Kype Fishing Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 4

$2.95 US - $3.95 CAN

TH ETU GI ST H EDR U G.C O M

FE E L T H E RU S H!

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 4, 2009

FI S H I N G JI G S

ST E E L H E A D

SP E YPR E S E N TAT I O N

HO W T O CAT C H TR O U T

CO N S I S T E N T LY

SP E C I A L FE AT U R E: NE W YO R K’SSA L M O N RI V E R

After looking at hundreds of photos from our Kype Photo Contest, this

one comes across our e-mail two days before the contest closed.

With a one hand filled with metal, Devan Ence of Nort h e rn Colorado,

takes down the photo contest! This picture had the right balance of fall

colors, river background, and a unique way of displaying a beautiful steel-

head. Devan will have his choice of a Kype Noodle rod or some Kype

w a t e r p roof clothing made from Amphibian Skin.

Devan explained that the photo was taken by Jon Harp while they were

fishing in upstate New York. He said it was an outrageous day on the

water catching some big browns and steelhead. He was nymphing a

black flashback hares ear, when this fish pounded it and shot downriver

like a rocket. There was no turning back, they followed the fish down

and was able to put her in the net. A nice “henrietta.” Devan was fish-

ing a 9' 6wt with 4x tippet.

Be sure to check out the awesome brown and steelhead runs right

in our backyard, the Great Lake tributaries. The article on page 16

p rovides some information on one of the best rivers in New York, the

Salmon River.

Kype MagazineCastle Douglas Productions.LLC

PO Box 2024Anacortes, WA 98221

[email protected]

www.Kype.net

Kype StaffPublisher: George Douglas

Editors: Kristen BaileyLem James

Staff Writers: Eric StroupSidney Snow

David Gantman Christopher Lessway

COPYRIGHTKype Magazine

Copyright © 2009 Castle Douglas Pro d u c t i o n s LLC.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. May no part of this publication

or DVD be copied or re p ro d u c e din any way without written

p e rmission from the publisher.

Kype Magazine


Kype will plan your trip to any destination, FREE !360.299.2266

[email protected]

Photo by Dake Schmidt

CONTENTS OF KYPEPublisher’s Cast........... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..4

Jig Fishing Series........... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...............6

The Release Experience........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..8

Catching Trout Consistently. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..10

Spey Casting & Presentation...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..12

The Pukaskawa Experience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . ..14

The Salmon River, NY........... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . ..16

October Dreaming..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

A Guide’s Guide to Fishing Guides... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..22

The Kype Vise........... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..24

An Angler’s Journey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..26

Centerpin, Join the Revolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..28

Alaska River AdventuresLodge & Guide ServiceUpper Kenai River & Kasilof Rivera l a s k a r i v e r a d v e n t u r e s . c o m1 - 8 8 8 - 8 3 6 - 9 0 2 7

The Complete Fly FisherWise River,MT 866.832.3175w w w . c o m p l e t e f l y f i s h e r . c o m

Spotted Bear Ranchin Whitefish Montana(800) 223-4333

Screaming Reels Guide Service"Steelhead Alley” in Ohio,PA & NY 216-491-9543w w w . s c r e a m i n g r e e l s . n e t

Freestone Fly Fishing7 1 7 - 3 3 7 - 0 7 3 47 1 7 - 8 5 5 - 8 0 5 7South Central & NorthCentral PA Streams

Wet Fly WaterguidesCentral & North CentralP e n n s y l v a n i aW e t f l y w a t e r g u i d e s . c o m8 1 4 - 3 4 1 - 0 9 4 68 1 4 - 3 2 2 - 4 7 5 5

Bob Toman Guide ServiceClackamus & DeschutesOregon 503-658-6493w w w . b o b t o m a n . c o m

Bert's Guide Service& McKenzie River Inn5 0 3 - 5 7 9 - 8 2 3 6w w w . b e r t s g u i d e s e r v i c e . c o m

Steelhead Lodge & EmpireState OutfittersSalmon River, Pulaski, NY(866) 948 4371

Angler's LodgeSalmon RiverAltmar, NY (315) 298-6028

Cast River Guide ServiceNorthern California& Southern Oregon(707) 487-CAST (2278)w w w . s m i t h r i v e r f i s h i n g . c o m

Sierra Drifters Guide ServiceEastern Sierra, Ca(760) 935-4250w w w . s i e r r a d r i f t e r s . c o m

Steeldreams Guide ServiceSnake & Grand RondeClarkston, Wa.5 0 9 - 8 6 9 - 9 6 9 4w w w . S t e e l D r e a m s F i s h i n g . c o m

Steve's Guided AdventuresWashougal, WA3 6 0 - 8 3 5 - 7 9 9 5s t e v e s g u i d e d a d v e n t u r e s . c o m

Boggan's OasisWhere Washington, Oregonand Idaho meet(509) 256-3372 w w w . b o g g a n s . c o m

Suggestions for your next fishing adventure . . .

Trip Booking Service

T h e s k y i s t h e l i m i t

After looking at hundreds of photos from our Kype Photo Contest, this

one comes across our e-mail two days before the contest closed.

With a one hand filled with metal, Devan Ence of Nort h e rn Colorado,

takes down the photo contest! This picture had the right balance of fall

colors, river background, and a unique way of displaying a beautiful steel-

head. Devan will have his choice of a Kype Noodle rod or some Kype

w a t e r p roof clothing made from Amphibian Skin.

Devan explained that the photo was taken by Jon Harp while they were

fishing in upstate New York. He said it was an outrageous day on the

water catching some big browns and steelhead. He was nymphing a

black flashback hares ear, when this fish pounded it and shot downriver

like a rocket. There was no turning back, they followed the fish down

and was able to put her in the net. A nice “henrietta.” Devan was fish-

ing a 9' 6wt with 4x tippet.

Be sure to check out the awesome brown and steelhead runs right

in our backyard, the Great Lake tributaries. The article on page 16

p rovides some information on one of the best rivers in New York, the

Salmon River.

Kype MagazineCastle Douglas Productions.LLC

PO Box 2024Anacortes, WA 98221

[email protected]

www.Kype.net

Kype StaffPublisher: George Douglas

Editors: Kristen BaileyLem James

Staff Writers: Eric StroupSidney Snow

David Gantman Christopher Lessway

COPYRIGHTKype Magazine

Copyright © 2009 Castle Douglas Pro d u c t i o n s LLC.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. May no part of this publication

or DVD be copied or re p ro d u c e din any way without written

p e rmission from the publisher.

Kype Magazine


Kype will plan your trip to any destination, FREE !360.299.2266

[email protected]

Photo by Dake Schmidt

CONTENTS OF KYPEPublisher’s Cast........... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..4

Jig Fishing Series........... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...............6

The Release Experience........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..8

Catching Trout Consistently. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..10

Spey Casting & Presentation...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..12

The Pukaskawa Experience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . ..14

The Salmon River, NY........... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . ..16

October Dreaming..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

A Guide’s Guide to Fishing Guides... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..22

The Kype Vise........... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..24

An Angler’s Journey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..26

Centerpin, Join the Revolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..28

Alaska River AdventuresLodge & Guide ServiceUpper Kenai River & Kasilof Rivera l a s k a r i v e r a d v e n t u r e s . c o m1 - 8 8 8 - 8 3 6 - 9 0 2 7

The Complete Fly FisherWise River,MT 866.832.3175w w w . c o m p l e t e f l y f i s h e r . c o m

Spotted Bear Ranchin Whitefish Montana(800) 223-4333

Screaming Reels Guide Service"Steelhead Alley” in Ohio,PA & NY 216-491-9543w w w . s c r e a m i n g r e e l s . n e t

Freestone Fly Fishing7 1 7 - 3 3 7 - 0 7 3 47 1 7 - 8 5 5 - 8 0 5 7South Central & NorthCentral PA Streams

Wet Fly WaterguidesCentral & North CentralP e n n s y l v a n i aW e t f l y w a t e r g u i d e s . c o m8 1 4 - 3 4 1 - 0 9 4 68 1 4 - 3 2 2 - 4 7 5 5

Bob Toman Guide ServiceClackamus & DeschutesOregon 503-658-6493w w w . b o b t o m a n . c o m

Bert's Guide Service& McKenzie River Inn5 0 3 - 5 7 9 - 8 2 3 6w w w . b e r t s g u i d e s e r v i c e . c o m

Steelhead Lodge & EmpireState OutfittersSalmon River, Pulaski, NY(866) 948 4371

Angler's LodgeSalmon RiverAltmar, NY (315) 298-6028

Cast River Guide ServiceNorthern California& Southern Oregon(707) 487-CAST (2278)w w w . s m i t h r i v e r f i s h i n g . c o m

Sierra Drifters Guide ServiceEastern Sierra, Ca(760) 935-4250w w w . s i e r r a d r i f t e r s . c o m

Steeldreams Guide ServiceSnake & Grand RondeClarkston, Wa.5 0 9 - 8 6 9 - 9 6 9 4w w w . S t e e l D r e a m s F i s h i n g . c o m

Steve's Guided AdventuresWashougal, WA3 6 0 - 8 3 5 - 7 9 9 5s t e v e s g u i d e d a d v e n t u r e s . c o m

Boggan's OasisWhere Washington, Oregonand Idaho meet(509) 256-3372 w w w . b o g g a n s . c o m

Suggestions for your next fishing adventure . . .

Trip Booking Service

T h e s k y i s t h e l i m i t

Publisher’s Cast The TUG is the Drug!

4

BY GEORGE DOUGLAS

We’ve officially fin-ished our first

year—four issues of KypeMagazine and DVDs. It’sa great milestone for us,with hopefully many moreto come. We launched ourmagazine in November of2008 in the heart of aneconomic down turn, withall odds against us, but weheld our ground and madea big splash out there inthe fishing industry.

I t ’s been an interestingyear! We spent the firstpart here on the westcoast making our firsttwo films. Then we wereo ff to the east coast for aseven month trip andcoughed out the next two

films, Steelhead A l l e yand this current filmfrom the Salmon Riverarea. That was a verysuccessful trip.

Looking back on ourtravels, I’m most sur-prised at the fishing inOhio. I never thought ofOhio as being a power-house fishery, but it cer-tainly is. I look forward togetting back there later onthis year, and perhapsfishing the Grand andsome other tributariesnear Cleveland.

A special thanks to thegreat folks who we metalong the way who sup-ported us and our filmshoots.

NE W D V D DI S T R I B U T I O N

Beginning with thisissue, Kype magazine willbe sold by itself on nationalnewsstands. The only wayto get your hands on themagazine/ DVD combo isto purchase a subscriptionor to find them at select flyand sports shops through-out the USA. Also, thereare a number of guides andlodges that have becomepart of our distribution net-work, they too will havethem available.

Most of these distribu-tion vendors can be foundin this magazine. If theirad appears in this issue,more than likely, they’ll becarrying Kype magazine

and DVD’s. Give them acall to purchase a copy, tobook a fishing trip or toutilize their services.

NE W WE B S I T EWe are proud to announce

a new and exciting websiteproject. It’s a unique website with a free social net-work similar to Facebook. Itprovides a place for us steel-head, salmon and troutjunkies to meet, post, submitphotos and all that goods t u ff. The good thing aboutthis site is that we get to cus-tomize it to fishermen’sspecs and not be confined tothe limitations of pre-exist-ing social networks.

With the launching of thenew site in mid-August, weplan to have various optionsfor anglers to access ourarticles, films, sponsors and

A kype is a hook that forms onthe lower jaw of a male tro u t ,salmon or steelhead, duringspawning periods. This is theirbadge of power and dominanc ethat is unique to only thesespecies. I t's an explanat ionpoint, similar to the rack of amale deer—a sign of a war-rior—a sign of s t rength. Onlythe brutes, only the stout, onlythe herculean bucks will displaythis emblem of pure power.

These kype-busting bucks arek n o w n to burn out drag systems,shatter graphite, and snap leadersas if they were a strand of hair, andwith such a mark of s t re n g t h ,thus—the title of our magazine,K Y P E.

WH AT’S A KY P E?

5

other content. For example,you will be able to down-load our films for a 24 hourrental, similar to I-tunes.Also, we’ll have digitalsubscriptions and more!

After August 15th, all ofyou out there in KypeNation, go online and visitw w w.T h e T U G i s t h e D r u g . c o mI’ll see you there.

NE W STA F FI would like to introduce

our new Editors, KristenBailey and Lem James.They both live and fish inthe heart of Oregon’s steel-head country. They bothwork on each and everyarticle to ensure our text iscrisp and flows nicely.They are a valuable addi-tion to the Kype Te a m .

IN CO N C L U S I O NAs this issue goes to

press, we begin our secondyear with momentum andexperience from the les-sons learned on the road allyear long. Our schedule forthis second year looks jampacked with some awe-some trips planned that willget your fishing adrenalinepumping.

Tight Lines!

KYPE BACK ISSUES

2009 Volume 1 Issue 1:

Articles on jig fishing, bead fish-ing, trout in Yellowstone, simpletechniques for metalheads, andincludes Fishing For A D r e a mDVD. The Publisher trains a newguide, showing the vigors of

preparation in guiding, then off to the river forsome great steelhead and trout scenes.


Articles on Spey fishing, Center-pin fishing, Steelhead Alley, GreatLakes vs. West Coast...IncludesMiracle Mile DVD. Aw e s o m etrout scenes on some beautifulWyoming rivers. Big Brown and

Cutthroat Trout on dry flies and nymph fishing. Allaround great issue!




Back copies of Kype are 19.95, includesshipping. Canada 21.95 US funds

Place your orderat Kype.net

Castle Douglas ProductionsPO Box 2024 • Anacortes, WA 98221

$79.95US Funds

$79.95US FundsIncludes Shipping to USA-Canada

• Includes Waterproofing Wax!!! • Push-button Tie Cord Lock• Available in Sizes M - L - XL

• Also Available in Forest Green

Order at Kype.net

Castle Douglas ProductionsPO Box 2024

Anacortes, WA 98221

Publisher, George Douglas20 pound SteelHead

Dake Schmidt

Photo by King David’s Guide Service, Pulaski, NY

Make sure you haveevery issue of KypeMagazine. Eachcopy will come witha DVD. Ordertoday.

Staff Writers WantedFishing Guides who want to

s h a re their knowledge and

e x p e rtise through art i c l e s ,

drop us an

email at:

[email protected]

Great Lakes Fly Fishing Co.8460 Algoma Ave NERockford, MI 493416 1 6 - 8 6 6 - 6 0 6 0w w w . t r o u t m o o r . n e t

Michigan

STEAMBOAT FLYFISHER507 Lincoln AvenueSteamboat Springs, CO\Fly Fishing is our focus9 7 0 - 8 7 9 - 6 5 5 2w w w . s t e a m b o a t f l y f i s h e r . c o m

Bob's Fly Shop406 So. Lincoln Ave.Loveland, CO 80537Contact us at:9 7 0 - 6 6 7 - 1 1 0 7b o b @ b o b s f l y t y i n g . c o m

Colorado

Publisher’s Cast The TUG is the Drug!

4

BY GEORGE DOUGLAS

We’ve officially fin-ished our first

year—four issues of KypeMagazine and DVDs. It’sa great milestone for us,with hopefully many moreto come. We launched ourmagazine in November of2008 in the heart of aneconomic down turn, withall odds against us, but weheld our ground and madea big splash out there inthe fishing industry.

I t ’s been an interestingyear! We spent the firstpart here on the westcoast making our firsttwo films. Then we wereo ff to the east coast for aseven month trip andcoughed out the next two

films, Steelhead A l l e yand this current filmfrom the Salmon Riverarea. That was a verysuccessful trip.

Looking back on ourtravels, I’m most sur-prised at the fishing inOhio. I never thought ofOhio as being a power-house fishery, but it cer-tainly is. I look forward togetting back there later onthis year, and perhapsfishing the Grand andsome other tributariesnear Cleveland.

A special thanks to thegreat folks who we metalong the way who sup-ported us and our filmshoots.

NE W D V D DI S T R I B U T I O N

Beginning with thisissue, Kype magazine willbe sold by itself on nationalnewsstands. The only wayto get your hands on themagazine/ DVD combo isto purchase a subscriptionor to find them at select flyand sports shops through-out the USA. Also, thereare a number of guides andlodges that have becomepart of our distribution net-work, they too will havethem available.

Most of these distribu-tion vendors can be foundin this magazine. If theirad appears in this issue,more than likely, they’ll becarrying Kype magazine

and DVD’s. Give them acall to purchase a copy, tobook a fishing trip or toutilize their services.

NE W WE B S I T EWe are proud to announce

a new and exciting websiteproject. It’s a unique website with a free social net-work similar to Facebook. Itprovides a place for us steel-head, salmon and troutjunkies to meet, post, submitphotos and all that goods t u ff. The good thing aboutthis site is that we get to cus-tomize it to fishermen’sspecs and not be confined tothe limitations of pre-exist-ing social networks.

With the launching of thenew site in mid-August, weplan to have various optionsfor anglers to access ourarticles, films, sponsors and

A kype is a hook that forms onthe lower jaw of a male tro u t ,salmon or steelhead, duringspawning periods. This is theirbadge of power and dominanc ethat is unique to only thesespecies. I t's an explanat ionpoint, similar to the rack of amale deer—a sign of a war-rior—a sign of s t rength. Onlythe brutes, only the stout, onlythe herculean bucks will displaythis emblem of pure power.

These kype-busting bucks arek n o w n to burn out drag systems,shatter graphite, and snap leadersas if they were a strand of hair, andwith such a mark of s t re n g t h ,thus—the title of our magazine,K Y P E.

WH AT’S A KY P E?

5

other content. For example,you will be able to down-load our films for a 24 hourrental, similar to I-tunes.Also, we’ll have digitalsubscriptions and more!

After August 15th, all ofyou out there in KypeNation, go online and visitw w w.T h e T U G i s t h e D r u g . c o mI’ll see you there.

NE W STA F FI would like to introduce

our new Editors, KristenBailey and Lem James.They both live and fish inthe heart of Oregon’s steel-head country. They bothwork on each and everyarticle to ensure our text iscrisp and flows nicely.They are a valuable addi-tion to the Kype Te a m .

IN CO N C L U S I O NAs this issue goes to

press, we begin our secondyear with momentum andexperience from the les-sons learned on the road allyear long. Our schedule forthis second year looks jampacked with some awe-some trips planned that willget your fishing adrenalinepumping.

Tight Lines!

KYPE BACK ISSUES


Articles on jig fishing, bead fish-ing, trout in Yellowstone, simpletechniques for metalheads, andincludes Fishing For A D r e a mDVD. The Publisher trains a newguide, showing the vigors of

preparation in guiding, then off to the river forsome great steelhead and trout scenes.







Back copies of Kype are 19.95, includesshipping. Canada 21.95 US funds


Castle Douglas ProductionsPO Box 2024 • Anacortes, WA 98221

$79.95US Funds

$79.95US FundsIncludes Shipping to USA-Canada

• Includes Waterproofing Wax!!! • Push-button Tie Cord Lock• Available in Sizes M - L - XL

• Also Available in Forest Green

Order at Kype.net


Anacortes, WA 98221

Publisher, George Douglas20 pound SteelHead

Dake Schmidt

Photo by King David’s Guide Service, Pulaski, NY

Make sure you haveevery issue of KypeMagazine. Eachcopy will come witha DVD. Ordertoday.

Staff Writers WantedFishing Guides who want to

s h a re their knowledge and

e x p e rtise through art i c l e s ,

drop us an

email at:

[email protected]

Great Lakes Fly Fishing Co.8460 Algoma Ave NERockford, MI 493416 1 6 - 8 6 6 - 6 0 6 0w w w . t r o u t m o o r . n e t

Michigan

STEAMBOAT FLYFISHER507 Lincoln AvenueSteamboat Springs, CO\Fly Fishing is our focus9 7 0 - 8 7 9 - 6 5 5 2w w w . s t e a m b o a t f l y f i s h e r . c o m

Bob's Fly Shop406 So. Lincoln Ave.Loveland, CO 80537Contact us at:9 7 0 - 6 6 7 - 1 1 0 7b o b @ b o b s f l y t y i n g . c o m

Colorado

Jig Fishing SeriesLate Summer Part 4

6

BY DAVE GANTMAN

7

limber so they absorbmuch of the shock in therod rather than puttingadded stress on the line.In the east, it’s not uncom-mon to fish tippet sizesdown to 3-4lbs, while inthe west 8lb test is aboutas small as you’ll everneed. Here a standardfloat rod of 9-10feet ismore commonly used.

In late summer I like touse a small adjustable,fixed balsa float or smallclear bubble float thatw o n ’t make a large distur-bance when it hits thew a t e r. For leader of anysize, always use fluorocar-bon when fishing ultra-light tackle.. This materi-a l ’s higher density is lessa ffected by currents, whichkeeps the jig riding directlybelow the float. Also, dueto its refractive properties,

i t ’s virtually invisibleunder water.

Choose a small jigbased on what is mostcommonly used in yourarea. I prefer black, pur-ple, or red jigs for fishinglate in the summer. T h e s ecolors tend to sneak up onthe fish, rather than alert-ing them to your presence.To balance your float,evenly spread just enoughsmall BB size split shotalong the leader aboveyour jig to keep the floatriding at its water mark.You are now ready to fish!

Before casting, take thetime to stop and lookaround your fishing spot aminute. If you can spot afish before you start, it’smuch easier to get him tobite. Casting blind canpotentially ruin yourchances at success. Try to

pitch the jig a good dis-tance above where youthink the fish is located,and then let it drift freelydown through the strikezone.

If you think you are onthe right line but don’t getbit, deepen your float 6-8inches and make anothercast. Continue this everycast until you hook a fishor your bobber starts tolean from the jig hittingbottom. When you hitbottom, shorten the depthback up about 6-8 inchesand continue working thefishing hole. These tacticsalso work well in lowclear water conditions oncreeks in the winter.

