When catching and releasing rainbow trout and steelhead the goal should be to send a fish away healthy with a strong kick. Catch and release Most anglers who catch-and-release fish (C&R) believe in preserving the fishing resource. And to do so most successfully, there are certain release practices that anglers can implement to increase fish survival rates. If they don’t use these techniques, and they expose an exhausted fish to the air for as little as 30 seconds, that fish stands a good chance of dying. Which caught me by surprise when I devoured some data that Northwest-based fly fisher Heather Hodson recently sent me. Here are the findings from a 1992 study by R.A. Ferguson and B.L. Tufts. This data may surprise and make you consider how many fish we’re actually killing without even knowing it. Guide and Angler &ldq...

When it comes to swinging flies, we usually think streamers, streamers and more streamers. And there’s good reason for that mentality—the trout spey rig is an undeniably great tool for presenting streamers. But, that rig presents all types of flies almost equally well, and one it excels at is soft-hackled wets, which swim just under the surface and absolutely destroy trout, especially with caddis present. Some of my most memorable days of trout spey transpired on Montana’s Missouri River during spring. Fishing soft-hackles over shallow flats and drop-offs for active trout chasing caddis pupa was as fun as it gets. Fishing soft-hackles and wets is like streamer fishing with a delicate touch; it’s a pleasurable finesse game made even better with a light trout spey outfit. Fishing softies is where the two-to four-weight rods really ...

The best fly-fishing Christmas gifts—and deals—you can find anywhere. Coeur d’Alene Fly Shop: Holiday Suggestions Sage Foundation 9’ 5-weight rod (You’ve always wanted an XP and now you can pretty much own one for half the price.) Some fly-rods gain cult status among anglers and one of those models is Sage’s defunct XP. That rod was first offered in 2000 and immediately gained favor with streamer fishing devotees, due to a combination of a fast action and light weight. At that time graphite IIIe technology was all the rage and most fly fishers agreed that there wasn’t a better stick on the market. For a small fortune, you could own one, too. Fast forward to 2017. This year Sage released its Foundation rod series, built with—get this—the same graphite IIIe graphite technology the company used in its XP series. Today, yo...

Bring your spey rods to Alaska West and prepare for battle, June 17-24 2018. Let’s face it—life ain’t that long. And, if you have a passion to swing Intruders and other beefy flies for enormous king salmon and other anadromous beasts, the window between now and the toe-tag narrows. That’s because you just can’t fish all the killer swing water in lifetime. That means you can either throw in the towel, break those big sticks over a knee and say you just can’t face that reality . . . or, you can narrow the list into “Lifetime Trips” and hit as many of those as possible. If you choose option two (and why wouldn’t you?), western Alaska’s incredible Kanektok River ought to rank at the top of your list. The “K-Tok”, which rests on the edge of the Bering Sea and offers some of the meanest, fly-scarfing king salmon on the ...

Missouri River “In this wind? You’re nuts.” Direct quote from a friend upon learning I’d fished last Sunday. Am I nuts? Well maybe, but I was not alone. Two driftboats set off from Stickney Creek Landing on Sunday around 8:30 am. We’d made plans to go before the high-wind warnings, and honestly, we were not about to pass on a drift in late November when the air temp was well above freezing. If you want to go fishing, you go fishing when you can. The air temp was already 40 degrees and the water 41. What not to like? I hooked a couple fish in the channel right out of the landing on a nymph rig and then switched to a white streamer. Two other boys stuck a nice brown a couple hundred yards into the main river on a black Circus Peanut. Another was hooked up soon after. Prospects were looking good. We threw streamers for most of the...

Clearwater River We fished the Clearwater this week, again with no prevail. Didn’t even getting one to sniff the fly. I have had some reports of fish being caught higher up the river. There really hasn’t been a lot of traffic on the lower river. I am hearing that traffic up-river around Orofino is steady, yet not too many anglers to feel overwhelmed. It’s all a matter of finding a player who wants to give you a run for your money. A little rain is in the forecast for the next week. The rivers should stay in shape as long as the weatherman’s predictions are correct. Grande Ronde River Most anglers report slow fishing. One of us fished the Ronde over the weekend and didn’t catch anything. Not even a grab. That person also ran into a lot of anglers on the water. I have had one other report from an angler saying that he has caught ...

Clark Fork River (ID) Flows have been anywhere from 6,000 to 28,000 cubic feet per second. Normally the flows hold at 6,000 cfs over the weekend. However, that wasn’t the case this past weekend. The river continued to jump up and down six feet on Saturday and Sunday. So, if you are heading to the river, keep an eye on the water level. I always like to pick out a rock along the river, and repeatedly check on it to see if the flows have changed. Fishing has been fair. There haven’t been notable hatches other than the occasional midge. A few locals are still hammering cutthroat on the swing, but most fisherman are leaving the river with a giant goose egg. Olive has been a great color to swing, so flies like the #6 Sculpzilla and #8 olive Slump Buster are good choices. As far as nymphs, a #4 Hot DB Stonefly followed by a #18 Crust Nymph ...

Coeur d' Alene River Well, we have actually been getting some decent reports from the Coeur d'Alene lately. We went from snow and 30 degree temps to mid-to high 40's and are expecting mid-to high 50's this week. So this will for sure have some fish looking up mid-day for some blue-wing olives and midges. They could be pretty selective, so a longer, lighter leader may be in order. Ten to 12-foot leaders down to 6X may be necessary. Nymphing the pools should be effective as well. Small beadhead nymphs or brassies might do the trick. I like a simple red wire brassie with a bead head, and a size 16-20 Pheasant Tail behind it. A slowly presented streamer works too—just make sure to get low and slow. St. Joe River No recent reports, but I'd say it will fish similar to the Coeur d'Alene. Probably no need to venture very high on the Joe now. K...

Because there were so many fish underneath the boat, the fish-finder couldn’t differentiate between that mass and actual bottom, some 60 feet below. This didn’t arrive as a major surprise—when whitefish arrive on their spawning grounds, they arrive en masse. In fact, in many Inland Northwest lakes, whitefish are the dominant fish when measured in simple biomass. If you want in on the action, you can target these fish on many lakes spread through Washington, Idaho and Montana starting in December and extending to March. The major exception to this rule is Montana’s Flathead Lake where a thriving summer fishery takes place. Through their native Great Lakes range, whitefish are revered for their delicate, clean white meat. But, in the West, this tasty fish is often regarded as trash. That reputation, however, is undeserved because t...