Southwest Summer Getaway

Sometimes it is hard to believe where time goes, but this year marks my wife and my 10th Anniversary and to mark the occasion we decided to do something special and started planning a getaway. After an amazing trip to New Mexico two years ago, we that we decided to do something similar and after looking into the details we opted to fly into Albuquerque, NM do a loop through Southwest Colorado to Pagosa Springs and Mesa Verde before finish off with some time in Albuquerque before we flying back. While the focus of the trip was not on fishing, it did put us within a short distance from one of the last subspecies of Cutthroat that I needed to catch and I would have a morning with which to try my luck for them.

The subspecies of Cutthroat in question was the San Juan Cutthroat, which until just five years ago was assumed to be extinct. With their recent rediscovery, these fish are still in a precarious place as restoration efforts are still in their infancy and as such most remaining populations are still too sensitive to allow for angling. However, after getting in touch with the local biologist, there was one stream that appeared to be feasible and I set might sights on it as my target.

With the trip fast approaching, I put some extra time into packing so that unlike my camping trip to the North Cascades in July, this time there was no way I was going to forget anything and I made sure to double and triple check that all of my gear was accounted for before leaving. Then next thing we knew, the day of the trip had arrived and we were up by 4:30AM and on our way to the airport. Fortunately, we had a surprisingly smooth trip up I-5, through Sea-Tac Airport and with our fly right on time we were in the air in no time.

Blue skies above the clouds

With the exception infamously bumpy approach to Albuquerque, the flight was smooth and after grabbing our rental car we were on our way Colorado. Between the flight and drive, our first day was strictly a travel day, but the drive did not disappoint as we progressed from the desert near Albuquerque to the the weathered badlands as we passed Ghost Ranch known for its Cretaceous era fossil beds and then watched lightning sparking across the sky as we finally reached the forested slopes of the Rocky Mountains. By the time we reached Colorado the thunderstorms were behind us and we were greeted with blue skies stretching to the horizon as the sun started to sink towards the horizon. With just the morning to fish, I set my alarm for 6:00AM, but with a level of anticipation that only pursuing a new native trout can provide I found myself wide awake at 5:15 AM and decided to get up early to add a little extra extra fishing time into the schedule.

Sunrise over the Rockies

With the early start, I found myself driving through the foothills as the sun crested over the mountains and arrived at the creek by 6:30 AM. While I had brought both my 4WT and 1WT on the trip, upon arriving at the creek and realizing that it was a fair bit smaller than I have anticipated, I opted for the much short 6'6" 1WT. With this being new water for me, I also decided to go with my old standby Royal PMX but also added a Blowtorch nymph dropper so I would be ready whether they were focused on top or subsurface. As I stated making my way upstream, I initially found very little holding water, but at the first decent pocket I came to a trout rose to my dry, but unfortunately it didn't hook up and refused to come back for a second look. At least that was a sign the fish were there!

Not far upstream, I finally found a piece of really good looking holding water, as the creek came over a log and dug out a nice pool. The first couple casts in the outflow of the pool didn't get any attention, but once I put a cast into the slower water in the middle of the foam line a fish rose to my fly and I got a solid hook up.

The first good hole on the creek

This fish was much bigger than I would have expected, and gave my little 1WT a run for its money, but with no real obstacles to get hung up on after a minute or so I brought my first San Juan Cutthroat to the net, a beautiful 12"er.

My first San Juan Cutthroat

After snapping a few photos and briefly admiring the beautiful Cutthroat, I released it and continued upstream only to find another great looking spot just around the corner. 

A beautiful run on the creek

This next spot was quite exposed, so after checking that my back cast clear I snuck up on my knees and made a cast into the back third of the run. My fly only drifted a foot or two, before a trout slowly and confidently rose to engulf the dry fly. Again I got a solid hookup and after quick battle I brought another beautiful, this time 11" San Juan Cutthroat to hand.

