Rivers a muck, Silvers a red, The Cascade River October 24th 2009

So after a good week of not being able to fish during my weekends off of school... I headed up Highway 20 to the Cascade River with my Dad. The river still had decent visibility with a slight tinge, but since it was a fairly rocky base it does not get silted out like the lower Skagit, and the Stilly Rivers were. We fished for several hours and we saw a few silvers swimming in front of us as red as can be... After seeing no one catch anything worth wild for several hours, we moved down stream to try another spot. To no avail, the current was so strong near the outlet... So we checked out the egg hole, and as it was suspected initially it had fishermen lined on both sides of the hole... This is a small feeder river for the Skagit and it is not very wide...

Dad on the cascade early in the morning.

Dad on the river with fog rolling over the surrounding hills.
So we left and headed down the Skagit to try a few more spots and still to no avail. We didn't catch anything more than the sight of a lot of humpy salmon carcasses, Dad caught a caught a spent humpy and we saw some nearly dead humpies barely swimming along. After talking to a few more people the Skagit was blown out from the Sauk River to it's mouth... So we called it a day and headed home. On the way home through Darrington we were treated with a great view the snow dusted peak above Darrington and the views of the mud laden Sauk and Stilly Rivers...

Just south of Marblemount the fall colors were gleaming.
Dad on the Skagit River.
The view coming in through Darrington.

Stilly Salmon Fishing, The Coho That Escaped 10/10/2009

The day started off early with me leaving my house at 4:30am to get all the way north before 6 am. We arrived on the river shortly after 7am as the sun was finishing rising. We were early enough to snag a good spot before the rest of the crowd showed up for the lovely shoulder to shoulder salmon fishing fiasco. In about 4 casts I had a humpy on the line, in another 4 or so casts the fun began. My first coho of the season was hooked, running and jumping like mad! This was the second salmon on my new Uglystick and was proving to be an excellent investment. I fought the fish for a good while, until it was finally tired enough that I could beach the fish on the bank. It was a beautifully silver Coho that was about 14lbs. We strung it up on the stringer to keep the fish alive while fishing for more. It's a general practice that we've been using for years to keep the meat fresh and gut them before we leave. We fished for hours and even though the crowds had thickened it was the only Coho that was caught on the beach. On the side that we were on there was 30+ fisherman, and than on the otherside one asshat decides to start fishing casting towards us. Mind you this is not the Skagit, let alone a wide river. I had been casting nearly all the way across the river all morning. So it was only a matter of time until Murphy's Law kicked in and the asshat caught one of our lines... I was the lucky one to get intertwined with his line... Some choice words were exchanged across the river, until he let his line out and untangled the line. Today was the day of catching things, I caught a Humpy, a Coho, the line across the river, the line to my right and left, a leaf, my hat that ways laying behind me, hell I even reeled in a rock that the hook found a hole in... After hours of fishing dad and I swapped places and I was near the stringer, for some odd reason I looked back to check on the fish, and at that moment I watched the crimp come loose and my fish starting to swim away. Instinctly I jumped after it (waders and all...), I narrowly missed the end of stringer, scooped water down my waiters, and rinsed water over my phone and wallet.... The day of fishing was now over and I was cold and wet... At least I got a picture as I was taking the hook out...

It's a bad picture, the angle makes my hand look huge... But it's the only one I got...


I will now be making a stronger stringer without any Chinese crimps... I'm thinking a metal stringer with a noose and a polypropylene rope extension. But I really don't want to bleed them and have them floating dead in the river to collect all of the contaminants in the belly...

Stilly Humpy Fishing 9/25/2009

On Friday Dad and I sorted through some fishing gear I was given and we picked out some components that might work for an all around Salmon fishing setup. Granted the stuff was ancient equipment and we weren't expecting the rod to last, even on humpies... Dad greased up the reel to revive it's function, and we went to Hook Line and Sinker and got 150 yds of 20lb green braided line with 50 yds of 80lb Dacron backing installed onto the behemoth of a reel. We headed back to the same spot that we went to last time on the Stilly and started fishing. Cast 1... Bam! fish on. This ancient "steelhead" rod had nearly no backbone, and even the humpies were flexing the rod nearly to the grip... So the expectations of the rod lasting through the day was slowly declining. After hooking into about 4 humpies the rod seat fractured around the rod, which made the reel seem a little loose, but was as tight as it could get, so I kept fishing. After about hooking into 6 humpies, about one every half hour the sun was setting and we headed in, cause I had a long drive home. So now I'm in the market for an Ugly Stik, and will be headed down to Cabela's today to take a look at some rods, compare prices and see if they actually have the lures I use in stock.

Humpy Salmon Fishing on the Stilly 9/13/2009

I was supposed to be out of the house on time to make it all the way north to my mom's house to go fishing with my dad on the Stilly. As usual, I got up on time and was ready, but something delayed me and I got behind on schedule. I checked the mail and my ipod headphone jack repair kit came in the mail so I had to perform a quick surgery on the ipod, which took all of 10 minutes... The kicker was someone let my cat Orion into the backyard. Orion has been sick and had a vet appointment for monday so I didn't want him playing in the backyard... So I had to go out in the backyard and chase him around to get him back in the house. After that I got breakfast and gas was on my way to go fishing. I arrived an hour late and we loaded my stuff up. Dad, Jess and I then headed out fishing on the Stilly. We got there and it was packed, the spots next to the faster moving water were full, so we had to head up stream and fish the slower current. I started out fly fishing for the first several hours. They weren't biting on any of the flies I casted out.