Fishing in the late sum-mer or early fall for steel-head can be a rewardingexperience. There is noth-

ing quite like spot and stalkfishing for these metallic,ocean going fish. If youhave the opportunity, takeadvantage. Using thesetactics will give you thetools needed to be success-ful in the late summermonths. Enjoy the extend-ed season!

To contact the authorvisit RiverRatJigs.comI t ’s a scorching hot day

in September and I havejust spent an amazingmorning guiding for trouton the Upper McKenzieRiver east of Eugene,Oregon. Driving back, Ic a n ’t stand the thought ofspending the afternoon bat-tling the heat in town soback to the water I go. Mysister and girlfriend agreeto meet me at a boat launchon the Willamette River foran evening cruise. T h e yshow up with their swim-suits; I have my jig rod.

We enjoy the sceneryand hit a couple deep greenswimming holes to cool offbefore the sun is on itsway down and shade is on

the water. Then it’s time tomake a few casts. I pullthe boat into one of myfavorite fishing spots anddrop the anchor near thebank. As I tie on a 1/16ozpurple jig with a candypink head, a nice late sum-mer steelhead leaps out ofthe water 30 feet from theb o a t !

Excited, I adjust mydepth to about a foot offthe bottom and throw thelightweight float setupabove the boil. The bobberdrifts over where the fishjumped and disappears intothe depths. The battle ison! The fish instantlyrockets out of the waterwith my jig secured firmly

in the roof of its mouth.After a solid 15 minutebattle, the fish finallyswims close enough for mysister to get a net under it.Dinner is in the bag for asummer night barbecue!

WH Y FI S H JI G S?

This experience, andmany others, have taughtme that fishing jigs in latesummer is an extremelyproductive addition to anysteelhead fisherman’s arse-nal. Often during this timeof year the fish are eithervisible because of the lowclear water, or they jumpand let you know wherethey are. The precise lineand depth control of the

float presentation allowsfor nearly hitting the fish inthe face with the jig, andthey just can’t resist.

The jig rod is precise,and more importantly forthis time of year whensummer steelhead spooke a s i l y, the rod can be setupwith an ultra-lightweightpresentation. T h r o w i n gbig flashy spinners or freshbait can detract rather thanattract, so you’ll havemuch better luck with apresentation that sneaks upon them. It’s not hard tomake small modificationsto the rigging of your jigrod to allow for these ultra-light tactics.

ULT R A- LI G H T JI G G I N G

This term means diff e r-ent things based on yourlocation. On the west coastyou rarely see people fishjigs less than 1/16oz unlessthey’re using a fly rod, yetpeople in the great lakesregion rarely fish jigs over1/16oz. Be sure to adjustbased on what is relevantto your location.

I t ’s ideal to have aslightly longer rod.Fishing with “NoodleRods” is very popular inthe great lakes tributariesbecause the fish are veryleader shy. Noodle rodsare extremely long and www.RiverRatJigs.comwww.RiverRatJigs.com

541-954-33561950 Franklin Blvd., Suite #1

Eugene, OR 97403

Don't Leave Home WithoutYour Rat!

Tied on HooksPowder Painted Heads for Durability

Oregon Fishing GuideOwner, River Rat JigsAvid Fly Tier

Dave Gantman

Subscribe to Kype

FREE !with a subscription to Kype Magazine

Subscribe now for one year (four issues) of KypeFishing Magazine and DVD Combo

$39.79US Funds

Includes Shipping Canada: 47.79 US Funds

www.kype.net

Four Season's Fly Shoppe10210 Wallowa Lake H.W.La Grande, OR 97850Specializing in SpeyRods, Reels, and Gear.5 4 1 - 9 6 3 - 8 4 2 0 / 8 8 8 - 8 1 9 - 7 2 9 9

Bob Toman Guide ServiceOregon Sportfishing5 0 3 - 6 5 8 - 6 4 9 3Clackamus & DeschutesSalmon & Steelhead fishing w w w . b o b t o m a n . c o m

Bert's Guide Service& McKenzie River InnFloat down the worldfamous McKenzie River5 0 3 - 5 7 9 - 8 2 3 6w w w . b e r t s g u i d e s e r v i c e . c o m

Oregon

Jig Fishing SeriesLate Summer Part 4

6

BY DAVE GANTMAN

7

limber so they absorbmuch of the shock in therod rather than puttingadded stress on the line.In the east, it’s not uncom-mon to fish tippet sizesdown to 3-4lbs, while inthe west 8lb test is aboutas small as you’ll everneed. Here a standardfloat rod of 9-10feet ismore commonly used.

In late summer I like touse a small adjustable,fixed balsa float or smallclear bubble float thatw o n ’t make a large distur-bance when it hits thew a t e r. For leader of anysize, always use fluorocar-bon when fishing ultra-light tackle.. This materi-a l ’s higher density is lessa ffected by currents, whichkeeps the jig riding directlybelow the float. Also, dueto its refractive properties,

i t ’s virtually invisibleunder water.

Choose a small jigbased on what is mostcommonly used in yourarea. I prefer black, pur-ple, or red jigs for fishinglate in the summer. T h e s ecolors tend to sneak up onthe fish, rather than alert-ing them to your presence.To balance your float,evenly spread just enoughsmall BB size split shotalong the leader aboveyour jig to keep the floatriding at its water mark.You are now ready to fish!

Before casting, take thetime to stop and lookaround your fishing spot aminute. If you can spot afish before you start, it’smuch easier to get him tobite. Casting blind canpotentially ruin yourchances at success. Try to

pitch the jig a good dis-tance above where youthink the fish is located,and then let it drift freelydown through the strikezone.

If you think you are onthe right line but don’t getbit, deepen your float 6-8inches and make anothercast. Continue this everycast until you hook a fishor your bobber starts tolean from the jig hittingbottom. When you hitbottom, shorten the depthback up about 6-8 inchesand continue working thefishing hole. These tacticsalso work well in lowclear water conditions oncreeks in the winter.

Fishing in the late sum-mer or early fall for steel-head can be a rewardingexperience. There is noth-

ing quite like spot and stalkfishing for these metallic,ocean going fish. If youhave the opportunity, takeadvantage. Using thesetactics will give you thetools needed to be success-ful in the late summermonths. Enjoy the extend-ed season!

To contact the authorvisit RiverRatJigs.comI t ’s a scorching hot day

in September and I havejust spent an amazingmorning guiding for trouton the Upper McKenzieRiver east of Eugene,Oregon. Driving back, Ic a n ’t stand the thought ofspending the afternoon bat-tling the heat in town soback to the water I go. Mysister and girlfriend agreeto meet me at a boat launchon the Willamette River foran evening cruise. T h e yshow up with their swim-suits; I have my jig rod.

We enjoy the sceneryand hit a couple deep greenswimming holes to cool offbefore the sun is on itsway down and shade is on

the water. Then it’s time tomake a few casts. I pullthe boat into one of myfavorite fishing spots anddrop the anchor near thebank. As I tie on a 1/16ozpurple jig with a candypink head, a nice late sum-mer steelhead leaps out ofthe water 30 feet from theb o a t !

Excited, I adjust mydepth to about a foot offthe bottom and throw thelightweight float setupabove the boil. The bobberdrifts over where the fishjumped and disappears intothe depths. The battle ison! The fish instantlyrockets out of the waterwith my jig secured firmly

in the roof of its mouth.After a solid 15 minutebattle, the fish finallyswims close enough for mysister to get a net under it.Dinner is in the bag for asummer night barbecue!

WH Y FI S H JI G S?

This experience, andmany others, have taughtme that fishing jigs in latesummer is an extremelyproductive addition to anysteelhead fisherman’s arse-nal. Often during this timeof year the fish are eithervisible because of the lowclear water, or they jumpand let you know wherethey are. The precise lineand depth control of the

float presentation allowsfor nearly hitting the fish inthe face with the jig, andthey just can’t resist.

The jig rod is precise,and more importantly forthis time of year whensummer steelhead spooke a s i l y, the rod can be setupwith an ultra-lightweightpresentation. T h r o w i n gbig flashy spinners or freshbait can detract rather thanattract, so you’ll havemuch better luck with apresentation that sneaks upon them. It’s not hard tomake small modificationsto the rigging of your jigrod to allow for these ultra-light tactics.

ULT R A- LI G H T JI G G I N G

This term means diff e r-ent things based on yourlocation. On the west coastyou rarely see people fishjigs less than 1/16oz unlessthey’re using a fly rod, yetpeople in the great lakesregion rarely fish jigs over1/16oz. Be sure to adjustbased on what is relevantto your location.

I t ’s ideal to have aslightly longer rod.Fishing with “NoodleRods” is very popular inthe great lakes tributariesbecause the fish are veryleader shy. Noodle rodsare extremely long and www.RiverRatJigs.comwww.RiverRatJigs.com

541-954-33561950 Franklin Blvd., Suite #1

Eugene, OR 97403

Don't Leave Home WithoutYour Rat!

Tied on HooksPowder Painted Heads for Durability

Oregon Fishing GuideOwner, River Rat JigsAvid Fly Tier

Dave Gantman

Subscribe to Kype

FREE !with a subscription to Kype Magazine

Subscribe now for one year (four issues) of KypeFishing Magazine and DVD Combo

$39.79US Funds

Includes Shipping Canada: 47.79 US Funds

www.kype.net

Four Season's Fly Shoppe10210 Wallowa Lake H.W.La Grande, OR 97850Specializing in SpeyRods, Reels, and Gear.5 4 1 - 9 6 3 - 8 4 2 0 / 8 8 8 - 8 1 9 - 7 2 9 9

Bob Toman Guide ServiceOregon Sportfishing5 0 3 - 6 5 8 - 6 4 9 3Clackamus & DeschutesSalmon & Steelhead fishing w w w . b o b t o m a n . c o m

Bert's Guide Service& McKenzie River InnFloat down the worldfamous McKenzie River5 0 3 - 5 7 9 - 8 2 3 6w w w . b e r t s g u i d e s e r v i c e . c o m

Oregon

8 9

The ReleaseExperience

BY SID SNOW

Most don’t get it.Maybe your cousin

or a friend was recentlyblown away when you toldthem that you threw a fishback. “What? Then why doyou go fishing if you're notgoing to eat them?” Myneighbor Fred just askedme this question the otherd a y.

Some of us are bornwith nature in our blood

while others seem to beborn with man-made mate-rials. Some hike nine and ahalf miles to camp along-side a mountain stream,others won’t be caughtdead in a tent.

We will awaken at 3:30a.m., drive a few hours andgo to extreme measures toget to the river and notthink twice about it. W h y ?Is it to catch a fish? As you

k n o w, it’s not that simple.We do all this to experi-ence the complete package,from the morning drive tothe river, to the afternoontrek back to the car, defeat-ed or victorious.

A prime example is mysolo trip last winter on theSauk. I found myself chillin’in my truck parked next toa six foot snow bank wait-ing for signs of life andlight. I had arrived wayearly and still had about anhour left of darkness. Ye s ,you guessed it—a restlessn i g h t ’s sleep. The anxious-ness continued as I satthere listening to a staticAM station playing somekind of old rag-time. Ikilled the engine andstepped out into a foot ofs n o w. It was in that instantwhen the magic began, likeI was a little kid in a winterwonderland.

I stood there in thecomplete darkness, sip-ping my cup of joe,observing the sounds andsights above me. Over andbeyond the silhouettes oftowering Douglas Firs,hovered the monstrousgalaxy full of lights. I tooka few steps out into thiswild beauty, hearing onlythe crunching of freshsnow under my boots and

the rushing river in thedistance. Standing there,looking up in awe, therewas nothing else to do butask and thank.

The stars began to van-ish, so it was time to grabthe gear and walk down asnowy tunnel created bythe branches of firs. At theend of the tunnel was a lit-tle honey hole I knew quitewell, hopefully holding asteelhead or two onceagain.

Sitting on a big boulderand taking the first casts, Iwatched the progressiveglow of the eight thousandfoot, snow-capped peakabove me until it dominat-ed half the horizon. What asight!

I continued my drifts inthe prime-time of morn-ing, the anticipation built.I was just waiting for thatstrike, knowing it couldbe at any second. If it doesstrike, how big will it be?That is what fishing is allabout, it’s the anticipa-tion, it’s the quest, theadventure into the depthsof the unknown. It’s aboutthe escape, the experienceand the exhilaration onlya day on the river canevoke.

It wasn’t too many castslater when I set the metal

Fly TierOutdoor WriterWinter Steelheader

into a beautiful steelie. T h efish fought like a champ,but for a time during thefight, the fish dove downdeep and started head shak-ing. I stood there with myrod bent back, pulsating tothe fish’s every move—andit was at that time where itall sunk in and I let out abig “man scream.”

Landing the fish in someshallows near the tail-out, Iheld this fish like MarkMessier was holding thecup in ‘94, with a big olesmile and out of my mind.It was a nice seventeenpound buck sporting a fist-like Kype.

Back to my neighbor,“Why go fishing if you'renot going to eat them?”After that amazing experi-ence, how could I now killthis fish that had lent hiswild essence as my trophy?How could I? There waseven more reward in myreleasing him back into thewild. To watch him swimout of my bare hands andlive another day.

What a rush! The rewardof releasing fish is impor-tant for us to teach ourchildren, because they areanother reason why wecatch and release. Let’smake sure we give themthe proper instructions onhow to release a fish.

One of my top petpeeves is fishermen whomove the fish back andforth in the water. This willnearly drown the fish as hegets pulled backwards,forcing water into the backof his gills. Simply holdthe fish in the current—noneed to move him at all. Ina slack current, move thefish forward, then lift him

out of the water backtowards you, then forwardagain in the water. T h i swill keep the water flowinginto his gills in the same,correct direction throughthe entire release.

Keep an eye on the gillsand make sure they areboth breathing. There havebeen times when fisher-men put pressure on thegill plate in an attempt tofree the hook. The gillplate can get pinchedu n d e r, not allowing thefish to breathe. Unless youare freeing a pinched gillplate, always keep yourfingers free and clear ofthe gills. When the fish

feels like he has somep o w e r, let him kick out ofyour hands.

While my neighbor,Fred, is taking the day towax his car and listen tohis police scanner, it’s timefor me to sit back down onthe boulder and embracethat elevated heart beatand the numbing feeling oftriumph. “I love the smellof mucoprotein in themorning...It smells like. . . V I C TO RY.”

Many of you already know how annoying it is to have snow

building up on your boots as you hike along the river. As

seen in this issue’s movie, Gary was going to great lengths

to avoid snow build-up on his felt soles. He covered the bot-

tom of his boots with duct tape, that obviously did not work.

H o w e v e r, what was not shown on the fi lm, Gary made an

adjustment. He cut stripes in the duct tape, exposing some

stripes of felt. It worked like a charm. The idea is to avoid

a completely flat surface of felt. To avoid using duct tape,

you may want to try cutting a stripe of felt off the boot

( c a refully). Anything that breaks up the constant surface of

felt, will help break up the compiling of snow. You will stil l

get some build-up, but with this technique, the snow will

b reak apart from your body weight making hiking and wad-

ing much easier and safer.

SNOW BUILD-UP ON BOOTS WITH FELT SOLES

The Fly Fisher5622 Pacific Ave SE # 9Lacey, WA 985033 6 0 - 4 9 1 - 0 1 8 1For all your Fly Fishingneeds, stop in to see us

Boggan's OasisAnatone, Wa.(509) 256-3372w w w . b o g g a n s . c o mSteelhead fish on theGrande Ronde River

Steve's Guided AdventuresPro Fishing GuideWashougal, WASalmon & Steelhead3 6 0 - 8 3 5 - 7 9 9 5S t e v e s g u i d e d a d v e n t u r e s . c o m

Steeldreams Guide ServiceSteelhead Fishing on theSnake & Grand RondeClarkston, Wa.5 0 9 - 8 6 9 - 9 6 9 4S t e e l D r e a m s F i s h i n g . c o m

Washington State

8 9

The ReleaseExperience

BY SID SNOW

Most don’t get it.Maybe your cousin

or a friend was recentlyblown away when you toldthem that you threw a fishback. “What? Then why doyou go fishing if you're notgoing to eat them?” Myneighbor Fred just askedme this question the otherd a y.

Some of us are bornwith nature in our blood

while others seem to beborn with man-made mate-rials. Some hike nine and ahalf miles to camp along-side a mountain stream,others won’t be caughtdead in a tent.

We will awaken at 3:30a.m., drive a few hours andgo to extreme measures toget to the river and notthink twice about it. W h y ?Is it to catch a fish? As you

k n o w, it’s not that simple.We do all this to experi-ence the complete package,from the morning drive tothe river, to the afternoontrek back to the car, defeat-ed or victorious.

A prime example is mysolo trip last winter on theSauk. I found myself chillin’in my truck parked next toa six foot snow bank wait-ing for signs of life andlight. I had arrived wayearly and still had about anhour left of darkness. Ye s ,you guessed it—a restlessn i g h t ’s sleep. The anxious-ness continued as I satthere listening to a staticAM station playing somekind of old rag-time. Ikilled the engine andstepped out into a foot ofs n o w. It was in that instantwhen the magic began, likeI was a little kid in a winterwonderland.

I stood there in thecomplete darkness, sip-ping my cup of joe,observing the sounds andsights above me. Over andbeyond the silhouettes oftowering Douglas Firs,hovered the monstrousgalaxy full of lights. I tooka few steps out into thiswild beauty, hearing onlythe crunching of freshsnow under my boots and

the rushing river in thedistance. Standing there,looking up in awe, therewas nothing else to do butask and thank.

The stars began to van-ish, so it was time to grabthe gear and walk down asnowy tunnel created bythe branches of firs. At theend of the tunnel was a lit-tle honey hole I knew quitewell, hopefully holding asteelhead or two onceagain.

Sitting on a big boulderand taking the first casts, Iwatched the progressiveglow of the eight thousandfoot, snow-capped peakabove me until it dominat-ed half the horizon. What asight!

I continued my drifts inthe prime-time of morn-ing, the anticipation built.I was just waiting for thatstrike, knowing it couldbe at any second. If it doesstrike, how big will it be?That is what fishing is allabout, it’s the anticipa-tion, it’s the quest, theadventure into the depthsof the unknown. It’s aboutthe escape, the experienceand the exhilaration onlya day on the river canevoke.

It wasn’t too many castslater when I set the metal

Fly TierOutdoor WriterWinter Steelheader

into a beautiful steelie. T h efish fought like a champ,but for a time during thefight, the fish dove downdeep and started head shak-ing. I stood there with myrod bent back, pulsating tothe fish’s every move—andit was at that time where itall sunk in and I let out abig “man scream.”

Landing the fish in someshallows near the tail-out, Iheld this fish like MarkMessier was holding thecup in ‘94, with a big olesmile and out of my mind.It was a nice seventeenpound buck sporting a fist-like Kype.

Back to my neighbor,“Why go fishing if you'renot going to eat them?”After that amazing experi-ence, how could I now killthis fish that had lent hiswild essence as my trophy?How could I? There waseven more reward in myreleasing him back into thewild. To watch him swimout of my bare hands andlive another day.

What a rush! The rewardof releasing fish is impor-tant for us to teach ourchildren, because they areanother reason why wecatch and release. Let’smake sure we give themthe proper instructions onhow to release a fish.

One of my top petpeeves is fishermen whomove the fish back andforth in the water. This willnearly drown the fish as hegets pulled backwards,forcing water into the backof his gills. Simply holdthe fish in the current—noneed to move him at all. Ina slack current, move thefish forward, then lift him

out of the water backtowards you, then forwardagain in the water. T h i swill keep the water flowinginto his gills in the same,correct direction throughthe entire release.

Keep an eye on the gillsand make sure they areboth breathing. There havebeen times when fisher-men put pressure on thegill plate in an attempt tofree the hook. The gillplate can get pinchedu n d e r, not allowing thefish to breathe. Unless youare freeing a pinched gillplate, always keep yourfingers free and clear ofthe gills. When the fish

feels like he has somep o w e r, let him kick out ofyour hands.

While my neighbor,Fred, is taking the day towax his car and listen tohis police scanner, it’s timefor me to sit back down onthe boulder and embracethat elevated heart beatand the numbing feeling oftriumph. “I love the smellof mucoprotein in themorning...It smells like. . . V I C TO RY.”

Many of you already know how annoying it is to have snow

building up on your boots as you hike along the river. As

seen in this issue’s movie, Gary was going to great lengths

to avoid snow build-up on his felt soles. He covered the bot-

tom of his boots with duct tape, that obviously did not work.

H o w e v e r, what was not shown on the fi lm, Gary made an

adjustment. He cut stripes in the duct tape, exposing some

stripes of felt. It worked like a charm. The idea is to avoid

a completely flat surface of felt. To avoid using duct tape,

you may want to try cutting a stripe of felt off the boot

( c a refully). Anything that breaks up the constant surface of

felt, will help break up the compiling of snow. You will stil l

get some build-up, but with this technique, the snow will

b reak apart from your body weight making hiking and wad-

ing much easier and safer.

