Seattle Steelhead

I made a trip to Seattle WA on Monday to attend a meeting on Tuesday. It is a long trip on Southwest as there are stops in Phoenix and Salt Lake City.

I was supposed to arrive before 3PM local time so I decided to look for a fishing possibility. I found just the right place about 1 hour south of Seattle called Nisqually Valley Fly Fishing.

This C&R facility sounded like my kind of place so I made a reservation. There were delays at the baggage claim and car rental, and the traffic getting out of SeaTac airport was brutal. I-5 was bumper-to-bumper all the way from Seattle to Tacoma.

I finally got to my exit about 5PM and strung up the 7wt fly rod. This place is a small farm just off the interstate but it is quiet and peaceful nonetheless.

I tried an egg-sucking leech pattern as this was stillwater fishing and picked up the first of several 1-lb'ers.

Black Leech & a Pink Egg

I brought my special Washington-made net (thanks Grant) and it worked great on these feisty fish.

Action!

I caught several 1-2 pounders and was eager to find the bigger fish.

Resting after a Good Fight

I switched to an olive wooly bugger and picked up this nice fish.

Mr. Flashy

There was a quiet corner of the creek that was secluded and covered with duckweed.

I dropped a purple & black leech pattern in and found the biggest fish of the afternoon. This fish was nearly 3lb and put up a good fight.

Steel-Heads

My old camera gave up the ghost and I was left with only the camera phone.

I won't spend too much time discussing the "one that got away" but suffice it to say I learned a good lesson. Let's say you are using a barbless hook and a fish of say five pounds or so takes the fly and runs off with it.

"DON'T HORSE HIM!"

I got freaked out when I couldn't turn the "big one" and put too much pressure on him. When he decided to turn his head back towards me - you guessed it - I had to duck to avoid wearing some purple leech jewelry!

I fished until dark and had a great time chasing the steelies. I would recommend this spot to anyone who wants to learn about stillwater fishing or just wants to spend an enjoyable evening.