Not The Ozarks But Fishing None The Less

[Andy & JoAnne]

OK...OK, I know its not the Ozarks but what a blast we had last weekend when we did a family camping trip. We headed out Friday morning to the Duckabush River here in Washington State. Its a beautiful area about 8 miles in from the Puget Sound. We arrived at the campsite and my son made a mad dash for the river, pole in hand. He caught a couple of small brook trout by the time camp was established. The fishing is pretty poor in that area due to how hard it gets pounded by other campers. I told him the next day we were going to take a trail up river to try to get into some better fish. So the next morning after a huge breakfast of bacon, eggs and fried potatoes, we took off. The first river access on the trail was 2.4 miles and approximately 1000 foot in elevation gain. By the time we made it to the access area you would have thought I was trying to take them to the top of Mt. Everest. We fished several holes along that stretch picking up a fish or two here and there. I was sorta discouraged as I thought it would be much better. Apparently a lot of people had the same idea. Even though the trail was right next to the river for a good part of the way, access was quite risky (especially with the kiddos) as it was steep and I do mean steep. On the way out, I noticed a small brushy game trail that headed in the direction of the river. We decided to take it and here is where the fun began. It led right to the river with only a short drop off to the river. Safe enough. We started to fish the pools and we absolutely tore em up. A bite on almost every cast, and a landed fish on most of them. They were all wild brook trout about 13-14 inches long. What a fight on an ultra light with 4 pound test reeling them in upstream in a strong current. This continued on for about 45 minutes before we had to leave. What a great way to spend a little time with the family. Even my daughter got caught up in the action!!!

Every fish was safely returned to the water to fight again.

[Danoinark]

Excellent report Andy...and that's my kind of creek.

Dano

[Terry Beeson]

We arrived at the campsite and my son made a mad dash for the river, pole in hand.

That sounds like me...

Good post, Andy... And hey... It may not be the Ozarks, but it shore is purty there.... My kind of creek, too...

Thanks for posting....

[Andy & JoAnne]

Yes indeed it is absolutely beautiful. I wish I could have gotten a couple of mountain shots. I still wish I was in Ozark Country with y'all. Thanks for reading

[Guest]

those are awesome pics, man.

Sounds like a great family outing.