SNOW BUILD-UP ON BOOTS WITH FELT SOLES

The Fly Fisher5622 Pacific Ave SE # 9Lacey, WA 985033 6 0 - 4 9 1 - 0 1 8 1For all your Fly Fishingneeds, stop in to see us

Boggan's OasisAnatone, Wa.(509) 256-3372w w w . b o g g a n s . c o mSteelhead fish on theGrande Ronde River

Steve's Guided AdventuresPro Fishing GuideWashougal, WASalmon & Steelhead3 6 0 - 8 3 5 - 7 9 9 5S t e v e s g u i d e d a d v e n t u r e s . c o m

Steeldreams Guide ServiceSteelhead Fishing on theSnake & Grand RondeClarkston, Wa.5 0 9 - 8 6 9 - 9 6 9 4S t e e l D r e a m s F i s h i n g . c o m

Washington State

10

afford an angler the possi-bility of nymphing close, soi t ’s nearly impossible tocover the water well withnymphs. In the East, weteach a method of nymph-ing known as High-stickingor Tight-line nymphing. Theangler uses a nine to twelvefoot leader and literallybounces the nymphs off thebottom directly under therod tip. This requires goodwading skills and a stalkingmentality, and an angler canreally dissect a stream undermost conditions. We use acolored piece of mono, tiedinto the leader for a strikeindicator and several split-shot to get the flies deep.This is not a casting gameand it is rare to have morethan ten feet of fly line outof the rod. This method iseffectively simple and foolproof, once mastered. Itproduces very few foul-ups,even with a lot of weight.Once the angler becomesproficient with it, he or shecan cover a lot of water-very effectively.Far on Top

When fishing dry flies ontop, cover all of the water.Stay away from the fish.Setting the hook with a lotof line out is always diffi-cult, but it’s much easierwhen everything is on thesurface. One of the advan-tages to fly fishing is thatwe don’t have to reel every-thing in to make the nextcast, so take advantage of it.I tell my clients during thehatches to target a fish, andlook to achieve a 3 to 5 footdrift. After the fly is past thefish, pick up and show it tothem again. Don’t try to get

20 foot drifts with a dry fly.Unless you are in an unbe-lievable situation, it’simpossible to do. W h e nprospecting the water withfew risers, cover the mostlikely areas that will holdfish and don’t fish-out baddrifts, you’re wasting time.I know, you can catch trouton caddis patterns skippingacross the water, but in mostcases, that is the exception,not the norm. If you’re in acaddis hatch and the troutare eating those bugs whilethey’re fluttering on the sur-face, then you should befishing them that way. Thisdiscussion is focused moreon the non-hatch-type offishing that we so often findourselves in. Ta rget themost likely holding areasand cover them well withgood drifts, all the while,staying back and away fromthe fish. If they don’t knowyou’re there, they are muchmore likely to eat.

CHOOSING FLY PATTERNS

Obviously, if you haveknowledge of the currenthatches, pattern selection isnot an issue. However, ifyou are fishing unfamiliarwaters or it is a time of yearwhen there’s not muchgoing on, pattern selectioncan be the diff e r e n c ebetween catching a lot or afew fish. I tend to stick withthe basics. I’m of the beliefthat any trout on the planetwill eat a size 16 PheasantTail or Hare’s Ear nymph,any time of year if properlypresented. I would be morelikely to change my weightor my tactics if I weren’thaving success with those

flies. Without knowing anybetter, I would have to seesomething in the water tomake me change my nymphpatterns. Caddis larva andmidge pupae would be mynext choices and I woulduse the standard colors ofbrown, olive, tan, green andcream. In Pennsylvania, wecan fish multiple flies. Iwould begin with a repre-sentation of at least amayfly nymph and a caddislarva, and one would have abead. If I saw that the troutwere all eating the caddislarva, I may change my rigto several stages of caddis.My advise?

Start basic with your flysection and allow the troutto dictate a change.FISH WITH CONFIDENCE

Have you ever had a flypattern that you always

seem to do well on? Manyof us do. It’s because webelieve we’re going to catcha fish with that fly. I tell myclients, expect a fish onevery drift. There is nothingmore frustrating than whenthey tell me that the move-ment in the indicator on thatlast drift was a rock. I wantto say, “Oh well, whenyou’ve spent as much timeon this river as you have, Iguess you know the differ-ence.” But I don’t. Instead,my stomach does flips and Iremind myself that some-time in the next hour theywill get another drift thatmight produce a take. ThenI’ll try to make sure thatthey set the hook that time. If you want to increase yourcatch rate, get more drifts,expect to catch fish, and forGod’s sake, set the hook!

11

Any one can catch troutwhen the fishing is

good. Let’s face it; even themost novice of anglers canluck into a suicide fish nowand then when the condi-tions are right. If one spendsenough time on the waterduring the season, a baddrift, a poor cast and eventhe wrong flies will still takethe occasional trout. We’veall been there and experi-enced this beginner’s luck.But once the techniques andmechanics of fly fishing areachieved, the real gamebegins. The challengebecomes a chess match

between the angler and thetrout. We stand in the river,adorned in gear that costshundreds and in some cases,thousands of dollars. Wematch wits with an animal,whose thinking part of itsbrain would fit neatly, withroom to spare, on the sharpend of a pencil. Intellectualadvantage and superiorequipment not withstand-ing, we still end most dayswith more questions thananswers.

Catching trout consis-tently throughout the seasonis a percentage game, akinto A m e r i c a ’s past time,

baseball. A player that has aslugging percentage of 300is considered hugely suc-cessful, and a lifetime 300average would land him inthe Hall Of Fame. If weland 3 out of every ten fishwe drift our flies over, we’llbe in the Fly Fishing HallOf Fame. Let’s look at someways to increase success onthe trout stream.KEEP YOUR FLIES INTHE WATER

As mentioned above,even the wrong flies willcatch trout now and then.The one place they won’twork is out of the water. Thebest fishermen I know get 2to 3 times more drifts thanthe average angler. T h e yd o n ’t spend their timeuntangling knots, pruningtrees or changing flies.Once you’ve chosen the pat-tern, or patterns you’regoing to fish, don’t wasteyour time second guessingyourself, especially if ittakes you a while to switchrigs. Commit to coveringthe water with your flies andgive them an honest shot. I’ve seen too many anglersswitch flies after ten castsbecause they think theymust not have the right pat-tern on. Be patient and fishthe water methodically, cov-ering everything you can

reach with a good driftbefore you move on. If youget a tangle, or get caught ina tree, rip it out and re-tie.Don’t spend your valuablefishing time trying to untie aknot. Chances are, once thathappens, your tippet hasbeen weakened anyway, socut it and move on. If youhave an obvious lie thatshould hold fish and you’renot moving anything in it,be persistent and cover itwell. If you’re nymphing arun that you know has fishand you’re not movingthem, add weight. I try toget at least three good driftsin every possible place that Ithink should hold a fish. IfI’m nymphing, I’ll makesure I was deep enoughbefore I move on. If thewater is particularly fast, I’llput many more driftsthrough the same area, toinsure that the trout have anopportunity to see my flies.Try to double the amount oftime your flies are in thewater. It will make a big dif-ference.FISH CLOSEUNDERNEATH AND FAR ON TOPClose Underneath

This is a general rule andworks well in waters thatare easily waded across.The bigger waters don’t

Catching TroutConsistently

BY ERIC STROUP

PA & MT Fly Fishing Guide Fly Tier, Instructor Outdoor WriterFounder, Spruce Creek Fly Co.

The First in Fly FishingWellness Retreats

Fly Fishing Wellness Retreats Women, Couples & Executive Retreats

Grant Funded Youth EducationIn School Fly Fishing Programs

Fly Fishing Fitness & NutritionCustomized Programs

Phone 814.632.6129

WWW.SPRUCECREEKFLYCO.COM

Central PA &Southwest

MontanaFull Guide Service

The Guide’s wife, Tracey Stroup, with a nicecatch of her own.

10

afford an angler the possi-bility of nymphing close, soi t ’s nearly impossible tocover the water well withnymphs. In the East, weteach a method of nymph-ing known as High-stickingor Tight-line nymphing. Theangler uses a nine to twelvefoot leader and literallybounces the nymphs off thebottom directly under therod tip. This requires goodwading skills and a stalkingmentality, and an angler canreally dissect a stream undermost conditions. We use acolored piece of mono, tiedinto the leader for a strikeindicator and several split-shot to get the flies deep.This is not a casting gameand it is rare to have morethan ten feet of fly line outof the rod. This method iseffectively simple and foolproof, once mastered. Itproduces very few foul-ups,even with a lot of weight.Once the angler becomesproficient with it, he or shecan cover a lot of water-very effectively.Far on Top

When fishing dry flies ontop, cover all of the water.Stay away from the fish.Setting the hook with a lotof line out is always diffi-cult, but it’s much easierwhen everything is on thesurface. One of the advan-tages to fly fishing is thatwe don’t have to reel every-thing in to make the nextcast, so take advantage of it.I tell my clients during thehatches to target a fish, andlook to achieve a 3 to 5 footdrift. After the fly is past thefish, pick up and show it tothem again. Don’t try to get

20 foot drifts with a dry fly.Unless you are in an unbe-lievable situation, it’simpossible to do. W h e nprospecting the water withfew risers, cover the mostlikely areas that will holdfish and don’t fish-out baddrifts, you’re wasting time.I know, you can catch trouton caddis patterns skippingacross the water, but in mostcases, that is the exception,not the norm. If you’re in acaddis hatch and the troutare eating those bugs whilethey’re fluttering on the sur-face, then you should befishing them that way. Thisdiscussion is focused moreon the non-hatch-type offishing that we so often findourselves in. Ta rget themost likely holding areasand cover them well withgood drifts, all the while,staying back and away fromthe fish. If they don’t knowyou’re there, they are muchmore likely to eat.

CHOOSING FLY PATTERNS

Obviously, if you haveknowledge of the currenthatches, pattern selection isnot an issue. However, ifyou are fishing unfamiliarwaters or it is a time of yearwhen there’s not muchgoing on, pattern selectioncan be the diff e r e n c ebetween catching a lot or afew fish. I tend to stick withthe basics. I’m of the beliefthat any trout on the planetwill eat a size 16 PheasantTail or Hare’s Ear nymph,any time of year if properlypresented. I would be morelikely to change my weightor my tactics if I weren’thaving success with those

flies. Without knowing anybetter, I would have to seesomething in the water tomake me change my nymphpatterns. Caddis larva andmidge pupae would be mynext choices and I woulduse the standard colors ofbrown, olive, tan, green andcream. In Pennsylvania, wecan fish multiple flies. Iwould begin with a repre-sentation of at least amayfly nymph and a caddislarva, and one would have abead. If I saw that the troutwere all eating the caddislarva, I may change my rigto several stages of caddis.My advise?

Start basic with your flysection and allow the troutto dictate a change.FISH WITH CONFIDENCE

Have you ever had a flypattern that you always

seem to do well on? Manyof us do. It’s because webelieve we’re going to catcha fish with that fly. I tell myclients, expect a fish onevery drift. There is nothingmore frustrating than whenthey tell me that the move-ment in the indicator on thatlast drift was a rock. I wantto say, “Oh well, whenyou’ve spent as much timeon this river as you have, Iguess you know the differ-ence.” But I don’t. Instead,my stomach does flips and Iremind myself that some-time in the next hour theywill get another drift thatmight produce a take. ThenI’ll try to make sure thatthey set the hook that time. If you want to increase yourcatch rate, get more drifts,expect to catch fish, and forGod’s sake, set the hook!

11

Any one can catch troutwhen the fishing is

good. Let’s face it; even themost novice of anglers canluck into a suicide fish nowand then when the condi-tions are right. If one spendsenough time on the waterduring the season, a baddrift, a poor cast and eventhe wrong flies will still takethe occasional trout. We’veall been there and experi-enced this beginner’s luck.But once the techniques andmechanics of fly fishing areachieved, the real gamebegins. The challengebecomes a chess match

between the angler and thetrout. We stand in the river,adorned in gear that costshundreds and in some cases,thousands of dollars. Wematch wits with an animal,whose thinking part of itsbrain would fit neatly, withroom to spare, on the sharpend of a pencil. Intellectualadvantage and superiorequipment not withstand-ing, we still end most dayswith more questions thananswers.

Catching trout consis-tently throughout the seasonis a percentage game, akinto A m e r i c a ’s past time,

baseball. A player that has aslugging percentage of 300is considered hugely suc-cessful, and a lifetime 300average would land him inthe Hall Of Fame. If weland 3 out of every ten fishwe drift our flies over, we’llbe in the Fly Fishing HallOf Fame. Let’s look at someways to increase success onthe trout stream.KEEP YOUR FLIES INTHE WATER

As mentioned above,even the wrong flies willcatch trout now and then.The one place they won’twork is out of the water. Thebest fishermen I know get 2to 3 times more drifts thanthe average angler. T h e yd o n ’t spend their timeuntangling knots, pruningtrees or changing flies.Once you’ve chosen the pat-tern, or patterns you’regoing to fish, don’t wasteyour time second guessingyourself, especially if ittakes you a while to switchrigs. Commit to coveringthe water with your flies andgive them an honest shot. I’ve seen too many anglersswitch flies after ten castsbecause they think theymust not have the right pat-tern on. Be patient and fishthe water methodically, cov-ering everything you can

reach with a good driftbefore you move on. If youget a tangle, or get caught ina tree, rip it out and re-tie.Don’t spend your valuablefishing time trying to untie aknot. Chances are, once thathappens, your tippet hasbeen weakened anyway, socut it and move on. If youhave an obvious lie thatshould hold fish and you’renot moving anything in it,be persistent and cover itwell. If you’re nymphing arun that you know has fishand you’re not movingthem, add weight. I try toget at least three good driftsin every possible place that Ithink should hold a fish. IfI’m nymphing, I’ll makesure I was deep enoughbefore I move on. If thewater is particularly fast, I’llput many more driftsthrough the same area, toinsure that the trout have anopportunity to see my flies.Try to double the amount oftime your flies are in thewater. It will make a big dif-ference.FISH CLOSEUNDERNEATH AND FAR ON TOPClose Underneath

This is a general rule andworks well in waters thatare easily waded across.The bigger waters don’t

Catching TroutConsistently

BY ERIC STROUP

PA & MT Fly Fishing Guide Fly Tier, Instructor Outdoor WriterFounder, Spruce Creek Fly Co.

The First in Fly FishingWellness Retreats

Fly Fishing Wellness Retreats Women, Couples & Executive Retreats

Grant Funded Youth EducationIn School Fly Fishing Programs

Fly Fishing Fitness & NutritionCustomized Programs

Phone 814.632.6129

WWW.SPRUCECREEKFLYCO.COM

Central PA &Southwest

MontanaFull Guide Service

The Guide’s wife, Tracey Stroup, with a nicecatch of her own.

first time, it can be challeng-ing to know where to start.The best approach is to breakthe river down mentally.Follow the different currentsand watch how they comet o g e t h e r. Eventually you willstart to see a smaller riverinside the river. Within thatsmaller river, you want tobreak the river down evenf u r t h e r. Steelhead like struc-ture because it gives them asense of safety. Look forboulders, wood, slots andeven small holes in the bot-tom of the riverbed, as theseare all places where steel-head are likely to hide.Watch for darker and brokenw a t e r. These are good signsof a submerged structure ofsome sort.

When swinging your flythrough these likely steel-head areas, you want your flyto entice, yet swim slowly.Try not to fidget and mendthe line too much. You wouldbe surprised to see how muchyour fly moves from a slightmovement of your rod tip.

Give it one mend and let thefly swing.

Many anglers feel theyneed to get their fly as deepas possible. This is good in afew certain situations, but amajority of the time they aregetting it too deep. This caus-es the fly to bounce and rollo ff the rocks and boulders,thus interrupting the way the

fly swims. I firmly believethat you will have more suc-cess if your fly is fished lessdeep than if it's bouncing andcatching boulders on the bot-tom of the riverbed.

When fishing with yourtwo-hander for the firsttime, relax and try not tobecome frustrated. Manyexperienced spey casters

throw a bad cast or two hereand there. It takes patienceand time to learn, so havefun with it while you'relearning. Slow down yourcasts, cover as much wateras possible and just maybeyou will end up hookingthat “gooch” fish and hav-ing an excellent day of fish-ing on the river!

13

Spey SeriesCast & Presentation

BY CHRISTOPHER LESSWAY

One cold and sodden fallday early in my two-

handed learning endeavors,my buddy and I were steel-head fishing the MuskegonRiver in Michigan. We wereboth still new to casting thetwo handed rod and wereboth looking at this float as alearning experience. Since itwas a weekend, there was anenormous amount of boatt r a ffic on the river and wehad to wait in line to launchthe driftboat. We loaded it upwith our gear and headeddown to the first run wewanted to fish. Surprisingly,no one else was there. Iglanced upstream and could

see more boats comingaround the bend, so I jumpedout of the drift boat andquickly got into position so Icould get one cast out beforethen next boat came by.

My first attempt was apoor execution of a doubles p e y, and I had to mend myline before casting again.Then wham, fish on! Firstcast! Now that’s the crazykind of fun I am talking about.As I was fighting the fish,another boat came by. T h eguy asked, “Was that yourfirst cast? Ahh, you’ve got thegooch fish!” When he saw myconfused expression, heexplained that whenever he

caught a fish on the first castof the day, he was unable tocatch anything else all daylong. Hence, “the gooch fish.”

T h a n k f u l l y, I can tell youthis rule did not apply thatd a y. I'm not a numbers guy,but we landed almost a dozenfish that day, not counting thegrabs and lost fish. If youhave never steelhead fishedbefore, those kind of num-bers equal an outstandingday! I'm making two pointshere. One: Steelhead fishingcan be unpredictable.

D o n ’t believe what every-one tells you, especiallyanother fisherman on ther i v e r. Two: Beautiful castsare not always vital to suc-cess. A fishable cast does nothave to be a perfect cast. Goout and have fun while prac-ticing. I was still new to speycasting when I had thisamazing day. My casts wereat times atrocious, and yet wehad colossal success that day.We learned a lot while hav-ing a ton of fun and catchingsome good fish.

Though presentation thatday didn't make a big diff e r-ence, I have had other dayson the river when I couldn'tget a look if my fly wasn'tswimming at the neededdepth and speed. . What Imean by presentation is thecast, the swing, and gettingyour fly to swim at the cor-rect depth. Presentation is the

combination of all thosecoming together. Our maingoal is to be able to step outin the river and make a castwithout even thinking aboutit. We want our casting tobecome second nature so wejust have to wait for a tug onthe end of the line.

I will admit I love towatch a perfectly executedspey cast, as well as breakdown my own cast andwatch how each step helps toset up the next. I want a well-executed spey cast that sendsa tight loop out over the riverto get that grab.

The toughest part of speycasting is putting it allt o g e t h e r. Each step of thecast is dependent on theo t h e r. If your cast starts offbad, it will usually end bad. .My suggestion is to get outand practice. There are somegreat books and instructionalDVDs out there, but there isno better way to learn thantime spent on the water, or alesson or two with a goodguide or instructor. Take its l o w, feel the line loadingand let the rod do the workfor you. D o n ’t become frus-trated. Take the time tolearn the different casts, asknowing a variety of castswill allow you to presentyour fly to fish in almostevery situation.

When you step out in awide steelhead river for the

Michigan Fishing GuideFly Fishing InstructorTube Fly TierOwner, Lessway Outfitters

Amphibian SkinThe Cure for Fair-Weather Fishermen

Completely Wa t e r p ro o f ,Wi n d p roof, Stretchable, Wa rm and Comfortable with a Fleece Lining!


C.D.P.PO Box 2024

Anacortes, WA 98221

Neck Guards Beanies

Wa t e r p roof Fishing Shirt s

$129.95includes shipping

$24.95$19.95

first time, it can be challeng-ing to know where to start.The best approach is to breakthe river down mentally.Follow the different currentsand watch how they comet o g e t h e r. Eventually you willstart to see a smaller riverinside the river. Within thatsmaller river, you want tobreak the river down evenf u r t h e r. Steelhead like struc-ture because it gives them asense of safety. Look forboulders, wood, slots andeven small holes in the bot-tom of the riverbed, as theseare all places where steel-head are likely to hide.Watch for darker and brokenw a t e r. These are good signsof a submerged structure ofsome sort.

When swinging your flythrough these likely steel-head areas, you want your flyto entice, yet swim slowly.Try not to fidget and mendthe line too much. You wouldbe surprised to see how muchyour fly moves from a slightmovement of your rod tip.

Give it one mend and let thefly swing.

Many anglers feel theyneed to get their fly as deepas possible. This is good in afew certain situations, but amajority of the time they aregetting it too deep. This caus-es the fly to bounce and rollo ff the rocks and boulders,thus interrupting the way the

fly swims. I firmly believethat you will have more suc-cess if your fly is fished lessdeep than if it's bouncing andcatching boulders on the bot-tom of the riverbed.

When fishing with yourtwo-hander for the firsttime, relax and try not tobecome frustrated. Manyexperienced spey casters

throw a bad cast or two hereand there. It takes patienceand time to learn, so havefun with it while you'relearning. Slow down yourcasts, cover as much wateras possible and just maybeyou will end up hookingthat “gooch” fish and hav-ing an excellent day of fish-ing on the river!

13

Spey SeriesCast & Presentation

BY CHRISTOPHER LESSWAY

One cold and sodden fallday early in my two-

handed learning endeavors,my buddy and I were steel-head fishing the MuskegonRiver in Michigan. We wereboth still new to casting thetwo handed rod and wereboth looking at this float as alearning experience. Since itwas a weekend, there was anenormous amount of boatt r a ffic on the river and wehad to wait in line to launchthe driftboat. We loaded it upwith our gear and headeddown to the first run wewanted to fish. Surprisingly,no one else was there. Iglanced upstream and could

see more boats comingaround the bend, so I jumpedout of the drift boat andquickly got into position so Icould get one cast out beforethen next boat came by.

My first attempt was apoor execution of a doubles p e y, and I had to mend myline before casting again.Then wham, fish on! Firstcast! Now that’s the crazykind of fun I am talking about.As I was fighting the fish,another boat came by. T h eguy asked, “Was that yourfirst cast? Ahh, you’ve got thegooch fish!” When he saw myconfused expression, heexplained that whenever he

caught a fish on the first castof the day, he was unable tocatch anything else all daylong. Hence, “the gooch fish.”

T h a n k f u l l y, I can tell youthis rule did not apply thatd a y. I'm not a numbers guy,but we landed almost a dozenfish that day, not counting thegrabs and lost fish. If youhave never steelhead fishedbefore, those kind of num-bers equal an outstandingday! I'm making two pointshere. One: Steelhead fishingcan be unpredictable.

D o n ’t believe what every-one tells you, especiallyanother fisherman on ther i v e r. Two: Beautiful castsare not always vital to suc-cess. A fishable cast does nothave to be a perfect cast. Goout and have fun while prac-ticing. I was still new to speycasting when I had thisamazing day. My casts wereat times atrocious, and yet wehad colossal success that day.We learned a lot while hav-ing a ton of fun and catchingsome good fish.

