Recent content by Smalma

We anglers often are quick to latch onto anything that promises to produce "larger" trout. Here in Western Washington in the 1970s/early 1980s it was the "Donaldson rainbow" and more recently it has been surplus hatchery brood stock, surplus hatchery steelhead and the current rage "triploids"...

+ The poor mid field play (lack of talent) has been a chronic USA problem. This has been. especially true for the central mid fielders. Like early in this world cup the US was more than able to hold their own with second tier teams but once they step up to the top dozen teams in the world...

Without a doubt if limited to a single fly on stillwaters without any advance hatch information my pick would be a dark olive soft hackle (partridge).

Messi is human! After his missed PK, Austria is making it a game. That said it feels like it is just a matter to time before Argentina puts one in the net. And just like that Messi scores his record making goal! Curt

A double taper dry line still has a role in my fly fishing. A DT 4 or 5 weight are my go-to lines for fishing chironomids "naked, and dry flies on calm waters (lakes or rivers) and spring creeks. Also. back in the day when I skated a lot of dry flies for steelhead in low water (mid-summer into...

FYI- Legal gear for fish for sturgeon is only one single barbless hook and bait.

At 79 and 68 years of tying I still tie and fish all my own flies. Can still if needed tie down to size 18s, some 20 years ago I tied a lifetime supply of size 20 to 24s dries and emergers, so I think have my tiny fly needs covered. First, I have noticed that my dexterity can vary during the...

About 2000 it was argued that South fork of the Skykomish above Sunset Falls should not be considered part of the Puget Sound Chinook ESU as they did not exist historically exist above the Falls. The feds decided that water was indeed part of the ESU as it was considered that supplying access...

There are a couple issues that drive the potential freshwater opportunities. The first of course is the low priority WDFW assigns to game fish opportunities. Putting that aside for now the modeling issues that need to be considered The Snohomish basin Chinook consist of two populations: the...

So sorry to hear about the cancer diagnosis, I understand your concerns and limitations. Your Lund as it is set up is a fishing machine. In 2004 I bought a 16.5 Lund Alaskan with a similar floor plan as your Angler (as a retirement present to myself). I added a similar bow mounted electric in...

Thanks Shawn! it is always interesting to see how different folk solve the same problems. The combinations of being a big-time fly switcher (12 to 20 fly changes in a day are not uncommon), older fingers and eyes (takes more time and leader to tie knots as I'm about to leave my 70s) and more...

I always fish barbless for all my trout fishing. I do not use either of the two methods in the poll when fishing two flies. I typically use a two-piece leader below the swivel. The upper piece will be 8# fluorocarbon with the lower piece being 6# using s double surgeon knot to attach the...

To bad we didn't get the chance to connect! The issue with little Deer Creek (most of that portion of the basin is either private or state land) is the elevated stream temperatures which can exceed 70 degrees F, I always thought that in the Oso water first Deer Creek fish would arrive in the...

The information in SCORE tends to be those populations that are monitored via redd counts, also the information tend to be over longer time periods. In basins like Deer Creek and the timing of the summer fish spawning timing (late February through early May) access to the water during the early...

Earlier this week WDFW bios gave the local fly club an update on their work monitoring the returns to the famed Deer Creek. In 2022, 2023 and 2025 they collected adult steelhead holding in the NF Stilli near the mouth of Deer Creek. Those fish capture were measured, scales and tissue...