Northwest Fishing Reports

Where are the lake reports from the fly fishers? Marc, Raff, Lotech and all of the other long time posters have only a few report combined this season. It seems that reports for the Eastside lakes are lacking in general and the fly fishers in particular.

After 12 years of running this site, I can say that guys come and go, as do reports for certain lakes. In the month of May we posted over 850 reports, well in excess of last year's record 740 or so. Eastside reports have always lagged westside, sad to say.

Rooscooter, are you a catch & release or a whack em & stack em fisherman? It makes a difference to dedicated fly fishermen.

I'm still alive and kickin'. Just been really busy with stuff other than fishing. You know, making sure of domestic tranquility before I leave for the Marshall Lake Rendezvous. I'm really looking forward to that outing. I hope you can make it.

Mike Carey wrote:After 12 years of running this site, I can say that guys come and go, as do reports for certain lakes. In the month of May we posted over 850 reports, well in excess of last year's record 740 or so. Eastside reports have always lagged westside, sad to say.

The population density is a great deal more on the west side than the east side. That's probably a big part of why there are more reports from the west. Also, there are a lot more rivers and streams west of the Cascades than there are in the Inland Empire.

Folks,

I'm just not getting out as often as I used to. While I don't submit as many reports, I still get on washlakes daily to see what's going on. Have had some interesting PMs with Rooscooter in ref to Medical Lake boaters and poachers.

Plus, I've got a couple hot lakes right now that I'm sworn to secrecy on!!!!!!! Will you guys when the time is right! Additionally, we won't be fishing lakes for much longer. It's almost river time.....I look forward to those trips.

Raff

Lotech Joe wrote:

Mike Carey wrote:After 12 years of running this site, I can say that guys come and go, as do reports for certain lakes. In the month of May we posted over 850 reports, well in excess of last year's record 740 or so. Eastside reports have always lagged westside, sad to say.

The population density is a great deal more on the west side than the east side. That's probably a big part of why there are more reports from the west. Also, there are a lot more rivers and streams west of the Cascades than there are in the Inland Empire.

That's it exactly. Our readership demographics run about 60% westside, 30% eastside, 10% central and other. We get reports from google with a state map and dots representing visit densities.

wolverine wrote: Rooscooter, are you a catch & release or a whack em & stack em fisherman? It makes a difference to dedicated fly fishermen.

I haven't kept a fish since I moved to Spokane over 20 years ago. I grew up fly fishing the waters of South Central Idaho where the majority of the waters are catch and release only. I have done a lot of "meat" fishing in Alaska and B.C. as well as in the big pond, but as a rule I don't keep trout or their cousins.

With that said, I'm not sure what difference it makes in making reports. In that same 20+ years up here I haven't caught a "native" fish either. The thought that a lake can be "fished-out" by providing a report isn't accurate in my opinion. You still have to have the skill to catch the fish.

Some of the lakes we fly fishers frequent and never report on are the "hot ones" you hear about at the local fly shops when you ask. It isn't like there are truly "secret" lakes.

I appreciate hearing how the fish are caught and the characteristics of the lake rather than the numbers reported.

I come here for this information rather than joining.......gasp!! a fly fishing club!!!

Tight Lines!

Greetings. In response to this thread, I figure the least I can do as a newbie to this site is fish more and report often. I posted my first one yesterday for Medical Lake on my inflatable pontoon and I am sorry to say I got skunked. I am planning to go out again this weekend (probably sunday morning) and try another nearby lake to the Spokane area.
So, has anyone got anyplace nearby that they would like me to try on Sunday? Good or bad, I will leave a thorough report of the event and gear used. I prefer fly fishing....it seems to humble (or humiliate) my senses. If you have a place in mind within a 30 minute drive that should prove to be sucessful, let me know. Please include any specification to how and where I should fish that area. (EG: Location on the lake and tackle).

Need to catch some fish to help my bruised ego!

Blue~

Rooscooter wrote:

wolverine wrote: Rooscooter, are you a catch & release or a whack em & stack em fisherman? It makes a difference to dedicated fly fishermen.

