Fall on the Kenai Peninsula

During late September my wife Alexis and I had the opportunity to tag along on a business trip my sister had to make to Homer on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. Given that my sister was going to be busy with a conference, Alexis and I were able to get in a bit of fishing here and there. The first spot that we fished was on our drive out to Homer on the Kenai River. My buddy Chris had lived in Anchorage for a year and as such helped to point us to a good side channel. As Sockeye Salmon were still spawning, matching the "egg hatch" would be the ticket. Alexis had never done this type of fishing so once we found a likely spot, I did a quick cast to demonstrate how to fish a bead under an indicator. My indicator only floated about 10' feet before it dunked under the water and I had a fish on! After a quick fight, I brought a beautiful Rainbow Trout to hand.

The Kenai River side channel

A first cast Alaskan Rainbow Trout

Spawned out Sockeye Salmon

Alexis' first cast Dolly Varden

Next it was Alexis' turn and a drift through the same spot resulted in a beautiful Dolly Varden on her first cast. From here the fishing did not slow much and our only challenge was the fading daylight. However, right before we had to head out I hooked into something big, which turned out to be a beautiful 20"+ Dolly.

Hooked into a fish

My big Dolly Varden

End of the line for a for spawned out Sockeye

That Dolly was the perfect way to end a quick evening fishing outing and to start our Alaskan adventure. The next day in Homer we decided to take a boat across the bay to do a hike to the Grewingk Glacier in Kachemak Bay State Park. It was a nice calm morning, with several whale sightings on the ride over. 

A calm morning on Kachemak Bay

Once we disembarked on the boat and started along the beach, there were several sea otters hanging out along the shore. The hike was nice and mellow, traveling through a coastal forest to the lake in front of the glacier.

Sea otters

Grewingk Glacier

Alaska never ceases to amaze me as a State Park there could easily qualify as a national park anywhere else in the country. After visiting the lake we hiked over a ridge, where we were greeted with an amazing view of the bay, before descending to the dock and taking the boat back to Homer.

The bay from the ridge

The next day Alexis and my sister were spending sometime together, so I had a chance to make a solo outing to a nearby river, which has a run of Steelhead, as well as Dolly Varden. It was an absolutely flawless bluebird day and after our outing on the Kenai, I had high hopes for a good day on the water.

The river

The river was a classic freestone, with lots of great riffles and runs and within a few minutes I was hooked into a fish. By the fight, it definitely acted more like a char than trout, opting to stay deep and take a few runs, instead of showing any acrobatics. Upon landing it, my suspicions were confirmed and it was a beautify Dolly Varden, fresh in from the salt water.

A flawless Dolly Varden

Gotta love the pink spots

This proved to be one of those rare days, where the fishing exceeded my expectations. Every likely spot had several Dollies in it and the only problem was that if there were any Steelhead around I was never going to get past the Dollies to catch them. 

A Dolly starting to show its freshwater colors

I covered about a mile and a half of the river in a few hours time and while I never thought that this would happen by the end of the day I was tired of catching 16" to 18" fish, as pretty much every cast was resulting in a cookie cutter Dolly Varden. Given how great of a day on the water it had been I had no problem calling it quits on what had been an amazing trip.

A great day on the water and way to end the trip

Long overdue update - fishing for science

The last few years for me have been marked by some of the best and busiest times of my life. During this time, I finally started my career as a fisheries biologist for the Washington Department of Wildlife, met my wonderful wife and started Graduate School at the University of Washington. To a large extent fishing has taken a back seat during this time, as has my search for native trout. However, this is not to say that I haven't been working with fish. Since starting my Masters degree program, I have been very involved with native trout and currently I am right in the midst of a project looking at the interactions between native resident Coastal Rainbow Trout and Steelhead. As these are two life history forms of the same species (Oncorhynchus mykiss), this will help to tease apart the relationship between these fish.

Research time

A native Coastal Rainbow for the study

The project is occurring on two rivers Olympic Peninsula rivers that have seen precipitous declines in their Steelhead returns in the last two decades, with lows in the 10's of fish (lowest years had 3 and 6 fish respectively). Due to this a restoration program was initiated 1998 (http://www.lltk.org/rebuilding-populations/hcsp/summary) leading to some improvements in Steelhead abundance. While Steelhead returns have been relatively low in the watershed, the resident Rainbow Trout population appears to be healthy, making unclear what role Rainbow Trout may play in the success of the restoration.

