In August, if you rise at an ungodly hour and scan the eastern horizon before the sun begins to peer over the Cascade Mountains you just might catch a glimpse of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Sirius is a prominent dot in the constellation Canis Major and, accordingly, is often referred to as the Dog Star. The arrival of Sirius typically coincides with the hottest, driest days of summer and the luminous star was once considered by the ancient Greeks and Romans to be the cause for the big seasonal temperature bump. This period became known as the "dog days" of summer and we, my friends, are in the midst of it right now. The dog days are sweaty and sultry and typically usher in a pronounced drop off in bug hatches and feeding behavior for cold water species like trout. The fishing tapers off markedly on many rivers throughout the West and unless you're getting out there early enough to view Sirius looming in the pre-dawn sky on your way to the water, you're better off sleeping in until things begin to cool down sometime in September.
Of course, there are lots of ways to avoid the conundrum of fishing over fish that are simply fighting to survive in warm, oxygen-depleted water. Find cold water in alpine lakes and streams or below tailwaters where cooler water is pumped out from the depths of a deep reservoir. Prospect the northern Puget Sound beaches for incoming salmon where depth, tidal movement and sheer vastness keep water temperatures at a comfortable level. Or, simply target species that don't just tolerate warm water, they actually prefer it. If you want to fish around town, bass and panfish opportunities still abound in a number of Whatcom, Skagit, and Island County lakes and make for a great escape after work. If you've got the time to venture further afield, most of the streams higher up in the Cascades, or large dam-regulated systems like the Skagit River are still relatively cold and productive for trout and char.
While I don't think the dog days are necessarily my favorite part of the season, I do enjoy them from the standpoint of starting to think about what lies just around the next bend. We are on the cusp of what will hopefully amount to a very good salmon season, Columbia River summer steelhead counts at Bonneville are well above what was initially forecast and with longer nights and more temperate weather coming down the pike, we should once again experience great trout fishing on rivers like the Methow as we ease into the fall season. More pinks are arriving in Puget Sound daily. Right now the pink fishery is primarily concentrated in the salt and folks are finding them along the west side of Whidbey Island. It won't be long before we begin to see their numbers swell in the rivers and the lower Skagit opens up for humpy fishing on August 16th. We're well-stocked on pink salmon flies (and of course everything for the coho and chum salmon that will follow). If you've been thinking about adding salmon to your list of species to target on the fly, this is your year. Pinks are by far the most user-friendly of salmon to pursue with a fly rod and if you miss this season it'll be 2027 before you get another crack at them.
If you'd like to test your fly casting skills and hang out with us and the North Sound Trout Unlimited folks, you won't want to miss the first ever North Sound Casting Olympics at Terramar Brewing in Bow on Thursday, August 14th. All fly casting gear is provided and you can just show up and grab a cold beer. If you like to join in fun and go for the glory, you can register to participate here. The following week, we'll have what will likely be the final spey Wednesday demo night of this summer. We still have some space available for 6:30 pm on August 20th at Nugents Corner. Whether you want to learn to spey cast, practice your technique or try out some of our two handed demo equipment this is an excellent and free opportunity to hang out with us and improve your skills. Space is limited so please sign up with "Spey Night Sign Up" in your email header here.
In the meantime, enjoy your time on the water and we hope to see you out there or in the shop soon.
Rivers
A number or eastside and lowland rivers from the Methow to the Samish are getting too hot to fish right now. Be kind to the trout and postpone your trip until we get some cooling rain or the water temps begin to drop in September. If you need to check water temps, the Fishpond Riverkeeper Digital Thermometer and the new Temperature Tape from Cling offer an easy way make sure you're giving the trout a rest when water approaches 68 degrees. You can head higher into the hills to fish the mountain creeks for willing trout in the interim while waiting for the weather to change. What many of those trout lack in size, they make up for in beauty. These are fun fisheries with a light 2 or 3 weight. We especially love the little River Glass rods from Echo. For reference, the header photo in this report features Teo hooked up with a 12" rainbow on a glass 3 weight the other day. Fun? Absolutely! Creek fly selection is pretty straight forward, with dries like Para Wulffs, small Black or Orange Stimulators, and a few Elk Hair Caddis patterns being all you really need.