Though presentation thatday didn't make a big diff e r-ence, I have had other dayson the river when I couldn'tget a look if my fly wasn'tswimming at the neededdepth and speed. . What Imean by presentation is thecast, the swing, and gettingyour fly to swim at the cor-rect depth. Presentation is the

combination of all thosecoming together. Our maingoal is to be able to step outin the river and make a castwithout even thinking aboutit. We want our casting tobecome second nature so wejust have to wait for a tug onthe end of the line.

I will admit I love towatch a perfectly executedspey cast, as well as breakdown my own cast andwatch how each step helps toset up the next. I want a well-executed spey cast that sendsa tight loop out over the riverto get that grab.

The toughest part of speycasting is putting it allt o g e t h e r. Each step of thecast is dependent on theo t h e r. If your cast starts offbad, it will usually end bad. .My suggestion is to get outand practice. There are somegreat books and instructionalDVDs out there, but there isno better way to learn thantime spent on the water, or alesson or two with a goodguide or instructor. Take its l o w, feel the line loadingand let the rod do the workfor you. D o n ’t become frus-trated. Take the time tolearn the different casts, asknowing a variety of castswill allow you to presentyour fly to fish in almostevery situation.

When you step out in awide steelhead river for the

Michigan Fishing GuideFly Fishing InstructorTube Fly TierOwner, Lessway Outfitters

Amphibian SkinThe Cure for Fair-Weather Fishermen

Completely Wa t e r p ro o f ,Wi n d p roof, Stretchable, Wa rm and Comfortable with a Fleece Lining!


C.D.P.PO Box 2024

Anacortes, WA 98221

Neck Guards Beanies

Wa t e r p roof Fishing Shirt s

$129.95includes shipping

$24.95$19.95

14 15

“Will thinks he isactually going to

catch some fish, the poorg u y.” These pessimisticwords were uttered by mybrother Ted, a veteran ofwhat we call expedition fish-ing trips, as day one on ourjourney along the PukaskawaRiver came to an exhaustingend. Will, a seasoned troutfisherman and outdoorsman,joined us on this trip with thehigh hopes of reeling inamazing amounts of fish, butwe had yet to wet a line. Ihoped my brother’s remarkw o u l d n ’t prove to be a glumomen of the days to come.

The date was May 19th2008 and we were on thePukaskawa River whichdrains into the north shore ofLake Superior. The smallriver flows throughPukaskawa National Parkand is the most remote water-shed of the Great Lakes.Carving its way throughrugged and ancient rocks ofthe Canadian Shield, thePukaskawa offers glimpsesat wild life such as the rarewoodland caribou, rovingmoose, black bear and baldeagles. The Pukaskawa canbe accessed by a loggingroad after a two hour drivefrom the northern Ontariotown of Wawa. The plan wasto canoe and fish the riverfrom the logging road to themouth where we would then

paddle 50 miles northwestalong the most remote stretchof coastline on the GreatLakes, finish-ing at thenearest road.Our truckwould bewaiting at ourf i n i s h i n gpoint as wehad previous-ly arranged tohave it shut-tled there byN a t u r a l l yS u p e r i o rA d v e n t u r e s ,an outfitter inWawa.

To accessthe greattrout fish-ing, weplanned totackle expertclassed whitewater andc a m p out for twelve days. Agreat deal of planning needsto go into an adventure suchas this, and when traveling ina remote area, help can oftenbe days away. “Plan for theworst and hope for the best”is the motto to go by.

We set out on the rivereager to conquer the rapidsand catch canoe-loads offish. Will and I ran into acouple mishaps early on inthe trip that left us thinkingwe were more likely to catcha case of the sniffles than any

fish. We dumped into thec old water twice on dayone. The first upset was a

good laughfor the othercanoe in ourp a r t y, pad-dled by Te dand long-time friendArie, who inthe past hasbeen knownto quit hisjob beforemissing ana d v e n t u r elike this. The second

upset of theday wasanything butc o m i c a l .While Te d ,Arie and Iare no ama-

teurs when it comes to tack-ling rivers such as this, Wi l lhad not paddled rapidsbefore. So the two of us werestill meshing as a team.While running a tricky rapid,our canoe plowed sidewaysinto a boulder. Will and Iwere tossed out of the canoeunharmed but our canoe wasnot so fortunate. Within sec-onds it was wrapped aroundthe boulder like a crushed tincan. This could have meant arapid ending (no pun intend-ed) to a much anticipatedtrip, not to mention a long

walk home. A m a z i n g l y, A r i eand I were able to move theboulder just enough to freethe boat. Although the dam-age to the boat included abroken seat, torn cover andsmashed carrying yoke, theremarkable durability of theb o a t ’s material, Royalex,proved itself, and the canoeformed back to its originalshape.

That night we worriedabout what dangers may lurkaround the next corner, withour uneasiness fueled by theabsence of trout on our din-ner plates. We fixed up ourdamaged yoke with splintsmade of saplings tied withrope; used snare wire andduct tape to repair the seat,and sewed our canoe coverup with fishing line. With anear disaster already notchedinto our belts, we fell asleeplistening to the pattering rainon our tents.

Day two was a time ofredemption for Will andmyself. Will learned the skilland maneuvers necessary forwhitewater at an exponentialrate, most likely driven bysheer terror alone. Yet terrorw a s n ’t the only driving force,as Will began to feel the thrillof running whitewater. Someof the rapids are just plainfun; we felt the surge ofadrenaline as our canoelunged up in the air. We feltthe splash of cold water in

our faces. We yelled out withexcitement and a strongsense of confidence after asuccessful run. Then we gotto cast into eddies at the baseof rapids which seem toalways hold trout.

Luckily the weather took aturn for the best andremained that way for days.We thoroughly enjoyed the70 degree plus weather, hop-ing it would hold for our pad-dle on Superior, the larg e s tlake in the world. We had allheard tales of peril on thelake, which native Ojibwacall Gitchigumi meaning“big water.” Pushing this outof our minds, we stopped atthe base of a rapid for lunchand took some casts. The endof the rapid created the per-fect eddy line on the rightand the left bank opened intoa pool. Casting into the eddyline, Ted hooked the firstone, a relief after a day and ahalf of fishless unrestamongst the crew. To d a y, thefish were eager to bite, andwe ate several delicious trout

dinners during nights thatf o l l o w e d .

Midway through the tripwe spent a day off the river tofish near an old logging dambuilt some time between1917 and 1930. A m a z i n g l ywe ended up catching morefish in the slow deep water atthe top of the chute asopposed to eddies in andbelow the rapid. We fishedprimarily with #2 Mepps,spinning reels, and fourpound test fluorocarbon line.

One of the fish Will land-ed here is now referred to as“The Speckled Tr o u tIncident.” While fishingfrom the canoe a short dis-tance above the dam, Wi l lhooked a nice one and yelled,“Get the net!” I have to admitthe excitement got the best ofme. I dove to the other sideof the canoe trying to net thefish, and ended up diving alittle too far and went headfirst into the water, shortlyfollowed by Will. Shockedfrom the cold water, I towedthe boat into shore, nervous

that we would be swept overthe old dam. I saw Wi l lswimming to shore with afairly traumatized look on hisface. He was holding his rodand reel over his head, keep-ing his line tight. SomehowWill still managed to land thebeautiful trout and we spent asoggy night drying off ourclothes around the fire.

Unfortunately my rod andreel had found their way tothe bottom of the river duringthe ordeal. Although I had abackup reel, our rod situationhad run into some seriousbad luck. Three rods hadbeen snapped earlier in thetrip so the back up rods werealready in use. That meant Ihad to make a rod out of astick with snare wire forguides. The rod had a nicerustic appearance but thatwas about all it had. Beingresourceful is definitely animportant skill to possess onthis kind of a trip.

Appropriate tackle isanother necessary require-ment for expedition fishing.On similar trips, we had usedtelescoping rods. I’m oftenasked why. Well, it’s simple.I catch more fish when I useone. On this kind of trip, theaccessibility of your rod isthe key. A telescoping rodcan be bungeed to the bottomof your seat or can be clippedin an accessible place onyour canoe. When you seepromising spots like tributar-ies, beaver lodges, pools oreddies, your rod is out in sec-onds and your fish is on theline. If you don’t get a bite,your rod is put away quicklyand you are that much closerto the next fishing hole. Ourarsenal of tackle for thePukaskawa included an array

of spinners, Blue Foxes,Panther Martins and Meppsfrom numbers one throughthree. Gold seemed to be thecolor of choice among thetrout. We also carried smallE.G.B. spoons, a couple ofsmall minnow lures, hooks,sinkers, wet flies, and bobsfor float fishing. Next time Iwould bring rubber leechesas well. Almost all of the bigspeckles we caught had al a rge leech in their mouth orstomach and a couple hadgood sized minnows in themas well.

On day seven Ted caughta beautiful trout using a leechhe found in the mouth of afish he had landed earlier thatd a y. Brook Trout or Speckled

The PukaskawaExperience

BY JIM BAIRD

Fishing EnthusiastExpedition LeaderFounder of :www.canoebeyond.com

Davis Sport Shop, Inc.120 Route 17Sloatsburg, NY 109748 4 5 - 7 5 3 - 2 1 9 8w w w . D a v i s S p o r t . c o mSteelhead & Salmon Gear

Urban AnglerThe Source forEverything Fly Fishing206 Fifth Ave. 3rd Fl.New York, NY 100102 1 2 - 6 8 9 - 6 4 0 0

Orleans OutdoorTackle, Lodging, Guidingand Expertise.1764 Oak Orchard RdAlbion, NY 144115 8 5 - 6 8 2 - 4 5 4 6

E f i n g e rBound Brook, NJ 7 3 2 - 3 5 6 - 0 6 0 4Proudly Celebrating A100 Years of Dedicationto Sportsmen & Athletes

Tight Lines Fly Fishing& East Coast SpeyPine Brook, NJ 9 7 3 - 2 4 4 - 5 9 9 0Spey Classes Availablet i g h t l i n e s f l y f i s h i n g . c o m

New York

Fly Box Outfitters840 Ernest W Barrett PkwyNW, Suite 568Kennesaw, GA 301446 7 8 - 5 9 4 - 7 3 3 0w w w . f l y b o x o u t f i t t e r s . c o m

Georgia

New Jersey

CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

14 15

“Will thinks he isactually going to

catch some fish, the poorg u y.” These pessimisticwords were uttered by mybrother Ted, a veteran ofwhat we call expedition fish-ing trips, as day one on ourjourney along the PukaskawaRiver came to an exhaustingend. Will, a seasoned troutfisherman and outdoorsman,joined us on this trip with thehigh hopes of reeling inamazing amounts of fish, butwe had yet to wet a line. Ihoped my brother’s remarkw o u l d n ’t prove to be a glumomen of the days to come.

The date was May 19th2008 and we were on thePukaskawa River whichdrains into the north shore ofLake Superior. The smallriver flows throughPukaskawa National Parkand is the most remote water-shed of the Great Lakes.Carving its way throughrugged and ancient rocks ofthe Canadian Shield, thePukaskawa offers glimpsesat wild life such as the rarewoodland caribou, rovingmoose, black bear and baldeagles. The Pukaskawa canbe accessed by a loggingroad after a two hour drivefrom the northern Ontariotown of Wawa. The plan wasto canoe and fish the riverfrom the logging road to themouth where we would then

paddle 50 miles northwestalong the most remote stretchof coastline on the GreatLakes, finish-ing at thenearest road.Our truckwould bewaiting at ourf i n i s h i n gpoint as wehad previous-ly arranged tohave it shut-tled there byN a t u r a l l yS u p e r i o rA d v e n t u r e s ,an outfitter inWawa.

To accessthe greattrout fish-ing, weplanned totackle expertclassed whitewater andc a m p out for twelve days. Agreat deal of planning needsto go into an adventure suchas this, and when traveling ina remote area, help can oftenbe days away. “Plan for theworst and hope for the best”is the motto to go by.

We set out on the rivereager to conquer the rapidsand catch canoe-loads offish. Will and I ran into acouple mishaps early on inthe trip that left us thinkingwe were more likely to catcha case of the sniffles than any

fish. We dumped into thec old water twice on dayone. The first upset was a

good laughfor the othercanoe in ourp a r t y, pad-dled by Te dand long-time friendArie, who inthe past hasbeen knownto quit hisjob beforemissing ana d v e n t u r elike this. The second

upset of theday wasanything butc o m i c a l .While Te d ,Arie and Iare no ama-

teurs when it comes to tack-ling rivers such as this, Wi l lhad not paddled rapidsbefore. So the two of us werestill meshing as a team.While running a tricky rapid,our canoe plowed sidewaysinto a boulder. Will and Iwere tossed out of the canoeunharmed but our canoe wasnot so fortunate. Within sec-onds it was wrapped aroundthe boulder like a crushed tincan. This could have meant arapid ending (no pun intend-ed) to a much anticipatedtrip, not to mention a long

walk home. A m a z i n g l y, A r i eand I were able to move theboulder just enough to freethe boat. Although the dam-age to the boat included abroken seat, torn cover andsmashed carrying yoke, theremarkable durability of theb o a t ’s material, Royalex,proved itself, and the canoeformed back to its originalshape.

That night we worriedabout what dangers may lurkaround the next corner, withour uneasiness fueled by theabsence of trout on our din-ner plates. We fixed up ourdamaged yoke with splintsmade of saplings tied withrope; used snare wire andduct tape to repair the seat,and sewed our canoe coverup with fishing line. With anear disaster already notchedinto our belts, we fell asleeplistening to the pattering rainon our tents.

Day two was a time ofredemption for Will andmyself. Will learned the skilland maneuvers necessary forwhitewater at an exponentialrate, most likely driven bysheer terror alone. Yet terrorw a s n ’t the only driving force,as Will began to feel the thrillof running whitewater. Someof the rapids are just plainfun; we felt the surge ofadrenaline as our canoelunged up in the air. We feltthe splash of cold water in

our faces. We yelled out withexcitement and a strongsense of confidence after asuccessful run. Then we gotto cast into eddies at the baseof rapids which seem toalways hold trout.

Luckily the weather took aturn for the best andremained that way for days.We thoroughly enjoyed the70 degree plus weather, hop-ing it would hold for our pad-dle on Superior, the larg e s tlake in the world. We had allheard tales of peril on thelake, which native Ojibwacall Gitchigumi meaning“big water.” Pushing this outof our minds, we stopped atthe base of a rapid for lunchand took some casts. The endof the rapid created the per-fect eddy line on the rightand the left bank opened intoa pool. Casting into the eddyline, Ted hooked the firstone, a relief after a day and ahalf of fishless unrestamongst the crew. To d a y, thefish were eager to bite, andwe ate several delicious trout

dinners during nights thatf o l l o w e d .

Midway through the tripwe spent a day off the river tofish near an old logging dambuilt some time between1917 and 1930. A m a z i n g l ywe ended up catching morefish in the slow deep water atthe top of the chute asopposed to eddies in andbelow the rapid. We fishedprimarily with #2 Mepps,spinning reels, and fourpound test fluorocarbon line.

One of the fish Will land-ed here is now referred to as“The Speckled Tr o u tIncident.” While fishingfrom the canoe a short dis-tance above the dam, Wi l lhooked a nice one and yelled,“Get the net!” I have to admitthe excitement got the best ofme. I dove to the other sideof the canoe trying to net thefish, and ended up diving alittle too far and went headfirst into the water, shortlyfollowed by Will. Shockedfrom the cold water, I towedthe boat into shore, nervous

that we would be swept overthe old dam. I saw Wi l lswimming to shore with afairly traumatized look on hisface. He was holding his rodand reel over his head, keep-ing his line tight. SomehowWill still managed to land thebeautiful trout and we spent asoggy night drying off ourclothes around the fire.

Unfortunately my rod andreel had found their way tothe bottom of the river duringthe ordeal. Although I had abackup reel, our rod situationhad run into some seriousbad luck. Three rods hadbeen snapped earlier in thetrip so the back up rods werealready in use. That meant Ihad to make a rod out of astick with snare wire forguides. The rod had a nicerustic appearance but thatwas about all it had. Beingresourceful is definitely animportant skill to possess onthis kind of a trip.

Appropriate tackle isanother necessary require-ment for expedition fishing.On similar trips, we had usedtelescoping rods. I’m oftenasked why. Well, it’s simple.I catch more fish when I useone. On this kind of trip, theaccessibility of your rod isthe key. A telescoping rodcan be bungeed to the bottomof your seat or can be clippedin an accessible place onyour canoe. When you seepromising spots like tributar-ies, beaver lodges, pools oreddies, your rod is out in sec-onds and your fish is on theline. If you don’t get a bite,your rod is put away quicklyand you are that much closerto the next fishing hole. Ourarsenal of tackle for thePukaskawa included an array

of spinners, Blue Foxes,Panther Martins and Meppsfrom numbers one throughthree. Gold seemed to be thecolor of choice among thetrout. We also carried smallE.G.B. spoons, a couple ofsmall minnow lures, hooks,sinkers, wet flies, and bobsfor float fishing. Next time Iwould bring rubber leechesas well. Almost all of the bigspeckles we caught had al a rge leech in their mouth orstomach and a couple hadgood sized minnows in themas well.

On day seven Ted caughta beautiful trout using a leechhe found in the mouth of afish he had landed earlier thatd a y. Brook Trout or Speckled

The PukaskawaExperience

BY JIM BAIRD

Fishing EnthusiastExpedition LeaderFounder of :www.canoebeyond.com

Davis Sport Shop, Inc.120 Route 17Sloatsburg, NY 109748 4 5 - 7 5 3 - 2 1 9 8w w w . D a v i s S p o r t . c o mSteelhead & Salmon Gear

Urban AnglerThe Source forEverything Fly Fishing206 Fifth Ave. 3rd Fl.New York, NY 100102 1 2 - 6 8 9 - 6 4 0 0

Orleans OutdoorTackle, Lodging, Guidingand Expertise.1764 Oak Orchard RdAlbion, NY 144115 8 5 - 6 8 2 - 4 5 4 6

E f i n g e rBound Brook, NJ 7 3 2 - 3 5 6 - 0 6 0 4Proudly Celebrating A100 Years of Dedicationto Sportsmen & Athletes

Tight Lines Fly Fishing& East Coast SpeyPine Brook, NJ 9 7 3 - 2 4 4 - 5 9 9 0Spey Classes Availablet i g h t l i n e s f l y f i s h i n g . c o m

New York

Fly Box Outfitters840 Ernest W Barrett PkwyNW, Suite 568Kennesaw, GA 301446 7 8 - 5 9 4 - 7 3 3 0w w w . f l y b o x o u t f i t t e r s . c o m

Georgia

New Jersey


16

The Salmon River, inupstate New Yo r k ,

hmmm...so much to say.Before I can get into theschematics of the SalmonRiver fishery, I’d like toexplain how this river aff e c t-ed my life. Because of it, Iam publisher of Kype today.

Growing up on the smallbass ponds and stocked troutstreams of New Jersey, Ionly dreamed of such fishingwhere I could fight themighty salmon runs I readabout in magazines. Ninetimes out of ten, these fish-eries were in the PacificNorthwest and Alaska.

For the time being, I was

content with catching larg e-mouth on spinning gear andtwelve to thirteen inch trouton a small fly rod. As a mat-ter of fact, during 5th and 6thgrade, I was so content withthem, it was my ritual beforeschool each day to go and ripsome lips before homeroom.Perhaps that explains whygirls did not take a liking tome for a while.

Starting about that time,my father and I would set upan annual fishing trip—prob-ably an effort to repair ourrelationship after some toughyears past, due to a familyt r a g e d y. No one’s fault— justcircumstances—and these

fishing trips became the gluethat brought us together,eventually evolving into aclose friendship.

Our trips started withcanoe journeys to someother bass ponds near theNew York border. Purposelyor not, the trips progressedfurther north each andevery year. By the time Iwas in middle school andleading into high school,the trips focused on thefamous trout rivers of theCatskill Mountains, theWillowemoc, East Branch ofthe Delaware, and of coursethe Beaverkill. This is whereI was able to work my fly

rod in a whole new way.Learning hatches, new casts,and drifting techniques keptme occupied for many years.

By time I was a senior inhigh school, my dad sensedthat girls and parties had myattention a bit more thanpaddling down to Fish’sE d d y. He decided to take hisco-workers advice and trythe tributaries to LakeOntario. The first year wefished the Oswego River andseveral area tributaries, welearned quickly that our gearwas way too light. I wasamazed at how big the fishwere, and even more amazedthat this caliber of fishing

17

New York’s Salmon River

BY GEORGE DOUGLAS

was only a five-hour drivefrom my house.

The following fall, 1988,I set foot in the SalmonRiver for the very first time.I found it fascinating that theentire town of Pulaski wasbased around fishing. Nearlyevery business was namedafter some aspect of fishing.Motels, lodges, sport-shops,outfitters, restaurants, clean-ing stations, and even a fewsmoke houses all lined thestreets of Pulaski. T h i r t y -pound king salmon werebeing paraded through thestreets everywhere. As youglanced to the river, you sawa beautiful flow with mon-ster salmon leaping out ofthe water. The fresh fall air,with a hint of hickory-smoked salmon hoveredover the riverbanks and I feltlike I was in heaven.

For the next two years, myodometer spun out of controluntil I eventually moved upthere in ‘91. That was anexciting time, just knowing

that any day, any time, Icould walk down to the riverand lock into some pigs.

Perhaps due to the troutfishing of my childhood inJ e r s e y, I was especiallyinterested in the area creeks.I wore-out several pairs ofwading shoes as I hiked thedistance of every worthycreek in the area. I kneweach like the back of myhand. Carrying a fly rod, I’d

drift egg patterns andnymphs along undercuts,just waiting for that metal-head to swoop out fromunder the bank. For me, wit-nessing that strike was theultimate rush. Flashes of sil-ver would dictate my dreamsand often awake me at 4a . m . — “ Well, I’m up,” I’dreason, “might as well gofishing.”