I haven't kept a fish since I moved to Spokane over 20 years ago. I grew up fly fishing the waters of South Central Idaho where the majority of the waters are catch and release only. I have done a lot of "meat" fishing in Alaska and B.C. as well as in the big pond, but as a rule I don't keep trout or their cousins.

With that said, I'm not sure what difference it makes in making reports. In that same 20+ years up here I haven't caught a "native" fish either. The thought that a lake can be "fished-out" by providing a report isn't accurate in my opinion. You still have to have the skill to catch the fish.

Some of the lakes we fly fishers frequent and never report on are the "hot ones" you hear about at the local fly shops when you ask. It isn't like there are truly "secret" lakes.

I appreciate hearing how the fish are caught and the characteristics of the lake rather than the numbers reported.

I come here for this information rather than joining.......gasp!! a fly fishing club!!!

Tight Lines!

What part of South Central Idaho? I grew up in Twin Falls / Jerome, and except for Silver Creek and parts of the Little Wood, I don't remember that many C&R waters. On the other hand, the gang I fished with seldom kept fish, so it didn't matter. Did you ever know Ruel Stayner, George Biggs, or perhaps Leonard Englebert? I miss those guys, but I am sure that the fishing is better for them now that they have passed on.

Anglinarcher wrote:

Rooscooter wrote:

wolverine wrote: Rooscooter, are you a catch & release or a whack em & stack em fisherman? It makes a difference to dedicated fly fishermen.

I haven't kept a fish since I moved to Spokane over 20 years ago. I grew up fly fishing the waters of South Central Idaho where the majority of the waters are catch and release only. I have done a lot of "meat" fishing in Alaska and B.C. as well as in the big pond, but as a rule I don't keep trout or their cousins.

With that said, I'm not sure what difference it makes in making reports. In that same 20+ years up here I haven't caught a "native" fish either. The thought that a lake can be "fished-out" by providing a report isn't accurate in my opinion. You still have to have the skill to catch the fish.

Some of the lakes we fly fishers frequent and never report on are the "hot ones" you hear about at the local fly shops when you ask. It isn't like there are truly "secret" lakes.

I appreciate hearing how the fish are caught and the characteristics of the lake rather than the numbers reported.

I come here for this information rather than joining.......gasp!! a fly fishing club!!!

Tight Lines!

What part of South Central Idaho? I grew up in Twin Falls / Jerome, and except for Silver Creek and parts of the Little Wood, I don't remember that many C&R waters. On the other hand, the gang I fished with seldom kept fish, so it didn't matter. Did you ever know Ruel Stayner, George Biggs, or perhaps Leonard Englebert? I miss those guys, but I am sure that the fishing is better for them now that they have passed on.

I grew up in Boise and my family had/has a place in Ketchum. I fished the Wood (it's tributaries), Silver Creek (of course) the Salmon (and it tributaries), The Lost, Camas Creek, Mormon Res., Little Camas, the Boise River(and its tributaries), the Owyhee, the Payette (and its tributaries) and all of the lakes reservoirs within a hundred miles of Boise. Also I fished Henry's Lake and the Teton occasioinally. Another favorite area to fish was the high mountain lakes and streams just NW of Stanley, ID. The Cape Horn lakes in particular were great and were "fly fishing only".

I also worked for a guide service in Sun Valley (Silver Creek Outfitters) as a assistant on Salmon River trips in the summers of 80 and 81.

I met Ruel and George on several occasions, but I wouldn't say "I knew them". The Stayner Ducktail is one of my favorite patterns and I still use it extensively to this day.

Most of the waters mentioned had some restrictions with the Salmon drainage having the most due to the mid summer runs. The Wood and Silver Creek (the parts I fished) were almost exclusively catch and release. Parts of the Boise drainage were "selective gear" rules with reduced limits.

Tight Lines!

From the sounds of it, you fished mostly West of my waters. That would explain a lot. We did fish a lot of the same waters though. I miss those days, but they say you can't go home - home changes.

I'd submit a report right now except that the lake in question is unlisted and I don't want you characters to know about it!!!! I've gotta have at least one secret lake!

raffensg64 wrote:I'd submit a report right now except that the lake in question is unlisted and I don't want you characters to know about it!!!! I've gotta have at least one secret lake!

