Olympic Peninsula Spey Steelhead

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http://www.pnwspey.com/#!blog/c1rmv

January SpeyCasting & Steelhead

January is a great month because it provides solitude pretty much everywhere.
Spey rod steelhead fishing was great this week, headed to the Skagit this coming week and then the Olympic Peninsula at the end of the month.

Ian lands a monster.

West Side drought, still hanging on the East Side

OP rivers are low with only small amounts of precip, hatchery reports are pretty bleak.

Still finding clean, aggressive fish on the east side. Last few days have been great but I havent taken many fish selfies.

Headed to the Skagit in 2 weeks for some personal fishing & then teaching a class at the Gig Harbor Fly Shop.

OP season begins Feb 1 for me this year. Looking forward to it!

Road trip to the North Umpqua. Mark Stangeland Photo
Check out his website http://www.northumpquaflyguide.com/

New favorite fly.

Fly in big wild hen's mouth.

Sunset in the Clearwater/Snake valley after an amazing day on the water.

Olympic Peninsula Winter Spey Rod Steelhead

Winter steelhead season on the Olympic Peninsula is sneaking up on us and dates are filling in. We will swing flies with spey rods on the Hoh, Bogachiel, and Sol Duc Rivers for the baddest steelhead on the planet. Please get a hold of me asap if you are interested in chasing the fish of a lifetime.
 616-540-3836 or zack@pnwspey.com

Thanks!

Colder weather, still hot fishing.

Fishing is still going strong on the Clearwater/Ronde/Snake Rivers. Fish are coming to the fly almost daily with plenty of multi-fish days. The big fish are tougher to come by on the Clearwater than in recent years past but still available. We had a nice little bump of water yesterday and things look good for the coming weeks. Bring your Spey Rods and lets go swing some flies.

Dry Fly-Big Fish on the Grande Ronde

Hooked up on the Ronde.

First steelhead, first day with a spey. Nice!

Clearwater Sunset

Perfect late fall day on the big river.

Keep em coming!

Clearwater? Grande Ronde? Snake? Let's go fishing! October is FISHtober. And great fishing will continue until December. Now also taking dates for OP winter steelhead January-April.

A beauty for my buddy Zo.

Dennis for the win on his first day with the spey rod.

Bill from NYC with his first West Coast steelhead...kind of trouty looking.

Bill fights a big one.

Pretty little jack chinook. They are plentiful this year.

Floating lines, dry flies, who is in?

Grande Ronde...come fish.

After some initial concern about fish numbers coming up the Columbia/Snake basin, things have picked up and seem to be doing fine. October is a wonderful month to fish this area. In fact, there is no where I would rather be. I like to fish day trips walk and wade or floating the are from the Oregon state line down to Boggan's Oasis, and sometimes further down. Many people like the lower river near the mouth...many many people. I like a little bit more space.


Options for the fall will be the Grande Ronde and the lower Snake River. We can likely do both if you are in to that sort of thing. I will start this in early October and fish as late into the fall as people are interested in coming. The weather gets colder but the fishing continues to be great.

The last option I would love to do is a multi-day float. This will be a no-frills operation. I will provide all the food and drink (except alcohol), you bring your sleeping bag and tent, etc. We won't have a camp cook and someone to set your tent up but I am pretty sure it will be more affordable!

Previous years photos below to wet your appetite. Please contact me soon if you are interested in joining.

News

Swing the Fly magazine will launch in just a couple days, July 1. Myself and my partners are very excited. Please be sure to take a look at www.swingthefly.com

Preparations are underway for the fall season on the Grande Ronde. I have open dates through the months of October and November. Multi-Day overnight floats and day trips are both available. Contact me for details on one of the sweetest summer steelhead rivers around.

Typical Grande Ronde fish from a couple seasons ago.

I am selling some flies assortments to help provide a little cash in the off season. 1 dozen custom summer steelhead flies tied by myself that are my favorites on the Grande Ronde and Clearwater Rivers. Also great for a Deschutes trip or pretty much anywhere else during low water periods. Price is $44.99 including a fly box. Contact me directly if you would like to purchase some. Additionally, I will take any fly requests, whether it be OP winter steelhead flies or even if you are in need of flies for a BC trip.

The Good Stuff

Thanks for the support, hope to see you this fall!

Swing the Fly

I am very excited to finally be able to announce Swing the Fly Magazine. This has been several years in the making and now with my new partners at Dry Fly Media, has become a reality. Hope you all enjoy and see you on the water!

In other news, I am relocating yet again. This time to Pullman, WA putting me very close to the Clearwater and the Grande Ronde. I will be guiding on the Grande Ronde this fall and we will see about licensing for the CW. And yes, OP still in the winter.

Mike found a summer run in late March. 

As most of you know, I currently am employed with the Gig Harbor fly shop, working and guiding between here and there. Rivers are blown today and rather than type the same thing in two spots, here's my rambling.

Fishing was good last week. Rivers are out right now and it may be a few days I'm sad to say. When they come back it should be decent. I have some openings for the next couple weeks for anyone interested. 616-540-3836

Back in the USA. Still a week from the OP and steelhead. Can't wait! Ill be getting my new raft together next week and then on the water myself for a few days getting caught up on things. Available guide dates start February 12. Until then...I will share some pictures from the far south.

Big brown on the first evening.

Kelly with a big rainbow, sight fishing little dry flies.

Sea run beauty.

Sunset in paradise.

Chasing sea runs at the end of the world.

B

Happy Holidays and updates

Well, departure time has come for Argentina. I will be out of the country until January 27. And back in Washington on February 5th. I have some guide dates open from Feb. 13th through April 10th. Things are filling in nicely, but there are still openings I would love to fill. Rates for this season listed below, multi day rates are for subsequent days, saves us both some $ and gives us our best shot at a winter steelhead on the swing.