When the creeks were

l o w, I did the same to theSalmon River. I hiked everyinch of the river, learningevery hole, pocket and run. Ilearned quickly that my flyrod was very effective forsalmon fishing, but the noo-dle rod was the ticket forsteelhead.

Fishing day in and dayout, I began to strengthenmy skills to the point whereI knew I was ready for

Photo # 1.1 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2

1.1

Image ©˙2009 New York GIS© 2009 Tele Atlas


16

The Salmon River, inupstate New Yo r k ,

hmmm...so much to say.Before I can get into theschematics of the SalmonRiver fishery, I’d like toexplain how this river aff e c t-ed my life. Because of it, Iam publisher of Kype today.

Growing up on the smallbass ponds and stocked troutstreams of New Jersey, Ionly dreamed of such fishingwhere I could fight themighty salmon runs I readabout in magazines. Ninetimes out of ten, these fish-eries were in the PacificNorthwest and Alaska.

For the time being, I was

content with catching larg e-mouth on spinning gear andtwelve to thirteen inch trouton a small fly rod. As a mat-ter of fact, during 5th and 6thgrade, I was so content withthem, it was my ritual beforeschool each day to go and ripsome lips before homeroom.Perhaps that explains whygirls did not take a liking tome for a while.

Starting about that time,my father and I would set upan annual fishing trip—prob-ably an effort to repair ourrelationship after some toughyears past, due to a familyt r a g e d y. No one’s fault— justcircumstances—and these

fishing trips became the gluethat brought us together,eventually evolving into aclose friendship.

Our trips started withcanoe journeys to someother bass ponds near theNew York border. Purposelyor not, the trips progressedfurther north each andevery year. By the time Iwas in middle school andleading into high school,the trips focused on thefamous trout rivers of theCatskill Mountains, theWillowemoc, East Branch ofthe Delaware, and of coursethe Beaverkill. This is whereI was able to work my fly

rod in a whole new way.Learning hatches, new casts,and drifting techniques keptme occupied for many years.

By time I was a senior inhigh school, my dad sensedthat girls and parties had myattention a bit more thanpaddling down to Fish’sE d d y. He decided to take hisco-workers advice and trythe tributaries to LakeOntario. The first year wefished the Oswego River andseveral area tributaries, welearned quickly that our gearwas way too light. I wasamazed at how big the fishwere, and even more amazedthat this caliber of fishing

17

New York’s Salmon River

BY GEORGE DOUGLAS

was only a five-hour drivefrom my house.

The following fall, 1988,I set foot in the SalmonRiver for the very first time.I found it fascinating that theentire town of Pulaski wasbased around fishing. Nearlyevery business was namedafter some aspect of fishing.Motels, lodges, sport-shops,outfitters, restaurants, clean-ing stations, and even a fewsmoke houses all lined thestreets of Pulaski. T h i r t y -pound king salmon werebeing paraded through thestreets everywhere. As youglanced to the river, you sawa beautiful flow with mon-ster salmon leaping out ofthe water. The fresh fall air,with a hint of hickory-smoked salmon hoveredover the riverbanks and I feltlike I was in heaven.

For the next two years, myodometer spun out of controluntil I eventually moved upthere in ‘91. That was anexciting time, just knowing

that any day, any time, Icould walk down to the riverand lock into some pigs.

Perhaps due to the troutfishing of my childhood inJ e r s e y, I was especiallyinterested in the area creeks.I wore-out several pairs ofwading shoes as I hiked thedistance of every worthycreek in the area. I kneweach like the back of myhand. Carrying a fly rod, I’d

drift egg patterns andnymphs along undercuts,just waiting for that metal-head to swoop out fromunder the bank. For me, wit-nessing that strike was theultimate rush. Flashes of sil-ver would dictate my dreamsand often awake me at 4a . m . — “ Well, I’m up,” I’dreason, “might as well gofishing.”

When the creeks were

l o w, I did the same to theSalmon River. I hiked everyinch of the river, learningevery hole, pocket and run. Ilearned quickly that my flyrod was very effective forsalmon fishing, but the noo-dle rod was the ticket forsteelhead.

Fishing day in and dayout, I began to strengthenmy skills to the point whereI knew I was ready for

Photo # 1.1 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2

1.1



g u i ding. There was only oneproblem. How would I mar-ket my guide service? Wi t hthat in mind, I started myfirst publishing endeavor—an eight-page newslettercalled SRS, which stood forSalmon River Success. T h emonthly publication eventu-ally became a magazinefilled with local advertisers.

In 1993, I compiled allmy data, research and notetaking from my river expe-riences and published myfirst book, “The CompleteGuide to the SalmonR i v e r.” This original book

has been sold out of printfor a while and is extreme-ly difficult to obtain. Forthose of you who’ve triedgetting a hold of a copy,I’ll be selling one auto-graphed copy via an auc-tion on eBay, beginningNovember 15th. It will be aten-day auction, be sure tocheck it out.

To make a long storyshort, I eventually sold themagazine and headed westto storm-troop uncharted ter-r i t o r y. Those years on theSalmon River were price-less, bringing to fruition my

lifelong dream of becomingthe fishermen and guide Ihad always wanted to be.These many additional yearsexperience under my fishinghat evolved into publishingKype in 2008.

Now to the river and howto fish it...

ON TH E FI L MThere are a few things I’d

like to explain about the filmand the techniques used. Besure to pay close attention tothe section with SalmonRiver Guide, Tom Burke.First of all, notice the type of

water Tom chooses to fish.Most guides and fishermenonly have confidence infishing the major holesthroughout the river. To mknows the river well andputs his clients into thepocket water in between theholes. This in itself is a valu-able lesson, especially whenthe river has high pressure.The fish are migratory, andduring their travels upriveror downriver for drop-backs, they will often holdin the pocket water. Ofcourse not all pocket waterholds fish, but by readingthe water, an angler canoften find some sweet spotsthat will provide seclusionand drifts to fish that are notspooked whatsoever.

The set-up Tom uses isabout as simple as it gets,and that is a good thing. Hestarts with a ten-pound,high-viz mainline. He claimshe is a little paranoid that thefish can see the florescent

green line, so he will run afew feet of low-viz mainlinebefore the leader. The high-viz and the low-viz lines areconnected with a double uniknot. Now he drops down tosix or eight-pound fluorocar-bon leader, a couple feet inlength. The two lines areconnected by a barrel swivel,with a couple of split-shotabove the swivel. Of course,the amount of split shot usedwill vary depending ondepth and water speed.

One tip on split-shot: It isnow illegal for shops to selllead in the state of NewYork, so show up with yourown. It’s kind of likeAmsterdam; you can use it,but you can’t buy it. T h eshops sell Gremlin Greenshots, which are so lightyou’ll never get down. Besure to check the regulationson this subject.

The drift is fairly simpletoo. Cast slightly upriver—enough to where yourweight starts to hit bottomdirectly in front of you. Ifyou cast upriver too much,you’ll get snagged. If youd o n ’t cast upriver enough,you won’t create a longenough drift—so this is veryimportant to get right.

After your cast, reel in a lit-tle slack, click the bail andimmediately put your fingeron the line. The finger on theline is imperative when usinglong, limber noodle rods thatprovide very little feel. Yo uwant to have just the rightamount of weight on so youare tapping bottom every cou-ple of seconds. Don’t dragalong, but tap just enough towhere you know you aredown along the bottom whileproviding a natural presenta-

tion all the way through the tothe end of the drift. You canuse your rod to help it alongand to lift the drift over placeswhere you’ve previouslysnagged bottom.

Now the main questionarises: Can you distinguishthe difference between arock and a fish? T h a t ’s key!Trust me, after some time,you’ll know—especiallyfishing with egg sacs thatoften provide a decentthump when struck by a fish.

When a fish strikes, give astrong hook set! These noo-dle rods are sometimes hard

to bury the hook, as the rodbends so much. This is onemore reason I prefer smalleregg hooks. They tend to zipright into the fish as opposedto a larger hook that takesthat much more pressure tobury the barb. Lately I’vebeen using MustadSignatures, C49S, size 8 and10. It’s a great hook used fortying egg patterns, but worksgreat for egg sacs too.

The next technique tofocus on is the rod level dur-ing the fight. This is a verycritical aspect in attemptingto land these majestic fish on

light gear. When you wereyoung, your fishing mentor

18 19

2.1

2.2

3.1

3.2

Steelhead Lodge & EmpireState Outfitters3178 Rt. 13 Pulaski, NY(866) 948 4371The Steelhead Lodge over-looks the Salmon River

Angler's LodgeFor Those Who Enjoy ASecluded Natural Setting.155 Sloperville RdAltmar, NY 13302(315) 298-6028

Brenda's Motel &C a m p g r o u n d644 County Rt. 48Altmar, NY 133021 mile from Pinneville Br(315) 298-2268

Salmon River, NY

All Season’s Sports3733 RT. 13Pulaski, NY 13142Salmon and Steelhead Gear.NY Fishing Licenses.3 1 5 - 2 9 8 - 6 4 3 3

Fat Nancy's Tackle Shop3750 RT. 13Pulaski, NY 13142Right off the Pulaski Exit.Everything you’ll need.3 1 5 - 2 9 8 - 4 0 5 1

Malinda's Fly & Tackle Shop3 Pulaski St.Altmar, NY 13302Full line of Spin, Fly,Spey Rods and Reels.3 1 5 - 2 9 8 - 2 9 9 3

Salmon River Sport Shop4826 Salina St.Pulaski, NY 13142On Salmon River’s “Town Pool”3 1 5 - 2 9 8 - 4 3 4 3S a l m o n r i v e r s p o r t s s h o p . c o m

Whitaker's Sport Shop and Motel3707 Rt.13 Pulaski, NY3 1 5 - 2 9 8 - 6 1 6 2Check out our web site at:w w w . w h i t a k e r s . c o m

Salmon River, NY






g u i ding. There was only oneproblem. How would I mar-ket my guide service? Wi t hthat in mind, I started myfirst publishing endeavor—an eight-page newslettercalled SRS, which stood forSalmon River Success. T h emonthly publication eventu-ally became a magazinefilled with local advertisers.

In 1993, I compiled allmy data, research and notetaking from my river expe-riences and published myfirst book, “The CompleteGuide to the SalmonR i v e r.” This original book

has been sold out of printfor a while and is extreme-ly difficult to obtain. Forthose of you who’ve triedgetting a hold of a copy,I’ll be selling one auto-graphed copy via an auc-tion on eBay, beginningNovember 15th. It will be aten-day auction, be sure tocheck it out.

To make a long storyshort, I eventually sold themagazine and headed westto storm-troop uncharted ter-r i t o r y. Those years on theSalmon River were price-less, bringing to fruition my

lifelong dream of becomingthe fishermen and guide Ihad always wanted to be.These many additional yearsexperience under my fishinghat evolved into publishingKype in 2008.

Now to the river and howto fish it...

ON TH E FI L MThere are a few things I’d

like to explain about the filmand the techniques used. Besure to pay close attention tothe section with SalmonRiver Guide, Tom Burke.First of all, notice the type of

water Tom chooses to fish.Most guides and fishermenonly have confidence infishing the major holesthroughout the river. To mknows the river well andputs his clients into thepocket water in between theholes. This in itself is a valu-able lesson, especially whenthe river has high pressure.The fish are migratory, andduring their travels upriveror downriver for drop-backs, they will often holdin the pocket water. Ofcourse not all pocket waterholds fish, but by readingthe water, an angler canoften find some sweet spotsthat will provide seclusionand drifts to fish that are notspooked whatsoever.

The set-up Tom uses isabout as simple as it gets,and that is a good thing. Hestarts with a ten-pound,high-viz mainline. He claimshe is a little paranoid that thefish can see the florescent

green line, so he will run afew feet of low-viz mainlinebefore the leader. The high-viz and the low-viz lines areconnected with a double uniknot. Now he drops down tosix or eight-pound fluorocar-bon leader, a couple feet inlength. The two lines areconnected by a barrel swivel,with a couple of split-shotabove the swivel. Of course,the amount of split shot usedwill vary depending ondepth and water speed.

One tip on split-shot: It isnow illegal for shops to selllead in the state of NewYork, so show up with yourown. It’s kind of likeAmsterdam; you can use it,but you can’t buy it. T h eshops sell Gremlin Greenshots, which are so lightyou’ll never get down. Besure to check the regulationson this subject.

The drift is fairly simpletoo. Cast slightly upriver—enough to where yourweight starts to hit bottomdirectly in front of you. Ifyou cast upriver too much,you’ll get snagged. If youd o n ’t cast upriver enough,you won’t create a longenough drift—so this is veryimportant to get right.

After your cast, reel in a lit-tle slack, click the bail andimmediately put your fingeron the line. The finger on theline is imperative when usinglong, limber noodle rods thatprovide very little feel. Yo uwant to have just the rightamount of weight on so youare tapping bottom every cou-ple of seconds. Don’t dragalong, but tap just enough towhere you know you aredown along the bottom whileproviding a natural presenta-

tion all the way through the tothe end of the drift. You canuse your rod to help it alongand to lift the drift over placeswhere you’ve previouslysnagged bottom.

Now the main questionarises: Can you distinguishthe difference between arock and a fish? T h a t ’s key!Trust me, after some time,you’ll know—especiallyfishing with egg sacs thatoften provide a decentthump when struck by a fish.

When a fish strikes, give astrong hook set! These noo-dle rods are sometimes hard

to bury the hook, as the rodbends so much. This is onemore reason I prefer smalleregg hooks. They tend to zipright into the fish as opposedto a larger hook that takesthat much more pressure tobury the barb. Lately I’vebeen using MustadSignatures, C49S, size 8 and10. It’s a great hook used fortying egg patterns, but worksgreat for egg sacs too.

The next technique tofocus on is the rod level dur-ing the fight. This is a verycritical aspect in attemptingto land these majestic fish on

light gear. When you wereyoung, your fishing mentor

18 19

2.1

2.2

3.1

3.2

Steelhead Lodge & EmpireState Outfitters3178 Rt. 13 Pulaski, NY(866) 948 4371The Steelhead Lodge over-looks the Salmon River

Angler's LodgeFor Those Who Enjoy ASecluded Natural Setting.155 Sloperville RdAltmar, NY 13302(315) 298-6028

Brenda's Motel &C a m p g r o u n d644 County Rt. 48Altmar, NY 133021 mile from Pinneville Br(315) 298-2268

Salmon River, NY

All Season’s Sports3733 RT. 13Pulaski, NY 13142Salmon and Steelhead Gear.NY Fishing Licenses.3 1 5 - 2 9 8 - 6 4 3 3

Fat Nancy's Tackle Shop3750 RT. 13Pulaski, NY 13142Right off the Pulaski Exit.Everything you’ll need.3 1 5 - 2 9 8 - 4 0 5 1

Malinda's Fly & Tackle Shop3 Pulaski St.Altmar, NY 13302Full line of Spin, Fly,Spey Rods and Reels.3 1 5 - 2 9 8 - 2 9 9 3

Salmon River Sport Shop4826 Salina St.Pulaski, NY 13142On Salmon River’s “Town Pool”3 1 5 - 2 9 8 - 4 3 4 3S a l m o n r i v e r s p o r t s s h o p . c o m

Whitaker's Sport Shop and Motel3707 Rt.13 Pulaski, NY3 1 5 - 2 9 8 - 6 1 6 2Check out our web site at:w w w . w h i t a k e r s . c o m

Salmon River, NY






to lose a few lures, butyou need to be down deepwith a slow moving lureto give the fish a chanceto react.

Float fishing or bottombouncing works best whenthe water is higher. Manytypes of terminal tackle willwork but I think the bestbait is dime-size egg bagsfished on number 2 hooks.

After awhile, no matterwhat you’re using or howyou present it, the fish willspook or develop “lockjaw” and stop biting—timeto find another, un-spooked, pool.

October is also a primetime for wild BritishColumbia steelhead - thereare no hatchery steelhead inthe whole Skeena river andi t ’s tributaries. Both con-

ventional and fly tackleusers will be in heaven. Atthis time of year the lake isfull of spawning SockeyeSalmon, and the fishing fordolly varden char is fantas-tic. These are big dollys thatweigh up to 6-pounds. Youcan also catch rainbow troutup to 5 pounds. At the endof the lake, where the laketurns into river, it’s jammedwith fish. No matter howbad the weather, this riverremains fishable all year.

Bring that October dreamto reality in northernBritish Coloumbia. T h eopportunities are endless.With coho, steelhead, troutand char along with therugged beauty of remoteBritish Columbia, you canbe certain it will be a trip ofa lifetime.

October DreamingYo Ho! The Coho

20

BY NOEL GYGER

Yo Ho!...that’s the bat-tle cry in the fall when

the coho arrive in north-west British Columbia.October is the time to anglefor both migrating steel-head and coho salmon, aswell as resident cutthroat,rainbow trout and dollyvarden char. Let’s talkabout the coho salmon first.

Yo Ho!... The CohoThey jump. They roll.

They tumble. They wrapthemselves up in your linelike a pretty package. T h erolling and tumbling is acoho characteristic. T h eSkeena river and its many

tributaries have large runsof these Silvers, asAmericans call them.

The first migrating coho,in August, are average size,but larger fish appear laterin October. These “north-erns” are bigger and have adistinctively large hookednose, the northern nose.Even the females have thehooked nose, although notas prominently as themales. The northerns aver-age between 12 and 20pounds, with the odd fishweighing more than 25-pounds. Our lodge recordfish was caught by Jack

Baikowitz and weighed anamazing 27 pounds.

“... A thousand tinywaterfalls skitter down therock faces...”

This is the most non-combat angling area you’llfind anywhere, especiallyin the fall. Many times youwill be the only person inthe pool. The isolatedcoastal rivers near Te r r a c eare only accessible by jet-boat. My favorite river isthe Kasiks where, for 8miles, you wind your wayupstream through mountainflanks that touch the riveron both sides. Slate gray

rock faces confine the riverto a narrow slot.

One basic rule applieswhen fishing for coho: ifyou can’t see them rolling,d o n ’t fish. Presentation iseverything. Coho like justabout any terminal tackle ifi t ’s properly presented ins i l v e r, blue or green. I loveusing the fly rod in a weight8 or 9 or a light spinningrod and reel filled with 12-pound test and a jig as ter-minal tackle. The jig workswell in very clean water,calm or slow moving deeppools where you know fishare holding and you cannotsee them, except for the oddroll or rise now and then.

In shallow, clear water,your terminal tacklechoice should the LureJensen Krocodile or alight thin spoon weighedwith split shot. Use some-thing thin that glidesthrough the water. Itshould be designed to rep-resent small fish that thecoho think are a threat totheir spawning “reds” orarea. Sometimes a spinnersuch as the Blue Fox #4 or5 is the correct bait. T h espinner blades cause it tobe retrieved slowly, let-ting the fish have a goodlook at it. Many peopleretrieve them too quickly.Slow down your retrieve.I know this will cause you

Rob and Jerry with a monster coho caught on the Kitimat River, BC.

In the photo, Float Master Products owner Steven Vorkapich puts hisown creation to good use as he lands this big, winter steelhead. Hisunique strike indicators are made from high-density polystyrene andattaches to your line in seconds using a piece of natural rubber tubing.

The rubber tube acts as a retaining device to prevent the indicator fromflying off of your line and acts an extra shock absorber while fightinga fish. It also keeps the indicator in place where you set it on your line.

To adjust your preferred depth of presentation just slide the indi-cator up or down your line. This takes little effort, especially whenthe line is wet. You can also apply these indicators to a pre-exist-ing rig without breaking down your setup, because it’s not neces-sary to cut anything off of your line. The simplicity remains thesame when it comes time to remove it from your leader. Easyinstructions are included with each package.

They are a perfect match with Knotless Tapered Leaders or hand tiedleaders and also work well with most brands of Braided FurledTapered Leaders.

There are five different sizes in the round shape and five in the teardropshape to choose from. They are as follows, (3/8”, 1/2 “, 5/8”, 3/4" &1”. Float Master c u r rently off e r 17 diff e rent color c o m b i n a t i o n s .

Visit www.floatmasterco.net for ordering information. Made in U.S.A.

SIMPLE TO USE STRIKE INDICATORS THATWON'T LEAVE A KINK IN YOUR LEADER

21

to lose a few lures, butyou need to be down deepwith a slow moving lureto give the fish a chanceto react.

Float fishing or bottombouncing works best whenthe water is higher. Manytypes of terminal tackle willwork but I think the bestbait is dime-size egg bagsfished on number 2 hooks.

After awhile, no matterwhat you’re using or howyou present it, the fish willspook or develop “lockjaw” and stop biting—timeto find another, un-spooked, pool.

October is also a primetime for wild BritishColumbia steelhead - thereare no hatchery steelhead inthe whole Skeena river andi t ’s tributaries. Both con-

ventional and fly tackleusers will be in heaven. Atthis time of year the lake isfull of spawning SockeyeSalmon, and the fishing fordolly varden char is fantas-tic. These are big dollys thatweigh up to 6-pounds. Youcan also catch rainbow troutup to 5 pounds. At the endof the lake, where the laketurns into river, it’s jammedwith fish. No matter howbad the weather, this riverremains fishable all year.

Bring that October dreamto reality in northernBritish Coloumbia. T h eopportunities are endless.With coho, steelhead, troutand char along with therugged beauty of remoteBritish Columbia, you canbe certain it will be a trip ofa lifetime.

October DreamingYo Ho! The Coho

20

BY NOEL GYGER

Yo Ho!...that’s the bat-tle cry in the fall when

the coho arrive in north-west British Columbia.October is the time to anglefor both migrating steel-head and coho salmon, aswell as resident cutthroat,rainbow trout and dollyvarden char. Let’s talkabout the coho salmon first.

Yo Ho!... The CohoThey jump. They roll.

They tumble. They wrapthemselves up in your linelike a pretty package. T h erolling and tumbling is acoho characteristic. T h eSkeena river and its many

tributaries have large runsof these Silvers, asAmericans call them.