Exactly why we have Secret Lake reports, to make the rest of us drool with envy. :cyclopsan

Rooscooter..... I fly fish the lakes around Colville to Spokane. Drop me a PM! I am a hard core FFisherman............ mostly chironomids (go figure). I have been known to drag a fly once in a while, but usually on a new lake to locate active fish and once the rivers clear up I can be caught chillin out with a high floatin dry fly. TTFN

chironomid_guy wrote:Rooscooter..... I fly fish the lakes around Colville to Spokane. Drop me a PM! I am a hard core FFisherman............ mostly chironomids (go figure). I have been known to drag a fly once in a while, but usually on a new lake to locate active fish and once the rivers clear up I can be caught chillin out with a high floatin dry fly. TTFN

Rivers? You must be a boarder crosser - LOL. Perhaps you fish the upper Yak?

chironomid_guy wrote:Rooscooter..... I fly fish the lakes around Colville to Spokane. Drop me a PM! I am a hard core FFisherman............ mostly chironomids (go figure). I have been known to drag a fly once in a while, but usually on a new lake to locate active fish and once the rivers clear up I can be caught chillin out with a high floatin dry fly. TTFN

Raff and I visited his "secret" lake (see above) a few days ago and used chironomids with varying degrees of success. We were catching both recently planted and holdover fish on several patterns of nymphs and chironomids. We would catch a fish on a pattern and then nothing for quite a while. We would change pattern/color and BAM another fish or two followed by nothing. Since I had a rod rigged with sinking line I started casting a size 8 black leech pattern and began catching only the larger fish and the pattern remained hot for an hour or so with a 5 16"+ fish to net in that time. While "dragging" a bugger may seem passé' to some vs the technically challenging chironomid approach it still has great results in my experience.

Raff went back to this classified lake a couple of days ago and took his sinking rig and had similar results. The recent plants seem to prefer the chironomids and the holdovers (up to 21" or so) were preferring the fast moving dark colored big stuff. There are a lot of dragon flies present on this lake and my theory is that is why the leech pattern was working so well. The only weird thing is that the vicious takes we were getting were within 2 or 3 seconds of the pattern hitting the water (with some immediate takes) and not at or near the bottom. I haven't developed a plausible theory for that yet.

By no means do I consider myself an expert at fishing with chironomids. I have done very well with both indicator and "dangling" them and on the other hand, I haven't caught a damn thing with them. I will fish any way and any time on these lakes around here. I have had success both ways and have been skunked both ways.

I'd like to hear your techniques and approach some time since you seem to have great success using them exclusively or nearly exclusively.

PM me with the details!


Tight Lines!

Hey boys, Amber and it's fish handed me my backside today!!! It really brought me down to earth despite catching some fish. One fish an hour is not what I've come to expect from that lake. Everything about today seemed great.....winds from the south, low-70s, partly sunny. However, the bugs didn't get the memo and the hatches were scarce, and as Marc Martin would say....."when it comes down to it, it's all up to the fish". Yeah, tell me about it!

Will try Medical Wednesday and give y'all an update.

Hey Raff...that sounds familiar. On Saturday I got the same treatment. The only exception what that there was a tremendous amount of bugs coming off. I tried most everything in the box but couldn't get more than a fish per hour either. Just like when you and I were out a few days back....no two fish on the same pattern.

Give em hell on Medical. I still haven't got that one figured out yet.

Tight Lines!

Anglinarcher wrote:

chironomid_guy wrote:Rooscooter..... I fly fish the lakes around Colville to Spokane. Drop me a PM! I am a hard core FFisherman............ mostly chironomids (go figure). I have been known to drag a fly once in a while, but usually on a new lake to locate active fish and once the rivers clear up I can be caught chillin out with a high floatin dry fly. TTFN

Rivers? You must be a boarder crosser - LOL. Perhaps you fish the upper Yak?

The upper Yak is really good. I like it better then the Canyon personally. The "farmlands" section in Summer with hopper droppers can be freighteningly good fishing aswell. Just pay attention and be good on the oars. There can be some hairy spots especially in high water. It's great fishing, the fall is my favorite time. I've caught some good cutthroat on that section, aswell as some hawg rainbows.