Fly Fishing Lake Fenwick Washington
I remember how surprised I was when I learned I lived just up the road from this Lake that gave the famous fishing rod company its name. For such a small lake, 17 acres, Lake Fenwick packs a strong punch. There is abundant parking, a boat launch, a small pier, stocked Rainbows, some impressively big Large Mouth Bass, Sunfish, Yellow Perch, Black Crappie, and Bullhead Catfish, all of which will take a fly. The east and north side of the lake is very brushy with lots of sunken logs and trees. In the early Spring and Fall this is a great spot to find Rainbows. Similar flies and techniques that I’ve mentioned work here as well. Later in the Spring and Summer Large Mouth Bass (sometimes several pounds) Black Crappie, Sunfish, and Yellow Perch are all possible. The north end of the lake is a great spot, but there is a rope swing on there so there can be a lot of swimmers in the water when the weather is warm enough. The pier is on the North east end of the lake, which can also be crowded at times too. The south end has a lot houses with docks which is a good place to find Large Mouth Bass and sometimes Bullhead Catfish too.
Read full storyFly Fishing Catfish Washington State
When I first started to learn how to fly fish in the mid-90’s on the California Delta, I never imagined that Catfish would be a species I would actively target. I had seen the movie A River Runs Through It and later read the book, so I assumed fly fishing meant Rainbow or Brown Trout like the ones they caught in the movie in Montana. Though both the Sacramento and SanJoaquinRivers both have trour, Rainbows, Browns, and Steelhead, I believe, as far as I know the California Delta doesn’t have any.
Read full storyFly Fishing for Trout on Small Streams Washington State
Maybe even more so than lakes and rivers, Washington State has a huge number of creeks, streams, and small rivers throughout the state. Though not all of them are open for fly fishing, many of them during certain times of the year are and can often be great for small, medium, and even large-sized trout.
Read full storyFly Fishing for Carp in Japan
When most people think of Carp in Japan they think of the colorful variety known as Koi here in Japan. But in almost ever body of fresh water from rivers, lakes, ponds and drainage ditches there also a huge number of wild Carp. Because they can live in almost any condition and are not a food fish or a game fish here they are pretty much left to their own devices which allows them to grow to very large sizes. I’ve hooked and landed them up to 25 pounds, had ones that were probably over 30 pounds break me off, and I’ve seen forty plus pounders swimming in rivers and lakes.
Read full storyFly Fishing for Trout in the Winter Washington State
Is it harder to catch trout on a fly rod during hot summer days or during icy winter days? Honestly, I don’t know for sure, but my guess is winter simply because a lot of the good trout lakes in Washington State are closed from the end of October until Opening Day, usually in late March or early April. Iced up guides and hypothermia inducing temps are never fun to fish in either.
Read full storyHow Many Words to Word My Way to a Novel?
How many novels would a novelist novel if a, err, doesn’t really work. Anyway, I mentioned in an earlier article that I belong to a lot of Facebook groups and hear a lot of the same questions over and over.
Read full storyFly Fishing for Snakeheads in Japan
I've always kind of liked fly fishing for unusual fish. Or at least fish that normally aren't targeted by most fly fishers. I’ve been living in Japan for a while now. After my third year here I decided to bring my fly fishing gear to Japan. Since then I have fly fished in several different places including Aichi, Gifu, Nagano, Shizuoka, Miyagi, and Hokaido prefectures.
Read full storyBukowski’s Perseverance:Writing Even When You Don't Want to
It is easy to write old Charles (Hank Chinanski) Bukowski off as a mean drunk and amateur poet that got really lucky. He was a bar brawler, a pretty horrible guy to most of the women in his life, and the type of drunk that would drink until he passed out most of the time. He started drinking at 16 and didn’t stop until he died at 73. For most of his adult life he held a string of low paying jobs with a couple of longer stints as a mail man in Los Angeles. Considering how brutal his childhood was, his dad beat him with a razor strap once a week until he was ten years old, it is amazing that he didn’t commit suicide or end up a serial killer.
Read full story3.5 Books + 2 Bonus Books for Writers That Have Influenced Me Recently
It feels a little strange to write about three books I read at least three years ago. But I’ve re-read all of them at least three times, so maybe that is why they are still fresh in my mind. I’m also writing about one book, at least the first 60 pages or so of it, that I am currently reading. The two bonus books are specifically for writers.
Read full storyFly Fishing for Chum Salmon in Washington State
The very first salmon I ever caught on a fly was a gnarly old fourteen pound Chum Salmon on the Green River just inside Flaming Geyser Park near Black Diamond, Washington. I was still very new to river fishing in those days. I had only moved back to the Seattle area from Northern California a few months before where I had spent several years fly fishing for warm water species in the California delta.
Read full storyThe Lost in Superposition
Jah Arc read the flashing red message from the Department of Health and Welfare on his screen again. “Find Astor Wilcott and bring him to OWOH headquarters immediately.”. “No more info?” Arc thought. “They can’t give me nothing?”
