. Currently, it’s 80 degrees and probably 60 plus humidity. I love the humidity anglers. It’s so nice. It’s like Florida was in November. Just pleasant. Made the beard get shorter, but man, the weather is nice. Also it’s cloudy like all the time here. Not Seattle gross clouds in November, but just normal awesome fishing cloud cover. The wind here ain’t near as bad. And even when it is, there are so many damn trees they soak up almost all of it. Even on the lakes wind ain’t been like the Yak or other western rivers.
Camping here is wonderful. With lots of room. You can float to campgrounds and have shuttles run for multiple day floats. Lots of canoe and kayak access, plenty of raft and drift boat, and skiff access. Most people use the same boats as out west. A lot of old Hyde driftboats, a few adipose, lots of stealthcrafts. I even met another Hog Island skiff owner on the lake near where I live. There are tubers and kayakers all over. Doesn’t bother fishing too much. It’s got a similar feel to the summer as out west. The birds are way cooler out here. I’ll say that. It’s what makes it like a jungle. On any given day, there are 10 to 25 birds making noise.
Also, there are fucking fireflies every night! No one told me how freaking rad those little light up butt Beatles are. They are like little blue and chartreuse sparkly LED lights from 10 to 1am. So awesome to watch them. The other night, Kristen and I watched them blink and twinkle along the riverside of the Manistee in the thousands while fish ate Hex, caddis, and Spinner Fall. It’s not always about fishing. Sometimes, it is just about appreciating the space and the opportunity to explore and witness it.
Being so attached to the Western rivers, this place can make one feel out of sorts as an angler. A new phase of my development as an angler. I’ve needed a good challenge, and it’s part of what I was seeking out making this move. More to explore here in regards to trout. The opportunities for other species are more vast than the trout fishing here in Michigan.
Lakes upon lakes and several big short rivers that hold bass, musky, pike, gar, and carp. I have only ticked the surface of that kind of fishing here. It’s much more straightforward, in my opinion, than trout fishing. Especially bass, but pike eat, that’s what they do. Musky are a challenge, but they are more abundant here than places I’ve chased and caught them before. The salmon and lake run rainbows they have here are of little interest to me personally and professionally. As I felt out west with steelhead, it ain’t for me. I’ve caught my chrome. It was fun. I’m good. I’d rather chase something warmer in the winter months. Just not Florida.
The start of my summer has been interesting. It’s strange not working and being on river rhythm each day. Things change this next week. My son will be here, and we will be exploring this place together. Something I’m looking forward to. Taking time off of work was a necessity for many reasons. My body is a little wore out after 10 years. Many know my knee was funky two seasons ago, no more jumping outta the boat for me. I’ve been fishing less because my right elbow needs a huge break from rowing but also fishing. I wear a brace when I do row and fish now.
Most importantly. I wanted to take the opportunity to spend time with my kids this summer and the next few as they get ready to become young adults themselves. My oldest kids are almost 17 and 15. The youngest is 10 now. They are easier to see living here in Michigan. Flying them is much more affordable here, especially as they get older. They are getting to point where they also want to explore and discover. I want time to be there with them through that.
I have a partner who is building something out here and needs support. Her business is taking off and requires more hands and eyes, and we work very well together professionally. New opportunities that allow me to continue working in fly fishing without the wear and tear on my body are here. New ways of teaching and learning, new people to bring into fly fishing, and for once I get to be less of a boss and more of an employee, running a business for 10 years is some shit. Especially in recent years. The ability to let the Yakima take care of itself and my clients being the most awesome and supportive booking trips the way you all have is a freaking huge weight off my workload. It is because of all of you I am able to expand.
