Westward we go...soon.

[ness]

Great trip report! Keep the updates coming!!

[Devan S.]

Now that we are home here are my post trip feelings.

Overall it was a good trip. Wayyyyy too many miles. I think we were nearing 23-2400 miles from Wednesday till Monday. Far more driving than fishing. Outside of Bulls it was 1-3 fish per stop. 

This is the first big miss on a species trip but it works out in the end I think. It was aggressive but if I would have just combined pyramid lake and eagle lake to begin with I would have likely never got McCloud river and Goose lake redbands.  

Oregon feels huge and empty. Portland is literally a cess pool of homeless camps. If I had to do over again I might fly into say Redmond, Bend, or Eugene and stay in that general vicinity. 

I feel like we fished Washington but also feel there is more there to explore especially with Puget sound and the peninsula.  

Idaho is the same way....I may go back someday to "chase" bulls there but it sounds like Canada is really the place to go so who knows. 

From a species standpoint the only thing that stands out is the bulls. Coastals and the redbands check a box but honestly I can get that similar fix elsewhere. 

Bulls-So incredibly aggressive.  That one pool yielded 5-6 bulls to hand and multiple times we had chasers slashing 3/4 times at our lures. Toss right back in and they kept going even with us standing right there in the water and totally visible. Big line too 6-8lb test so not line shy in the least. The Bull @Prifish caught at the Met chased me casting and him prior to finally hooking up. We didn't jack with getting good pictures and other than my bull at the Met our Bull pictures don't show the fish well. Its unfortunate but really no regrets there. Its the memory that counts. 

I would have really liked to fish our first location for Bulls more but it was just too hot. Its definitely the kind of place you could spend multiple days packing around or as I have seen on some blogs pack in and float out. 

Another note: I didn't see a single firework tent out west.

 

[BilletHead]

           Fantastic report Devin! Enjoyed it and thanks for posting. Brings back many memories. 

[Al Agnew]

Just seems like a foreign concept to me to have trouble catching mountain whitefish.  Where I fish in Montana you catch 10 whitefish for every trout, maybe more if fishing nymphs, a little less if fishing dries.

That's the trouble with the West...it is a lot of miles of driving between your destinations.  A whole lot of people think it's a good idea to do a whirlwind tour of two or three states and a half dozen rivers, and find out pretty quickly that you spend way more time driving than fishing.  My advice is always to go to one place that has two or three rivers and a bunch of tributary creeks within an hour or two driving time, and stay there.

[Ham]

@Al Agnew Got any pictures of them Whitefish? Any other bycatch that would likely happen? 

[Al Agnew]

5 hours ago, Ham said:

@Al Agnew Got any pictures of them Whitefish? Any other bycatch that would likely happen? 

I don't think I do...it's so routine to catch them, and they never get over a certain size, that I've never thought to take pictures.  Next time I catch one I'll get a picture for you.

There aren't a whole lot of other fish in the rivers out there that I fish.  The most common by catch other than the whitefish are mountain suckers.  They get pretty big; I've caught some up to 24 inches long.  I hate hooking them, though, because they have the nastiest slime on them of any fish I've ever caught.  It is real thick and scrapes off on your line, and it's real sticky and difficult to get off you or your line.  

Other than that, I caught one beautiful golden redhorse one time, and a grayling over on the Big Hole.  Haven't yet caught a bull trout, though I've fished a couple rivers where they are found.

Smallmouth are slowly making their way up the Yellowstone as the summers get hotter and drier.  They are common up to Billings, possibly fishable population up to Laurel, breeding up to about Columbus, and there have been a couple caught around us at Livingston.  One was caught last year all the way up at Gardiner at the entrance to the park.

[BilletHead]

            @Ham

  Bless your heart. Cliff Creek Wyoming. A great place to catch a native finespotnt.😁 Sometimes you get a surprise. 

[Devan S.]

The article I read on Crooked river said something like 5-8,000 trout per mile, and 30-40,000 whitefish per mile. 

It referenced locals who blamed the whitefish for a decline in trout and they throw them on the bank. Said some people target them and catch easy 100/day. Said they also get up to 2-4lbs. 

no clue.....we spent the better part of 4 hours there without catching one unless they look like trout.

I'm silently hoping at Pyramid lake or Eagle lake part 2, I can catch a Tui Chub. 

[BilletHead]

1 hour ago, Devan S. said:

The article I read on Crooked river said something like 5-8,000 trout per mile, and 30-40,000 whitefish per mile. 

It referenced locals who blamed the whitefish for a decline in trout and they throw them on the bank. Said some people target them and catch easy 100/day. Said they also get up to 2-4lbs. 

no clue.....we spent the better part of 4 hours there without catching one unless they look like trout.

I'm silently hoping at Pyramid lake or Eagle lake part 2, I can catch a Tui Chub. 

                 Devan,

  We have caught many but think small flies and nymphs. Yes, we have, and you can catch on hoppers and medium to larger flies, but their mouth is small.  when you get on them it is fun. We don't discriminate and if we catch them, we are happy.  Whitefish are a good indicator of clean water. 

[Al Agnew]

4 hours ago, BilletHead said:

                 Devan,

  We have caught many but think small flies and nymphs. Yes, we have, and you can catch on hoppers and medium to larger flies, but their mouth is small.  when you get on them it is fun. We don't discriminate and if we catch them, we are happy.  Whitefish are a good indicator of clean water. 

Yup, that's the key...I've caught a handful on streamers, but mostly smaller flies.  They absolutely love Prince nymphs, size 12-16.