After 3 or so hours of not catching anything I switched over to my dad's spare gear setup and started fishing. Not long after the fishing started to pick up and we were landing Humpy Salmon left and right. We fished until dusk hoping to catch a couple of the slivers that were mixed in, but to no avail, we only caught humpies. We cleaned our catch and headed home. It was a long drive home and I didn't get there till nearly midnight.

Humpy Salmon #1.
Humpy Salmon #2

My Backpacking Fly Fishing Setup and Background

I started fly fishing when I was 16 out on the North Fork of the Clearwater River in Idaho. It was a 1 to 2 week trip that was taken on a yearly basis. After I turned 18 I went into the Marine Corp and the fly fishing came to a ceasing stop while I moved around and eventually got stuck in the armpit of Arizona (Yuma). On my last deployment all my fishing gear was stolen from my buddies house while we were both deployed overseas. After we returned home we found out that his house was literally ransacked and left open.

Anyways, Nancy's Dad, Kenny Wylde taught me how to cast back in the day and I became fairly productive on the small tributaries of the North Fork and including the North Fork of the Clearwater River. One year I brought in a plump 15 or 16" trout out of the North Fork, which up and to that point was the most fun I had ever had fishing. I casted a good 40 to 50 feet upstream and the fly just passed by a large hole and WHAM! Fish on and it was actually a fight on the double pawl real! The fish was jumping and swimming all over the river, after several minutes of fighting I got the little guy back to me and I triumphed into camp. Well, come to find out no one heard me mutter that my dirtbike broke, that I was pissed and that I was gone fishing... I got in a considerable amount of trouble since they sent out a search party looking for me... But I exclaimed look! I knew there was still some keepers this far up on the river! At that moment I fell for fly fishing, granted I haven't caught any fish that size on a fly since, but one day I will! The fight was just a thrill!

So as time passed I still dreamed of fly fishing from time to time. But it wasn't until I started visiting the alpine lakes and streams again in Washington after I moved home that the memories of Cedars hit me and the bug started biting again. After the Elwha trip with Jesse, I started frantically gathering supplies with a balance of cost to weight. I tried to Keep it as simple and as light as possible without fully draining my account. So here's what I presently carry:
The fly setup, picture taken by Jesse

Fishing Gear	oz.
Cabela's 5 piece rod w/sleeve	4.00
Scientific Angler's 456 reel w/line	5.05
Dry Fly Dressing	0.75
Leader line	0.10
Forceps	0.75
fishing License	0.60
Fly box w/flies	0.70

The rod is a 5wt 8' 6" and I only carry the sleeve and am very careful about tossing my pack around in respect to where the rod is. The reel is 2.75oz by itself and is a double pawl style drag. I should of put less backing on it and it would have weighed less... The fly box is a Morell and the smallest model that they offer which can hold a decent assortment of flies.

My present trout fly box, it is still a work in progress...


Occasionally I throw in some Aqua Socks for wading, but more and more if the weather is nice I just wade in barefoot or in my breathable hiking shoes. I would like to try the 1.9oz wading shoes that I have seen a couple threads on BPL and I believe it was the Jolly Green Giant's blog I've seen them featured on as well. The main thing that I plan on adding to my fishing kit is a lanyard bag. I have a ton of extra Dyneema Fabric lying around that I intend on making a little pouch with pockets for the fly box and Hemostats/Forceps to be leashed to so that it would be relatively easy to access. I'm not really a fan of stuffing all the stuff in the 2 breast pockets of my shirt, but it definitely works, but is a pain to fumble for stuff when you are trying to release a fish in a timely manner. There will be more on the lanyard in a MYOG blog post after I design and sew it up. Today I was at the Gig Harbor Fly Shop collecting a new reel, line, flies, and a fly box for salmon fishing. There will be more on that after I pick up the rod and have a trip report posted from either being skunked or catching a fish.

Sheep Lake, PCT from Chinook Pass 7-25-2009

Well for this trip I was trying to get everyone's schedules to line up, but that didn't work so well and I settled for the frame that fit the majority who wanted to fish the lake. The plan was to head in to Sheep Lake via the PCT from Chinook Pass and possibly do a little bit of fishing at the lake. The trips was approximately 4 miles round trip along a short section of the PCT.

Uncle J approaching Sheep Lake


Heather loving her Gore-Tex boots as she stood on a rock in the water.


The first fish on the new Fly Pole. Finally something other than bushes. I actually caught 4 to 5 fish at Sheep Lake. Granted they were all small Brookies.