Lastly, and I guess selfishly, but also just because I need a break. I wanted time off. Guiding takes it’s toll and I’m in this for the long haul. I needed time for myself. I have other things that have come into life that I want to give my attention to. I’m almost 40 and have to start thinking about what’s next and what my career looks like, where I want to be, and what I want to be guiding. It’s a little scary, but it’s what I need, so I don’t burn out. I never set out to only guide one river or one place. This time off was to give myself the break to search that out. I can’t guide like I’m 28 anymore, nor do I want to. I have developed into a different guide and want more and different just as we all do as anglers. I want different experiences in new places. Adventure is the journey of figuring that out and what is discovered along the way. I can’t accomplish that for myself if I’m on the river for others every day. I wanted some time for that. Needed it. This world isn’t always easy. Especially when you chase your passion and try to make a living doing your own thing. It’s a choice I am happy I made. Things have settled a bit here in Michigan. I’m ready to start sharing some of these spaces with anglers and clients into July amd August. The opportunities are vast and diverse here. I’m only just getting into it, and it’s always a good time to explore and experience it with others. I hope to see some familiar faces out east, and meet new and excited anglers here.
I have been an angler for 20 years now. Started at 18 and haven’t stopped. Fishing has been a determining factor of who I am for my adult life. I turned my passion for fishing, teaching, exploring, wildlife, the outdoors, and guiding into a business. It has been a good business that has given me opportunities my 18 year old self would have never dreamed of having. The past 20 years I have spent a good number of those days fishing. It grew exponentially as I hit my mid 20s. Then it plateaued. I became a guide.
Guiding meant I fished less for myself and helped others fish. I spent the past 10 years doing that. I still would fish. But it was much less than before I was a guide. The busier I got, the less time I fished on my own. I loved it. But burnout is a real thing and I have wanted to fish more and more for myself in the past few seasons. I started taking more trips for myself the past few summers. Hitting rivers I fished when I was younger, and finding new favorite ones. I shared rivers with friends, fellow guides, former clients, and anglers. I met my partner riverside and have travelled and fished all over the country the past few seasons. I moved to Michigan on a new adventure and to seek out new water and opportunities. I will be taking most of the summer off to just fish for myself.
Of course there is an underlying reason for the time off and fishing for myself. In my experience, the best way to learn a new area is to fish it. My lifestyle affords me the ability to be a trout bum and do just that. I get to enjoy fishing for a while. Find what inspires me, what fish species drive me to chase them, where will I find encounters with fish and nature, what areas will make me want to keep them to myself, and which ones will make me want to share? These are things I spent my 20’s answering, exploring all over the western trout fisheries. From Alaska to Colorado, and everything in between that struck my fancy and that I could get to. I found amazing fish, met wonderful people, and got to experience fishing in a way I didn’t know was possible.
Before social media mind you, I am that old now. This was back when digital cameras were a brick and we are all about megapixels. A lot of these adventures were captured on actual film or not at all except in memory. I didn’t have a decent camera the first time I hooked a bulltrout in Canada, there is a tattered picture of a greenback trout from Colorado somewhere, and on a sim card in a storage unit in a box, somewhere in Idaho there is a picture of me holding my lifetime steelhead from the OP when I was 22, right around my birthday. I had adventures, I caught fish, I experienced wilds and rivers, and places all before it meant likes and follows or was part of my business. It was just for me, for the joy of it. It had no influence other than I loved to fish.
I settled on the Yakima 10 years ago. I had opportunity to guide all over but I had a new family at the time and my personal off river life kept me close to where I grew up. I fell in love with the Yakima River. I know every inch of that river these days. I became a very good guide on that river and was fortunate to share that river with hundreds of clients over the years. I have built lasting relationships as a guide with people out west and will always return to chase the trout in the big waters out there.
The East is a different beast. And many have left comments or asked why I came East. As a home grown PNW angler who has fished just about all the good stuff over the past 20 years. I am good. I have experienced it all for what I wanted to fish and see. These days its a little more crowded then before 2010 but I have fished and caught enough trout out west for now. That will surely change with time but for now…I am good. The East has a lot more to offer. A bigger piece of the fishing world. I hit Florida this past winter for a month. It is one of the largest sport fishing destinations in the world. It is massive in terms of fishing. Michigan the the Midwest area are equally as large but more spread out and makes the western side of the countries sport fishing world look very small. Commercial fishing is the big dog out west, as someone who has worked in Alaska and been a sport guide for a while, commercial fishing for consumption is the big player out west. Here in the east its more just the sport fishing. Yes there is harvest, but its mostly for sport with a side of harvest.
