There's something about fishing on my own two feet that's always appealed to me. While I've owned a variety of vessels, inflatables and assorted floating contraptions to get me down the river or out into the middle of the lake, many of my most memorable experiences have come on foot. Sometimes it's the perfect run that greets you on the other side of a steep and sweaty bushwhack through a forest overgrown with devil's club and dense tangles of vine maple. Others it's the long walk down the beach to a lonely distant point on the right tide and the right morning to find bright salmon jumping close enough to shore that you could almost touch them with your rod tip. I know it's usually easier to get to places like these with help of gravity and the occasional lazy oar stroke, or the gentle twist of a tiller handle but that's not really the point. As fly anglers, a lot of us are intensely process-oriented. How we do things is important and though the choice is absolutely yours and there isn't necessarily a right or wrong way to go about it, we're often just wired to pick the hard way. With great challenge comes great reward.
All things considered, it's still hard to pass up a boat ride when the moment presents itself. Even as a kid, when mom offered me a lift to school on the darkest and wettest of Northwest days, it seemed like a no brainer to hop in the car. I could always build character and test my iron resolve walking to school when the weather was a little more palatable. I consider myself fortunate to have several great friends with optimal saltwater boats. Every year around this time, we spend considerable time ripping around the Sound, chasing coho along the west side of Whidbey Island. It's one of our favorite fisheries of the season and we generally catch a good number of salmon out of the boat. When an early morning boat ride invite is extended, it's rarely turned down. Even out of the boat, success is never a given but it offers many advantages. Salmon are never really out of casting range from the bow of the boat. If a school comes by and refuses your fly, you simply change patterns, fire up the outboard and run ahead of them for another opportunity. If a particular beach is devoid of life, we can run miles to another in a matter of minutes looking for fish. Sometimes it can feel too easy and though part of me wants to up the ante and add an extra dimension of challenge to the game, I still graciously accept the open boat seat almost every time.
Last week we had plans to fish out of a friend's boat after seeing decent numbers of coho catches showing up on the Marine Area 9 creel report. Flies were tied, gear was packed, boat bags organized and then came the news. The Lund we'd been fishing out of for the last several years had seen better days. Between a failing outboard and leaking rivets, it wasn't in the best shape to race across Admiralty Bay to explore our usual coho spots. So I proposed we meet up anyway and instead fish from the beach. It was immediately evident that I might be the only one genuinely excited about it, and I get it. Afterall, the salmon aren't always migrating near the beach. Even if you're a competent fly caster, getting the distance you desire with a Clouser Minnow, in the wind, with the seemingly omnipresent obstacles of something or someone in your backcast is a challenge. And when you don't see jumpers indicating the presence of a school coming by, your best move is to simply cast, cast, cast and strip, strip, strip your fly back until both arms are jelly. And don't forget to elevate your backcast a little more than usual, lest your fly smack the cobbled beach behind you and explode into the rocky landscape or disappear altogether. The beach eats flies like they're going out of style.
I'm probably not painting the rosy picture of a fantastic way to spend day, but through the adverse conditions and challenge of it all comes an experience that's hard to find any other way. So we wandered down the beach to a little point with a nice rip current beginning to form off of it and began the search. After about an hour of blindly casting into the abyss, tucking the rod under my armpit and stripping the fly back rapidly with both hands I had a small coho attack the fly within a couple feet of the beach. Unfortunately, it shook its head a few times and the fly was loose. Inspired that there seemed to be at least a few salmon around, I kept at it until another coho violently ate the Clouser right in front of me and streaked away towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It sprinted into my backing, cartwheeling several times along the way. At one point it turned and ran back towards me, so fast that my line went slack and I slumped in that familiar hang dog posture that portends a lost fish. I reeled and reeled to pick up all the slack line draped across the water. To my surprise, I eventually came tight to the salmon swimming just a few feet off the beach. It was still on! I landed the stocky wild coho and returned it to the Sound to continue its migration home. Not long after, I hooked another coho right at my feet and as it blitzed away towards deeper water, the fifty feet of coiled fly line in my stripping basket jammed in a big ball in my lowest rod guide. Fearing the salmon would break off, my buddy grabbed the fly line outside of the rod tip and deftly played the fish by hand until we had it at the beach. This one was a thick-bodied hatchery fish and destined for a summer BBQ.