Another gorgeous San Juan Cutthroat

After that fish, I picked up yet another large trout, this time about 12" on my dropper, before continuing upstream. It seemed that while small, this stream was one of those rare highly productive pieces of water able to produce unusually large fish. This became especially evident when I came across a particularly tricky piece of water to fish. What made this spot so challenging was the combination of overhanging brush for tight casting and downed tree in the water that had numerous branches still sticking just waiting to snag my dropper, requiring pin point accuracy. However, my little 1WT  was up to the task and I was able to land a good cast in the pool in the main seam just past the branches. As my dry fly drifted past a large rock at the back of the pool a large trout rose to intercept it. Lucky for me, after the first fish, my hooksets seemed to be on point this morning and I got a good connection with the trout, which immediately proved to be the largest I had seen yet. Now the tricky part was going to be keep it out of the wood with my little 1WT. The fish tried its hardest to shake me, diving into the branches a half dozen times, but miraculously it didn't hang up and I was finally able to bring the beautiful 15" brightly colored Cutthroat to the net. 

A 15" San Juan Cutthroat - without a doubt one of the most beautiful Cutthroat I have caught!

At this point, the stream had by far exceeded my wildest expectations and if anything my problem was that I had yet to catch a fish small enough to fish in my 12" photarium, which I have to admit is a great problem to have! With all pressure off, I continued working upstream, and came to yet another pool where, I spotted a few trout holding. The first fish that I targeted, I briefly hooked but it popped and darted to the head of the pool thankfully not spooking the other two trout. I took a little more care with the next fish and got a perfect presentation and it slowly rose and ate my dry fly, at which point I quickly fought it out of the tail of the pool in order to not spook the other fish I had eyes on. After releasing that fish, the next one would prove to be one of the more memorable of the trip. 

The Cutthroat

Having a clear line of sight on this fish and being I was careful not to spook it, I got into position and made my cast well in front of it. As my fly neared the fish, I watched the trout get in position and slowly rise to meet the dry fly, but unfortunately I mistimed my hook set and didn't hook up. While the fish hadn't spooked, it did become much more cautious after this and appeared to have caught on to my dry fly being fake, as the next five dead drifts got no response. Next I tried skating my dry, which got the fish to come over, put its nose on the fly and inspect it, but it ultimately decided not to take it. With the dry not working I tried something different and placed a cast so the dropper landed just a few inches in front of the trout, and bingo, fish on!

Success!

A meadow along the creek

Fishing continued much the same, with the creek opening up in some areas with good holding water, while other areas presented tight quarters that I decided to pass by and leave tot he trout as well earned refuges. It did seem that while the fish tended to be large the overall density of trout was not too high, with most pools only holding a single fish. Over the course of the morning, I finally managed to get a few fish the fit in the photarium as well and covered over a 1/2 mile of stream, catching around a dozen fish before running into a natural stopping point deciding it was time to turn around and head back down the mountain.

Finally a fish for the photarium

All and all, this this was an amazing morning and one outing that I am not likely to forget anytime soon. With how good the fishing was, I was even able to into town by 10:30AM, giving me the rest of the day to enjoy with the vacation my wife Alexis. While in Pagosa Springs, we spent the evening at the hot springs and exploring the town, before hitting the road the next day for Durango and Mesa Verde National Park. The whole time we were greeted with wonderful weather and amazing vistas. After doing some short hikes and seeing the amazing cliff dwellings Mesa Verde, we also decided to check out the awe inspiring ancient Puebloan ruins at Chaco Canyon on our way back to Albuquerque. 

The San Juan River in Pagosa Springs - once home to a robust fluvial population of San Juan Cutthroat

Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde National Park

Sunset over Mesa Verde from Far View Lodge

Chaco Canyon National Historic Park

Casa Bonita at Chaco Canyon

Sharing a wonderful adventure together!

All I can say is that this trip was amazing and the fishing for San Juan Cutthroat, was the cherry on top of a wonderful adventure celebrating 10 years together with my wonderful wife!

A taste of things to come

While I love summertime in the Pacific Northwest, my favorite time to be out fishing is as summer is coming to an end as this marks the start of the salmon spawning season. For those who know where to look the fishing in western Washington streams begins to resemble that in Alaska for the brief window when the trout are focused on eggs. While that season is still off on the horizon, the trout that key in on eggs in September and October are still around even if they are much hard to find. With that in mind, I was recently able to make a couple of outings on one of these special streams to see if I couldn't find any early takers.