I had some confusion with one of my last posts that I compared Michigan to Alaska. Now the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is like Southeast Alaska. Just without mountains. But what really hits me is the local fishing culture. That is what reminds of me of Alaska. Fishing is just older and more engrained in the everyday lives of people in Michigan, much like Alaska. That is the comparison. Here near Detroit everyone owns a boat, most people have fishing gear, and everyone has fished or does fish. Fly fishing is a little less common but the further north your go the more you find it. The west makes fishing out to be a really big deal, and dresses it up in really polished fancy cloths in comparison, takes itself really seriously. And I am from the west and am part of that. The east just doesn’t care as much. Fishing is just something everyone does. Less of a big deal, and with it readily available to everyone just about anywhere even these urban areas, the fishing culture is just very different. I enjoy it because as I just want to enjoy fishing with no pressure…that seems to be the main operating speed out here.
I have been back almost 2 weeks. I have fished more days than not. I have only had one kind of crappy experience, more due to a crummy fly shop encounter than anything else. Some places ain’t all they are made out to be on social media anglers just saying. But besides that, this fishing has been rather good. I can’t complain. A rained out Au Sable River last week sucked but I was able to learn about how finicky that river is and how I don’t want to fish finicky rivers right now….I have had enough of those for a summer. I love bass fishing. It is simple compared to trout fishing a river. I love simple fishing. Bass eat, they like topwater they are easier to track and predict, and when I put effort into catching them…I really catch them. I don’t care about size…I am a trout angler not a bass tournament guy…I care about eats. I want eats. So bass fishing is great…because in 3 hrs of puttering around the lake I can stick 15 to 30 bass when I put effort in. I enjoy that kind of fishing. Move into a zone, hunt the fish out of it, work a grid, depths, angles, lengths, structure, lanes, weed beds, drop offs, ridges, bars, I get to use sonar tools and really pick apart areas. Make my brain work without the pressure of having to produce for anyone or anything. I am just getting to fish the way I like.
For me it is freedom. I have been tied to the Yakima River’s schedule and rhythm for 10 years. Dialed and locked in. My drift boat and I just chunking out miles and working that river. My entire work life has been attached and dictated by the Yakima River. I wasn’t lying when I said I needed a break. Once I got out of Montana on the drive east…I finally felt things stop pulling on me. I love that river anglers…but I need a break.
The Freedom I feel out here is also because I have the 2 things that I need to really make that possible. My trusty guide rig, and my new boat. My new Hog Island Skiff is finally growing on me. I have had mixed feelings about it since Florida. But being here in Michigan I am glad I have it. It allows me to fish as I please, where I please. With my roof top, rig, and boat I can explore and discover as I see fit. Working out here is the goal and will happen sooner rather than later, but for now I am enjoying the ability to just fish for myself.
I enjoy the quiet of the stillwater and rivers out east. It has a different feel than the waters I have encountered out west. The eastern waters speak playfully, filled with life. The bird songs have a different cacophony than those I recall from my younger days. There is mystery in the east. A myriad of abundant species of fish make for a surprise each encounter. There is less pressure out here for me. I don’t feel the need to perform, no one knows me, I am just fly fishing. When I fish I get to be quiet, just enjoy, be a part of it. I missed this kind of fishing. The summer will be filled with days where I can fish as intense or as aloof as I want. A chance to recharge in a way I haven’t been able to in a long time. A chance to fish.
We are roughly 8 weeks or so into the off season. Or the midpoint. In 8 weeks I will start to get a lot more fishy. The boat comes back out regularly. I am riverside 4 plus days a week, plugging back in, and getting prepped for the guide season.
This off season has been shit. However, I will say lockdowns and quarantine have made cabin fever easy to bare. Broke as hell but honestly that’s not new being a troutbum and all. My previous blog post made it out like I was at this shit alone and I am not. I’ve have someone through it all, its private not a secret. But I have been good off river life wise, all things considered. Not seeing my kids has been the shittiest part.
