Motel Stay and Rainy Conditions

 Gearing up in the motel room.... Dalt and I opted for warm beds this time of year. We have camped in late November before but never December and with wet weather in the forecast this hit the spot.

As we were unloading we saw a Tacoma pull up to the room next to ours with rods in the bed of the truck but it turns out they were bait fisherman with what looked like deep sea fishing rods. After exchanging hellos and a few stories we parted ways feeling better that they hadn't been fly fishing the river all day... But maybe wondering why they fished with such huge rods. Their stories were convincing and left us scratching our heads.. Maybe a 6wt wasn't enough????

 Fished a new stretch today and the weather held up. We caught a bunch right off the bat and had several doubles on streamers. We then settled into 3 hours or so of walking without a single bite.

 Gorgeous no matter what the weather/fishing is like.

 Almost got stuck on the way out. The mud was so slick! Driving into the access in the morning while the ground was still frozen was no problem. Getting out in the late afternoon got our hearts beating. Once we finally got out onto the main road there were cheers of relief. There is virtually no traffic this time of year on this stretch of road....

 Utilized the sweet Camp Chef at the trail head.

 Caught a few big ones but nothing epic so to say.

On the way back to the truck the soreness started kicking in. Walking in the mud for four miles up and four miles back is different than dry ground. You are in a state of perpetual flex as not to slip on any given step. We both had close calls but finally Dalt had a good fall and snapped his Sage in the cork section. Thank God that Sage is a great company and will replace the rod for $50.00. We have both mentioned why buy a rod from any other company... Anyways, the march was a big one and we were both excited to be back at the truck and homeward bound.

First GoPro shots are on their way. Can't wait to get some more footage with the new camera...

Thanks,

Chris Giles

Black Friday

 Leading up to Thanksgiving Pat made the call out to Dad, Criddle and I. He put a plan in motion to get out for a fish on Black Friday.  We all brought our gear to the cabin and got out.

 Dad was on point hooking and landing several nice fish.

 Pat somehow got skunked. Hehe

 Dad taking a break.

Criddle retrieving his rig.

 Despite our attempt to get away we were all receiving calls from the girls at the PC Outlets. Pat was smart enough to leave his phone in the car but Ash2 got a hold of him by calling me. I handed the phone to Pat and this is a synopses of the conversation. Pat "what"??? "A TV" "NO" "NO"...... Starts whispering in the phone..."How big is it?" "How Much?" "Is it a good brand" "how much does it cost when its not on sale?" "I don't know..." "OKAY, OKAY" "Here is your phone back Chris..." Haha, Classic and all 4 of us were getting frantic calls just like Pat's.

 

 Criddle gets on the board.

 From the bridge looking up stream. There were a lot of guys out today but we managed to get a bunch of nice fish.

Pat was determined to not get skunked so he went and tried one more hole down river but it was not to be. So great to get out with the Boys.

Thanks,

Chris Giles

Streamers And More Streamers

 Nothing big yet but Dalt and I are starting to catch em on streamers. Got out for a quick blitz after work last week.

 Started slow but finally got one.

 Dalt contemplates sushi...

 Pretty Brown.

 Had a blast! 

And I can't wait for more.

One last shot...

Thanks,

Chris Giles

Getting The Hang Of Streamers

 I have been fishing more and more with streamers and they seem to be working better by the day. I was always a bit intimidated by this technique but I am glad I have dove right in. 

Went out for a quick solo mission on Sunday and I had a blast. The time flew as I was spotting fish, getting into position and occasionally hooking a big Brown.  Heart racing stuff...

 Got this Guy on a nice stalk. This small stream is almost all sight fishing this time of year due to low water...

 Low water doesn't mean small fish though. I landed 4 but missed as many.

 The take on a streamer is awesome! Espeacially when you spot the fish and see a wake heading for your bug...

This was the fish of the day for me. Big ol Girl..

Can't wait to chase a few more in the coming weeks. 

Thanks,

Chris Giles

Facials and Big Bows

 Grabbed a Whitty way too tightly today. Next thing I knew he flipped jizz across my face. Look closely at the sunglasses. ..

 Ha ha, yeah yeah, laugh it up!!

 Frisch, Dalt and I hit a favorite stretch tonight. It was good to get out and even better to get this GUY!

 She was fat and healthy.

 Land locked Steel Head as we like to joke.

 Just under 20"

 Beauty! 

 One more shot

 Man she was fat.

 Frisch having a go. Everyone was landing fish tonight. 

 Dalton checking his rig.

 Dried up summer plants made for a nice shot.

Got confronted by Rick and he laid out the law for us. What started as a somewhat heated conversation ended with us limping away from Rick's scorn. He was nice but it was clear we were in his realm and it's always better to "comply" and nod okay Rick... Enough said.

 Dalt battles a nice brown.

 

  It was getting dark but we kept working our way up stream. It got really cold and Frisch was starting to hurt with no waders.

 Frisch in a great run.

What a treat to be able to take off from work and be into great fish so close to home. I didn't see any Dragon Flies this late in the season but they will be back next season. wink wink.

Thanks,

Chris Giles

Boyhood Haunt

 Got out for a quick fish in my parents backyard.

 Sight fished for Browns

 Camera cord and a nice brown.

 They were chasing big stimi's. Just like they did when I was 12 years old. Not much has changed on this stretch and memories came flooding back as we hunted along up the creek. This time around I had a Sage instead of a Scienctific Angler. Other than that it was like second hand.

 Tight casting. The rush is still there on this stretch as we crept up on promising holes.

 We employed the bow and arrow cast all day. Like Subsistence hunters we search the land for fish.

 Dalt with the sling shot in action. Very spooky fish in low water. We did good though.

 Yeah!

 We spotted a BIG fish and we know where he hangs out. Lots of talk about how to land this guy because of the geography and brush. We will be back. for him.

Thanks for taking a look.

Chris Giles