Dyllon was able to join me on the first outing and given how early it was in the season, Dyllon opted to fish a streamer, while I brought two rods, also using a streamer as well as a double nymph rig with a cased caddis and egg dropper. My reasoning on the egg imitation was that the first salmon should be starting to enter the river and while they wouldn't be spawning yet, it should at least get the trout interested in eggs again. We only had a few hours to fish, but lucked out on our weather as it was a classic blue bird summer day perfect for wet wading. 

Upon hitting the river, we started working our way upstream fishing any likely looking water as we went. A couple runs upstream we saw our first signs of as Dyllon briefly hooked up with a 12" to 14" Cutthroat that had been holding in a trench next to a log, but unfortunately it popped off. The next corner upstream, which was a deep pool that slowly passed along the cliff face proved even more lively as shortly after we arrived are salmon rolled, signaling that yes indeed the season is upon us. Being slow and deep, Dyllon and I both opted for streams and within just a couple casts I spotted a nice Cutthroat in the 18" range chasing my streamer across the hole, but it was unwilling to commit. This ended up being the story of this spot, as we each had a few grabs, but mostly just saw Cutthroat inspecting our flies, with one even chasing my streamer right up to the rod tip. After putting in a solid 45 minutes on the hole with no hookups, we admitted defeat continued on. 

Dyllon working a streamer through a great piece of holding water

One thing about Pacific Northwest rivers, is that they are dynamic and each season requires relearning where all the best holding water is. As we worked our way upstream there had been subtle changes, with a run looking better here and a trench filled in there, but it wasn't until we were on the water for a couple hours that we saw the first major change. Luckily for us this was a serious improvement, as a couple channels that had previously be separate combined to create an amazing riffle and pool. I made one prospecting cast when we reached the pool, but it looked best fished from the opposite shore, so I decided to cross and flipped my nymph rig in as I went. I had almost reached the opposite bank and my indicator was perhaps a quarter of the way down the riffle, when it was sharply yanked under. Moments later, a massive Rainbow that was well over 20" came shooting out of the water, and I was hooked into a nice fish. For a minute or so, the fish stayed deep in the run, but then after a couple more leaps took off downstream like a freight train. I was able to get the fish to turn as it reached the tailout, but it kept working it way towards a braid at the end of the pool with a log in it. Dyllon was on the net and headed downstream to try and keep the fish from going down the channel. However, with Dyllon still working his way into position and the fish moving closer to the log, I put just a little too much pressure on it and the hook came flying back at me. Dyllon had a chance to get a good eye on the fish beforehand and estimated it at around 24".  Over a week later as I am writing this and that fish continues to haunt me, as I think of all of the things I could have done differently, but you just can't get them all.

After I lost the big one, Dyllon started working the pool with his streamer and after settling my heart rate down a bit I finally got back in with my nymph rig again. On the first cast, my indicator bobbed under again, but there was nobody there when I set, but on the very next cast when it went under again I got a solid hookset.  This fish wasn't nearly as big as the first one, but still put up a good fight, taking line and thrashing on the surface. However, after a couple minutes I was able to regain all of my line and Dyllon netted a beautiful bright 16" native Rainbow for me.

Not quite the big one, but still a nice native Rainbow at 16"

We worked the hole for a while longer, but there didn't seem to be any additional takers, and while we were nearing the end of our allotted time on the water we decided to try a couple more bends to see how the river had changed. Along the way we spooked on smallish Chinook and I found myself noting how all of the downed trees in the river would make for some great fun with a mouse pattern, before we came to a great looking run. Dyllon took point on this one and almost immediately had a Cutthroat dart out from under a downed tree to great his streamer, but he wasn't able to hook up. After one more grab, the Cutthroat refused to come back so I stepped in with my nymph rig but could find any willing takers. However, as I was fishing I started to notice shapes moving on the bottom and after a moment of observation noticed about a dozen Chinook tucked under a downed alder in the run. Dyllon and I watched the salmon for a few minutes, before realizing that we had gone over our time on the water and had beat feet back to the car.