I got a lot of comments and messages after that cranky blog. It was more venting the frustration and exhaustion. And instead of unload it on others who have their own trials and struggles right now….just throw it up and let the internet eat it. The biggest frustrations are work related. And there ain’t shit to be done until the new season at this point. Just stuck until the thaw.
Its the halfway point and usually I would feel this cabin fever riddled drive to be out. But 2020 sucked most of that out. I sleep. A lot. 10 to 12 hours some days. Hibernating like most other off seasons. But its quieter during the pandemic. And the exhaustion has taken its toll. And you can sleep through things that otherwise cause stress that cannot be fixed until the world gets right. So much outta my hands at this point. Sleep now work later. Or something like that.
While overlords argue about 600 bucks and cake, I just wanna make sure that I keep the internet on so I don’t have to sit with only books and flies until March. At this point the only thing that seems to fix shit is ourselves. So I get to wait until I can fix it the only way I know how…with trout and a boat. Thankfully we are in this together and there is help there. Its not all bad…its just sucks in general.
The midpoint of the offseason is usually a harder hurdle. Just not this season. I am in a hell of a hurry to get back to it in 2021. With a recovery plan in place for my business from the first trip to the last of next season. I don’t have a lot of faith in a national or even state economic recovery plan as this will be my third economic event in my life. Many of us are gonna have to get creative with making up the deficit of 2020. If trying to get relief during this shitshow is any indication….ya…its gonna be by our own bootstraps and on a community and local level. So getting the mind around what that might look like is essential moving forward.
The trout and the rowing take care of themselves at this point in my guiding. The nuts and bolts of the operation…troot and people….that shit is locked and I’ve worked very hard to get there. This pandemic changes how the business side looks. And with the surge in social media and its necessity for success in the 21st century business model driving a lot of what makes or breaks you…2021 is going to be a busy year to say the least.
So ya, I’ll sleep through a lot of the offseason. Because I can. Normally my body needs it but I think my mind needs it more this year. I’ll share time with the few people I can. I will prep for the offseason, and hold out like the rest of us. Still living day to day and week to week, still worried, but ready to move forward.
So ya, chill out. We all allowed to get mad bruh. Vent, sleep, try and see the good shit…watch Mandolarian…holy fuck! I mean we are all friggin’ stuck and its not like the headlines are making us feel any less stuck. So ya. Get ready for 2021…see if we can do a little better….(shy unenthusiastic yay, from the crowd). Fingers crossed. Let the countdown to trout begin.
A good fishing partner is something that can be monumental in an anglers life. When I first started chasin trout I was selfish in my endeavors. In my early years of angling I spent all my time solo. Discovering and exploring every blue line and running water way I could find from valley to mountain peak. I searched out the sources of my beloved rivers, hiked miles and miles, bushwhacked and cut trail to forgotten and unnamed streams and creeks. Nothing but a box of flies, a cheap fly rod, and an insatiable hunger for all things trout and wild.
It wasn’t until I had fished myself silly and I got a little older that my solo time on rivers and with trout became a lonely adventure. I had kids at home that were too young to chase trout with me, being very young with kids left little room for friends, especially when I spent all my free time fishing. I recall even back then when I was in college and working the 9-5 to pay for shit that the few people I did know through angling were always too busy to keep up with my appetite for rivers and trout. A good angling partner is not easy to find. There is always someone ready to go fish…but just taking someone for a float or hiking into secret waters isn’t what I was looking for. Yes I wanted another angler, with fresh eyes, different instincts, someone who matched or exceeded my own technical and physical skills to chase trout. But damnit…I needed a friend and a person that had passion and respect for rivers that was in line with mine.
I’ve mentored anglers, fished with people and friends, but interests change, life takes people away from the river. I’ve shown my secrets to some…only to have it bite me in the ass later. Nothing worse than showing an angler a treasured spot that is still secret or ‘locals only’ and to find them guiding in it or talking too much about it at the local shop and causing it to lose it’s luster. I still keep a lot of places close to the chest. Areas that I still only visit solo…some places I haven’t seen in years over fear that they will be discovered by others and parts of me are still not ready to let them go. Not many of those places are left for me…but a few.