The Upper Skagit in BC has been fishing great since opening at the beginning of July. If the rainbows are looking up, #14-18 Parachute Adams or #14-16 X-Caddis have been working well. In the absence of a hatch or obvious surface feeding activity, #16 Hare's Ear Soft Hackles, Perdigon Nymphs, Prince Nymphs, Blowtorches and Duracell Jigs are some of our go-to patterns. You can find bull trout lurking in the deeper pools and especially around log jams. Fast sinking streamers like the Sir Sticks A Lot and large White or Olive/White Dali Lamas are top flies to coax them out of the wood. Bull trout fishing has gotten a little more challenging on the main Skagit in the US below the dams. Fish early and late and be prepared to cover some water to find them. Some days they seem a bit more amenable towards smaller subdued patterns like the Mini Dalai Lama, Wounded Sculpin or even small Olive/White Clousers. Don't be afraid to trail a small Partridge Soft Hackle fly 24" behind the streamer as this is a great tactic for connecting with some of the nicer rainbows in the system.
The Skagit officially opens for salmon from Gilligan Creek downstream to the mouth on August 16th. The section from Gilligan to the Dalles Bridge in Concrete opens September 1st and upstream of the Dalles on September 16th. Be sure to check the WDFW regulations for harvest details if you plan to retain any fish. We are expecting a veritable wall of pink salmon to flood the river over the coming weeks. Right now, visibility below the Sauk is on the low side due to glacial melt from the Suiattle and Whitechuck Rivers triggered by hot weather. As temps cool down, visibility should improve with it. The Nooksack opened on August 1st for salmon up to the yellow marker behind the FFA barn in Deming. Again, visibility is not great in that system either right now. When water is relatively turbid, select larger patterns like the Barbell Egg Sucking Leech, Starlight Leech or Pink/White Reverse Marabou. In clearer water, the Pink Fink, Hot Shot Comet, Cohort and Tyee Crystal Terror are hard to beat. Look for pinks rolling in the slower seams and towards the heads of runs where they often stack up and pause before continuing upstream. Resting salmon are generally much better biters than those traveling quickly upriver. Concentrate on the lower river bars in Mount Vernon, Burlington and Sedro Woolley when the Skagit opens Saturday for the best shot at finding greater concentrations of fish.
Lakes
August is primetime to cinch up your boots and head to a favorite alpine lake in search of a cool breeze and willing trout. While a number of lakes offer decent shoreline fly casting opportunities, you'll up your success rate considerably by packing in a small raft or float tube to give you the most access. Small dries like Mosquitos, Griffith's Gnats, CDC Midge Adults, Parachute Black Gnats and Royal Wulffs are great surface options. Subsurface we like Chan's BMW, Zug Bugs, Diawl Bachs and impressionistic patterns like the Hare's Ear.
Lowland lake bass and panfish fishing continues to be awesome both early and lake in the day. With weed growth at its apex for the summer, we are pretty much going topwater only. For bass, a deer hair frog pattern like the Dry Rind Frog is often a winner, but standard poppers like the Kermit, Luna and Neon Poppers are great too. If all you have is a lighter rod like a 5 or 6 weight, consider the PTO Popper from Rio. Its lightweight foam construction makes it a pretty easy casting bug on smaller rods. More subtle patterns like Sliders and the Covert Mission fish well at this point in the summer as wily bass have seen a lot of different presentations come their way already. Panfish continue to annihilate the Bream Poppers and the Flying Foam Beetle and Madam X have been working great too when slowly skittered along the surface.
Beaches
The time is now for pinks off the beach! The west side of Whidbey is seeing large numbers of pink salmon cruising by daily with the odd coho in the mix. Look for rolling or porpoising salmon and get your fly on front of them. We have the best success leading the school by 10 feet or so and retrieving the fly back in short quick strips. How close the fish travel to the beach can vary. If you've got a boat you will be to stay on them pretty regularly. If fishing off the beach, a tide change coinciding with early morning or late evening is most productive. To an extent, they show up when they show up, but you'll generally find some activity within 2 hours on either side of a tide change. Beach fly selection is dirt simple: Pink/White or Pink/Chartreuse Clousers in #6 and #2. By late August we expect more pinks staging along the eastside of Whidbey before funneling eastward into the Skagit.