There's an element of chaos that accompanies hooking a big and strong fish off the beach that is highly addicting. Being in generally shallower water, they have nowhere to go but up or out. They often run fast and far, leaving the water in a shower of spray. You don't know whether to reel or strip line to keep up with them and when it's over, you're often left in standing in an awkward tangle of fly line and look like somebody blasted you with Silly String at a sporting event. Aside from the thrill of fighting salmon in relatively shallow water, my recent beach day reminded me of another reason I like fishing on foot. Without the means to zoom off to parts unknown in search of action, you're forced to slow down and watch the tidal conditions change in real time. Sometimes you simply have to wait for the current to pick up speed or for the water to drop to gain access a favorite section of beach. The fish are going to show up when they do, and seldom does it happen according to your watch. And so we wait. It's an opportunity to reflect, gaze into distant mountains across the water, watch Bald Eagles soar above the treetops and observe far off Harbor Porpoises, their dark dorsals slicing through the surface of the Sound. Once in a blue moon, we catch the rare glimpse of Orcas breaching against the stark silhouette of the snowless Olympic range. A mammoth sea lion pushes water 100 feet away, pops up and grunts imposingly. You hope he's somewhere else when the salmon come by. The lapping waves are soothing and if you could turn your radar off for a moment and stop scanning for signs of fish, you just might be inclined to take a nap. It's a fine place to be and a place you'll seldom reach when you're continually on the move. I'm definitely hoping for a few more beach days like this one before the month is up and my focus shifts toward catching salmon in the rivers.
September offers a lot of fishing options in the Northwest. The beach salmon fishery is certainly one of our favorites close to home, but if you're inclined, the cooling waters in lakes and rivers offer some memorable trout fishing this time of year. Thanks to all the folks who participated in our Warmwater Slam contest last month. We thought it was a fun way to wait out the summer doldrums and we hope you did too. We had several lucky winners in the prize drawing for the slam and a number of them entered multiple grand slams. Congratulations to Ethan for catching the biggest bass as well. That was an impressive critter for North Sound waters and we know largemouth that size are far from easy to come by. Enjoy your new Echo 84-B 7 weight next time you chuck poppers around the weed mats! We hope to run the contest again next summer and if you have ideas around making it better, feel free to reach out. A special thanks to Stonefly Sales and Raging River Sales for donating some of the prizes.
In addition to enjoying one of our favorite fishing seasons, we have some other fun stuff coming up around the shop. Be sure to take a gander at our sale products on the website. We have some great products on clearance prior to the wet season from Simms rain jackets to Fishpond Thunderhead waterproof packs. Looking down the road, we'll have a salmon-focused fly tying class in early October and the International Fly Fishing Film Festival is coming to the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon in November. In the meantime, we hope you continue to enjoy time on the water, are refreshed by the changing weather and have a fantastic late summer and fall season. Here's what's happening around the North Sound...
Scott, Brandon & Lindsay
Rivers
After a recent spate of rain, our rivers got a little drink and are livening up a little, although most are still flowing low. The Skagit from the Dalles Bridge in Concrete downstream is currently open for salmon and the section between the Dalles Bridge and the Marblemount Bridge will open on September 16th. This year's coho forecast is really strong, so we're very excited at the prospects hooking lots of bright, energetic salmon over the next several months. In the early part of coho season, we tend to rely on smaller flashy patterns much of the time. Flies like the Rio's Coastal Buggers, Chartreuse Rolled Muddlers, Xmas Trees and Olive Hot Head Krystal Buggers work very well. If tying your own, the Strutter in white/copper or white/silver is a fantastic one to include in your box. If the visibility is reduced, sizing up slightly and fishing a pink or purple Barbbell Egg Sucking Leech, Starlight Leech or Deuce Wigalo is a good move.
The Nooksack is also open for salmon from the from the Lummi Reservation Boundary upstream to the yellow marker behind the FFA High School Barn in Deming. Visibility in the Nooksack often borders on the low side, so the bigger and flashier patterns in the Alaskabou series are shop favorites in this section of river much of the time. Mornings, evenings and overcast days tend to be most productive for salmon but as always, the best time to fish is when you have time. The mainstem above the FFA Barn as well as the North Fork (below the falls) and South Fork are slated to open on October 1st. Salmon regulations in Washington remain complex at best. Always remember to consult the WDFW Emergency Rule Changes before heading out.
