Fishing License

To my knowledge, there are many places to get your license. There is Big 5, Three Rivers Fish and Tackle in Woodenville, Outdoor Emporium in Seattle, Certain hardware stores and of course, online. Here is the link to the Washington State Fish and Wildlife webpage where you can get your license. This site also provides every bit of information you need to know regarding rules and regulations.  http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/

Mike Z’s Guide Service

My second cousin Mike Zavadlov is a professional fishing guide in Forks, Wa. I’ve been on a few of his guided tours and let me tell you- he knows everything about every river. This guy is a fishing machine. If you want to have a great day of fishing with the most knowledgable guide I know, then visit his website: www.mikezgs.com. He taught me how to fly fish and helped me catch my first salmon. Thank you Mike!

What you should have in your tackle box

Trout Fishing-

First off, you need to have a blade. You can cut line with your teeth if you want but I prefer not to. Needle nose pliers also come in handy from time to time especially if you have split shot sinkers. You can use the pliers to retrieve a swallowed hook from your fish as well.  A knotless net should be mandatory especially if your in a boat. Extra line is helpful when your using swivels because you will need a leader. For trout, use 6 lb. test. There are many brands, I prefer P-Line.

A smart angler will have a variety of sinkers. One should have split shot in various weights, and egg sinkers in various weights. You also need swivels. For smaller fish you need smaller swivels. You need hooks. My favorite brand is Gamakatsu. I’ve never broken one and they always stay sharp. They are made of special high carbon steel. The hook size is also dependent on the size of fish.

Artificial bait is important to have. PowerBait is the most well known brand name and that is what I use. Every color PowerBait works so have at lease one jar. PowerEggs are my favorite. They are made of a sort of rubber, so they wont come off the hook as easy as the PowerBait will. Have orange, chartreuse, pink and white. The PowerBait and PowerEggs are for trout only.

Keep plenty of spinners handy. Either Rooster Tail or Mepps. Always have a few good sliver and gold spinners. Chartreuse spinners are also effective. Just play around with your color choice to see which one the fish prefer for that given day.

 

 

Spinners

I use three different types of spinners: Mepps, Rooster Tail, and Blue Fox. My favorite has to be Mepps. They always spin unlike Rooster Tails. Mepps are generally weighted more so than the Rooster Tail. When I say the Rooster Tails don’t always spin, i mean sometimes you have to give your line a tug when its in the water to free up the blade. Sometimes they get stuck and stop spinning around the shaft of the spinner. Rooster Tails have caufght me a lot of fish,  they come in tons of wonderful color patterns. The blades do get stuck on a regular basis which is rediculus.

Mepps always spin. They are pretty basic in design. They focus on the metal color and not so much on the paint color. They do have exotic colored Mepps but the ones that I prefer are the all gold and the all silver. My buddy had a smaller Mepps with a white and orange blade, it worked pretty well. Spinners with a hint of green on the blade seem to work well always.

Blue Fox spinners are the most expensive. They incorporate a rattling device inside the main body of the spinner. In my opinion the vibrating technology doesn’t matter much. Because of the special vibrating system, the spinner is more heavy than its competitors. I only have a few of these.

A spinner with a worm is said to be the best way to catch a trout. You can cast and reel in, but the best way to use spinners is to troll them behind a boat. The weather and water temperature are also factors. Fish are more active is warmer waters and less active in colder water. Use bright colors on cloudy days to stimulate the fish. On sunny days use more dull colors like gold. Fish get spooked when you use too bright of colors. During the winter make sure you have a red or an orange bead or stripe on your spinner. The water is cold and the fish need to be stimulated enough to go after the bait.

Can you say Silvers?

The Coho’s are here. Just pick a river, get in your car, and drive. Try the Skykomish, the Snohomish, the Green, or the Puyallup. Just a handful of relatively local rivers you could try. Just post up on the bank . Use a Corky and some yarn, plastic squid with weighted jig heads, Buzz Bombs, or Dick Nights. They also like sand shrimp. These guys can be huge, anywhere from 8 lbs. to 25 lbs. Make sure you have at least 12 lb. test line, a medium reel, and a strong enough rod that cooresponds to your line weight. Make sure you have your fishing liscence and a catch card!!! Also- read the regulation pamphlet becasue each river can have different rules. The Fish and Game officers are sneeky so watch out!

A beautiful 16 lb. Olympic Penninsula Silver on a fly. This is one of my cousins clients, he is a guide.

Beaver Lake

One of my favorite lakes is Beaver Lake on the Sammamish Plateau. They stock it with triploids and it’s open year round. A “triploid” is a Rainbow trout that is genetically alterered so it cannot reproduce, thus is keeps getting bigger. These trout can get to upwards of 22 inches long and will put quite a bend in your rod. The easiest way to access the lake is by boat or float tube. There is a boat launch on the west side of the lake opposite the park. Fish the main channel or at the far end near “the rock”. If your fly fishing use a sinking line and a Wooley Bugger. If your spin fishing, use a spinner and a worm. You can also use a plain hook with Power Egg and a worm. Fishing gets a little slow during the cold months. You can expect to catch rainbow’s, perch, and bass. WDFW just loaded Beaver with three thousand broodstock rainbows.

Yakima River Hatches

Here is a link to all the aquatic insect hatches on the Yakima. http://www.worleybuggerflyco.com/Yakima_River_Hatches.htm

I went up last Friday and had some luck. Experianced a strong mayfly hatch around 1pm. Mostly Mahogany Duns and Blue Winged Olives. It was a rainny day; not the best weather to be outside in, but incredible for insect hatches, thus great for fishing.