Study River A

Study River B

As both watersheds have natural waterfalls that bar all anadromous fish from the upper reaches, where resident fish are the sole inhabitants. We are interested in a) if the these resident fish are passing downstream over the falls b) whether they still may have the ability to migrate out to sea and c) the food web interactions and growth patterns of fish both above and below the falls. To do so we are using a mark recapture study where we are catching fish via hook and line and electrofishing, tagging them with PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) Tags, which allow us to identify individual fish and detect fish at antenna arrays near the mouths of the rivers. This allows us to see who is staying and who is going.

At the PIT Tag Antenna Array

While tagging the fish we also collect a fin clip (for DNA analysis), a scale samples (to determine age and growth patterns), a diet sample (food web interactions) and length and weight.

Streamside sampling gear

I am aiming to wrap up work on this project in late spring of 2016, so updates will be forthcoming. Needless to say this post is long, long overdue, and I hope to post more in the future.

Rocky Mountain Getaway

Field season at work has come to a close, so I finally have some time to catch up on a few posts from my summer adventures. The first of which was a trip to Montana and Wyoming during late July with my wife Alexis. This trip originally was supposed to be a work trip to the Trout Congress conference in Bozeman, MT. However, after booking everything for the trip the conference was canceled, so it became a bit of a vacation (with some fishing). As we were no longer completely tied to Bozeman, we decided to head up to Glacier National Park to start things off. This trip was not as focused on fishing as it was hiking, camping and enjoying the scenery, but I certainly did get some fishing in along the way.

The scenery from Going to the Sun Road

This wasn't my first time to Glacier National Park, however this time we had much more time to explore and do a few more extensive hikes. Initially we were going to check out the trails around Logan Pass at the top of Going to the Sun Road. However, wildfires on the eastside of the park near the pass had caused the road to be closed. We did a few other small walks along the westside of the parks before heading over the eastside the long way to camp at Two Medicine Lakes. 

I had never been to this part of the park before and it was absolutely amazing, with open meadows and dramatic views of the mountains. Our major hike while in this part of the park was up to an alpine lake that was supposed to have a good population of Cutthroat.

Horses grazing the prairies just outside the park

The trail followed along a beautiful creek on its way up to the lake and mountain goats could be seen on the peaks as we neared the lake.

The creek on the way to the lake

We arrived at the lake right around lunch time and decided to have lunch before I would try to get a few casts in. In theory this would also allow me some time to observe the lake for risers and likely spots to intercept a Cutthroat. Unfortunately, things did not play out that way, as by the time that we had finished lunch, a thunderstorm had rolled in and we had to hunker down and wait for it to pass. 

The lake before the thunderstorm rolled in

The weather did not seem to want to allow for fishing even after the wait, so we made the call to head back to the trailhead and get back to camp. The next day we headed toward Bozeman. 

We were in Bozeman for a few days, which we filled with trips to the nearby hot springs, Lewis and Clark Caverns and just checking out the town. While in the area we also decided to do a hike in the Gallatin Range to a lake with Golden Trout, hoping that this time the weather would be a bit more conducive. Unfortunately, a cold front had moved in overnight and by the time we were nearing the lake, we were hiking through fresh snow. I did give things for Golden Trout a good shot, and got a few strikes and a couple hook ups stripping nymphs and streamers, but didn't manage to land any and the cold snowy conditions made to hard to stick things out for too long.

Fishing for Golden Trout amid some July snow

The next day Alexis and I headed in to Yellowstone to see some sights and do a bit more fishing in the afternoon. I found a nice stretch on a stream that I had fished in the park before and pretty quickly saw some fish rising to terrestrials along the bank. A few casts later and I was hooked into a nice Yellowstone Cutthroat which put up a good fight before coming to the net.

