Dreary days spent in the office playing at my fly tying vice. Not as much fun as actually fishing but much warmer.
Now it isn’t like I’ve not been on the water, but as we approach Christmas, time on the water will be minimal as my old bones just don’t deal with the cold anymore. I started fishing with a couple guys this year who have influenced my winter fly tying. First, is Kevin, a Boeing retiree and the other is a former Energy Northwest coworker, Rich. Both, avid fly fishermen with Kevin being what you might call a streamer junky and Rich who enjoys fishing the numerous lakes of Eastern Washington.
Kevin and I met at a Columbia Basin Fly Casters meeting early this year. and after just two trips out with him, I am gaining an interest in developing my streamer game. Fishing with each of them started this summer fishing out of my Lund on the Snake and Columbia Rivers near the Tri-Cities. I have been a fly fisherman for 40+ years, however that has been for pursuing trout while my bass fishing has almost always been with conventional gear. Fishing my home water with these guys has pushed me to incorporate fly fishing more often.
Kevin talked about his passion of fishing streamers for large brown trout in Montana and shared ample proof of his success with many photos of massive browns with equally massive streamers hanging out of their maws. Needless to say, I was intrigued and started researching articulated streamer patterns and techniques for fishing them. This included studying George Daniel’s book Strip – Set. It also resulted in discovering I had a hole in my fly rods for effectively fishing big, heavy streamers, so I fixed that with adding a new 7 weight streamer rod.
This fall, Rich, introduced me to fishing Washington trout lakes, starting with Lake Lenice.
A few weeks later on a cold November day, we had Dry Falls Lake all to ourselves.
So, all of this introduction is to set up the following and it explains my frequent orders to Feather-Craft Fly Fishing, Fly Fish Food, and other on-line retailers to adequately expand my fly tying supplies appropriate for bass fishing and for trout in lakes.
Work so far…
There is still a lot of winter to go, so I think I will need more and/or larger fly boxes.
Landing In The PNW 
Some great looking flies there. I’m missing a 7 wt in my arsenal… 3 through 10… no 7!
Greg, I had a 10′ 7 wt that was just too unwieldy for accurate casting (for me at least). It was good for tight line nymphing for Great Lakes steelhead and brown when I lived in Rochester, NY. I bought a 9′ Echo Streamer X designed by Kelly Galloup. Can’t wait to give it a workout on a Yakima River float.
It is good to hear you continue to learn and enjoy. I can just about hear you speaking it. I hope you can continue to have fun.
Hi Joan! Great to hear from you. Hope all is well in Tennessee. Yes, I have been trying to recreate the passion I had for all things fly fishing since moving out here. I realized that having inspirational friends would be critical to achieving that. Some activities like wading rushing trout rivers is riskier than it used to be, but there are other avenues to pursue. Hope you and the family have a wonderful Christmas.