Line in the water waiting for the fish to really take a bite out of the fly... Right about here is when one of the oddest things that has ever happened to me while fly fishing happened. I kept casting to the same spot and kept getting bites from the same fish. I figured it was either too small of a fish to take the hook or I kept missing it. So I drew back into a backcast to relay the fly on the lake. Low and behold as I watch my fly start to arch back I noticed that the fly was huge! There was a little 3" Brookie hanging on for dear life on my fly in the backcast. As I yelled ah $#!t, dropped my pole and ran back to small bushes behind me trying to find the flopping fish, I'm sure everyone was wondering what the hell I was doing... I picked up the fish and rushed it back to the water after I made sure it was ok and it swam quickly away. Then shortly there after I got another mystery bite in the same spot... So I moved before another fish went flying!


Uncle J fly fishing.


Me doing some more fly fishing.


Aaron fishing.


Washing out my wading shoes.


Fishing out the cookset to boil water for a FBC lunch for Heather and I.


Sourdough Gap from Sheep Lake.


How the skeeters loved me on this day... Too bad you can't see the swarms around my head as I tried to eat.


The various meadows on the way down the trail.




How not to pack. I feel sorry for this guy, it was a large Jansport pack not even sitting on his hips and crap hanging everywhere.



J, Aaron and Elizabeth hiking on the last mile section of trail before the trailhead.


J, Heather, Elizabeth and Aaron within the last mile of trail to the car.


Elizabeth, Aaron and J hiking on the last mile of trail on the way back to the car.


J, Elizabeth and Aaron on the home stretch to the car.


Overall it was an excellent short hike with some really good times, some great company, and some decent fishing for little trout.

Heather Lake in the Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest

Went for a short hike and a fishing trip up to Heather Lake off of the Mt. Loop Highway on the Mt. Pilchuck road today. Round trip was a measly 4.5 miles, but the first 1.5 miles was an elevation gain of 1200 feet. The fishing portion of the trip was more of a Salmon Berry snagging and a wind fighting expedition... The real nice rock and nice area to fish from was already taken, and after loosing 3 more flies from the spot I was fishing from I headed for the trailhead. It took 57 minutes to reach the lake and about 40 minutes to reach the car. The trail is through the forest the whole way with very few views out and about. The top section of the trail is extremely muddy and there was a lot of high steps to get on top of rocks and roots. Here's a couple pictures.

Spider Meadows via the Phelps Creek trail in the Glacier Peak Wilderness

Well, I was invited along for Jesse and Jimmy's scouting trip for the up and coming hunting season along the Phelps Creek trail in the Wenatchee National Forest and Glacier Peak Wilderness area. We headed out to the trail head along a seemingly endless gravel road... When we finally hit the trail head we started trekking down the trail towards the Meadows. Roughly 5.9 miles one way 11.8 miles round trip. The trail is an extremely gentle slope all the way to the meadows.

The start of the journey was on an old logging road to about the Glacier Peak Wilderness boundary. After that It slowly started to resemble a trail. Every little creek and flow was running! Waterfalls abound and lots of little streams to cross, this time of year water is available everywhere.

from near the trailhead.




Jimmy and Jesse crossing one of many creeks.


Jesse coming across a snow field.




Just crossing a snow patch.


Approaching Leroy Creek the trail started to look like this.




Jesse at Leroy Creek.


Crossing Leroy Creek.


One of the many small streams.


Jesse crossing another stream before the meadows.




Jimmy approaching the meadows.


What the trail looked like when approaching the meadows.




The avalanche damage at the beginning of the meadows.






















We found a couple small camps partially unthawed near the edge of the meadow, but we would have had to dig out some snow to fit all 3 shelters. So we crossed the Avalanche debris and crossed the short section of meadows to see if their is any camps snow free on the far side of the meadows. I hiked all the way to the area of the trail junction through the snow, and all the open snow free spots were not even camp sites just little patches of meadows. So we turned around and headed back towards the edge of the meadows. We found 2 small campsites that would barely fit the 3 shelters so we kept looking. We found a suitable option across Phelps creek and setup camp and commenced to fishing. Either the log jam at the edge of the meadow has inhibited the fish moving up into the meadows or it's just too early. We saw no fish movement nor got any bites.



The little patch of open meadow before the next avalanche debris.




Jimmy and Jesse in the meadow.








Jesse, with some cascades of water in the background.


The peaks near Spider Gap.








Crossing Phelps Creek in search of a camp.


Jesse crossing Phelps Creek.


My new tarp and bivy setup.






Camp in general, One 5yds to SUL tarp, A tarptent Contrail, and a Eureka 2 man tent.


Pictures from fishing.






Cooking dinner in my solo pot.


Heading to the snow bridge on the opposite side of the creek to check out the bridge for crossing.


It was between 38 degrees to 40 degrees that morning and crossing the creek was only a second option if the snow bridge from the avalanche didn't appear safe. We checked out the snow bridge and it was 3 to 4 feet thick and ice solid. So we ventured across on the way out.

more pics of the Avalanche damage.


Here's the sign for entering the wilderness area that we completely missed on the way in.


The new bivy worked great, but I need to lay a couple lines or an x pattern on the floor with diluted silnet to keep the pad from sliding down hill as I'm sleeping...

Photography by Jared and Jesse.