Chinook Salmon holding water

After the great outing the Dyllon and I had, my buddy Chris let me know that he was free to for a quick morning outing and as our schedules lined up, I jumped at the opportunity to return the the river again. There were a couple differences with this outing right off the bat. The first was that unlike the last outing that was bright and sunny, this morning was starting off overcast and second was that this time in addition to the nymph and streamer rod I also brought along a 5 WT with a mouse pattern on it. The next thing we changed was starting out further upstream and working our way down to where Dyllon and I had ended our day.

The first pool that we came to had a massive log jam and looked like great streamer water and sure enough, Chris had a fish grab on his first cast, while I watched a 16"+ trout chase my streamer across the hole, but after that the fish refused to come back and we kept moving. We had similar results at the next couple holes, with Chris catching one small Coastal Cutthroat, before we got back to the water Dyllon and I had ended on. 

After finding a small hole with a lot of downed trees, I pulled out the mouse rig and started twitching it across the surface. About half way down the hole, I landed a cast an inch or two off the downed tree and just as I started skittering the mouse away a Cutthroat pull out from cover and inhaled it. I got a decent hook set but had to work hard to keep the 14" to 15" Cutthroat out of the trees. I succeed at keeping trout out of the wood, but just as I was bring it to the net, the hook popped loose and the Cutthroat darted back to its cover.

Mousing water

After my encounter with the mouse eating Cutthroat, we continued downstream and verified that the Chinook were all still tucked under their alder, but couldn't find any willing trout in the hole this time. Next we found ourselves back at the pools that had held the big trout on the last outing, but this trip wasn't the same as last time and after running multiple drifts through I didn't get any takes. However, when Chris threw his nymph rig in it didn't take long for him to get a grab and after a short fight he brought a small heavily spotted Rainbow to the net.

Chris' Rainbow

Shortly after Chris released his fish, the sun finally broke through the morning marine layer and the day started to warm up. Unfortunately, the fishing went icy cold and despite us cover another 1/2 mile of river we only saw a few more salmon as the trout appeared to disappear. However, it was still a gorgeous day on the water and I had fun twitching my mouse pattern along any structure I could find and we even had a couple Deer cross the river just downstream of us.

Mousing along a log jam

Deer crossing the river

Despite, not having many fish to hand, it appears that the season is off to a good start and while I am reluctant to see summer slip away especially with a couple trips for native Cutthroat on the horizon, I also now find myself longing for the cool crisp September days just around the corner.

Upper Skagit Rainbow Trout

The North Cascades in Washington State are some of the most beautiful and rugged peaks to be found anywhere and are also home to some rather unique trout. However, the watershed is also highly altered, with three dams (Gorge, Diablo and Ross) inundating a large portion of the waters and debate currently raging about providing anadromous fish access past the dams to the upper watershed. 

What researchers are finding though, suggests that the upper Skagit River is an isolated zone of contact between several species of salmonids including Bull Trout and Dolly Varden, Rainbow and Redband Trout and possibly even the only native population of Westslope Cutthroat on the westside of the Cascade Mountains (this is still a matter of debate though that will only be settled with genetics). What we do know about the geology of the upper Skagit River is quite interesting and indicates that the river historically flowed north into the Fraser River following the path that Silverhope Creek in British Columbia follows today.  As a result, the Bull Trout in the upper Skagit River are more closely related to Bull Trout in the Fraser River than they are to those downstream in the lower Skagit below the dams. It is believed that sometime during the last ice age, the upper Skagit River cut a course down through the granite formations of Diablo gorge under what is now Diablo Lake. This appears to have been during a period of contact between Coastal Rainbow Trout and Interior Redband Trout it is believed that the the cascades in the Diablo Canyon presented an insurmountable barrier to downstream populations of anadromous fish in the lower Skagit River and as such this zone of contact become isolated. While the genetics are still being sorted out, the current results indicate that the Upper Skagit Rainbow Trout represent an intermediate form between the Coastal and Redband lineages, but have diverged from both and are as distinct from each as Coastal Rainbow Trout and Columbia Basin Redband Trout are from each other and could possibly represent a new undescribed subspecies of Oncorhynchus mykiss.

After learning about the Upper Skagit Rainbow Trout, I have been looking for the opportunity to get up to the North Cascades and find some. That chance finally came when my wife Alexis planned a family camping trip to the area for my birthday. While this would be primarily a family trip, we were going to camping on the Skagit River and only a short distance from the streams holding the Upper Skagit Rainbow Trout, so we planning on mixing some native trout fishing with family time.