The river

Hooked into a nice Cutthroat in Yellowstone

A nice Yellowstone Cutthroat

After fishing in the park for a bit, we decided to try to get a couple of hours in on the Yellowstone River in Paradise Valley, to catch the evening hatch before heading back to Bozeman. This stretch of the Yellowstone is absolutely beautiful and the river is a classic western freestone as it meanders through the valley. It took us some time, but we found a great steam where a couple of side channels came together and we finally found some rising fish.

The Yellowstone River

Alexis on the river

A Yellowstone Brown Trout

We started getting into some smaller Brown Trout, but for whatever reason were having an exceptionally difficult time hooking into some of the risers. However, when I did finally get a bit luckier on my timing the reason become more apparent as we had found ourselves a school of surface feeding Mountain Whitefish.

A Whitefish in the net

Dry fly caught Mountain Whitefish

A couple of fawns along the bank of the river.

After a few hours on the river, we headed back to Bozeman as the next day we would be heading down to Jackson, WY for the final leg of the trip and an overnight backpacking trip into a lake in the Tetons.

This part of the trip was the highlight for both of us, the trail was relatively flat, there were amazing views along the way and when we got to the lake, we realized we would have the spot completely to ourselves. 

The Tetons

The lake

The lake had a healthy population of smallish Snake River Fine Spotted Cutthroat and as evening approached a Callibaetis hatch started and fish began to rise across the lake.

A Callibaetis mayfly

A beautiful Snake River Fine Spotted Cutthroat

Another Cutthroat post-release

Fishing on the lake was great, but as the evening wore on we decided to stop early and just enjoy beauty of the location. At this point wildlife was coming out of the wood work, with several beavers cursing the lake, deer browsing the meadows and marmots in the rockpiles chirping away. 

A beaver on the lake

The lake at sunset

That evening was the perfect way to wind down the trip, with that lake standing out as one of my favorite locations that I have been to on my travels across the west.

Back in Business...

To say that this past year has been busy is a major understatement. As a result of everything else going on in life right now, fishing and blogging for that matter dropped down my priority list. However, after a long break I finally got back after some sea-run Cutthroat at one of my favorite spots. 

The estuary

I arrived at estuary at low tide in hopes that the Coastal Cutthroat would be pushing into the river behind the salmon. As it would have it, while the salmon weren't moving in quite yet the Cutthroat certainly were waiting for them. I started out with a prawn pattern and within a couple of casts I got my first Cutthroat, a chunky 12" fish that fought valiantly on my 6 weight. I spent the next half an hour in this spot and landed three more Coastal Cutthroat before the fish seemed to wizen up. With the bite slowing down I decided it was time switch flies and head upstream. I put on one of my ever dependable Sea-run Buggers and in the next hole I missed another decent Cutthroat, then hooked into an even nicer one that looked to be about 18" to 20". However, I didn't get a very good hookset and after a few jumps the fish got the better of me.

Salmon season is underway (spawned out summer chum)

As I proceeded upstream, the Cutthroat were tucked along the undercut banks and seemed pretty interested in the Sea-run Bugger. Even when they were already full of salmon smolts they were still couldn't help themselves, such as this beauty below.

Still hungry...

Gotta love Coastal Cutthroat, they just don't know when enough is enough

 With the tide flooding in earnest at this point, I started making my way back downstream and sure enough the salmon started pushing into the river. As I was working my way down a side channel, I saw a wake coming upstream as a school of Coho worked their way over a bar. I cast my Sea-run Bugger downstream and gave it a couple of twitches just in front of the school and as fate would have it, one of the Coho broke away from the group and grabbed my fly. This Coho was big, and seemed to use its brute strength to its advantage making several good runs and putting my 6 wt to the test before finally coming to hand. This fish felt quite rewarding as last year I hooked 7 Coho without landing a single one and the year before I went one for thirteen. One for one, not bad!

 My first migratory Coho in two years.

Right as I got my fly out of this Coho and got him on his way, another school pushed through the shallows. I lucked out and these fish were grabby as well and the previous situation replayed itself. This time the Coho was a little bit smaller, but what is was lacking in size it made up for in fight and put up quite an aerial display. Luckily I got a good hookset on it and after a few minutes of tug of war, I was able to bring the beautiful 26" buck in. With the tide in at this point the Coho seemed to be done pushing in and I needed to get out before being stranded. So I cut my losses (or gains) and got out while I still could.