My pursuit of a good angling partner came about as I began guiding more. Meeting new people everyday, many of them lifelong angling partners, some married couples that have fished for decades, college friends that chased trout together in between classes, river side acquaintances that turned into life long trout aficionados. I wanted that. The chemistry angling partners have is a unique and interesting connection, as different and as varied as the people that frequent my driftboat. It wasn’t until I had been fishing for almost 10 years that I found a fellow angler that shared in my interests, skill, and passion, for these wild aquatic animals and the places they frequent.
I shared a brief time with Casey, we fished almost everyday I wasn’t guiding. Exploring the high reaches and rapids of the mountain rivers, floating the big water tricking trout, discovering more about each other both as anglers and people every time we ventured out. Tying sessions at the house, dinners with the family, always talking trout and life. That connection to the person formed over the catching and releasing of trout. Learning about another person, where they come from, their perspective on life, where their passion is rooted, the desire to chase trout and why it is so fervent in them. Those intricate things that tie a person to a river, and to the others that are woven into the riffles and runs are the part of angling that is lost when fly fishing is a job; and something that I was very grateful to have found with Casey.
I lost my angling partner to suicide. A veteran, and man who suffered from intense PTSD, angling and sharing the river with me was his cure, his coping mechanism, the thing that allowed him to lose himself in the waters and disconnect him from the events in his life that brought sorrow and pain. I miss him everyday. I still have not visited a particular section of river in the mountains since his passing because of fear I will disrupt his memory. Every now and then I hear his boisterous cackle of a laugh over the sound of our favorite riffle “Drake Alley” on the Upper Yakima and I catch myself looking behind me every time I float by. Like the large wild trout that makes your heart sink when it frees itself from your fly and severs that connection, I still feel that phantom tug in my arm. Haunting…but I feel privileged to have been introduced and spent however short amount of time with Casey riverside. It changed me, had a profound effect on me and left me with questions, doubt, anger, sorrow, and a new sense of loneliness and longing that I had never felt before.
I spent some time solo fishing again…wishing I was sharing these fish and places with another. I threw myself into angling and tying throughout the off season. The void left by losing Casey filled me with emotions and loss that I had never felt before. A lot is shared riverside between two people. Something that is hard to explain to those that haven’t shared a river with others. He was my brother, uncle to my kids, someone I talked to everyday. And not being able to share life on and off river with him was and is super shitty. As the season after his passing approached I focused all my attention on honing my skills further as a guide and angler. I worked constantly, spent every free minute I had wrapped up in trout and rivers. My work doubled that season, and I was fortunate to meet a fellow angler through my work that sought me out as their angling partner.
As many who follow me on social media or have seen me on a guide’s day off recently riverside, Ross and I fish a lot together. And while you never replace the people you lose, somehow the universe puts people in your life that just need to be there. I must have done something good in my previous life, or have stacked up karma points, because I have been fortunate to have people in my life that share a passion for trout and rivers. Sometimes the river presents an opportunity at another large wild trout. Finding another angler, or having an angler find you, that rivals your passion and need to explore and seek out trout is the golden ticket.
Being able to look at a run or riffle and pick it apart and have a counterpart do the same and arrive at completely different approaches both equally successful in their ability to trick wild trout is one thing. But to be able to share in that often unspoken deep connection to nature, wild animals, and people is something else entirely. Its that one thing that I think a lot of anglers who I take on trips are searching for but don’t know it. Its something I see from time to time with life long angling partners when they reserve a day with me. I have moved past the need to catch every fish, the want to catch the biggest fish, or the desire to be the best. For me its about that connection to everything that is happening above and below the surface of the river. To try and understand and decipher how its all connected and how I as an angler can be a part of it. Ross shares that passion. And while many of the things that pop up on social media are the weird, funny, and sometimes stupid moments that can fill a day on the river. The days that you don’t see, the days I write about, the days that are discussed over dinner, the ones that are never even talked about…those are the ones that matter, that make up a life on the river. For every dancing video, hoot and hollering trout encounter, every photo posted to keep butts in driftboat seats so I can pay the bills; there is a silent morning watching the river over coffee, enjoying the peace of the wild and the pleasure of another anglers company.
