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Dec. 18, 1998
Thanks to: Mike S
I drove to the Wynoochie from Olympia Friday morning thinking the river would be
dropping into shape quite nicely, but no. Still a day or two off, about 6"
visibility. While commiserating at the Black Creek launch, a nice local gent offered
a poleholder for some plunking there which was about the only option.Got cold and restless after an hour of no bites so I crossed over to the Humptulips looking for clearer water to drift. The water there was no better but was I astonished to find a madhouse at the Stevens Creek or is it Blue Creek? Hatchery. Musta been 100 people fishing there, easy. But they were catching fish. Not wanting to fish like that and having other things to do, I went home.
A point I'd like to make is that the quality of the fishery would be greatly improved if the hatchery runs in most rivers filtered in instead of coming it at once like a run of mangey dog salmon, with the same type circus atmosphere as those fish attract. I'm not bitter or anything.
Humptulips River - Oct. 18, 1998
Thanks to: Mike Rimkus
The river once again played up to its history. I was on the river
for about five days with my partner camping near the 101 bridge
We floated for fours days with no success because the river was low
and clear with great weather. We only caught one silver and a couple of
chums and were getting desperate. Finally, in the middle of the week we found
a nice deep hole and we started catching Kings. Out of this deep hole
I pulled a 40 lb plus King. If it hadn't have been for the low and clear
water I would have lost it. I got out of my boat and me and Eric ran down the river
on foot. 20 min later it was in the net. All I can say is the last day was
the best and in 365 days I will be back.
Oct. 11, 1998
Thanks to: Marc Toenyan
Seen as how those silvers in the Snohomish wouldn't bite,
took fishing to the Hump this weekend......hmmm not much better.
There wasn't much to speak of for silvers. There where some
Chinook in there, but not good fishing. The rain that came didn't
help there much. The water was still low and gin clear. Not my
favorite Humptulips color. Saw a few fish caught, never got one
myself, definately not the Hump I know. The worst thing about it was
the "fishermen" down at the Bethal hole.....hook-rakin' kings
in the back!! Jeeeezzz you guys. Get with it!!! All in all it needs water
in there to be worth the time.
Sept. 28, 1998
Thanks to: Rod Bush
Well time for my annual pre-October scouting trip
on the Humptulip. It seems like it hasn't rained in over a
month. Just as I expected the river is a trickle
barely enough water to float my drift boat down river.
The water was so low and clear you could see fish in the holes
if they were there. We finally came upon such a hole and
started to lob eggs at them without any weight. It wasn't long
before I saw one of these monster kings suck up my offering
and spit it back out before I could react. With high enthusiasm
I recast over and over then finally the perfect toss right in front
of a willing chinook. He sucked them in and this time I was ready!
I set the hook hard and fish on buddy!! We quickly rowed to the bank
to try to keep him out of the timber that was stacked in the hole.
This fish put up a good battle but was netted and put into the box.
We were able to repeat this through out the day three more times
only landing one more. The fish were being netted at the mouth by the
Indians and most of them were silvers headed for the hatchery 75% clipped
fish. The good news is the average was pretty big about 12lb hatchery brats.
Reports also of lots of large bright kings getting caught out in Grays Harbor.
Pray for rain and they will come.
Rod Bush
River Otter Guide Service
rvrotter@gte.net
October 9, 1997
Thanks to Scott Fierst for the following report:
I had two clients today. The Humptulips was finally coming into shape when we were bombarded
with a night of heavy rain and strong winds. For the moment the wind and rain had subsided,
but the forecast was for a Monsoon warning, calling for 50mph winds and heavy rains throughout
the day. With this in mind I opted to cancel the days trip, however the clients had fishing
on their mind and the River hadn't come up too much yet. With the warning of a miserable
day on the river with out any fish, my day's clients still decided to give it a shot.
Using Bright Colored K-16 KwikFish with Sardine wraps we started out in the Bluff Hole,
but had no luck. We next fished a slot just above the Helicopter Hole. About halfway
through the slot we had a hearty take down. However this time the only thing caught
was Chinook Fever. (Chinook Fever: The overpowering urge to grab the rod and set
the hook on the first take, rather than waiting for the fourth take, then setting the
hook hard).
Judging by the takedown, the fish appeared to be a very large Chinook,
however we never did find out. With all the efforts we put fourth the remainder of
the day, we finished without any more takedowns and no landings. Sometimes even
the worse of weather can prove to produce excellent fishing, today that was not
the case. The day fishing was still better than a day doing many other things,
with this in mind we headed to the truck.
Drifting Fly Guide Service
Toll free (888) 204-5327 or (206) 609-5327
E-mail DRFTINGFLY@AOL.COM
October 8, 1997
Thanks to Scott Fierst for the following report: I had two clients today. Clem Richter and his wife. The Humptulips was finally on the drop with about 2 feet of visibility. The river had been out of shape for the most part until earlier in the week. However, Chinook had been taken in September, and by those whom persisted. We Fished all of the usual holes using K-16 KwikFish with Sardine wraps. We had several take downs throughout the day.
Finally around 1:00 pm we had a take down that landed Clem a smaller, but nice 15-pound
buck Chinook. We had a few more takedowns, but no more landings for the remainder of the
day. The rains held off at least today until the evening. The forecast is calling for
50 mph winds and heavy rains tonight. If this occurs the river will most likely blow out
of shape.
Drifting Fly Guide Service
Toll free (888) 204-5327 or (206) 609-5327
E-mail DRFTINGFLY@AOL.COM