2 for 2!! Great way to end the day!

Time to head home!

First fish of 2012

After a long stretch without any fishing, I got out for my first outing of the new year with a my buddies Craig and Bob. To say that the weather was beautiful would be a vast understatement as it was as nice of a bluebird day as the Evergreen State has to offer.

An unseasonably nice day on the water

The nice weather meant that the river was fairly busy, but there were still some fish around, they just required some work. Craig hooked into the first fish of day, which took as he was retrieving his fly but popped off almost immediately. Nymphing seemed to be get the best reaction from the fish and it was just a matter of persistence and keeping them on once hooked. The honor of landing the first fish of the day went to Bob, it just wasn't the steelhead that we were hoping for but a Whitefish.

Also found this little guy...

With day growing short and after personally losing two steelhead in a row, I finally made it happen and hooked into a very hot 10 or 11lb steelhead. This fish seemed inclined to spend as much time in the backing as possible, but after chasing downstream for a good 1/8 mile we were finally able to bring it to the net. Being a hatchery fish it became a guest of honor for dinner too.

Not too bad for my first fish of 2012

We didn't touch another fish after I was lucky enough to get mine, but it was one of the more beautiful days on the water that I can remember in a long time.

A great day on the water

A false start

Not to long ago, my buddy Craig and I got out to the Olympic Peninsula to try for some early season winter steelhead. Unfortunately so did everyone else. In fact on the river that we had decided to fish, there was a rig in nearly every pull out and easily over three times the amount of anglers that I have ever seen there. Also unfortunate is the fact that it hasn't rained in any significant amount for sometime, leaving the rivers low and clear and severely limiting our options on some of the other waters that I like to fish. However, if there is a will there is a way and hitching a ride with a logging crew we found our way into the upper part of the watershed we were fishing, above the reach of most other anglers. The water up here was a bit skinnier, and the river worked its way through a bit of a canyon so it looked like we were committed to a spending a good portion of the day up here. However, the water looked pretty good, with plenty of holding water so we got too it. The first few holes looked great and Craig and I took turns covering the prime lies, but didn't see any sign of fish.

Craig working a good looking pool

However, before long we came to only of those spots that just screams Steelhead and sure enough Craig spotted some. We worked this pod for a good while and I managed to get one fish to take before we lost sight of the ghostly Steelhead that seemed to vanish from the hole.

Steelie holding water

Once we figured that the fish were either gone or spooked, we decided to move on and explore a bit more of this part of the river. However, a great deal of hiking and exploring this part of the river only yielded one more decent looking spots, which in turn showed no signs of fish. At this point we were already starting to wear out the already short window of winter daylight that we had. So we decided to work our way out of the upper watershed and into some more familiar water.

Once we had worked our way into some waters that were a bit more familiar for me, we made a stop at a corner where a nameless tributary joins the main river. The hole had treated me well in the past at low flows so we figured we would at least take a look. It didn't take too long to spot some fish, as there was a good pod of around 10-15 Steelhead holding in the tail out. Craig decided to act as the spotter and I made my way to the far side of the river where I would have a better approach. My first drift went right through the fish with no reaction whatsoever. My second drift got a bit more attention. While I remained out of sight and started it well upstream of the fish, as soon as my fly got in range it looked as though a bomb had gone off with the affect of steelhead scattering in every direction. We wondered a the spookiness of these fish until we left the hole and found the remains of several fish in the next run downstream.

Working the pod of steelhead before they spooked.

At this point we had one more shot at try to find some sort of fish and found another promising spot downstream a ways. As I was working a little long jam that had newly formed this season, I finally got a solid take from a sizeable fish, but after one initial tug the fish tossed the fly and I was out of luck.

Or so I thought. Just downstream I got another take and this time actually got a good hookset. Right away I could tell that this wasn't a Steelhead as my switch rod quickly over powered it. However, a beautiful native Coastal Cutthroat fresh from the saltwater was just as good to me at this point and was a great note to end the day on.

A flawless native Coastal Cutthroat

As steelheading goes I would have to consider this trip a success, as anytime you can spot some fish and a least get a take or two you are doing something right. Plus it doesn't get much better than exploring some great water with a good friend.