Recent content by MarshRat

As a new father, my fishing trips are half-days at best, usually back home by 11am. So it’s a pour over coffee into the insulated mug and a couple perfect bars jammed into the pack. I’m never hungry while I’m out there, and even if I was I wouldn’t take the time to sit and eat. Every second with...

Definitely, I’d just fish the lower river downstream of downtown (maple street bridge and below). The upper and lower river are really two different beasts. It’s the upper river (near the Idaho border) that suffers from skinny water in late summer. Double nymphs rigs under a bobber if you want...

Interesting, are the bigger prints just a bigger bear? Or just some kind of double print? Good call on the pikeminnow, 100%.

Did a little recon for some good swinging water in anticipation of this fall/winter season, across the line in the lower mainland of BC. After some bushwhacking and channel crossing I stopped for my granola bar break, and inadvertently sat down my pack next to a couple really nice prints. I...

More tinkering last weekend, finally got a solution sorted for the oar collars. I found some secondhand Outcast oar stops made for 1 3/8” oar shafts. Photos online show them used on aluminum or plastic sleeved oars, so I cut some thin inner tube rubber to protect the wood oar shafts prior to...

I appreciate the warning. I didn’t want to Swiss cheese the new oars with lots of Brad nails so I only used a couple on each. May end up switching directions.

Splashed the boat this morning! Took a few minutes to set up the oars/oar collars to an appropriate length. Don’t love these Scotty collars, advertised that you can trim to fit any oars, but it turns into a bit of a hack job as the plastic is quite stiff. No worries, this ain’t a clacka...

The excitement begins! In my haste, I missed a crack during pre-purchase inspection. No hard feelings, it was mostly covered by the bolt-on middle bench. A quick wrenching reveals the full extent of the issue. The damage is above the waterline, but definitely at a stress point, so I...

Yup! Polypropylene I believe

Inspired by leaky waders and cramped float tubes, I scooped up a new toy on my commute home today. The Walker Bay 8, which weighs in at 71 lbs and slides right into the bed without any overhang. The ol’ girl has some fishing (crabbing?) battle scars, but I couldn’t argue with the FB...

I stumbled into schools of trout in my exploration of the South Carolina marsh. Mostly blind casting ambush points of strong current. Great table fare, and easier to process than redfish.

Never fished Fernie, but North Idaho may give you a similar feel without all the red tape. Silverbow Fly Shop (Spokane) can float you down the Couer D’Alene, but it’s also very approachable on foot. NF Clearwater and St. Joe would round out the trip. That would be my special celebration trip.

Thanks! Boat was a Key West 1520: I think the hull would have been great as a puget sound fly fishing platform. Unfortunately the old Johnson 2 stroke isn’t allowed on my primary local lakes. Between the cost of a repower + shipping cross country it just wasn’t adding up.

Crazy to go to C of C and not fish locally, you must have been busy on King street!! Heat and humidity have been wearing us down for sure. The boat/pool/beach made it tolerable for brief moments, but any yardwork/chores/auto and boat projects have been miserable. There is more in my pot than...

My wife and I moved from North Puget Sound to the SC Lowcountry 5 years ago- to stretch our legs and freshen our perspective, no connections nor expectations. Youtube had me excited to chase redfish, she was eager for some sunshine, and that’s about all we had to go on. My fishing evolution...