New Year Fishing Report:

I am aware that I say this every season.  However, nice days in the winter are one of my favorite times of year to get out on the water.  The fish are VERY active and willing to move to the fly.  Also, the big fish are up on the shallows from their usual summer deep hiding spots.  The big seasonal high tides bring in a totally new factor to the fishing.  So, without boring you to death lets get this fishing report out to you!

We’ve been spending time on both Puget Sound and Hood Canal.  Colvos Passage has been fishing great this past week as well as ALL of Hood Canal.  We have launched from Gig Harbor, Manchester, Alderbrook, and Salisbury in the last week and found big fat happy fish from each area.

Our fishing is different this time of year.  We have to search the massive high tides, so don’t expect anything to come without a little work.   We have been following a strict game plan throughout the day which has been covering a lot of water, and fishing very methodically once we find the fish.  A lot of our regular structure has been vacated due to the high tides and fish moving closer to the streams.  So the search game has been started and once it is figured out the fish have been pretty schooled up and happy.

First,  check the structure right outside of the estuaries.   This tight to the creek fishing has been VERY good.  We have just looked for the holes in the structure.  Estuaries tend to be quite shallow and have “dips” which have been holding the fish.  Our usual summer spots have been holding fish still, they have just moved from the drop offs onto the flats.  Making those type 6 lines unnecessary.

The fish this week have been amazing. With the big fish coming up onto the shallower water we are seeing many days straight of catching outrageously large fish.  If you follow us on Instagram you saw a short  full of profanity video of a monster Sea Run Cutthroat.  I will say that this is the best time of year giants, and if you fish this season correctly you will likely have a shot at the biggest fish of the season!

Weather Forecast:

Saturday is going to be “niceish” and after that… The future forecast looks quite dismal.   With the river systems on the rise, likely to flood stage, and the cutthroat fishing so good we will be fishing.  We will have a post coming soon on making the best of a rainy week on the water chasing Cutthroat.

However… How many empty spots are in that fly box?  We will also have some more step by step fly post coming in the next week as well.