Swingin' Flies in the Pacific Northwest: Washougal

May 27, 2012

Washougal

I've been fishing a few mornings here and there at the Washougal. Yesterday, I fished the island and neighborhood for a few hours with only a pull. River stage of 5.25 feet (just low enough to not be washed away at the island) and 51 degrees, the river was clear with 5 or more feet of visibility. Arrived 1/2 hour before official sunrise to see fish rising in the run I stepped into.

Access	Washougal
Air Temp	Low 50's
Water Temp/Visibility	~51F / 5 feet
Weather	Overcast
River Stage	~5.25 feet
Time in/out	5am / 9:30am
Leaders/Lines	Compact Scandi
	Int Poly	All day
	8lb Maxima
Flies	Various size 4 and 6 summer	-
Notes	Water dropping after rain. Good conditions. One pull.

This trip marked the first day of the year I switched over to my compact scandi and slow sink poly leader. Water temps are high enough to justify fishing just below the surface with unweighted flies. It was a nice few hours of fishing with eerily quiet day for it being a Holiday weekend. Only saw 1 other angler.

2 comments:

Unknown said...: Did you fish the Island this AM?; May 31, 2012 at 4:38 PM
Fly Monkey said...: Hey Jeff. Yeah, that was me. You must of been the one I talked with briefly..?

Did you have any luck upriver? After staying at the island for about 1/2 hour, I went upstream a little ways myself. No grabs. Just a few plucks from probably smolts.; May 31, 2012 at 7:03 PM

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About Me

My interest in fly fishing began as a teenager in my home state of Missouri. After years of fishing rivers in and around the Ozarks, I moved to California in the early 90's. Life continued on, I happily drove hours around to various streams hunting trout. Then it happened. One rainy fall morning, I landed my first steelhead.

Game over. Buh bye trout. Hello steelhead!

Fast forward to 2011. My obsession with steelhead was out of control. I convinced my wife and family, that we needed to leave California and head to the Pacific Northwest.

Now, I'm able to happily fish for steelhead almost year around in both Washington and Oregon. My now home-water is a quick 10 minutes away. Within two hours, I can reach the Deschutes, Klickitat, Wilson, Sandy, Clackamas, Hood, Lewis, Cowlitz, Kalama, and dozens of others. Many of those are within a half hour. Paradise.

Although I started out with single handed rods all those years ago, I switched almost exclusively to 2-handed rods around 2005. I find them to be more efficient and less tiring over those long days. Initially reluctant to give them a try, I've rarely looked back.

This blog is my little spot on the internet to keep record of my trips, fly tying, and thoughts on fishing. Originally conceived as a personal journal to help myself remember where I went and what flies were productive- for whatever reason, I decided to make it public. Hopefully you will get something from it.