The first migrating coho,in August, are average size,but larger fish appear laterin October. These “north-erns” are bigger and have adistinctively large hookednose, the northern nose.Even the females have thehooked nose, although notas prominently as themales. The northerns aver-age between 12 and 20pounds, with the odd fishweighing more than 25-pounds. Our lodge recordfish was caught by Jack

Baikowitz and weighed anamazing 27 pounds.

“... A thousand tinywaterfalls skitter down therock faces...”

This is the most non-combat angling area you’llfind anywhere, especiallyin the fall. Many times youwill be the only person inthe pool. The isolatedcoastal rivers near Te r r a c eare only accessible by jet-boat. My favorite river isthe Kasiks where, for 8miles, you wind your wayupstream through mountainflanks that touch the riveron both sides. Slate gray

rock faces confine the riverto a narrow slot.

One basic rule applieswhen fishing for coho: ifyou can’t see them rolling,d o n ’t fish. Presentation iseverything. Coho like justabout any terminal tackle ifi t ’s properly presented ins i l v e r, blue or green. I loveusing the fly rod in a weight8 or 9 or a light spinningrod and reel filled with 12-pound test and a jig as ter-minal tackle. The jig workswell in very clean water,calm or slow moving deeppools where you know fishare holding and you cannotsee them, except for the oddroll or rise now and then.

In shallow, clear water,your terminal tacklechoice should the LureJensen Krocodile or alight thin spoon weighedwith split shot. Use some-thing thin that glidesthrough the water. Itshould be designed to rep-resent small fish that thecoho think are a threat totheir spawning “reds” orarea. Sometimes a spinnersuch as the Blue Fox #4 or5 is the correct bait. T h espinner blades cause it tobe retrieved slowly, let-ting the fish have a goodlook at it. Many peopleretrieve them too quickly.Slow down your retrieve.I know this will cause you

Rob and Jerry with a monster coho caught on the Kitimat River, BC.

In the photo, Float Master Products owner Steven Vorkapich puts hisown creation to good use as he lands this big, winter steelhead. Hisunique strike indicators are made from high-density polystyrene andattaches to your line in seconds using a piece of natural rubber tubing.

The rubber tube acts as a retaining device to prevent the indicator fromflying off of your line and acts an extra shock absorber while fightinga fish. It also keeps the indicator in place where you set it on your line.

To adjust your preferred depth of presentation just slide the indi-cator up or down your line. This takes little effort, especially whenthe line is wet. You can also apply these indicators to a pre-exist-ing rig without breaking down your setup, because it’s not neces-sary to cut anything off of your line. The simplicity remains thesame when it comes time to remove it from your leader. Easyinstructions are included with each package.

They are a perfect match with Knotless Tapered Leaders or hand tiedleaders and also work well with most brands of Braided FurledTapered Leaders.

There are five different sizes in the round shape and five in the teardropshape to choose from. They are as follows, (3/8”, 1/2 “, 5/8”, 3/4" &1”. Float Master c u r rently off e r 17 diff e rent color c o m b i n a t i o n s .

Visit www.floatmasterco.net for ordering information. Made in U.S.A.

SIMPLE TO USE STRIKE INDICATORS THATWON'T LEAVE A KINK IN YOUR LEADER

21

The last time you wenton a guided fishing trip,

how did you pick yourguide? Was it a referralfrom a friend or co-worker?Was he the only guide thatwas available on the dayyou wanted to fish? Wespend a lot of thought onchoosing our dentist, andwe should spend someresearch and thought onchoosing how to spend ourvacation. With the previousmethods, we could be lend-ing our hard earned moneyand vacation to chance.When you ask your friendwhy he liked his guide, acommon answer is, “He putus on the fish.” Or, “Theguide’s website had a bunch

of big fish pictures.” Theseare both good reasons, buthow was his stream sidemanor? Did he go beyondexpectations? Do you knowwhat are your expectations?

I’ve heard of miss-m a t c hed personalities andguides ending the trip shortbecause they’re at their wit’send. “Pushing through” andpulling out two hours earlydoes happen from time totime. Luckily, almost allpopular fishing destinationshave several guide outfitsserving the local waters, andthis gives you a choice ofwhere to spend your fourhundred dollars.

With the advent of theinternet, we have at our fin-

gers tips, a resource thatallows shopping around foroutfitters that provide guidetrips and price ranges. Butd o n ’t stop there. W h e nlooking for a guide, I try toavoid giving into the hype.A website plastered with bigfish pictures doesn’t do any-thing for me. If you fishlong enough, you’ll eventu-ally get that big fish photoopp. A website is mostimportantly a reference tonames and phone numbers.Let’s take a moment anddiscuss some Q&A o nresearch.

When making arrange-ments to hire a guide for aday, I try to gather three out-fitters and start the phone

calls from there. If you arebooking through a shop, Iwould highly recommendspeaking directly with theguide and not just the salesperson. As a former salesperson, I have taken manyphone calls to book a guid-ing trip from a destinationshop and sometimes had tospeak for the guide. This isa common practice withshops, and should beapproached with apprehen-sion. When calling an out-fitter, ask to speak with theguide that is going to beassigned to you. If he’sunavailable, ask the shop tohave the guide call you. When speaking with aguide, their level of enthusi-asm is the most importantitem. A guide should bemotivated to book youwhile not promising theworld or a boat full ofGodzilla fish. During yourconversation, there are keyelements that any guideworth his salt should ask inpreparation and to deter-mine if he is a good fit.First, what is your skilllevel? This will clue yourguide into types of gear tobring. If you are new to flyfishing, and not the mostcomfortable caster, yourguide may want to bringspecific lines and rodsactions, which may make

A Guide’s Guideto Fishing Guides

22

BY MATT PAYNE

23

E X C E R P T F R O M I S S U E 1Most rain jackets can weigh you down and can be

very restrictive, hindering free motion, which isespecially needed for fly casting, not to mention theannoying sounds the material makes with eachmove, and can be very hot and uncomfortable

Furthermore, when an angler places a rain hoodupon their head, it blocks his or her ability to utilizevaluable senses.

In an attempt to find a solution, I searched diligent-ly for material that would live up to my standards andwould be part of my everyday fishing attire, whetherit is raining or not. It had to be completely water-p roof, stretchable, warm, comfortable, soft, quiet,yet tough enough to endure brush and abrasions.

Finally I was able to create Amphibian Skin whichmet all of these qualifications and more. That is whyI am proud to manufacture and offer this product toour readers.

KYPE WATERPROOF FISHING GEAR

See the ad on page 13

CA Fly Fishing GuideProduction Fly TierOutdoor Writer

your day much easier. Yourguide may even want toconsider floating a specificsection of river to accom-modate your skill level oravoid wind-prone canyons. Second, your guide shouldask you what your fishingpreferences are. T h e s ecould be to fish strictly dryf l y, nymph, or you maywant to make it an allstreamer day. This informa-tion helps prepare for yourarrival, decides what sec-tions to float, may adjustyour float time and adjustyour start time to allow forcatching that late eveningcaddis hatch.. You may evenwant to target a certainspecies of fish. This is ofgreat importance becausesome rivers may only allowa certain amount of an out-fitter boats on a river stretchat one time. Getting on thebooks early for a riverstretch will guarantee a spotbefore it gets filled.

If you are a new fly fish-

e r, the most important ques-tion to ask you guide is if heconsiders himself a “teach-ing guide.” A guide whoclaims to be a teachingguide should have traitssuch as patience and anability to maximize yourtime on the water throughe fficient teaching methods.A good guide will integrateinstruction and tactics onhow to fish the chosenw a t e r. I have witnessed afew of my colleagues (whowill remain nameless)string a rod up and hand itto a client, without even anexplanation of leaderlengths, knots or why thegiven fly will work. At thispoint, the guide is just atour guide stopping at localfishing spots of interest.This may be perfect forexperienced fishers butwould not be suitable forbeginners.

You may want to inquirehow long your guide hasbeen working the river. A

first year guide will be onthe bottom of the peckingo r d e r, and seniority rulesinside a shop. If your shophas one spot open for theday you may be getting thenewbie. This should not bea deterrent, but be awarethat this guide may not havesome of the qualities previ-ously discussed. Giving anew guide your nod willgive him the experience hewants and he’ll be stoked torun you, but he may lacksome of the qualities anewer fisher needs.

Whether you’re lookingfor just a push down theriver or a total fly fishing101 experience, “Knowingis half the battle.” (G.I.Joe) A little back andfourth discussion betweenyourself and the guide willensure both parties willhave a day to remember,and you may even end upin one of those pictures onthe website holding up ahog of a fish.

Elk Creek Sports StoreLake City, PA 814-774-8755 Cast a line from our shop &grab the hottest Flies on Steelhead Alley!

Lake Erie Ultimate Angler3737 West 12th St. Erie,PA 165058 1 4 - 8 3 3 - 4 0 4 0Fishing is our Passion!We want it to be Yours!

Kames Sporting Goods8516 Cleveland Ave. N.North Canton, Ohio 44720Catch it, climb it, hunt it, or ride it, we have it! 800-446-4906

Screaming Reels Guide ServiceGuiding "Steelhead Alley”in Ohio, New York & PA!Call 216-491-9543w w w . s c r e a m i n g r e e l s . n e t

Steelhead Alley- PA OH NY

Freestone Fly Fishing7 1 7 - 3 3 7 - 0 7 3 4 / 7 1 7 - 8 5 5 - 8 0 5 7Fly Fishing for SteelheadSalmon and Trout.South Central & NorthCentral PA Streams

Wet Fly WaterguidesCentral & North CentralFly Fishing Trips. OldSchool with Modern TwistW e t f l y w a t e r g u i d e s . c o m8 1 4 - 3 4 1 - 0 9 4 6 / 8 1 4 - 3 2 2 - 4 7 5 5

Pennsylvania

TheTugistheDrug.com

The last time you wenton a guided fishing trip,

how did you pick yourguide? Was it a referralfrom a friend or co-worker?Was he the only guide thatwas available on the dayyou wanted to fish? Wespend a lot of thought onchoosing our dentist, andwe should spend someresearch and thought onchoosing how to spend ourvacation. With the previousmethods, we could be lend-ing our hard earned moneyand vacation to chance.When you ask your friendwhy he liked his guide, acommon answer is, “He putus on the fish.” Or, “Theguide’s website had a bunch

of big fish pictures.” Theseare both good reasons, buthow was his stream sidemanor? Did he go beyondexpectations? Do you knowwhat are your expectations?

I’ve heard of miss-m a t c hed personalities andguides ending the trip shortbecause they’re at their wit’send. “Pushing through” andpulling out two hours earlydoes happen from time totime. Luckily, almost allpopular fishing destinationshave several guide outfitsserving the local waters, andthis gives you a choice ofwhere to spend your fourhundred dollars.

With the advent of theinternet, we have at our fin-

gers tips, a resource thatallows shopping around foroutfitters that provide guidetrips and price ranges. Butd o n ’t stop there. W h e nlooking for a guide, I try toavoid giving into the hype.A website plastered with bigfish pictures doesn’t do any-thing for me. If you fishlong enough, you’ll eventu-ally get that big fish photoopp. A website is mostimportantly a reference tonames and phone numbers.Let’s take a moment anddiscuss some Q&A o nresearch.

When making arrange-ments to hire a guide for aday, I try to gather three out-fitters and start the phone

calls from there. If you arebooking through a shop, Iwould highly recommendspeaking directly with theguide and not just the salesperson. As a former salesperson, I have taken manyphone calls to book a guid-ing trip from a destinationshop and sometimes had tospeak for the guide. This isa common practice withshops, and should beapproached with apprehen-sion. When calling an out-fitter, ask to speak with theguide that is going to beassigned to you. If he’sunavailable, ask the shop tohave the guide call you. When speaking with aguide, their level of enthusi-asm is the most importantitem. A guide should bemotivated to book youwhile not promising theworld or a boat full ofGodzilla fish. During yourconversation, there are keyelements that any guideworth his salt should ask inpreparation and to deter-mine if he is a good fit.First, what is your skilllevel? This will clue yourguide into types of gear tobring. If you are new to flyfishing, and not the mostcomfortable caster, yourguide may want to bringspecific lines and rodsactions, which may make

A Guide’s Guideto Fishing Guides

22

BY MATT PAYNE

23

E X C E R P T F R O M I S S U E 1Most rain jackets can weigh you down and can be

very restrictive, hindering free motion, which isespecially needed for fly casting, not to mention theannoying sounds the material makes with eachmove, and can be very hot and uncomfortable

Furthermore, when an angler places a rain hoodupon their head, it blocks his or her ability to utilizevaluable senses.

In an attempt to find a solution, I searched diligent-ly for material that would live up to my standards andwould be part of my everyday fishing attire, whetherit is raining or not. It had to be completely water-p roof, stretchable, warm, comfortable, soft, quiet,yet tough enough to endure brush and abrasions.

Finally I was able to create Amphibian Skin whichmet all of these qualifications and more. That is whyI am proud to manufacture and offer this product toour readers.

KYPE WATERPROOF FISHING GEAR

See the ad on page 13

CA Fly Fishing GuideProduction Fly TierOutdoor Writer

your day much easier. Yourguide may even want toconsider floating a specificsection of river to accom-modate your skill level oravoid wind-prone canyons. Second, your guide shouldask you what your fishingpreferences are. T h e s ecould be to fish strictly dryf l y, nymph, or you maywant to make it an allstreamer day. This informa-tion helps prepare for yourarrival, decides what sec-tions to float, may adjustyour float time and adjustyour start time to allow forcatching that late eveningcaddis hatch.. You may evenwant to target a certainspecies of fish. This is ofgreat importance becausesome rivers may only allowa certain amount of an out-fitter boats on a river stretchat one time. Getting on thebooks early for a riverstretch will guarantee a spotbefore it gets filled.

If you are a new fly fish-

e r, the most important ques-tion to ask you guide is if heconsiders himself a “teach-ing guide.” A guide whoclaims to be a teachingguide should have traitssuch as patience and anability to maximize yourtime on the water throughe fficient teaching methods.A good guide will integrateinstruction and tactics onhow to fish the chosenw a t e r. I have witnessed afew of my colleagues (whowill remain nameless)string a rod up and hand itto a client, without even anexplanation of leaderlengths, knots or why thegiven fly will work. At thispoint, the guide is just atour guide stopping at localfishing spots of interest.This may be perfect forexperienced fishers butwould not be suitable forbeginners.

You may want to inquirehow long your guide hasbeen working the river. A

first year guide will be onthe bottom of the peckingo r d e r, and seniority rulesinside a shop. If your shophas one spot open for theday you may be getting thenewbie. This should not bea deterrent, but be awarethat this guide may not havesome of the qualities previ-ously discussed. Giving anew guide your nod willgive him the experience hewants and he’ll be stoked torun you, but he may lacksome of the qualities anewer fisher needs.

Whether you’re lookingfor just a push down theriver or a total fly fishing101 experience, “Knowingis half the battle.” (G.I.Joe) A little back andfourth discussion betweenyourself and the guide willensure both parties willhave a day to remember,and you may even end upin one of those pictures onthe website holding up ahog of a fish.

Elk Creek Sports StoreLake City, PA 814-774-8755 Cast a line from our shop &grab the hottest Flies on Steelhead Alley!

Lake Erie Ultimate Angler3737 West 12th St. Erie,PA 165058 1 4 - 8 3 3 - 4 0 4 0Fishing is our Passion!We want it to be Yours!

Kames Sporting Goods8516 Cleveland Ave. N.North Canton, Ohio 44720Catch it, climb it, hunt it, or ride it, we have it! 800-446-4906

Screaming Reels Guide ServiceGuiding "Steelhead Alley”in Ohio, New York & PA!Call 216-491-9543w w w . s c r e a m i n g r e e l s . n e t

Steelhead Alley- PA OH NY

Freestone Fly Fishing7 1 7 - 3 3 7 - 0 7 3 4 / 7 1 7 - 8 5 5 - 8 0 5 7Fly Fishing for SteelheadSalmon and Trout.South Central & NorthCentral PA Streams

Wet Fly WaterguidesCentral & North CentralFly Fishing Trips. OldSchool with Modern TwistW e t f l y w a t e r g u i d e s . c o m8 1 4 - 3 4 1 - 0 9 4 6 / 8 1 4 - 3 2 2 - 4 7 5 5

Pennsylvania

TheTugistheDrug.com

Trout, as they are oftencalled, are a cold waterspecies and are actually partof the char family along withlake trout. They will stay instreams when water tempera-tures raise but only if theycan remain near a cool springentering the creek. The watertemperature in Superior’snorth shore rivers stay coolall season and the fish can befound in small tributarieseven at the warmest times ofs u m m e r. Rare and giant“coaster bookies” (brooktrout that live in the lake andspawn in the river) lie shortdistances from river mouthsin the ice cold water ofS u p e r i o r, waiting to run upriver come fall.

As we progressed towardthe lake we came to a conun-drum called Ringham’sG o rge. This long and deepcanyon is filled with nastyrapids that can be run byskilled paddlers at some

water levels, but it demandsextensive scouting. T h esafest and most practicalthing to do here would beportage. The only problem isthat the portage follows whatappears to be no more than agame trail stretching on forover two miles throughrugged and muddy terrain.One might almost be inclinedto think it would be better todie running the gorge thantackle the dreaded “two pantsportage.” We decided to gothe safest route and portage.After the first exhausting tripdouble packing we wentback for our eighty poundcanoes. Will went ahead withthe remaining gear as Idragged my canoe using a

tumpline (a strap that goesacross your forehead). Te dand Arie handled the otherboat.

About halfway throughthe second trip an exhaustedTed asked “Why do youthink it’s called Two PantsPortage?”

Arie, looking surly withsweat poring down his face,said, “Maybe it’s because it’sso hard you soil your pantsout of exhaustion.” On com-pletion, the portage took atotal of six hours. We werestarting to realize why morepeople don’t take advantageof the “wonders” this riverhas to off e r.

Paddling out on to LakeS u p e r i o r, we were greeted bythe spectacular rock cliff s ,coves and caves along thenorth shore. We had givenourselves four days to com-plete the 50 mile paddle backto our truck. Stopping atCascade Falls, which poursdirectly into the lake, we sawmultiple species of fish. Icaught a big Pike at the fallsusing my wooden rod andWill hooked a rainbow thatgot off at the last second. Onthis day the lake was so calm,it seemed surreal as westared across its seeminglyendless reaches to the hori-zon. So far, we had been for-tunate to experience hightemperatures. Now however,as our journey came to an

end, the weather and ourfood supply both took adownward turn.

On the second to last dayof our adventure the weathershifted; it was cold andw i n d y. When we stopped ona beach for lunch, we alsorealized that our food supplywas dwindling. What we had

2524

DAVID FRASSINELLI

The Kype ViseMissing Link Stone

The Stonefly is one of themost common hatches

to accommodate nymphfishermen. They are presentmuch of the year on GreatLake tributaries, includingsome winter months. Yo uwill find some stone flyhatches out west, but not aspredominantly as in the east.

Many times fly fisher-men must go to great

lengths to discover whichaquatic insects are crawlingthe river’s bottom. Siftingthe river with a mesh netwill capture these underwa-ter allies, tipping off theangler about what the fishare feeding on.

Unlike many other hatch-es, the presence of stone

flies is fairly obvious.Simply pick up some larg e r,course rocks sitting in aninch of water, and observethe bugs under the rock.Before picking up your tenthrock, you should see somestone flies crawling around.

There is no mistaking thes t o n e f l y. The fork like tail

is a dead give-away. Noticethe size and color of the

stoneflies, this is equallyimportant. Once size andcolor are established,yourjob is to present that fly tothe steelhead or trout youare pursuing.

One of the fly tier’s maingoal is to make these flies

appear crunchy! Many timesa wing burner or a larva lacebody will provide suchappearance, but look no fur-ther than the Missing LinkStone Fly, the crunchiestimitation fish will ever see.Not only crunchy, the chainwill give your fly that extrabit of weight needed to getdown in the water column.

Be sure to tie diff e r e n tsizes from size 14 to 8,

and also a variety of colorcombinations, mostly brownand black stones with white,black, tan, and red biots.

NJ Fishing GuideProfessional Fly TierCreator “Missing Link

Fly Series”

Start with seven links ofmedium bead chain. Removeone bead. This is done bycrushing and opening theseam in the ball link, andpulling away from the con-necting post. Flush cut plierswork well for this task.

The biot tails are to be flaredby building up thread to acone shape. Draw the sides ofthe biot against the last link.Be sure you don’t tighten thevise too much. Start with along tag of thread, use lightpressure as you start yourwraps until you know thepost is tight and won’t spin.Tie in the biots side by side,then use the appropriate linksof the chain.

Behind the first link add asmall amount of dubbing,then tie in turkey quill for awing case and the goose bioton each side. Add a littlemore dubbing, fold overwing case, and tie them back.To form the second wing pad,add more dubbing and onemore biot on each side. Tie inpalmer soft hackle or add a3rd biot to each side. Pullover wing case, tie down, andtrim. Add a peacock collar.Tie off .

Bead chain comes in 4 com-mon sizes and finishes silver,bronze, gold, and black. A n yshort shank hook will do. A negg hook or scud hook isfine. Sizes 8-14. Use dubbingcolors to suite your needs.

