Northwest Edge

Beaver Lake Stocker Rainbow Trout

Posted by Tom E on May 13, 2013 at 11:15 pm Food & Cooking, Outdoors No Responses »

May 132013

Beaver Lake rainbows on the fly

A few days ago, I took advantage of the recent nice sunny weather in Seattle to do some lake fishing on Beaver Lake near Issaquah. The lake, recently stocked with larger than normal rainbows, provided some nice action and a welcomed break from work. With only a few others on the lake that day, it was nice to be able to pick and choose my fishing spots. I had the most action while slowly trolling a small green woolly bugger on a floating line.

Broiled rainbow trout with carrots and onions

I later invited the fish I caught to dinner. They were broiled and accompanied by strips of carrot and onions. These hatchery rainbows were super tasty!

Personal Record Coho Salmon for 2012 Season

Posted by Tom E on September 30, 2012 at 6:20 am Outdoors No Responses »

Sep 302012

Ten pound coho salmon from Olympic Penisula

Ten pound coho salmon from Olympic Peninsula

It has been an excellent season fishing for coho salmon on the Olympic Peninsula. On a recent trip, I hooked into a coho that was especially strong and fought well so I knew that it was going to be a big fish. When I landed it, I immediately knew that this was going to be my personal best coho for this year.

The chunky, hook-nose coho buck with big shoulders weighed in at an even 10 lbs. and was 29″ long and had a girth of 17″! According to the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, local Puget Sound coho range from 6-12 lbs and can be up to 31 lbs. Having caught a 10 pounder, I can’t imagine hooking into a 30 pounder!

Coho salmon steaks

The fish was so thick that I decided to cut the salmon into steaks rather than filleting it like I usually do. Unfortunately, I did not own a big butcher knife or butcher bandsaw so the steak cuts were not perfect. Nevertheless, these steaks will be excellent steamed or grilled.

Coho Salmon Fishing on the Olympic Peninsula

Posted by Tom E on September 4, 2012 at 6:59 am Outdoors No Responses »

Sep 042012

Coho salmon from the Olympic Peninsula

Fishing for coho salmon in a bay in the Olympic Peninsula is one of my most anticipated activities of the year. Coho salmon usually start returning to this Olympic Peninsula river in mid-August. I really enjoy the sight fishing aspect of this fishery.

When I arrived at the bay one day last week, a couple dozen fishermen were already positioned along the banks of the river anxiously waiting for the coho to swim upstream. When the fish swim by it becomes a free-for-all with lines going in every direction. It’s amazing not more people get hooked. And when the fish pass by, everyone calms down again until the next wave of fish.

The first schools of fish are usually the smaller hens followed in a couple of weeks by increasing larger fish especially the bucks. Some of the males can reach double digit pounds. A minimum of 8 or 9 weight fly rods and large arbor reels with strong drags are needed to control and land these fish.

At the end of the day, I was rewarded with my first coho of the 2012 season. That evening, my family enjoyed the first fresh grilled coho of the year. We’re hoping for many more fresh salmon dinners this fall.

Personal Record Rainbow Trout, Corbett Lake, Merritt, BC

Posted by Tom E on July 28, 2012 at 6:34 am Outdoors No Responses »

Jul 282012

Monster rainbow trout from Corbett Lake, BC

The other week, I had the fortune to visit Corbett Lake in British Columbia near Merritt to do some trout fishing. Located in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in BC, the lake has an elevation of about 3500 feet. Corbett is a private, fly fishing only lake known for its trophy-size rainbows up to 18 lbs. Before going there, I was very incredulous that rainbows that big could inhabit this lake.

Large rainbow with chartreuse bunny leech fly

On the second day of fishing, I was trolling the depths using a large chartreuse bunny leech under a full sinking line when something big bit my fly. I could immediately tell that this was not like the 20″ fish that I caught earlier in the day. Nope, this was a substantial fish.

I tried my best not to play the fish too long to avoid unnecessary stress on the fish but my 5 wt. with 6 lb. tippet was underpowered for this fish. After several runs into my backing, the fish tired and I quickly brought him in. I had to get one of my friends on another boat to help net the monster. We caught glimpses of the bruiser just below the surface and knew he was going to be a trophy fish. His head was as big as a salmon’s.

Reviving “Walter” before release back to the depths

When we got him into my measure net, his head and tail stuck out beyond the net and the numbered inch markings. He was 30″ long and had enormous shoulders! The owner of the lodge later estimated that he weighed a good 14 lbs!

We slowly revived him before we let him go back to the depths of Corbett Lake.

The fish handily beat my previous personal best rainbow of 26″ when I fished the Alagnak River in Alaska a couple of years ago. Hopefully, I’ll see “Walter” again in a future trip to Corbett Lake.

Sunset at Corbett Lake, BC

Rattlesnake Lake: A Great Place to Fish

Posted by Tom E on June 20, 2012 at 5:51 am Outdoors No Responses »

Jun 202012

Rattlesnake Ridge looking over Rattlesnake Lake

Last week, my friend Rob and I went trout fishing at Rattlesnake Lake. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperative. It was cloudy, misty, and only in the 50s. The wind gusts made us bobble in our float tubes.