Read full storyHiking the Cedar River Trail Washington
The Cedar River Trail is a seventeen mile hike that is excellent to do from the late Spring well into mid-Fall before the first heavy rains. During the Fall and Winter when the Cedar River is swollen with rain water parts of the trail or underwater. Though, there are still sections of the trail that can be hiked. But if you want to do a half day or full day hike, if you walk slower, late Spring to mid-Fall the the best times to give the Cedar River Trail a try.
Read full storyThe Fate of the Follower
If you were only viewing the inside of The Dead Dog Saloon in the town of Dead Dog itself, you would swear a tornado had ripped through the sorry little establishment. Not a bottle behind the bar was left unbroken, not a chair or table left upright, the long mirror behind the bar now reflected in shattered bits the bullet holes in the wall, the blood on the floor, and the busted green felt poker table where the chaos in this tiny New Mexico saloon all began.
Read full storyHiking and Fly Fishing Cherry Lake Washington
Sometimes hiking, bushwhacking, and climbing sort of blurr together when you are trying to get to a small high elevation lake that has both Cutthroat Trout and Brook Trout. When I was younger and my knees were in much better shape I once hiked up to Cherry Lake in search of Brook Trout and Cutthroat Trout.
Read full storyHiking the Coal Creek Trail Washington State
This one is just a hiking story, but there are plenty of chances along the Coal Creek Trail to see spawning Chinook, Coho, and Chum Salmon. There are also so impressively large Sea Run Cutthroat Trout that spawn in this small creek. Fall and early Winter when the water levels are hire after a ogod rain is the best time to see these fish. Fly Fishing Coal Creek, or any type of fishing actually, is not allow. Though, Coal Creek does flow into Lake Washington, so it may be possible to fish the mouth of Coal Creek. As always, check the current regulations carefully before fly fishing any body of water in Washington State. I have made a few mistakes over the years and ended up paying some expensive fines.
Read full storyHiking and Fly Fishing the Pratt River Connector Trail Washington
A really good six mile day hike close to Seattle is the Pratt River Connector Hike. This hike, near North Bend gives you a chance to not only do a fairly easy hike and some fly fishing on the Pratt River or the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River. Of course, check the regulations carefully to make sure when and where either river is open for fishing. Another option, if it you want a more challenging hike is to trek into Rainy Lake which is at twenty-nine hundred feet. Supposedly it has trout (Rainbows or Cutthroats, I assume) and is popular with fly fishers.
Read full storyBeyond the Break Lie My Broken Dreams
He paddles out of the calm marina into the dark open ocean chop that chills him despite his thick wet suit. His long board cuts cleanly through the water with each powerful stroke. Four hundred yards away a small red light atop a buoy bobs in time to the current. He pulls hard towards it. A typhoon south of Kyushu is pushing huge waves over the break, but he can’t see them in the early morning darkness yet. He can hear the roar though. Out to sea the horizon is just starting to turn blue.
Read full storyThe Safe Face of the Waves
The hot autumn days had relinquished their hold on the sun begrudgingly. At 5 pm the dried out, burnt orange of the pine trees were still visible in the glacially receding sunlight. The shimmering heat waves rising off the coils of black asphalt collided with the cool wind coming down the mountain, following the solid wall of rock carrying with it the scent of wild flowers growing on the other side in a distant valley.Only the elements were alive and moving in the early evening heat.All the living creatures were silent except for the steady clicking sound made by the grasshoppers as they rustled through the tall, dried grass on the side of the road and one other.
Read full storyHiking and Fly Fishing the Marine View Park Trail Washington
For several years I lived in a house in Normady Park and I used to do this hike to fly fish the beaches in Des Moines. Marine View Park was close to my house and I spent a lot of time exploring it and the beach. This is a four mile hike round trip from the parking lot about 1200 feet above the beach. Much of it is actually paved road, so you don't have to worry about any difficult trail conditions. From the parking lot though, on the backside there is a dirt path that runs along the edge of the ravine that will get you about half way down to the beach. This is a nice little side trail to take if you want to walk through the woods for a short distance on the way down to the beach. In the summer time there are black berries and huckle berries to munch on during your hike if you want to. If you decide to take the path through the woods mind the nettles in the summer time that can sometimes grow across the path. Also, mosquitoes can be a problem sometimes too.
Read full storyHiking and Fly Fishing the Des Moines Creek Trail Washington
Long ago when my knees, ankles, and the rest of my body were in much better shape than they are now I used to jog along the Des Moines Creek Trail to the Water Treatment Plant and back, about three miles or so two or three times a week. When the weather was good in the mornings I often had the entire trail to myself. Occasionally a plane landing at Sea Tac Airport would fly over and shatter the sounds of the birds singing in the trees and the gentle rumble of Des Moines Creek, but otherwise it was almost always a very peaceful place for a short jog.
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