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If you emailed or called us in the past few days
(Thursday - Sunday evening) and did not get a response,
forgive us. We weren't here, and we didn't take the
lap-top with us. We really needed a break and the Central
Washington Fish-In was the perfect excuse. We stayed at
the Best Western in Ephrata again, and they do have free
high-speed Internet access in all the rooms. But if we
had just checked email, there would not have been much
time to fish or socialize. There was over 4,500 in just
the in-box. Of course, most of that was 'unauthorized'
email, but someone still has to check them. If you haven't
received a response by the time you read this, please resend
or call.
There will be some photos to come, folks need a little time
to download them and send in this direction. But take my
word for it, a great time was had by all. We did get to
meet some new folks, Robert McAfee and his sons from Idaho,
Kerry Stratton and his wife Bobbie and daughter Ember from
Everett, WA, and Harlan and Ann from Frederickson, WA. We
missed Matt Buechler - (atomic_dog) who had to leave early,
and spent just a little time with Jeff Winikoff - (jeffw)
since he had to get back home on Saturday. Vicki and Ron
Eagle Elk from Yelm, WA (both Chatroom Hosts) were there
for the whole time, and Mark Killam drove over from Bozeman,
MT and floated the Yakima with "Z" on Saturday. They had an
unplanned adventure, which I hope "Z" will write about. We
hadn't seen Sooperfly (Angus Kerr) in several years so it was
a real treat when he showed up, no rod, just a big camera.
Our 'usual' hosts, Cary Morlan (linemender) and Steve Zweber
("Z") provided a home 'camp' at the Oasis Campground and the
hot charcoal grill and goodies for our steak fry potluck on
Saturday night. Unfortunately the weather turned unseasonably
cold that night and most of us headed for a warm bed early.
Several of the folks went over to Stan Coffin Lake for panfish
on Saturday, and were rewarded with fish after fish and sore
arms.
The weather did co-operate during the days, in fact 70s were
average, except for a blustery wind and overcast on Sunday.
We fished Friday and Saturday and for a couple of hours early
Sunday morning. The fish at Rocky Ford are rainbows, and
we were told there are now some pushing thirty-six inches
in length! That's a big fish in anyone's book.
Everyone we spoke to caught fish. The photo above is not
the best example of how to play a fish. It's me, working
at keeping a nice rainbow out of a mass of floating weeds
and broken cattails. The bend in the rod is more severe
than I would recommend, and it would have been preferred
to move downstream to play the fish - there just wasn't
any way to get there. Be assured the fish was safely landed
and released. The rod by the way is the Sage TCR 5 wt, and
it is strong enough to handle the misuse. It's also a dandy
rod in wind situations. The fly was a parachute blue winged
olive, size 18/20, we're not really sure.
We both used the same flies, although I did hook a couple
nice fish with the wally wing which we found so successful
last year. There really wasn't any sustained hatch while
we were there, but usually a little persistence and good
presentation will result in fish. That is JC landing a
nice rainbow below, about 24 inches.
It also helps to have some idea of what the fish are eating,
and where to be so you can get the fly there properly.
We kept an eye on one angler who spent several hours attempting
to fish the same run shown in the photos above. He was standing
at the top of the bank, fishing a wet fly, and never had a hit.
Had he gotten down lower where he was less visible, and would
have a better angle to place the fly considerably upstream
from the fish he might have caught one. Sometimes it is hard
not to 'suggest' to someone you don't know how to fish. We
didn't. If it had been someone from the FAOL group we would
have offered to help.
Something to keep in mind, if you know you aren't fishing
whatever the fish really are taking, (or using a larger size)
look for a piece of fast or riffled water where the fish don't
get as good a look at the fly as they may in a slick water
situation. It worked for us.
We had a great time, we needed a break and we got it! Our
sincere thanks to old friends and to new ones too. You all
made it special.
One more thank you - one of the couples who couldn't make it
due to a medical emergency, John called to let me know they
weren't coming, and let me know they had found really nice
local asparagus at a shop between Ephrata and Soap Lake
last year. We searched it out and came home with several
pounds. Some to eat and some to blanch and freeze. Thanks
John.
We felt the numbers of fish were down from last year, but
certainly enough to challenge and entertain everyone. We're
very lucky to have such an outstanding public fishery here
in Washington. If you are able to get to Rocky Ford Creek
at nearly any time of the year, do take the time to check
it out. There is a huge variety of fishing opportunities
to challenge the most sophisticated angler and enough fish
to give the newbie a chance to catch a really nice one. Plus
there are two handicapped accesses which allow for easy
wheelchair use. Rocky Ford Creek is a winner on all counts. ~ The LadyFisher
If you would like to comment on this or any other article please feel free to
post your views on the FAOL Bulletin Board!
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