Old tree stumps on Rattlesnake Lake

The fishing was slow by any measure — I only got a few bites all morning! I attributed the lack of action to the low pressure system which seems to tamper the bite. Only a few other fishermen were out on the water and none of them seemed to have any luck either except for one guy fishing chironomids from a pram in the middle of the lake. I didn’t have my anchor for my float tube with me so I’ll have to wait until next time to fish chironomids at Rattlesnake.

Float tube on Rattlesnake Lake

Despite the dreary weather and lack of action, the trip to Rattlesnake Lake was quite enjoyable. I saw a couple of bald eagles soaring overhead looking for a trout breakfast. The old growth tree stumps jutting up like ghosts from the depths. The ever-present Rattlesnake Ridge standing protectively over the lake. A remarkable place to spend a morning.

Spring Rainbow Trout at Beaver Lake

Posted by Tom E on April 24, 2012 at 6:46 am Outdoors No Responses »

Apr 242012

Beaver Lake rainbow trout on a fly

One of the highlights of springtime in Western Washington is stillwater fishing for rainbow trout. My brother and I fished Beaver Lake near Issaquah a few days after they stocked it with 6,000+ rainbows in early April. Although Beaver Lake can be fished from a short stretch of public shoreline, it is best fished from a boat. If you are a fly fisherman, a boat or floating device is required since there is no room for a backcast from shore.

It was a calm sunny afternoon in the 50s and, for the first hour, we got to enjoy the weather paddling our canoe since we didn’t get any bites! I finally landed a fish a few minutes later but my brother had no love from the fish. Since he was a rookie, I figured it would be best to start him on a light spinning rod and some Power Bait. Surprisingly that combo did not produce.

Determined to get my brother his first rainbow trout, I switched him to a Mack Wedding Ring trout lure after seeing some fish feeding just below the surface. Within a few minutes, he was catching them like a pro even though he didn’t cast more than 20 feet! At one point, he had another fish on the line before I could get the previous one onto the stringer! I think he got “hooked” on fishing that day.

I had equal success on my fly rod. Using a full sinking line and a size 10 red bead-head nymph, I caught a fish on almost every other cast. Although the rainbows were only small planters between 9 and 12 inches, they were a lot of fun to catch.

We kept some trout for dinner. After a “hard” day of fishing, I like to use my quick and simple fried trout recipe. The delicious trout dinner was a good footnote to the day.

Trout Fishing on Lake Alice

Posted by Tom E on April 8, 2012 at 9:52 am Outdoors No Responses »

Apr 082012

Alice Lake near Fall City

Not having been fishing for a couple of months, I went to Lake Alice near Fall City, WA twice since they stocked the lake with rainbows in mid-March. The first time, a few days after the fish plant, I fished for half a day and had only one bite to show for it! I did not see any other fishermen catch anything that day. No one had a plausible explanation why the fish were not biting. It’s extremely rare to be skunked within a week of a fish plant!

Fishing in the rain

Not wanting to admit defeat, I went back to Lake Alice several days ago. When I arrived, I was the only fisherman on the lake. And for good reason. During the first hour, it was in the low 40s but calm and pleasant. Then the weather turned dramatically in the next hour–the skies quickly darken and I was pelted with driving rain and winds gusting to about 20 mph. The wind whipped up waves that made my float tube almost impossible to control. However, it was all worth it.

I quickly caught my limit of five trout. Yes, they were all small planter trout but they were fish. Having not fished in a couple of months, I was a little rusty handling the first couple of trout before the rhythm came back. I was trolling a #10 olive wooly bugger and a red bead head nymph on a full sinking line. My 5 weight fly rod was a little heavy for this job.

Rainbow trout on a wooly bugger fly

By the time I got back to shore to pack up, I realized that my hands were almost frozen and unbuckling my fin flippers was painful. Despite the chilly weather, it was a great fishing outing and my family enjoyed the rainbow trout we invited to dinner that evening. I’ll tell you how I cooked them in a later post.

Outdoor Links: Huge Rivers and Mythical Beasts

Posted by Eric H on March 21, 2012 at 2:33 pm Outdoors No Responses »

Mar 212012

The elusive Pacific Blackberry blackberries

Salmon fishing in the Yemen yemen

March is the month for migrating Sandhill Cranes in Washington - cranes

The Snow Peak Tulip Lantern LED lamp - lanternp

Advice for a Seven Day Trip to Oregon and Washington - 7-days

Huge Rivers and Mythical Beasts - huge-rivers-and-mythical-beasts

Backpacking Bike Trip backpacking-bike

Are Rainbow Trout native to Idaho? trout

Oregon Public Broadcasting TV special on Climbing Mount Hood -mt-hood/

A Wild, Solitary Journey on the Pacific Crest Trail a-wild-solitary-journey-on-the-pacific-crest-trail

San Juan Islands: