It was bright and blowing 15-20 when we got on the water Friday afternoon. Not exactly ideal, but Don and Nancy are both good fishermen, so I knew they could handle a little adversity. Well, they did way better than that. Despite no bugs on the water, the fish were still looking up and quite a few decent 'bows fell for cripples and dries until the bite just shut off. We switched to intermediate lines and wind-drifted birds nests, landing several kokanee and a couple of browns. We had planned on stripping for browns in the early evening, but it was just too breezy and cool, so we called it a day.
Friday morning was warm, clear, bright, and glassy calm. I got to the launch a few minutes early and caught nothing fishing dries to sporadically rising fish on the flat, but I did see a float tuber land 3 kick trolling nymphs. Although it wasn't on our list for the day, slow stripping intermediate lines seemed like a good bet. Since we didn't anticipate much of a hatch and it was too early anyway, we fished indicators for awhile and landed several 'bows on red copper johns & soft hackle pheasant tails. When the nighthawks started working the shoreline, they were telling us that it was time for dry flies. Don's a good caster and Nancy was throwing it 60' by mid-morning, so it was 'bows and browns on cripples and dries for the next few hours. Interestingly, the fish liked sparser ties early but bushier patterns after awhile . . . just another reminder to listen to what the fish are saying and to keep up with the changes. Oh, congratulations Nancy for being Ms. first, most, and big fish on Saturday! Props to Don for resisting the temptation to fish her water despite her getting bit on nearly every cast. Tight lines - Jeff
