Horsepacking and Flyfishing in the Pasayten Wilderness, 7/7-7/9
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Pisco Sicko:
No kayaks involved, (though I had volunteered to bring my inflatable ;) ), but I did have a blast being a FF guide on a pack trip, this past weekend. We rode in over Eightmile Pass to the upper Lost R. area on Friday, setting up camp in a beautiful meadow near Diamond Creek. The late afternoon and early evening we fished the river, (more like a large creek) with no success. ??? I haven't been this far up the Lost R. before, and I suspect it may de-water in low water years.
Late the next morning we took the group up to Couger Lake. (These 7 guys were on vacation, so we let them sleep in after a late night of song and drink around the fire.) We got there around noon, and it was a warm and bright day. Not the best conditions for a shallow clear lake, but at least we could see some healthy fish finning around. Of our 7 clients, only 2 or 3 had much experience, so that was a challenge, too. Almost everyone congregated around the inlet, which was an easy and obvious prime spot. But they weren't having much success ( a couple of misses), and there wasn't enough room for everyone, so I headed further around the lake. After a tough slog (in shorts and sandals) through painfully cold water and fallen logs in an old burn, I reached a rocky point that allowed easy casting to deeper water. Within minutes, I managed to crack one of the keys to the lake (emerging caddises), and catch our first fish (a gorgeous 17" wild rainbow). I soon had a couple of clients join me, and land more fish. In the mean time another guide negotiated the other direction around the lake (with more clients), and figured out another key to the lake (wooley buggers, which imitated the tiny crawdads we saw). In the end, almost all the clients that were really motivated (and had some casting skills) managed to catch and release at least one fish over 15".
A couple of the clients needed to get to SeaTac for flights out Sunday night, so there was no fishing on Sunday, just packing up and out. Probably a good thing, as a couple of the guys had celebrated a bit much, the night before, and had a hard time staying awake in the saddle. ::)
All in all, a great weekend that was especially sweet since I got paid to go riding and fishing. ;D
The shop that I guide out of is called "Methow Troutfitters", ( which is part of "Methow Adventures", which is in the same office as "Adventureland Real Estate") in Winthrop. Contacts below-