As always the trip snuck up on me and the rush getting out of the house with the family and our two dogs was hectic to say the least. Despite the rush, we found ourselves on the road not long after the time we were shooting for, but the drive ended up being a painfully slow go, as traffic getting through the Seattle area turned a 3 1/2 hour drive into a 5 hour drive. Once we were out of the Puget Sound lowlands though, we were able to breathe a sigh of relief and as always the drive though the Stillaguamish, Sauk and Skagit River valleys was a beautiful. Upon arriving at the campground, we immediately got to setting up camp, (except for Valerie who zoned in on the huckleberry bushes), but as I was wrapping things up I got this sinking feeling that something was missing and when I went check in the car my suspicions were confirmed. It turned out that in the rush to get out of the house I had somehow forgotten to put my fly rods in the ca, although my waders, reels and flies were all accounted for. This was a massive disappointment, but after talking to Alexis , we decided that we would make a day of my mistake the next day by driving over the North Cascades Highway to Winthrop to have lunch and visit the fly shop then hit the creek on the way back.

Diablo Lake on the North Cascades Highway - with Diablo Dam in the distance near the former barrier

As with other trips along the North Cascades Highway, the views did not disappoint and we even caught the often breezy Diablo Lake during the morning calm, which was stunningly beautiful. Upon arriving in Winthrop I headed straight for the fly shop and luckily they had a reasonably priced 4 WT Redington Classic Trout rod available and I was back in business. After getting the rod, lunch and spending a little time in Winthrop, we were back on the road and headed for a tributary to Ross Lake. 

The stream that I selected is a rare piece of water that contains Rainbow Trout, Westslope Cutthroat in the headwaters, Bull Trout and Dolly Varden and while my hope was that I might find more than one of these species, the Upper Skagit Rainbow Trout were my focus. We arrived at the trailhead at around 1:30 PM, and after a short hike we found a nice gravel bar where Alexis and Valerie could enjoy the stream while I tried my luck fishing.

The stream

When it comes to small stream trout fishing, I have found a dry-dropper to be one of the most effective rigs to get the feel of new streams so I tied on a Royal PMX dry with a Blow Torch nymph as my dropper. I did have to go far to give them a try either as there was a great piece of holding water right where we stopped. After a couple casts to get feel of the new rod and a few prospecting drifts, a decent sized trout eagerly rose to take my dry fly and in short order I netted my first trout of the day.

My first fish of the day, a clear hybrid with a Westslope Cutthroat

Upon netting the fish, I was surprised to see it was clearly a Rainbow x Westslope hybrid. My research on the stream had indicated that the section I was fishing was in the transition zone between the Rainbows and Westslopes and that hybrids were a possibility, but I was still a bit surprised to see one. While hybrids are generally a serious concern for native trout conservation, natural hybrids are actually relatively common where the native ranges of Rainbow and Cutthroat Trout overlap and are generally less successful than pure strain fish and as such typically don’t hurt the long-term viability of either species. Even so, I was here looking for genetically pure Rainbows and as such the hybrid was worrisome. Luckily when I hooked another fish a few casts later it ended up being a beautiful Upper Skagit Rainbow Trout. These first couple fish were particularly special as I got share the experience with my daughter Valerie who was able to come over and help me release them.

A beautiful Upper Skagit River Rainbow Trout

After those first couple fish, I had to head a bit further upstream to find some more holding water, but quickly got in a rhythm of targeting every slow pocket or seam and picking up a handful of small Rainbows as I went. This continued until I came around a corner and spotted a beautiful hole.

A great pool on the creek

Upon reaching the tailout of the pools, I made a prospecting cast with my dry dropper and just as I was nearing the end of my drift a 14” to 16” trout slowly rose from the depths to inspect my fly before sinking back down. Unfortunately a dozen or casts into the same spot got no further attention and I continued working upstream. As I neared the head of the pool, I watched another trout rise from the depths, but this time it slowly and deliberately inhaled my dry fly and I was hooked into a hard fighting Rainbow of perhaps 10”. For its size this fish put up a solid fight, with several jumps and runs, but it was nothing the new 4 WT couldn’t handle and landed the beautiful trout.

