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Sunday has come and gone and the Sounders win the MLS cup! The world is a good place but can it be better? With the reduction in our local salmon or blackmouth fisheries I often feel a bit lost. I love to hunt salmon in the salt but fortunately we have many fishy alternatives to keep us entertained as we wait for the next salmon opener. The last few weekends we have hitched up the drift boat and headed off to explore our local fly-fishing opportunities. “…can it be better?” the answer is yes. I am finding that our short fly-fishing trips are really filling a void in my longing to get back out on the salt to chase salmon.

Sunday morning, drift boat in tow we hit Holiday for our usual hot beverages and compliment of hot breakfast delectables. Adequately stocked up for the short drive to Pass Lake on Fidalgo Island we hit the road. We were pretty late arriving at the launch but after launching the boat we were still able to find a parking spot. A short while later the heater was lit (always a challenge and it needs to be replaced) and we were rowing across the mirrored surface of Pass Lake.

Having not fished Pass Lake in years we figured that some sort of woolly bugger presentation was in order. They seem to catch fish almost everywhere but that said, we still had to present our buggers. Although we had multiple setups on board, we opted for a 9’ 5-weight rig with a full floating line and a 9’ 5-weight sinking tip set-up. Both had a 3X 15’ tapered leader looped on. The flies were an olive bead head bugger and a black bead head bugger but not sure what size. Hmmm, gear selected but where to start?

Pass lake is on the smaller side but offers a variety of presentation opportunities. With the limited time we had available we decided to troll our flies until we had a hit, saw rising fish or a fishy looking spot. We started our troll about midway down the south shore of the lake. About 10 min in we had a nice hit but it was on my rod and I didn’t get to it in time. We fished that area casting and retrieving with both short and long strips for a bit longer before going back on the troll. The second hit was a slammer and doubled the rod over. The fish hit the sink tip set-up with the black woolly bugger. After an extended fight and an untangling, the fish was safely released.

In sticking with our troll then stopping to actually make our cast presentation we had many encounters with some fish making it to the boat and others not. Being a bit rusty we are still brushing up on our fly-fishing skills and missed many opportunities. Missed opportunities or not we had an absolute blast! I think that our local year-round fly-fishing lakes will be my salvation as I eagerly await the next salmon opener.

Disclaimer:

The fish pictured was out of the water. The WDFW regs states that it is unlawful to totally remove salmon, steelhead and dolly varden/bull trout from the water if you are releasing it. It is a recommendation that you minimize handling any fish to be released by leaving it in the water. In a last-minute attempt to escape, the fish pictured decided to do the Tasmanian Devil thing and got hopelessly tangled up. The line was wrapped around 2 fins and a gill plate. It took two of us to gently untangle our friend, something you don’t do hanging over the side of a drift boat in the middle of a lake. We worked quickly with wet hands to untangle the fish. When released, with a splash of its tail it swam off into the depths.

downriggeral

11/12/2019 7:46:31 AM

Thanks for the report Randy. If memory serves me correctly rainbows are not particularly great at hitting flies and many times miss. Makes a good story to make up for the slow response and tired eyes of us old f....rts! I have wondered how they get enough to eat sometimes their aim is so bad or maybe the reflexes in younger days were just too quick? Tight lines - Alan

strikezone

11/17/2019 8:29:57 AM

Randy; Great report. Thanks. Pass used to be my favorite lake when we lived near Sedro Woolley in the early 70's and early 80's. Have caught many fish out of there. I was wondering what ever happened to the 1650 Lund Renegade boat you used to have? I bought one new back in 2011. I love mine. It is a very rare model, and perfect for lakes and the Columbia river. Just got back from fishing Roosevelt lake for 5 days. Timmer and I caught 160 rainbows, but only kept 20 that were in the 18-19 1/2 inch size. Most of the rest were around 16 inches, but many were in that 18-19 inch size. Gorgeous fish. Almost all were caught with flies. So glad there are still bodies of water where you can still catch trophy size fish. Take care. Denny

rseas

11/19/2019 6:28:29 AM

Hey Denny, thank you for the comment. We traded the Renegade in on our TJ. It was an interesting negotiation. Ours had a completely custom interior I had designed so it was difficult to assign market value. In the end we ended up getting what we paid for it as trade. We bought it new so after 4 years of heavy use we thought it a great deal! Congratulations on your Roosevelt catch. I love fishing the lake, just don't get over there often enough. Keep after the fish and safe travels.

tyee4me

11/18/2019 12:14:20 AM

Nice catch there’s been some amazing fish caught in Pass Lake. Is the lake still C&R?

rseas

11/19/2019 6:50:00 AM

The lake is fly fishing only and still C&R for trout. Other game fish; statewide minimum size/daily limit applies. There are no motors allowed. Over the years I have caught a few fish incidental to trout fishing. Not sure what they were, kind of a cross between a perch and a sunfish. Although legal to keep they were released. Not sure how many are in the lake but they like brown/red Wooly Buggers...

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