Northwest Fishing Reports

I am a admitted reformed trout snob. I grew up in the N Central Cascades and have a soft spot for catching cutthroats on the fly (long live the size 14 pheasant tail). That all ended when the ESA closed 99% of the fishable water, and I moved on to stillwater. In any case I love trout but the last few years I have been having a great time catching what I always beleived where "garbage fish" on the fly. I enjoy the techincal lakes, Amber comes to mind, but if you are looking for fun Crappie and Bluegill will make you giggle like a little boy again.

Last night on Newman I was throwing beadhead zugbugs toward the lilly pads, stipping line as fast as I could go and catching fish every other cast. Using a 3 weight you really feel their fight its a kick in the pants. No matching the hatch, no long leaders, no crowds to fight.

I just thought I would pass it along because I have found sometimes us fly guys take our fishing a little to seriously.

Once you find a school then your catching a lot of fish. Its a great way to shake the dust off in the begging of the season as well. But I love to catch panfish, havnt tried it wiyh a fly rod, you can get a cheap pan fishing fly rod combo for $20 a sportsmans great for a beginner and I love eating panfis

I am not a fly man, but myself and my family really enjoy catching the bluegill as well. They are so easy to catch especially for kids and put up a little fight that is really exciting especially for my daughter. We catch and release many of them at Fish Lake.