My largest Rainbow of the day

It always amazes me how adaptable trout are and while the fishing from the pocket water reaches were vividly colored, this trout of the deeps was far more silvery with a pale pink band and only the faintest yellow showing through. After releasing this trout I decided it was time to head back downstream but tied on a streamer to seem if I could get the attention of the big trout again. A couple casts in, I got a decent 8” trout but kept working trout the hole known the big guy was there. Sure enough after a few more casts I watched it attack my streamer, but failed to hook up again. Once again I’m not sure whether the fish felt the hook or saw me but no amount of casting could get it to come back. With no further action it the hole, tied my dry dropper rig back on and headed back down stream to see if there were any more trout in the pockets.

Working a great pocket on the stream

Sure enough the pocket water produced a few more decent Rainbows and one more hybrid, but it was the last fish of the day that really stuck with me. This fish wasn’t the largest of the day, but it’s coloration was just outstanding and made for the perfect fish to wrap up the day with.

A great fish to end the day on - a flawless gem of a Rainbow

It was a great day on the water and the rest of the weekend was an absolute joy camping with my family and enjoying the great outdoors. Our drive home went was much smooth mer as we skated by with only a few minor slow down, and sure enough when we got back there were my rods piled up right where I left them.

There they are…

Another Small Stream Outing

With the success that Dyllon and I had recently experienced small stream fishing, we decided to get out again for another quite outing, this time exploring a little further upstream. After putting some distance between where we ended on our last trip, we found a nice spot where the creek paralleled the trail and headed down to the water. There ended up being a huge log jam at on the creek, forming a great looking hole and while Dyllon made his way downstream, I decided to see if there were any fish hiding under the logs. After a couple casts I got my leech imitation in tight against the logs, let it sink an when I stripped it back a nice ~16" Cutthroat slowly followed it out. I gave the leech a few good twitches, but as my line near the rod tip the Cutthroat must have seen me and shot back under the logs. After that, no amount of casting could get the Cutthroat to come back out and after several fruitless minutes I had to admit defeat and head downstream.

I found Dyllon at a nice corner hole where he was getting grabs on his streamer on almost every cast, but similar to my fish they just weren't willing to commit. After switching spots, I ran into the same issue on my streamer, but finally enticed a fish to grab my dry, which ended up being a beautiful little Coastal Cutthroat.

A beautiful golden yellow native Coastal Cutthroat

Continuing downstream, the creek had a good amount of pools and pocket water, but the fish proved to be challenging. As with the first hole, we got lots of grabs at each piece of good water on our streamers, but the fish all seemed to be short striking and hook ups were few and far between. Unfortunately the deepest, best looking water all seemed to be oddly vacant but signs angling pressure abounded with gear in the trees, suggesting overharvest by local anglers to be the culprit.

A nice corner hole on the stream

Luckily the smaller pools and pockets appear to be over looked by other anglers and the dry-dropper rig proved effective, although it only produced fish in 6" to 8" range. Hoping that we would connect with some of the larger fish we had found on our last trip, we continued down to the hole where we had caught them. This time, Dyllon briefly hooked up with on decent fish perhaps around 12" but it popped off and no other fish were willing to grab. A couple corners downstream the trail and the creek met up again and after having spent a couple hours exploring with limited success we decided to call it a day While we didn't land any large Cutthroat this trip, there were lots hookups and the dry fly proved hard to resist for the smaller Cutthroat, making it a great day on the water.

Quick Olympic Mountain Outing

With summer in full swing I was able to get out on my favorite Olympic Peninsula stream with my daughter Valerie for a short after work outing. This stream is where I did the majority of my research for grad school and as such is an incredibly special place to me making it a joy to get to share it with my daughter.

A beautiful afternoon to be on the river

While Valerie has been fishing a few times over the last couple of years, this was my first time getting her out with a fly rod. I picked a spot on the river that is secluded and has proved itself as an easy go to for native Rainbows that are eager to rise to dry flies. Although Valerie needed a little casting assistance, the fish didn't disappoint and after just a couple of casts we hooked and landed her fish on a dry fly.

