Klickitat River in October

Living on the Methow River make it hard to travel to fish. When I was invited to fish on the Klickitat River I thought why not. Fishing with Bill Merritt and friends will be good. Well, it was more than good. It was awesome! We fished with Tracey Zoller at Adventure Fishing. the salmon and steelhead fishing on this river is so much fun. Try it sometime, you will love it!

Trinity River Steelheading

When its freezing cold and there isn't enough snow to ski there is only one thing to do....go fishing. Just back from fishing the Trinity River in N. California with friends Jim, Ed, and Tyler. We fished with guides Brad and Dave for two days and had a splendid time. We caught winter run steelhead and added in the resident browns for a little diversity. The weather was cold but not miserable and everyone had a great time. We have our dates booked for next January!

Rufus Wood again

Before I close down writing for winter I had to add one more picture from the fat fish factory, Rufus Wood. This was a great day fishing from the shore with constant action all afternoon. Power bait is the way to go here since we were keeping the fish. This spot is open year round and these pen released 'bows' are great eating and for smoking. As my friend Sam said, "This was a great day of fishing!" Way to go Sam!

Last Day of Fishing

I had to hit Little Twin one more time and the days were getting shorter and cooler. October 31 was a Friday, warmer but overcast. I snapped a few pictures of this beautiful little lake just a few minutes from downtown Winthrop. Fishing was slow and in one hour I landed just two small bows. The bigger fish were not active this afternoon. Just as well, if they had shown up I just would have wanted more. As it was it, was fine to say goodbye to my 'go to' lake for the year. I had many fun hours here and hope it is as good next year.

The End For Me

When the time comes for our clocks to fall back it means winter is here, at least for me. After work it is dark and fishing is out of the question. And I seldom fish if there is snow on the ground. Too many other things to do, like duck hunt, nordic ski, or alpine ski. One thing that is fun is Cast & Blast at Rufus Wood Lake on the Columbia River. It is about one and a half hours to Chief Joe Dam and the best fishing for triploid rainbows around. These sterile fish grow fast! The state record was caught here and weighed in at around 28 lbs. Many of my friends won't keep fish in the two to three pound range. They wait for the six to eight pounders, which are fairly common. On the barbeque they grill up like salmon.  Combine this with duck hunting and it makes for a true cast & blast experience. Here's to winter.

IronHeads On My Mind

Something about living right on a river full of big beautiful trout. It makes it hard to concentrate on much of anything else. Especially when it is sixty degrees and the sun is out and the fall foliage is orange and yellow and the water is clear as gin. What is there to do except go to the river and fish. Every fish we've caught this year has been a wild fish which is good but disappointing since my barbeque has been idle. Nothing like grilled steelhead which is what happens to the hatchery fish.

Another thing I noticed was in pictures of wild fish, the websites like methowfishing.com show the fish in the water, which doesn't really show off the fish, but is what we should be doing.  My pictures show fish out of the water which I plan on changing if I am lucky enough to catch more steelhead. If you are wondering about how tough these wild fish are just catch one with talon marks on its back and wonder, did that osprey keep that fish in the water or did it try to carry it to its treetop penthouse. Anyway, it is better to treat the wild fish with tender loving care.

Fall on the Methow

October is a beautiful month to be fishing the Methow River. To this beauty add steelhead and you have an irresistible combination.