1 person: 1 day $350, 2 days $625, 3 days $825 

2 person: 1 day $425, 2 days $750, 3 days $1,000

If you would like to get something on the calendar while I am out of the country there are a couple options.

Email me with any inquiries/questions at zack@pnwspey.com and I will get back to you within a week.

or

Call the Gig Harbor Fly Shop at 253-851-3474, they have my updated schedule on hand and can take a $100 deposit to lock a day down with me.

Thanks everyone! Happy Holidays and looking forward to a great winter/spring on the OP!

Rest in peace blue whale, I will have a new raft come February.

High Water

We are coming off some prolonged high water. There should be some better opportunities in the coming days.

In the meantime, I was reading through the WDFW's citizen submitted rule proposals on wild steelhead regulation. There were a lot of them! It is clear that they are not getting the message! It is too late to submit a proposal of your own for this year but you can still comment on other proposals. Let them know how you feel about WILD STEELHEAD!

A link to my shoot for the stars proposal. http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/rule_proposals/comments/original.php?id=DFW739004

My other proposal for my beloved Hoh River
http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/rule_proposals/comments/original.php?id=DFW027795

Help Knut

This past spring I competed at Spey O Rama for the first time. It was there that I had the opportunity to witness the most courageous sporting performance I have ever seen and meet one of the kindest persons I've ever met. Knut Syrstad badly needs our help now as he continues his battle with cancer. Please see the link below for more information and help in any way you can.

Help Knut!

Winter 2012-2013 Whole bunch of news and stuff!

Are you searching for the right guide for you this winter on the Olympic Peninsula? 

Here's a little about PNW Spey Guides:

We love swinging flies for Steelhead. In fact, I think its the only way to do it for a number of reasons, a few being: the challenge; the enjoyment of each cast; tradition; and promoting a conservation mentality in our fishing. There are plenty of people who may want to argue with some or all of that, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, this is mine.

PNW Spey Guided Trips:

What we do:

We swing flies with spey rods. New to Spey? Awesome, I will teach you all day long if you want to learn. Casting, presentation, reading water, anything...My goal is to teach you and help you become a better angler in every way possible. Experienced? Also great, we will fish are asses off, have a ton of fun, search for steelhead in every nook and cranny of the Op, and learn more too! 

What we won't do:

Advertise spey casting and swinging flies as all the rage with big flashy photos, then first thing in the morning hand you a nymph rod and say "water's too cold to swing flies", "they aren't biting the swing today", "water's too high or too low to swing flies", or "lets catch a bunch side drifting a bead then we will go try the spey for a few minutes". Yes, I have heard all these and they are bullshit.  Then proceed to side drift from the boat all day and at the end pat each other on the back and say well done. If you want to do that, again your choice! Not going to happen here!

If my gig sounds good I am sure that I would love to have you along!

So here is the news and plan for the upcoming winter steelhead season:

1. For a number of reasons, mainly being I just want to, I will be in Argentina from Christmas until the end of January. That means that I will start taking bookings approximately beginning approximately February 10th. Giving me time to get up to date with any flood changes, etc. Looking to book early February, talk to me! 

Season will then last until April 15. Yes it is open later in some places. 

2. Hatchery season I have dates available from November 20th until December 20th. The deal here is we will avoid the Bogachiel hatchery run rat race and fish some less pressured water, yes there will be a few less fish but it is an awesome time to fish a lot of other stretches and other rivers.

3. I really want to encouraged clients whenever possible to fish more than one day with me. Why? Winter steelhead are a challenge and I want to give you the best possible chance at success. To do this I am trying to put my rates as low as possible for multiple days of fishing in a row with me as follows:

1 person: 1 day $350, 2 days $625, 3 days $825

2 person: 1 day $425, 2 days $750, 3 days $1,000

4. I am teaching a winter steelhead clinic through the Gig Harbor Fly Shop on December 1st. Details can be found on that website: www.gigharborflyshop.com. This is a how to fish clinic, not a guided fishing trip. 

If anyone has any questions please call or email! zack@pnwspey.com    cell (616)540-3836

Thanks to everyone who has fished with me the past couple seasons, I sincerely hope to see you again this winter! And a bunch of new faces as well!

A couple pictures below from this fall in my other favorite place, on the Clearwater! A few more pictures can be found here: http://gigharborflyshop.com/2012/10/12/eastside-steelhead-tribute/

The happenings: Fall 2012

Current conditions on the Olympic Peninsula: Low, ultra clear, tough, and no rain in the forecast. Oh well. There are lots of opportunities elsewhere. If you are on the peninsula, I would recommend fishing for cutthroat trout, which has been great.

I am headed to the Clearwater Spey Clave this weekend, and will likely do a lot of fishing of my own the next month or so on the Clearwater and Grande Ronde rivers as well as some guiding for Sea Run Cutthroat on Puget Sound. Olympic Peninsula steelhead will ramp up around Thanksgiving. Now booking dates from then through April 15!

Some random pictures since the end of last Winter Steelhead season:

Winter steelhead season on the OP has come to a close, its been a great year. We had to work hard for our fish, swinging flies is that way, they don't come easy. First on the water and last off was the norm, avoiding the gear/nymph boats to find unmolested fish. One of the highlights was Mike Lacombe's first fish on the swing, hard earned, and in the 20lb class, landed after an awesome fight.

Upcoming opportunities with PNW Spey Guides:

May 15-Springer Fishing begins on the Ho

Summer Runs Starting in June going all summer, september is great!

Grande Ronde in October for summer steelhead.

Puget Sound Sea Run Cutthroat from the Beach and Native Peddle Drive Kayaks!