Valerie with a small native Coastal Rainbow Trout on a dry fly

Over the next hour Valerie and I took turns casting and caught several more fish, all in the 6" to 8" range before switching to exploring the river bank and picking wild huckleberries on the trail out on a short but sweeting outing.

Another small native Rainbow Trout

A streamside butterfly

Picking Red Huckleberries

The trail out

Small stream scouting

This past spring, my wife and I did a short hike on a nature trail along a small stream, that immediately caught my attention as a place that needed to revisit once the season opened up. After my last small stream outing wetted my appetite, I was was able to pull away for few hours to finally check it out. Just like last time, Dyllon was free to join me and after a quick drive and short hike we found ourselves on the water. When we arrived, the creek looked beautiful, with slightly tannic water flowing through a lush forest of Red Alder, Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar. 

The stream flowing through a tunnel of Red Alder

As with my last outing, I came with two rods, my 1WT with a dry/ dropper and my 2WT with a small streamer. The first pocket that I came across looked like perfect dry fly water and sure enough after just a couple casts, I was rewarded with a rise and a beautiful little native Coastal Cutthroat.

A small native Coastal Cutthroat from the first hole

After that first fish, we started covering the water and working our upstream picking up a few smallish Cutthroat. However, despite some great looking water for the next 1/2 mile the stream seemed relatively devoid of life and signs of other anglers including night crawler containers and empty eagle claw hook packs seemed to indicate why. It wasn't until the trail along the stream started fading away that the fishing picked up and the creek seemed to come alive. 

From this point on each riffle would produce numerous parr Cutthroat in the 4" to 6" range and we started seeing signs of larger fish with Dyllon finally hooking into a solid Cutthroat that he guessed was 14" in a deeper corner hole. Unfortunately, with the tight conditions, the fish was able to shake loose before he managed to bring it in.

After we had spent way too much time exploring the unproductive lower reaches, we were now starting to run out of time, but as I was suffering from a serious case of "next bend" syndrome we pushed on to check out one or two more corners. Finally, while Dyllon was working a log jam downstream, I came across the fishiest looking hole we had seen so far, a deep corner hole along a steep bank with some nice slower holding water on the inside edge. I grabbed my streamer rod for this spot and after a couple casts in the back section, I placed a cast in the slower inside water and after a couple strips got a savage take. 

This wasn’t a small Cutthroat and while it didn’t have much room to run my 2WT was really put to the test. Luckily the fish came downstream out of the key holding water and I was able to keep it out of the one snag in the hole. The real risk was if it went down into the next hole which was way more snaggy. However, luck was on my side and I was able to keep the fish the tailout and was able to net it before it could make a run for it. The Cutthroat was every bit of 16” and was a heavily spotted female that showed clear signs of having just recently spawned.

The fish of the day, a beautiful post spawn Coastal Cutthroat

Another shot of the streamer eating Cutthroat

After I released my fish, Dyllon took over and sure enough, within just a few casts he got a solid take and hooked into a fish. Dyllon was fishing a 5WT and as such the 12” Cutthroat was out classed and after a short fight we brought it to the net.

Dyllon fishing the corner

Dyllon's Cutthroat a 12” male

It was my turn again next and this spot wasn’t done producing yet, so when I got a good cast along the seam and started retrieving it I got a solid grab and hooked into another Cutthroat. This one turned out to be about 10” but had a beautiful spotting pattern and coloration and after admiring it for a brief moment I turned it loose again.

Another beautiful native Coastal Cutthroat

After releasing the third Cutthroat, we were starting to run out of time, but I decided to take a peek upstream while Dyllon took over. The next good holding water looked to be further upstream then we had time for and Dyllon reported that he had gotten a few more grabs, but no hook ups so we decided I was time to head back downstream stream and call it a successful day on the new stream.

The creek on the way out

Small stream Coastal Cutthroat

Small stream fishing has always held a special place in my heart. There is something intimate about these little out of way creeks, that require stealth but rarely see much attention from anglers. After a long winter, small stream fishing in Washington finally opened at the end of May and while I had hoped to get out over the opener, a busy schedule kept me off the water. That was until this past weekend when I was able to sneak away for few hours with my neighbor Dyllon. With half a day to spare, we decided to explore a small stream that flows through a beautiful stretch of forest and hosts a healthy population of Coastal Cutthroat Trout.

