Report on my trip to the Pacific NW, Olympic NP and surrounding area.

[Bluegrass Bill]

Hi Folks,

My apologies for not following up with a report on the trip I described back in October that my wife were getting ready to go on to the Northwest, Olympic NP and surrounding area. The trip itself was a lot of fun, many wonderful sights to see however the fishing turned out to generally be disappointing. I did catch one very nice trout fishing Crane Prairie reservoir with my good Friend Charlie Schillinsky but that was about the only bright spot fishing wise.

The day I went fishing for Sea Run Cutthroat with a guide in an estuary area in Washington was very disappointing. My guide had me swinging flies like you would for steelhead the majority of the day. I caught a couple small fish, both less than 12 inches with a few others missed fishing for a very long day of fishing. It was an interesting experience but not one I would do again.

After that day I spent the majority of the time on the rest of our trip sightseeing the spectacular sights that are there in that area to see. The rain forests are really amazing, averaging 140 inches of rain per year and with that kind of rainfall the vegetative growth literally explodes from the earth. We took lots of pictures and put together the following slide show which I hope you will all enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjsJpsQh5m4
Bill and Dana’s Vacation, Bend OR, Olympic NP and more

Kiene’s Christmas party this month was fun and our band, the Western Lights trio enjoyed sharing our music with everybody there. I am sure some of you folks were there as well maybe doing some Christmas shopping or making lists for family members to work on.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and happy New year!

Bill

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[Kneedeep]

Looks like a great trip (aside from the fishing)!
Thanks for sharing it.

[Dick]

Thanks for taking us with you. God sure has made some awesome country for us to enjoy. Glad you are back safely.
Dick

[hwchubb]

Bill,

Enjoyed listening to you guys at the Christmas event, sorry I ran out of time to actually introduce myself.

I've fished sea run cuts a bit on business trips to Seattle. Never tried swinging or fishing with a guide, always walking the beaches and throwing minnow patterns (Clousers, Shock and Awe) or slider-style poppers. They are a fantastic fish when you find them, but I've also spent a bit of time walking the wrong beach on the wrong tide. Still, it can be incredible - watching the sun set over the Olympics as Puget Sound goes flat, watching sea lions, birds and the occasional dolphin (once a humpback whale 100' offshore right in front of me), and taking 12-20" SRC's on the surface can be magical. Give it another shot sometime, maybe in March / April when the chum fry are migrating into the Sound. Purdy and Eglin are two of my favorite spots.

Wayne

[Bluegrass Bill]

Hi Wayne, I think finding them was the challenge for us that day I fished. The tides were at full swing in changing such that there was quite a current so it was like fishing a river. Maybe I will try it again someday.

I was in the fly shop this week and Gary said he would have some more dates to share with me soon for us to play again so come on up and introduce yourself.

Merry Christmas!

Bill