SFR Mt Adams Sept 2023

SilverFly · Sep 9, 2023

Day Two: Plan was to hike/fish one of the high lakes we couldn't get to in April, and get some closer views of the mountain.

Probably no secret, but we'll call this "Talk-A-Lot Lake". Other than a few fleeting glimpses, Adams was cloaked in a rolling blanket of cumulus. "The drive will be worth it honey, this lake has the best view of the mountain!" 40 minutes of potholes and washboard in a low-slung sedan later...

Nice campground though, and a pleasant, easy hike around the lake. Fishing wise, I have a vague idea of what I'm doing but basically am a rookie when it comes to lakes. Most places the water was far too shallow to fish without wading to get some back cast room (note to self: I can see where trout spey rods could be handy for lakes).

I ended up fishing 2 spots, one on the west side where I waded out precariously on a slimly log, casting into water maybe 3-4 feet deep. Confidence was nil, which is probably why I missed the single grab that didn't stick. I was fine on the log until it was time to turn around at which point I said screw it and stepped off into the sandy muck. A short hike and we we're back to the car to warm up the huevos and eat lunch. I wasn't ready to give up yet and talked the wife into re-visiting a spot we passed on the east side with deep water next to shore. Basically no back cast room but didn't need it with fish visible a few rod lengths off the bank. My wife brought her book and found a comfy recliner perched above my fishing spot.

Had a smallish rainbow follow my fly on the first cast, then nothing. Saw several more fish cruise by. Nothing big although I talked to a guy on a pedal kayak who said he caught an 18" rainbow that morning and several smaller fish. All rainbows.

I was hoping for a brookie or a cutt (presumably westslope which I have never caught). I mostly fished a #12 bead-head bugger with a #16 black nymph trailer. Nada. Even tried dries for a bit. The wind was blowing into the bank and there were a few rises along a debris line several feet from shore.

Beautiful place, even with the mountain hiding. Would love to get back with some sort of water craft to fish it properly though.

Day Two continued...

SilverFly · Sep 9, 2023

... on the way back we did get a few peaks at the mountain from the overlook site on the west side.

A couple interesting shots of the north peak/glacier, and the lower NW side of Adams.

Leaving Trout Lake, headed back to Glenwood:

Hike through the Getaway campground after dinner. BTW, Kudos to Getaway cabins. With the burn ban in effect, they provided Weber electric grills which was a nice touch.

Day Three next. A fishless, but scenic report on the "Kick-A-Kat River" ...

Brute · Sep 9, 2023

SilverFly said:
... on the way back we did get a few peaks at the mountain from the overlook site on the west side.

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A couple interesting shots of the north peak/glacier, and the lower NW side of Adams.

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Leaving Trout Lake, headed back to Glenwood:

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Hike through the Getaway campground after dinner. BTW, Kudos to Getaway cabins. With the burn ban in effect, they provided Weber electric grills which was a nice touch.

SilverFly said:
Day One: Pleasant drive up the CR Gorge with a stop at North Bonneville to drool over URB (Up River Bright) chinook and B-run summer steelhead. Plenty of chinook, a few steelhead and even a couple hefty coho. This place is addictive and was tough paring down to the 4 shots posted.

Upriver BRIGHT indeed:

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Check out the shoulders on these fish:

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And this is why I packed a 12wt for the glacial river some of these brutes are headed to:

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Anyone lose a pink and chartreuse spinner? Bummer for whoever lost this fish because it was clipped. Also shows how chartreuse stands out in deep green water:

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Finally got back on the road and rolled into Glenwood late afternoon. Very different looking mountain than we saw in late April.

Good argument for single hooks over trebles…

SilverFly · Sep 9, 2023

Day Three: Drive down the "Kick-A-Kat River" and home.

First stop, an easy to miss, under-the-radar, scenic overlook. Road in is short, but sketchy. Our Madza made most of the way. Very worth the stop though. This would be a state park anywhere East of the Rockies.

Having a deathly fear of sheer drops, I let my wife take this shot over the edge. "Pucker Factor Creek" seems an appropriate name for this stream. Can't help wonder what's in it:

Day three fishing stops next ...

SilverFly · Sep 9, 2023

First fishing stop a place I last camped and fished with my Dad 22 years ago in early October. We planned to fly fish for steelhead but a week of warm weather had the river down to a few inches of visibility. I brought drift gear and salmon eggs as a backup. We caught 2 salmon that first morning. The small one was 35#. The big one was over 40#. Definitely not Tule strain chinook here. Both fish had some color but cut deep orange and were grill grade fish. The other memory of that trip was hearing something outside our tent in the wee hours. Next morning we found kitty kat prints the size of a coffee mug in the sand, right next to our frozen waders.

Anyway, I had hoped to repeat a similar catch this time with fly gear. Truth be told I rarely do river fishing any more and have very little in the way of proper river gear. My thought for the big chinook (I refer you to Exhibit A: Post #1, Image #3 ) was one of my 12wt tuna rods with a 600gr line. Maybe not everyone's idea of fun to cast, but I'm used to it and it feels "normal" to me - even if it requires some effort. The idea was to find a spot where I could swing this into a deep/boily seam and just let the fly hang. I found just the spot and it seemed to work great. The fly was deep but not hanging on the bottom. I literally could have put the rod in a holder like I was plunking with that fly waving around indefinitely in what HAD to be a juicy chinook bucket. Maybe it was the memory of my last time there, but my spidey sense was tingling big time. I fished it hard for an hour, working down the hole into the run and tailout. The tuna rod worked well there too.

And while I was experimenting with tuna fly gear in a river, my wife was faced with her deathly fear ... snakes! She dealt with her fear far better than I did. Even took a picture of what sure looks like a small rattler.

Same spot viewed from the drive up the other side of the canyon.

One final stop before heading home. Better steelhead water so swung an intermediate 8/9wt. No grabs but I'm blaming fishing early afternoon on a hot sunny day...

DanielOcean · Sep 9, 2023

No words to describe this. Thank you for posting this.

DerekWhipple · Sep 9, 2023

Great photos!

Pink Nighty · Sep 9, 2023

Man do I ever love that river! Spent the first day of my honeymoon fishing it, I'll never forget it. My wife hooked the fish below in the top of one of those buckety runs you photographed from the road, and we chased it all the way to the bottom.

Then downstream a bit we caught chinook until we got sick of it. Mostly 15-20lb, and a few larger like this 35# brute. Like you said, he cut bright orange and full of fat.