Based on my understanding of this particular stream, it hosts a relatively robust population of stream resident Cutthroat as well as a good number sea-run Cutthroat, which generally start showing up later in the summer. As such, I decided to rig up my 2WT with a streamer for any early sea-runs and put a dry dropper rig on my 1WT for the resident Cutthroat. As is often the case with small streams, it didn’t take long find signs of life and I was able to coax an 8” Cutthroat out of hiding with my streamer in the first deep hole that we came to. However, as is often the case with barbless hooks, the fish tossed the fly as I attempted to net it.

After the first fish, Dyllon and I took turns streamer fishing the deeper holes, while I worked any reasonably deep riffles or pockets with my dry/ dropper rig. This strategy worked well and while most of the fish weren't very large, the dry/ dropper started getting results almost immediately.

A juvenile Coastal Cutthroat

The first fish that I got in the net was a small Coastal Cutthroat parr that took my dropper and soon after in a nice undercut corner upstream I was able coax a bright 10" sea-run out of hiding on my dry. After a series of shallow runs, we finally came upon a great piece of holding water where the creek made a 90 degree turn. 

A great looking hole on the creek

I took point on this spot, which looked great and I had a sold grab as I stripped my leech pattern past an under cut root wad, but unfortunately failed to hook up. Dyllon tried his baitfish pattern after me and similarly had one grab but no hook up. To finish things off I fished my dry /dropper along the riffle drop off and after few casts, I got a large splashy rise but again failed to hook up so we continued on. However, not far upstream, I found a seam along a log and after a good drift I was rewarded with a beautiful little Cutthroat that went for my dropper.

A small Coastal Cutthroat caught on a dropper

The next hole upstream was a snarled mess of downed timber, but as we crawled over the log jam I spotted a Cutthroat that looked to be somewhere between 16" to 18" in the back of the hole. This time it was Dyllon's turn to take point and it only took a couple of casts for him to hook and land a small Cutthroat. A couple casts later, he got a cast right up against a log and a solid 14" Cutthroat came out and ingulfed his baitfish pattern. While the fish didn't have much room to run, it did have plenty of places to hide and after a short fight the Cutthroat managed to dive into a root wad and snagged up.

Dyllon keeping a low profile at the snag hole

The commotion caused by the Cutthroat thoroughly spooked the hole and as such we continued upstream. Every few bends, we would find a nice deep hole where we would invariably either hook a fish, but after the encounter with the 14"er, larger Cutthroat continued to remain illusive.  

Great looking water on the creek

A Chum Salmon jaw from the fall spawning season

As we moved upstream, and further from easy access, the fish that we did encounter started to become more numerous and bold, but this came at the cost of massive deadfalls that we had to climb over, under or work our way around through the dense undergrowth and thickets of stinging nettles.

Tough going on the creek

With our time already running short, we came to a bend where the hillside had slide into the creek resulting in a massive log jam. I decided that I would see if we could quickly get through, but poking my head past the first downed tree it looked as though it was going to be no small feat. While I now knew this was the turn around point, there was a nice deep hole on the other side of the downed tree, so I flicked my streamer in and proceeded to jig it to see if anyone was home. Sure enough a 12" Cutthroat charged out and slammed the fly and I got a decent hook up. The only problem now was how to land the fish and keep it out of the tangle of woody debris in the stream. This task ended up being too much and as I was just trying to clear the downed tree I was behind, the fish caught on a branch and popped loose indicating it was truly time to head back downstream.

On the way back, I decided to make a few casts in some of the better water we had passed and was rewarded with the most vibrantly colored Cutthroat of the day, a 7" beauty that had bright orange fins, golden yellow hues prominent purple parr marks and a rosy band along its lateral line.

A gem of a Coastal Cutthroat

Before long we found ourselves at the trail out and while we didn't manage to land any of the larger Cutthroat, the plentiful smaller fish and beautiful surroundings made for a great day on the water and a fine start to the small stream season in western Washington.

The lush evergreen forest on the hike out