The NF Stillaguamish from Arlington up to Cicero Bridge is open and worth exploring for sea run cutthroat. The mainstem Stillaguamish from the forks in Arlington downstream will open up on September 19th. While the Stilly could use a good bump of water, there should be some cutthroat around and a 4-6 weight rod, floating line and handful of flies can make for a fun day of fishing. The BH Rolled Muddler is a pattern not to be without in the gold, green flash, olive or blue flash colors. Other effective cutthroat patterns include Mickey Finns, BH Raccoons and Hot Head Krystal Buggers in black or olive. Swinging an October Caddis Pupa imitation is also a great way to cover water. Even though cutthroat tend to favor slower moving water with lots of woody structure, don't overlook the riffley water in September. With lower flows, cutts will often seek the cooler, oxygenated water in riffles. Skating a small Muddler, Morrish October Caddis Adult or Cranefly Adult can work really well too. These same tactics can work well for sea runs in the lower sections of the Skagit too.
Beyond salmon and cutthroat, look for bull trout to be concentrated in upper portions of the river and open tributaries like the Cascade as they're getting ready to spawn in October and November with the water cooling off. The usual suspects like big Dali Llamas, Brig's Rippin' Roosters, Sir Sticks A Lot, white Sculpzillas and Sheila Sculpins continue to work, but if there are chinook actively spawning nearby, it's definitely time to be carrying a few egg and Egg Sucking Leech patterns in your box.
With fall right around the corner, the Methow is starting to cool off and September is one of our favorite times to fish before the river closes at the end of the month. Definitely bring some October Caddis adult and pupa patterns. We just added Flagler's October Caddis Jig to our fly inventory and this should be a deadly fly for nymphing either tight line or under and indicator. Orange Chubbies, Purple Haze, Parachute Adams, Mahagony Parachutes and gold or purple Skater Tots are all excellent flies for the surface. Swinging orange Soft Hackles is another worthwhile tactic for the rivers big cutthroat, rainbow and cuttbows. If streamers are more your jam, the Wounded Sculpin, CH Kiwi Muddler, Mini Dalai Lama and olive or brown Pocket Rockets are all good options through the remainder of the month. Most mountain creeks close up at the end of October so you still have some time to get your small water fix before it's done for the year. Orange Stimulators, small Parachute Adams, Partridge Soft Hackles, Duracel Jigs and Red Fox Squirrel Nymphs are some of our top late season stream flies.
Lakes
While our last couple months have been dominated by bass and panfish in the lowland lakes, the longer nights and gradually cooling temperatures have us shifting back to trout water this time of year. Unfortunately Pass Lake remains closed due to the annual toxic algae bloom, but there's a host of other great local options like Lone and Squalicum worth fishing in the next few months. Smaller midge patterns like the CDC Hatching Midge, CDC Midge and Midge Winker are great when the trout are working on our near the surface. Subsurface, smaller leech patterns like the Retriever Jig, Hot Head Squirrel Leech in brown, olive or black or Gold Jigger work well. Backswimmers and Boatmen appear on occasion in the fall too, so a few Rowley's Tin Man and Floating Boatman are great to include. Scud patterns are also great on fertile eastside lakes in the late season as fewer insects hatch and these year-round stillwater staples gain importance. If you're up for a hike, Alpine lakes are at the peak of their beauty this time of year and the fishing can be really hot as trout feed to prepare for the long winter ahead. Mosquitoes, Parachute Black Gnats and Griffiths Gnats remain excellent choices on top, supplemented by a few subsurface flies like BH Flashback Pheasant Tails, Lightning Bugs and smaller Cat's Fro-Yos.
Beaches
Now's the time for big incoming coho off the beach in Marine Areas 8 and 9 and beyond in the Puget Sound. We've been impressed with the returns so far and the salmon seem to be running a little larger in size on average. Beach fly selection is simple, with Clousers or Deep Minnow Stingers pretty much being all you need. We particularly like the Stingers as the trailing hook prevents the fly from fouling around the hook during casting, which is prone to happen sooner or later when you're pretty well casting non-stop all day. The Psychedelic Herring and chartreuse Shock & Awe Tube Flies are also great fly choice options to prevent fouling. In addition, they're durable and relatively easy to cast. I recently tested out the new Scientific Anglers ECOastal stripping basket on a west Whidbey beach and absolutely loved it! It's lightweight, easy to remove during a break, drains well, floats and most importantly, the open design means you can strip your fly in at mach 10 and never whack your hand on the hard edge of the basket. September is the month for the beach and we hope you get a chance to get after it!