Tying Instructions

The Traditional S p o r t s m a n814 Main St. Lewiston, ID2 0 8 - 7 4 6 - 6 6 8 8t h e t r a d i t i o n a l s p o r t s m a n . c o m

The Humble Fly1183 Sheridan Ave.Cody, WY"home to thousands oflonely trout"3 0 7 - 5 8 7 - 2 7 5 7

C r o s s C u r r e n t s326 N. Jackson StreetHelena, Montana 596014 0 6 - 4 4 9 - 2 2 9 2The Friendly Fly FishingE x p e r t s

The Complete Fly FisherWise River,MT 866.832.3175Five star diningPrivate riverside lodgingGreat Montana fly fishing!w w w . c o m p l e t e f l y f i s h e r . c o m

Spotted Bear Ranchin Whitefish MontanaWhere the Adventure Begins(800) 223-4333Orvis Endorsed Fly FishingLodge & Expedition

Montana, Idaho, Wyoming

Tahoe Fly Fishing Outfitters2705 Lake Tahoe BlvdSouth Lake Tahoe, CAReserve a Fly Trip Today!5 3 0 - 5 4 1 - 8 2 0 8

Nevada City Anglers417 Broad St # CNevada City, CA 95959Guided Float Trips on Feather & Yuba Rivers5 3 0 - 4 7 8 - 9 3 0 1

Cast River Guide ServiceS t e e l h e a d * S a l m o n * T r o u tFishing N Cali & S Oregon(707) 487-CAST (2278)w w w . s m i t h r i v e r f i s h i n g . c o mI fish From Dusk’till Dawn

Sierra DriftersGuide ServiceYear round drift boatsGuiding Eastern Sierra(760) 935-4250w w w . s i e r r a d r i f t e r s . c o m

California

PukaskawaFROM PAGE 15


Trout, as they are oftencalled, are a cold waterspecies and are actually partof the char family along withlake trout. They will stay instreams when water tempera-tures raise but only if theycan remain near a cool springentering the creek. The watertemperature in Superior’snorth shore rivers stay coolall season and the fish can befound in small tributarieseven at the warmest times ofs u m m e r. Rare and giant“coaster bookies” (brooktrout that live in the lake andspawn in the river) lie shortdistances from river mouthsin the ice cold water ofS u p e r i o r, waiting to run upriver come fall.

As we progressed towardthe lake we came to a conun-drum called Ringham’sG o rge. This long and deepcanyon is filled with nastyrapids that can be run byskilled paddlers at some

water levels, but it demandsextensive scouting. T h esafest and most practicalthing to do here would beportage. The only problem isthat the portage follows whatappears to be no more than agame trail stretching on forover two miles throughrugged and muddy terrain.One might almost be inclinedto think it would be better todie running the gorge thantackle the dreaded “two pantsportage.” We decided to gothe safest route and portage.After the first exhausting tripdouble packing we wentback for our eighty poundcanoes. Will went ahead withthe remaining gear as Idragged my canoe using a

tumpline (a strap that goesacross your forehead). Te dand Arie handled the otherboat.

About halfway throughthe second trip an exhaustedTed asked “Why do youthink it’s called Two PantsPortage?”

Arie, looking surly withsweat poring down his face,said, “Maybe it’s because it’sso hard you soil your pantsout of exhaustion.” On com-pletion, the portage took atotal of six hours. We werestarting to realize why morepeople don’t take advantageof the “wonders” this riverhas to off e r.

Paddling out on to LakeS u p e r i o r, we were greeted bythe spectacular rock cliff s ,coves and caves along thenorth shore. We had givenourselves four days to com-plete the 50 mile paddle backto our truck. Stopping atCascade Falls, which poursdirectly into the lake, we sawmultiple species of fish. Icaught a big Pike at the fallsusing my wooden rod andWill hooked a rainbow thatgot off at the last second. Onthis day the lake was so calm,it seemed surreal as westared across its seeminglyendless reaches to the hori-zon. So far, we had been for-tunate to experience hightemperatures. Now however,as our journey came to an

end, the weather and ourfood supply both took adownward turn.

On the second to last dayof our adventure the weathershifted; it was cold andw i n d y. When we stopped ona beach for lunch, we alsorealized that our food supplywas dwindling. What we had

2524

DAVID FRASSINELLI

The Kype ViseMissing Link Stone

The Stonefly is one of themost common hatches

to accommodate nymphfishermen. They are presentmuch of the year on GreatLake tributaries, includingsome winter months. Yo uwill find some stone flyhatches out west, but not aspredominantly as in the east.

Many times fly fisher-men must go to great

lengths to discover whichaquatic insects are crawlingthe river’s bottom. Siftingthe river with a mesh netwill capture these underwa-ter allies, tipping off theangler about what the fishare feeding on.

Unlike many other hatch-es, the presence of stone

flies is fairly obvious.Simply pick up some larg e r,course rocks sitting in aninch of water, and observethe bugs under the rock.Before picking up your tenthrock, you should see somestone flies crawling around.

There is no mistaking thes t o n e f l y. The fork like tail

is a dead give-away. Noticethe size and color of the

stoneflies, this is equallyimportant. Once size andcolor are established,yourjob is to present that fly tothe steelhead or trout youare pursuing.

One of the fly tier’s maingoal is to make these flies

appear crunchy! Many timesa wing burner or a larva lacebody will provide suchappearance, but look no fur-ther than the Missing LinkStone Fly, the crunchiestimitation fish will ever see.Not only crunchy, the chainwill give your fly that extrabit of weight needed to getdown in the water column.

Be sure to tie diff e r e n tsizes from size 14 to 8,

and also a variety of colorcombinations, mostly brownand black stones with white,black, tan, and red biots.

NJ Fishing GuideProfessional Fly TierCreator “Missing Link

Fly Series”

Start with seven links ofmedium bead chain. Removeone bead. This is done bycrushing and opening theseam in the ball link, andpulling away from the con-necting post. Flush cut plierswork well for this task.

The biot tails are to be flaredby building up thread to acone shape. Draw the sides ofthe biot against the last link.Be sure you don’t tighten thevise too much. Start with along tag of thread, use lightpressure as you start yourwraps until you know thepost is tight and won’t spin.Tie in the biots side by side,then use the appropriate linksof the chain.

Behind the first link add asmall amount of dubbing,then tie in turkey quill for awing case and the goose bioton each side. Add a littlemore dubbing, fold overwing case, and tie them back.To form the second wing pad,add more dubbing and onemore biot on each side. Tie inpalmer soft hackle or add a3rd biot to each side. Pullover wing case, tie down, andtrim. Add a peacock collar.Tie off .

Bead chain comes in 4 com-mon sizes and finishes silver,bronze, gold, and black. A n yshort shank hook will do. A negg hook or scud hook isfine. Sizes 8-14. Use dubbingcolors to suite your needs.

Tying Instructions

The Traditional S p o r t s m a n814 Main St. Lewiston, ID2 0 8 - 7 4 6 - 6 6 8 8t h e t r a d i t i o n a l s p o r t s m a n . c o m

The Humble Fly1183 Sheridan Ave.Cody, WY"home to thousands oflonely trout"3 0 7 - 5 8 7 - 2 7 5 7

C r o s s C u r r e n t s326 N. Jackson StreetHelena, Montana 596014 0 6 - 4 4 9 - 2 2 9 2The Friendly Fly FishingE x p e r t s

The Complete Fly FisherWise River,MT 866.832.3175Five star diningPrivate riverside lodgingGreat Montana fly fishing!w w w . c o m p l e t e f l y f i s h e r . c o m

Spotted Bear Ranchin Whitefish MontanaWhere the Adventure Begins(800) 223-4333Orvis Endorsed Fly FishingLodge & Expedition

Montana, Idaho, Wyoming

Tahoe Fly Fishing Outfitters2705 Lake Tahoe BlvdSouth Lake Tahoe, CAReserve a Fly Trip Today!5 3 0 - 5 4 1 - 8 2 0 8

Nevada City Anglers417 Broad St # CNevada City, CA 95959Guided Float Trips on Feather & Yuba Rivers5 3 0 - 4 7 8 - 9 3 0 1

Cast River Guide ServiceS t e e l h e a d * S a l m o n * T r o u tFishing N Cali & S Oregon(707) 487-CAST (2278)w w w . s m i t h r i v e r f i s h i n g . c o mI fish From Dusk’till Dawn

Sierra DriftersGuide ServiceYear round drift boatsGuiding Eastern Sierra(760) 935-4250w w w . s i e r r a d r i f t e r s . c o m

California



26 27

With that feat under mybelt, I decided to bust out thebig guns and camera tobegin looking for whatKodiak is known for: bigbrown bears. I drove out tothe American River andwalked along the river’sedge. A few miles into myadventure, I happened upona strange and out-of-placel a rge clump of brown dirt inthe midst of dry river bedsand dense alders. I lookeddown while stepping over afallen tree. When I lookedup again, I’m sure my eyesgrew to the size of pie plateswhile my body and brainimmediately went intoshock. An impressive cre-ative, that I awoke from hisnap, stood a short 30 feetfrom me! At that point I did-n ’t know to do; grab mycamera, gun or my heart.The large boar made a huffand snort, which pushed meinto action. I slowly backedup over the fallen cotton-wood, trying to stand tall butfeeling like the size of anant. After quickly collectingmy nerves, I brought mycamera to my eye and start-ed tapping on the shutterrelease until the roll wase m p t y.L a t e r, I was ecstatic when Ipicked up the developedfilm, but when I opened thephotos I had to squint ateach picture to decipher thebear in all the blurriness. Ihad been shaking so violent-ly while taking the shots thatnot one of them came outwell. After developing afew more blurry rolls, Idecided to purchase a newlens with a solid image sta-

b i l i z e r. Since then it’s helpedme conquer many nerve-racking situations and evena few mornings when I hadone too many cups of coff e e .I knew someday that my sin-gle lifestyle comprised offish, cup-o-noodles, and mycamper would come to anend, and it came to a refresh-ing one when I met my girl-friend and the new foundfreedom of a house with allthe amenities that my homeon wheels had lacked.(Kadie, by the way, can set afly under any overhangingb u s h . )

After fishing my waythrough two years, I noticedthat no one was guiding. Iknew that this was myo p p o r t u n i t y. With over 25years of fly fishing experi-ence and a knack for gettingalong with all kinds of peo-ple, I launched MemoryMakers. My tour and guideservice provides flexibility,comfortable transportationand everything needed for afull day of excitement. NowI get to share what I lovewith others.

Now entering my fourth

year of business, I’ve hit mystride. I take pleasure inwatching my clients hook &land fish day after day, whilekeeping a watchful eye overmy shoulder for the everpresent brown furry fisher-man. Many of my clientsh a v e n ’t fished before soevery fish landed can betheir first, biggest, and mostexciting. With such easyaccess to so many riverspacked with pinks, dolliesand silvers, sometimes evena novice can land 30 fish ina day!

Watching my clientstakes me back to the days ofvacationing fishing thebeaver ponds of Wy o m i n gwith my dad. Catching bigbrook trout with fat nightcrawlers and bobbers begana lifetime centered on fish-ing. I tried for the occasion-al pan fish and bass inColorado but alwaysreturned to the trout I lovedmost. My first fly rod camein 1984 and opened up awhole new world of fishingbliss at high mountain lakesfor cutthroat and at rivers formonster trout in blue ribbon

and gold medal waters. I’d cultivated my style

over the years and driftingnymphs became my special-t y. I have landed a 15lb.rainbow on 4 lb test andcaught dozens of wild troutdeep in the heart of theBlack Canyon. I was thesecond person in the countyto own a single man pon-toon/poach boat. All of thisstemmed from those vaca-tions with my dad, and theelectrical charge sparked bya fish on the other end of theline. Now I can help ignite asimilar passion for fishingand the outdoors in myclients. Four years into thebusiness and over 3500 fishlanded, my move to A l a s k aand Kodiak has turned out tobe the best decision I’veever made. The island life isthe life for me.

BY DAKE SCHMIDT

My hopes for a new lifein Kodiak ran high

with the thoughts of newrivers to fish, new people tomeet and close encountersof the brown furry kind. As Iunloaded my truck from theAlaska Marine HighwaySystem ferry, I felt inspiredby a new kind of wildness inthe air. Ocean views wereeverywhere and the salty airfilled my lungs. Anxious foradventure, I decided that theisland life was the life forme.

I first drove around to geta feel for the area. Kodiak’sroad system is comprised of

less than 100 miles of pave-ment but this crosses over15 fishable rivers and creeksrunning with gin clear water.As in Homer, I quicklyfound a restaurant job thatwould keep me fed and thena secret spot tucked away bythe Buskin River to callhome—that is until a visitfrom the US Coast GuardMilitary Police and talk ofillegal camping. Mayberespect for the militaryprompted me to comply, orthe threat of losing my priv-ileges to fish the BuskinR i v e r, or anywhere elseowned by the Coast Guard. I

could tell my free campingdays were drawing to an endand I had to get a camper. Iknew only one way to calmmy nerves and brain afterthat. Fish on!

Late May meant thereturn of sockeye in theBuskin River and a brandnew chapter in my fishingjournal. I was ready for avictory! Armed with myAlaskan-ized fishing tech-niques, I marched throughthe trees until I reached whatthe locals call the “pumphouse hole.” I arrived readyfor anything - anything, thatis, except three solid days of

defeat with no fish blood onmy hands and no fillets inmy cooler. I drove into townand enlisted the help of thef i s h i n ’ fools at Mack’s SportShop. Feeling better pre-pared with my new pair ofpolarized glasses and a bagfull of other munitions, Iheaded back to the Buskin tofinish what I started.

On the river, an unexpect-ed strike almost pulled myweapon right out of my hand.The fish proceeded to ripstraight down the swollenriver and into risky rapids. Iwas determined to not breako ff my first fish on Kodiak,so I threw caution and safetyinto the quickly movingwater and followed down-stream. Fighting the currentfelt like performing ballet;my toes were the only thingtapping across unfamiliarmoss covered rock. The swiftcurrent twisted my body incontorted positions. All thewhile, the fish kept steadypressure on my line with 75feet of backing stripped offmy reel. I crossed the battle-ground and closed the dis-tance quickly, recovering mybright orange backing. I evenhad most of my fly line insight. It took fifteen minutesof back and forth actionbefore I reigned victorious.Sweet sockeye victory.

Alaska BoundAnglers Journey, Part 2

Dake and girlfriend, Kadie Walsh with a day to remember.

Alaskan Fishing GuideOutdoor PhotographerO w n e r, Memory Makers

Tour and Guide Serv i c e

Dake Schmidt

ERUPTING SCENT FORMULA


Anacortes, WA 98221

$12.95US Funds

$12.95US FundsIncludes shipping to USA-Canada

Order atKype.net

Mack's Sport Shop212 Lower Mill Bay Rd.Kodiak, Alaska 996159 0 7 - 4 8 6 - 4 2 7 6SHOP ONLINE!w w w . m a c k s s p o r t s h o p . c o m

Alaska River AdventuresLodge & Guide ServiceAlaska’s Upper KenaiRiver & Kasilof Rivera l a s k a r i v e r a d v e n t u r e s . c o m1 - 8 8 8 - 8 3 6 - 9 0 2 7

Alaska

26 27

With that feat under mybelt, I decided to bust out thebig guns and camera tobegin looking for whatKodiak is known for: bigbrown bears. I drove out tothe American River andwalked along the river’sedge. A few miles into myadventure, I happened upona strange and out-of-placel a rge clump of brown dirt inthe midst of dry river bedsand dense alders. I lookeddown while stepping over afallen tree. When I lookedup again, I’m sure my eyesgrew to the size of pie plateswhile my body and brainimmediately went intoshock. An impressive cre-ative, that I awoke from hisnap, stood a short 30 feetfrom me! At that point I did-n ’t know to do; grab mycamera, gun or my heart.The large boar made a huffand snort, which pushed meinto action. I slowly backedup over the fallen cotton-wood, trying to stand tall butfeeling like the size of anant. After quickly collectingmy nerves, I brought mycamera to my eye and start-ed tapping on the shutterrelease until the roll wase m p t y.L a t e r, I was ecstatic when Ipicked up the developedfilm, but when I opened thephotos I had to squint ateach picture to decipher thebear in all the blurriness. Ihad been shaking so violent-ly while taking the shots thatnot one of them came outwell. After developing afew more blurry rolls, Idecided to purchase a newlens with a solid image sta-

b i l i z e r. Since then it’s helpedme conquer many nerve-racking situations and evena few mornings when I hadone too many cups of coff e e .I knew someday that my sin-gle lifestyle comprised offish, cup-o-noodles, and mycamper would come to anend, and it came to a refresh-ing one when I met my girl-friend and the new foundfreedom of a house with allthe amenities that my homeon wheels had lacked.(Kadie, by the way, can set afly under any overhangingb u s h . )

After fishing my waythrough two years, I noticedthat no one was guiding. Iknew that this was myo p p o r t u n i t y. With over 25years of fly fishing experi-ence and a knack for gettingalong with all kinds of peo-ple, I launched MemoryMakers. My tour and guideservice provides flexibility,comfortable transportationand everything needed for afull day of excitement. NowI get to share what I lovewith others.

Now entering my fourth

year of business, I’ve hit mystride. I take pleasure inwatching my clients hook &land fish day after day, whilekeeping a watchful eye overmy shoulder for the everpresent brown furry fisher-man. Many of my clientsh a v e n ’t fished before soevery fish landed can betheir first, biggest, and mostexciting. With such easyaccess to so many riverspacked with pinks, dolliesand silvers, sometimes evena novice can land 30 fish ina day!

Watching my clientstakes me back to the days ofvacationing fishing thebeaver ponds of Wy o m i n gwith my dad. Catching bigbrook trout with fat nightcrawlers and bobbers begana lifetime centered on fish-ing. I tried for the occasion-al pan fish and bass inColorado but alwaysreturned to the trout I lovedmost. My first fly rod camein 1984 and opened up awhole new world of fishingbliss at high mountain lakesfor cutthroat and at rivers formonster trout in blue ribbon

and gold medal waters. I’d cultivated my style

over the years and driftingnymphs became my special-t y. I have landed a 15lb.rainbow on 4 lb test andcaught dozens of wild troutdeep in the heart of theBlack Canyon. I was thesecond person in the countyto own a single man pon-toon/poach boat. All of thisstemmed from those vaca-tions with my dad, and theelectrical charge sparked bya fish on the other end of theline. Now I can help ignite asimilar passion for fishingand the outdoors in myclients. Four years into thebusiness and over 3500 fishlanded, my move to A l a s k aand Kodiak has turned out tobe the best decision I’veever made. The island life isthe life for me.

BY DAKE SCHMIDT

My hopes for a new lifein Kodiak ran high

with the thoughts of newrivers to fish, new people tomeet and close encountersof the brown furry kind. As Iunloaded my truck from theAlaska Marine HighwaySystem ferry, I felt inspiredby a new kind of wildness inthe air. Ocean views wereeverywhere and the salty airfilled my lungs. Anxious foradventure, I decided that theisland life was the life forme.

I first drove around to geta feel for the area. Kodiak’sroad system is comprised of

less than 100 miles of pave-ment but this crosses over15 fishable rivers and creeksrunning with gin clear water.As in Homer, I quicklyfound a restaurant job thatwould keep me fed and thena secret spot tucked away bythe Buskin River to callhome—that is until a visitfrom the US Coast GuardMilitary Police and talk ofillegal camping. Mayberespect for the militaryprompted me to comply, orthe threat of losing my priv-ileges to fish the BuskinR i v e r, or anywhere elseowned by the Coast Guard. I

could tell my free campingdays were drawing to an endand I had to get a camper. Iknew only one way to calmmy nerves and brain afterthat. Fish on!

Late May meant thereturn of sockeye in theBuskin River and a brandnew chapter in my fishingjournal. I was ready for avictory! Armed with myAlaskan-ized fishing tech-niques, I marched throughthe trees until I reached whatthe locals call the “pumphouse hole.” I arrived readyfor anything - anything, thatis, except three solid days of

defeat with no fish blood onmy hands and no fillets inmy cooler. I drove into townand enlisted the help of thef i s h i n ’ fools at Mack’s SportShop. Feeling better pre-pared with my new pair ofpolarized glasses and a bagfull of other munitions, Iheaded back to the Buskin tofinish what I started.

On the river, an unexpect-ed strike almost pulled myweapon right out of my hand.The fish proceeded to ripstraight down the swollenriver and into risky rapids. Iwas determined to not breako ff my first fish on Kodiak,so I threw caution and safetyinto the quickly movingwater and followed down-stream. Fighting the currentfelt like performing ballet;my toes were the only thingtapping across unfamiliarmoss covered rock. The swiftcurrent twisted my body incontorted positions. All thewhile, the fish kept steadypressure on my line with 75feet of backing stripped offmy reel. I crossed the battle-ground and closed the dis-tance quickly, recovering mybright orange backing. I evenhad most of my fly line insight. It took fifteen minutesof back and forth actionbefore I reigned victorious.Sweet sockeye victory.

Alaska BoundAnglers Journey, Part 2

Dake and girlfriend, Kadie Walsh with a day to remember.

Alaskan Fishing GuideOutdoor PhotographerO w n e r, Memory Makers

Tour and Guide Serv i c e

Dake Schmidt

ERUPTING SCENT FORMULA


Anacortes, WA 98221

$12.95US Funds

$12.95US FundsIncludes shipping to USA-Canada

Order atKype.net

Mack's Sport Shop212 Lower Mill Bay Rd.Kodiak, Alaska 996159 0 7 - 4 8 6 - 4 2 7 6SHOP ONLINE!w w w . m a c k s s p o r t s h o p . c o m

Alaska River AdventuresLodge & Guide ServiceAlaska’s Upper KenaiRiver & Kasilof Rivera l a s k a r i v e r a d v e n t u r e s . c o m1 - 8 8 8 - 8 3 6 - 9 0 2 7

Alaska

left to eat was unappetizing,if there was even enough togo around. Food planninghad been my job, and I hadplanned fish for dinner a fewnights. Seeing that the crewwas a bit surly and moralewas low, I decided to takematters into my own hands.With determination, Igrabbed my wooden rod andheaded for the water. On thesecond cast using a red #5s p i n n e r, I felt a strong hit andthen a hard consistent pull. Iyelled “Get the net! Get thenet!” as I reappeared aroundthe corner with my rod bentand my drag running out.The beautiful lake trout wasvisible in the clear water as Ibrought it into the shallowsof the white sand beach.What a gorgeous sight itwas! Ted ran in with the bro-

ken net, scooped it up andthrew it onto the beach. T h efish wasn’t huge for aSuperior lake trout, but it wasa good eating size. T h ewooden rod had comethrough, and what a moralebooster for us all! It may alsohave saved us from resortingto cannibalism.

On our last night weenjoyed healthy portions ofdelicious lake trout whileanticipating an easy paddlethe next day. Our truck waswaiting for us four miles upthe coast at our finishingpoint in Hattie Cove. We hadlittle doubt that this paddlewould be relaxing and trou-ble free. HoweverGitchigumi had diff e r e n tplans for us. That last morn-ing, winds blew up bigswells as whitecaps broke tothe horizon. Waves crashedagainst the rocky shorelineand splashed fifteen feet in

the air. Paddling would havebeen life threatening to saythe least. Fortunately I had atrick up my sleeve. Ta k i n gthree logs and a lot of rope,we transformed our canoesinto a catamaran, attachedour canoe covers and headedout. It was a wild ride travel-ing way up andthen way backdown in the bigwaves. We had tobe careful not totake in too muchw a t e r, bailing aswe went, but asfar as endingswent, this one wase p i c .

There is acalming feelingthat comes overme when I spendlong periods oftime immersed ina place, still in itsnatural state. T h e

Pukaskawa experience wasrewarding, it had just theright amount of everything tomake our trip unforg e t t a b l e .As we loaded the truck anddrove away from LakeS u p e r i o r, I became aware ofa deep calming feeling,which I believe is our naturalstate.

wind is a real challengefor pinners, as any-one that pins willtell you..

If you don’twant to spenda lot ofm o n e y, Iwould recom-mend goingon-line, evenebay for a usedcenterpin reelwhich couldcost anywherefrom a hundred to afew hundred dollars.If you want to spend a lit-tle bit more and get a new

centerpin reel, Iwould recom-mend theIslander list-ed at $385.00because it'slight weight

& spins eff o r t-l e s s l y.

I don'tknow how many

steelhead, brownsand kings I have

caught on a center pinreel in the last decade, it's

in the thousands. I’mextremely grateful to who-ever brought center pins toToronto in the seventies. Ican't imagine drifting ariver without one. It's likehaving coffee in the morn-ing, you need it! For thoseavid steelheaders out therethat have never experi-enced using a centerpinreel, all I can say is give ita good try! You can't beatcenter pin reels for longercontrolled, drag free drifts.When you take the time tolearn these reels you willadd to your eff e c t i v e n e s sas a steelheader.

CenterpinningJoin the Revolution

28

Call them whatever youwant—centerpin reels,

float reels, palm reels oreven free spool reels—theyall serve the same purpose.They help you catch fish,lots and lots of fish. Thesereels were an instant hitaround the Great Lakes trib-utaries back in the earlyeighties, like mtv and cdplayers. A new revolutionfor catching steelhead wasborn, but the “centrepin”reel has been around andused in England for over ahundred years. In the eight-

ies there were only a fewmodels around the greatlake tributaries the streamm a s t e r, Clough, Kiss,Stanton, and the Drifter.Today there are well over ahundred different models ofcenterpin reels in the marketplace ranging anywherefrom one hundred dollars toa thousand dollars.

WHY CENTERPIN?

One early December dayin 2008 on Elk Creek, inPennsylvania, an olderangler watched me land

over a dozen steelhead in anhour. Instead of the usual“What are you using forbait?” he asked me, “Whatkind of a fly reel is that?” Iexplained what centerpin-ning is in the simplestterms. He was slightly over-whelmed and amazed to saythe least. Later that samemorning, after catching afew more steelies, to myamusement I heard anotherfisherman telling his friend,“That centerpin guy hasanother one!”

Keep in mind that thecenterpin reel is only one ofmany elements required tocatching many fish. Thesereels are primarily used forfloat fishing in tributarieswith a flow and sometimesin water with no current.The million dollar questionis why use a centerpin reel?The number one reason orbenefit is simply “CON-TROL!” When you’re drift-ing your bait in a movingpool under a float, you wantto have the absolute mini-mal amount of slack line orbelly in your line on thewater. Less belly means thatwhen your float goes downthere is a tighter connectionwith the fish, this improvesyour hook set and yourhook up ratio. With a tradi-tional spinning or fly reel,you don't get free spool linecoming off eff o r t l e s s l y.

Center pin reel allows alonger and cleaner drift tocover more water whichwill also equate to hookingmore fish.HOW TO USE A CENTERPIN

Like anything in lifepractice makes perfect andwith these reels it's no dif-ferent. The more you use it,the more you will get usedto it and learn to use it withm a s t e r y.. Once you’vemastered it, it’s like ridinga bike or swimming in thedeep end of a pool, you’llnever forget. At first it canbe intimidating, thethought of not casting farenough or getting a messybirds nest tangle just eatsyou up inside. I can cer-tainly remember the veryfirst time I used a centerpinand for that matter a bait-casting reel. It was not funsorting through all the tan-gled line. Once you getused to it, these reels willbe your best friend. T h e r eare two primary ways tocast. The first is to simplyspin the reel with the linepeeling off and casttowards your desired area.The second way is to spinthe reel with the line g off ,hold the line with eitheryour left or right indexf i n e r, aim and cast yourfloat towards your desiredarea. Casting against the

29


BY JIM PARK

$119.95 Sale $69.95 !!!US Funds, shipping Included to US & Canada

Order at Kype.net

Color: Tortoise Shell Lens: Bronze

Color: Tri-Tone Bronze Lens: Bronze

Color: Black Clear Fade Lens: Gray

Color: Black Gloss Lens: Bronze

Color: Black GlossLens: Gray

the best in polarized vision

“The Islander”Centerpin ReelAvid angler, Jim Park

re p resents our FacebookCommunity with thisCenterpin Art i c l e .

left to eat was unappetizing,if there was even enough togo around. Food planninghad been my job, and I hadplanned fish for dinner a fewnights. Seeing that the crewwas a bit surly and moralewas low, I decided to takematters into my own hands.With determination, Igrabbed my wooden rod andheaded for the water. On thesecond cast using a red #5s p i n n e r, I felt a strong hit andthen a hard consistent pull. Iyelled “Get the net! Get thenet!” as I reappeared aroundthe corner with my rod bentand my drag running out.The beautiful lake trout wasvisible in the clear water as Ibrought it into the shallowsof the white sand beach.What a gorgeous sight itwas! Ted ran in with the bro-

ken net, scooped it up andthrew it onto the beach. T h efish wasn’t huge for aSuperior lake trout, but it wasa good eating size. T h ewooden rod had comethrough, and what a moralebooster for us all! It may alsohave saved us from resortingto cannibalism.

On our last night weenjoyed healthy portions ofdelicious lake trout whileanticipating an easy paddlethe next day. Our truck waswaiting for us four miles upthe coast at our finishingpoint in Hattie Cove. We hadlittle doubt that this paddlewould be relaxing and trou-ble free. HoweverGitchigumi had diff e r e n tplans for us. That last morn-ing, winds blew up bigswells as whitecaps broke tothe horizon. Waves crashedagainst the rocky shorelineand splashed fifteen feet in

the air. Paddling would havebeen life threatening to saythe least. Fortunately I had atrick up my sleeve. Ta k i n gthree logs and a lot of rope,we transformed our canoesinto a catamaran, attachedour canoe covers and headedout. It was a wild ride travel-ing way up andthen way backdown in the bigwaves. We had tobe careful not totake in too muchw a t e r, bailing aswe went, but asfar as endingswent, this one wase p i c .

There is acalming feelingthat comes overme when I spendlong periods oftime immersed ina place, still in itsnatural state. T h e

Pukaskawa experience wasrewarding, it had just theright amount of everything tomake our trip unforg e t t a b l e .As we loaded the truck anddrove away from LakeS u p e r i o r, I became aware ofa deep calming feeling,which I believe is our naturalstate.

wind is a real challengefor pinners, as any-one that pins willtell you..

If you don’twant to spenda lot ofm o n e y, Iwould recom-mend goingon-line, evenebay for a usedcenterpin reelwhich couldcost anywherefrom a hundred to afew hundred dollars.If you want to spend a lit-tle bit more and get a new

centerpin reel, Iwould recom-mend theIslander list-ed at $385.00because it'slight weight

& spins eff o r t-l e s s l y.

I don'tknow how many

steelhead, brownsand kings I have

caught on a center pinreel in the last decade, it's

in the thousands. I’mextremely grateful to who-ever brought center pins toToronto in the seventies. Ican't imagine drifting ariver without one. It's likehaving coffee in the morn-ing, you need it! For thoseavid steelheaders out therethat have never experi-enced using a centerpinreel, all I can say is give ita good try! You can't beatcenter pin reels for longercontrolled, drag free drifts.When you take the time tolearn these reels you willadd to your eff e c t i v e n e s sas a steelheader.

CenterpinningJoin the Revolution

28

Call them whatever youwant—centerpin reels,

float reels, palm reels oreven free spool reels—theyall serve the same purpose.They help you catch fish,lots and lots of fish. Thesereels were an instant hitaround the Great Lakes trib-utaries back in the earlyeighties, like mtv and cdplayers. A new revolutionfor catching steelhead wasborn, but the “centrepin”reel has been around andused in England for over ahundred years. In the eight-

ies there were only a fewmodels around the greatlake tributaries the streamm a s t e r, Clough, Kiss,Stanton, and the Drifter.Today there are well over ahundred different models ofcenterpin reels in the marketplace ranging anywherefrom one hundred dollars toa thousand dollars.

WHY CENTERPIN?

One early December dayin 2008 on Elk Creek, inPennsylvania, an olderangler watched me land

over a dozen steelhead in anhour. Instead of the usual“What are you using forbait?” he asked me, “Whatkind of a fly reel is that?” Iexplained what centerpin-ning is in the simplestterms. He was slightly over-whelmed and amazed to saythe least. Later that samemorning, after catching afew more steelies, to myamusement I heard anotherfisherman telling his friend,“That centerpin guy hasanother one!”

Keep in mind that thecenterpin reel is only one ofmany elements required tocatching many fish. Thesereels are primarily used forfloat fishing in tributarieswith a flow and sometimesin water with no current.The million dollar questionis why use a centerpin reel?The number one reason orbenefit is simply “CON-TROL!” When you’re drift-ing your bait in a movingpool under a float, you wantto have the absolute mini-mal amount of slack line orbelly in your line on thewater. Less belly means thatwhen your float goes downthere is a tighter connectionwith the fish, this improvesyour hook set and yourhook up ratio. With a tradi-tional spinning or fly reel,you don't get free spool linecoming off eff o r t l e s s l y.

Center pin reel allows alonger and cleaner drift tocover more water whichwill also equate to hookingmore fish.HOW TO USE A CENTERPIN

Like anything in lifepractice makes perfect andwith these reels it's no dif-ferent. The more you use it,the more you will get usedto it and learn to use it withm a s t e r y.. Once you’vemastered it, it’s like ridinga bike or swimming in thedeep end of a pool, you’llnever forget. At first it canbe intimidating, thethought of not casting farenough or getting a messybirds nest tangle just eatsyou up inside. I can cer-tainly remember the veryfirst time I used a centerpinand for that matter a bait-casting reel. It was not funsorting through all the tan-gled line. Once you getused to it, these reels willbe your best friend. T h e r eare two primary ways tocast. The first is to simplyspin the reel with the linepeeling off and casttowards your desired area.The second way is to spinthe reel with the line g off ,hold the line with eitheryour left or right indexf i n e r, aim and cast yourfloat towards your desiredarea. Casting against the

29


BY JIM PARK

$119.95 Sale $69.95 !!!US Funds, shipping Included to US & Canada

Order at Kype.net

Color: Tortoise Shell Lens: Bronze

Color: Tri-Tone Bronze Lens: Bronze

Color: Black Clear Fade Lens: Gray

Color: Black Gloss Lens: Bronze

Color: Black GlossLens: Gray

the best in polarized vision

“The Islander”Centerpin ReelAvid angler, Jim Park

re p resents our FacebookCommunity with thisCenterpin Art i c l e .

30

All you can do is try to bethere when it happens. I willgo out on a limb here andpredict October 6th for the2009 season. Wish me luckon that one.

Steelhead is an entirelyd i fferent story. Unlikesalmon, they’re not enteringthe river in the fall forspawning, but to feed onspawn. The eggs and rottingcarcasses from salmon willdraw loads of steelhead intothe river system—and theywill spread throughout theriver pretty good.

WH E R E TO ST E E L H E A D F I S H? For those of you who pur-

sue true chrome, obviouslyyou belong in the lower river,fishing the DSR for the latefall and spring runs of freshsteelhead. Use eggs and eggpatterns!

During the colder wintermonths, get into the deeperpools upriver near A l t m a r. Besure to drop down to lighterleaders and smaller presenta-tions. The fish can be lethar-gic, but will often turn off andon throughout the day.

For prime steelheadingsuch as November,D e c e m b e r, March and A p r i l ,anglers typically choosewhere to fish based on thetype of water they prefer.There are beautiful runs,pockets and holes throughoutthe middle section of the river.

The last part of April tomid May is the time fordrop-backs. The steelheadare done spawning and nowdropping back to LakeOntario. They start to changefrom their spawning colorsto bright silver once again.They feed aggressively,striking everything in sight

in an attempt to gain backtheir strength after a longwinter and enduring thevigor of spawning.

SA L M O N RI V E R SA F E T YBe very careful in this

river because the footing is abit tricky and the currentsare strong. Many fishermenhave lost their lives on theSalmon River. The stretchbelow the Black Hole is oneof the most dangerous andtreacherous locations.

GU I D E SDo yourself a favor and

hire a reputable guide to takeyou down the river and teachyou how to be successful forsalmon and steelhead, espe-cially for you newbies. A sfar as experienced anglers, aguide trip can only make youbetter and will provide youwith a greater knowledge ofthe river as the drift boatallows you to fish variousholes in a day’s time.Furthermore, it could be thatone little tip or trick youlearn from a guide that youcan take home and stash inyour memory bank forfuture successes.

FI S H E RY UP D AT EOver the last few years,

the Salmon River has beenblessed with runs of steel-head and brown trout of epicproportion. The river is real-ly turning on. Back in the‘ 9 0 ’s, my fellow guides andI were considered heroes ifwe landed a few steelhead ad a y. Now, the bar has beenraised.

The Salmon River has sin-gle handily changed my lifeand created too many memo-ries to count. It’s one of thetop fisheries of the GreatLakes and worth the trip.

31

constantly reminded you“keep your rod tip up!”Right? However, when riverfishing, this is not the case.

You have to consider cur-rent and pressure. Fish natu-rally have the tendency toturn away from resistance,so you cannot make it easyfor them to do so. Try releas-ing a fish in a strong cur-r e n t . . . You’ll notice thatwhen the head of the fish isperfectly facing upriver, heholds there nice, doesn’t he?

B u t

when his head turns slightlyto the right or left, his entirebody will want to turn.

When fighting the fish,chances are he will be down-river from your position. T h eangler must try to keep hishead facing directly upriver.When the rod tip is lifted up,the head of the fish will liftand the current will pushagainst his body, and the fishwill turn downriver.

The ONLY way to bring afish back to you with lightgear is to keep his head fac-ing upriver, therefore it’s amust to have your rod tipdown close to the river’s sur-

face. If the fish begins toleap out of the water, the rodtip can now come upm o m e n t a r i l y.

WH E R E TO? Where you fish on the

river will depend on the timeof year and current waterconditions. When salmonfishing in September andO c t o b e r, there is usually ahigh pressure of anglerslined up in the big pools.This is a great time to fishsome pocket water or tochoose holes that require adecent hike. Keep in mind,salmon will enter the river in

droves. Continuously checkthe Douglaston Salmon Runreports. When you hear a runof kings has entered thelower river, attempt to cuto ff the run upriver. Forexample, if the run enters theriver on Sunday and it wasgangbusters all day long atthe D.S.R., don’t return therethe the following day.During normal water flows,I would head up above the2 A bridge the next day tofish to that same pod of fish.

Tracking coho salmon isnearly impossible, as theyhave been known to run theentire distance of the river intwelve hours time. It’s usual-ly one day per year wherethe mother load of Cohoenter the river. The ticket isto be in the DSR that day!So, when will it happen?Who knows? It’s all aboutwater level and temperatureand the one mysterious trig-g e r. Perhaps a good rain or adrop in the barometer, butevery year something trig-gers this run of Coho andthey enter the river with firein their eyes. The gun hassounded and they will blazethrough the strongest of cur-rents as if it were a swim-ming pool.

If you’re lucky enough tocatch this run, be ready tolose nine out of ten hook-ups.D o n ’t be foolish enough tothink that fifty-pound test isthe answer. All that reallydoes is create a louder“crack” when that fish spanksyou. Even though you aregetting torn up, this will be anexperience of a lifetime. T h ecart wheeling, tail-walkingaerial display is somethingyou’ll never forget, and issomething only a fresh run ofCoho can provide.

Salmon R.FROM PAGE 19

4.1

4.2

5.1

5.2





30

All you can do is try to bethere when it happens. I willgo out on a limb here andpredict October 6th for the2009 season. Wish me luckon that one.

Steelhead is an entirelyd i fferent story. Unlikesalmon, they’re not enteringthe river in the fall forspawning, but to feed onspawn. The eggs and rottingcarcasses from salmon willdraw loads of steelhead intothe river system—and theywill spread throughout theriver pretty good.

WH E R E TO ST E E L H E A D F I S H? For those of you who pur-

sue true chrome, obviouslyyou belong in the lower river,fishing the DSR for the latefall and spring runs of freshsteelhead. Use eggs and eggpatterns!

During the colder wintermonths, get into the deeperpools upriver near A l t m a r. Besure to drop down to lighterleaders and smaller presenta-tions. The fish can be lethar-gic, but will often turn off andon throughout the day.

For prime steelheadingsuch as November,D e c e m b e r, March and A p r i l ,anglers typically choosewhere to fish based on thetype of water they prefer.There are beautiful runs,pockets and holes throughoutthe middle section of the river.

The last part of April tomid May is the time fordrop-backs. The steelheadare done spawning and nowdropping back to LakeOntario. They start to changefrom their spawning colorsto bright silver once again.They feed aggressively,striking everything in sight

in an attempt to gain backtheir strength after a longwinter and enduring thevigor of spawning.

SA L M O N RI V E R SA F E T YBe very careful in this

river because the footing is abit tricky and the currentsare strong. Many fishermenhave lost their lives on theSalmon River. The stretchbelow the Black Hole is oneof the most dangerous andtreacherous locations.

GU I D E SDo yourself a favor and

hire a reputable guide to takeyou down the river and teachyou how to be successful forsalmon and steelhead, espe-cially for you newbies. A sfar as experienced anglers, aguide trip can only make youbetter and will provide youwith a greater knowledge ofthe river as the drift boatallows you to fish variousholes in a day’s time.Furthermore, it could be thatone little tip or trick youlearn from a guide that youcan take home and stash inyour memory bank forfuture successes.

FI S H E RY UP D AT EOver the last few years,

the Salmon River has beenblessed with runs of steel-head and brown trout of epicproportion. The river is real-ly turning on. Back in the‘ 9 0 ’s, my fellow guides andI were considered heroes ifwe landed a few steelhead ad a y. Now, the bar has beenraised.

The Salmon River has sin-gle handily changed my lifeand created too many memo-ries to count. It’s one of thetop fisheries of the GreatLakes and worth the trip.

31

constantly reminded you“keep your rod tip up!”Right? However, when riverfishing, this is not the case.

You have to consider cur-rent and pressure. Fish natu-rally have the tendency toturn away from resistance,so you cannot make it easyfor them to do so. Try releas-ing a fish in a strong cur-r e n t . . . You’ll notice thatwhen the head of the fish isperfectly facing upriver, heholds there nice, doesn’t he?

B u t

when his head turns slightlyto the right or left, his entirebody will want to turn.

When fighting the fish,chances are he will be down-river from your position. T h eangler must try to keep hishead facing directly upriver.When the rod tip is lifted up,the head of the fish will liftand the current will pushagainst his body, and the fishwill turn downriver.

The ONLY way to bring afish back to you with lightgear is to keep his head fac-ing upriver, therefore it’s amust to have your rod tipdown close to the river’s sur-

face. If the fish begins toleap out of the water, the rodtip can now come upm o m e n t a r i l y.

WH E R E TO? Where you fish on the

river will depend on the timeof year and current waterconditions. When salmonfishing in September andO c t o b e r, there is usually ahigh pressure of anglerslined up in the big pools.This is a great time to fishsome pocket water or tochoose holes that require adecent hike. Keep in mind,salmon will enter the river in

droves. Continuously checkthe Douglaston Salmon Runreports. When you hear a runof kings has entered thelower river, attempt to cuto ff the run upriver. Forexample, if the run enters theriver on Sunday and it wasgangbusters all day long atthe D.S.R., don’t return therethe the following day.During normal water flows,I would head up above the2 A bridge the next day tofish to that same pod of fish.

Tracking coho salmon isnearly impossible, as theyhave been known to run theentire distance of the river intwelve hours time. It’s usual-ly one day per year wherethe mother load of Cohoenter the river. The ticket isto be in the DSR that day!So, when will it happen?Who knows? It’s all aboutwater level and temperatureand the one mysterious trig-g e r. Perhaps a good rain or adrop in the barometer, butevery year something trig-gers this run of Coho andthey enter the river with firein their eyes. The gun hassounded and they will blazethrough the strongest of cur-rents as if it were a swim-ming pool.

If you’re lucky enough tocatch this run, be ready tolose nine out of ten hook-ups.D o n ’t be foolish enough tothink that fifty-pound test isthe answer. All that reallydoes is create a louder“crack” when that fish spanksyou. Even though you aregetting torn up, this will be anexperience of a lifetime. T h ecart wheeling, tail-walkingaerial display is somethingyou’ll never forget, and issomething only a fresh run ofCoho can provide.

Salmon R.FROM PAGE 19

4.1

4.2

5.1

5.2





Documents

Kype Fishing Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 4