Tuesday, January 18, 2011


Hello all!
So the rivers are all flooding, as I type this the Wenatchee River has gone from 1500 CFS to over 15,000 CFS in the matter of 3 days!  I am hearing stories from the west side of the mountains that are much worse than what we have gotten here but it still sucks cause we have  a river full fish great fishing weather and cant fish! Well or can we???  So I have gottten lots of emails asking where to fish what to do?  We have it pretty good over here as we have options. Over on the coastal rivers they re nor so lucky. Some basic principles apply to all high water fishing, fish close to shore, fish soft seams ( the slacker water usually from current lines to the shore), fish a river that is on the fall not the rise, larger presentation, look for clear tributaries flowing in fish will lie along that seem also to clear out there gills. Think like a fish where would you be in hurricane if there was debris flowing at you thats the way the fish feel with high water and all the junk flowing down stream.
Here in NCW we have other options also.  We have a great stable river full of fish that runs the whole stretch of NCW in the Columbia. It will cloud up abit but is stable flows and will fish very good this time of year from the confluence of the Wenatchee all the way up to Chief Joseph Dam. You can use bait in this section of river while it is still barbless hooks but I use jigs tipped with shrimp cured in Pautzkes Fire Cure and soaked in some Pautzkes Nectar. Also the Methow river will be fishable way before the Wenatchee will be ready so that's another great alternative all the ice should be off with the warmer temps and it should be fishing great thats where I will be this week hitting some holes on the Columbia on my way up. Don't forget about the Okanogan River also it fishes very good this time of year. Hope this helps, just cause one river is out of shape use that tie to expand your fishing it will pay off in the long run and hopefully in the short run also with a few fish in the cooler! See you out there! Brad

Friday, January 14, 2011

winter steelhead is good in NCW!

Hey all! Hope everyone had a great holiday, I definitely did lots ofgood food, great company, and lots of fishing and even more catching! Fishing is  good on the Wenatchee River now and also  the Columbia is fishing really good using shrimp in Pautzkes  cure and marinated in Nectar. On the Wenatchee we are using our tried and true cold water jigs that will have a little slower action and cold water steelhead cant resist them as we got 9 the other day in a half day fishing. Fishing is good a little chilly but book a trip and catch some fish we are offering cold weather specials this time of yer also! See you on the water!