I had the pleasure of floating the Wynoochee river with Jared Cady and his dad, Ron. We floated from White Bridge to Black Creek because the river was low and clear due to the river being dropped by the dam on Wed/Thu. We were a little worried because the river was gin clear and the sun was on it most of the day but Jared still found the fish and we had great action. Ron and I each got a bright native in the 10lb range which tore up the river like wild fish love to do. We also got several hatchery fish which ranged from dark to near chrome. Surprisingly the best fighting fish I caught was a 10lb hatchery fish which had thoughts of spooling me and running into a root ball before I got her turned and headed back to the boat. Was totally shocked to see it was a hatchery fish. Several of the hatchery fish had been mauled by something....probably seals. Hadn't seen that kind of damage on fish in the Nooch before. It was nice to fish on a day where you were dropping clothes as the day warmed up and putting on sunscreen. I attached a pic with Jared and his dad and the largest hatchery fish that was kept.

On a sobering note, we were first responders to a drift boat that went down and disappeared under a log jam. Three very lucky drifters were standing on the bank dazed, confused and wet. We put the wettest, coldest person in the boat and took him down to the Crossover Bridge takeout and told the other two how to hike down to the takeout. They were lucky it was less than half a mile. The guy we took in the boat was on the sticks and said he lost an oar right as they came into the corner with the logjam. He tried to quickly adjust and go over the logs straight but the boat flipped and jammed under the logs. They all clambered up on a log, removed their flooded waders and swam to shore. Complete bummer of a day for them but they appreciated how lucky they were to be alive and were little concerned about the boat and all the gear that went downstream. It really struck home how quickly these things can happen and how complete attention and preparation are critical to safety on the rivers. The Nooch is not considered a technical river by any means but two boats have gone down on it this year. Be careful and come home safe and dry!!

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