While its referred to as a bromance, and Ross is my Biden. Its more than that. A brother, a friend, a person that shares in my passion for trout and life. A good angler requires a constant honing and fine tuning of the skills. Being able to share in the chasing of trout with another equally but differently skilled angler is a key component of that in my mind, a fortunate byproduct of a good angling partner…because it’s not really about the trout at the end of the day is it? Outside of angling people make connections with each other that last their lifetimes. The connections that are made with people through shared passions are the ones that stick. The ones that change your life, enrich it, fill it with the things that make us human. All those intricate things that make up what it means to human. Watching Ross and his lovely wife married in the woods, Thanksgiving dinner, my children excited to see them when they come to fish or hang out, the things that happen off river that make up the juicy parts of life and friendship. They mimic the juicy parts of a day of fishing. As I find myself getting older, watching my children grow, and spending more time riverside than I ever have, I chase the off river life as much as I chase the riverside one.
A testament to a good angling partner indeed. When your entire life revolves around trout its nice to have another person knee deep in the run with you from time to time. Not because they paid to be there, not because they want to know all your secrets, not even to learn from each other, but because damnit…fishing with them is bitchin’. When the hatch is over, the river is quiet, and the boat is parked back in the driveway, and you still can’t pull yourself away from the conversation or the people you’re surrounded by…you know you found a good angling partner.
There aren’t many patterns of mine that I would say work better than just about any other for a particular hatch or insect.
But Skwalla McTwitchy aka The Bacon-Nater when not tied for a specific bug, is one of those patterns. The recipe is at the end.
Skwalla McTwitchy aka The Bacon-Nater
This pattern is based on a simple Stimi based dry tied Parachute Style. But the poly yarn underwing holds floatant very well, the moose hair wing floats as good as foam without the non natural look of foam.
The hi via parachute is over hackled for more floatation as well. The body can be tied in just about any color or dubbin type you can think of. I like full ice dub bodies for summer time in multiple colors, and I like hares ear ice dub blends when I’m going for more specific colors to match a hatch. I also tie them with no flash or ice dub for when conditions and trout call for subtle flies.
The legs are whatever strips of rubber you have lying around. I tie the body like I would a Pats Stone. The legs are the important part. This pattern is for stoneflies and grasshoppers. But mainly stoneflies. Stoneflies are active on the water surface.
They skitter and dance, crawl and flutter about the river. Salmon flies like big chinook helicopters beating the air so loud against their heavy bodies you can hear them coming before they get stuck in your beard. Skwallas slow and sleepy as they battle against the cold air, or Golden’s that flutter and cause commotion on the surface as they hatch in the current like a mayfly instead of along the rocks like their cousins. This pattern is all about action. Just like the natural.
The body and legs of the fly ride low in the meniscus, even in faster or heavier current when floatant is added. I twitch this fly like crazy, fish that are keyed in on stoneflies are looking for bugs that move, and the strikes during this type of feeding can be intense and violent. It’s wicked fun. These legs that ride low in the water give the desired twitchy effect of a natural stonefly that is doing its thing. Sometimes they fall in and are tryi to get back to shores, other times a female is laying eggs on the surface. No matter what these bugs have action. So does this fly, even with subtle twitches.
So tie some up or order some, and throw some action on those big dry flies when the stones are hatching this season.
Ingredients:
Hopper Hook or long shank Dry fly size 10 or bigger.
6/0 thread
Rubber legs
Hi Vis Poly Yarn for para post.
Dubbin of choice
Poly Yarn
Krystal Flash
Moose Hair
Grizzly or Brown Hackle size matched to hook or one size larger.
Recipe:
Lay thread base and tie in rubber legs as tails and antenae.
Tie in your hi vis para post at the 1/3 mark back from the eye.
Dub the body up toward the para post but leave enough space to tie in wing.
Tie in 3 strands of Krystal flash V style so 6 strands lay out the back.
Tie in poly-yarn wing.
Stack some moose hair and tie in the wing. Trim the hair so that the para post is upright.
Tie in legs.
Add Glue then tie in hackle.
Dub and create a thorax, and rest the thread on the front side of the para post.
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