Skeena Meadows, British Columbia

Skeena Meadows

Combining the appeal of sleeping in the outdoors with the creature comforts of a fine hotel stay, the lodging at Skeena Meadows re-defines the notion of “camping”. Each of the four 864 sq.ft. “tents” are insulated, smoke-free, and feature hardwood floors, leather furniture, three bedrooms, fine linens, propane heaters, remote start generators, showers and full kitchen facilities. Situated in secluded and private settings, each spacious tent also features two outdoor decks and a wood-fired hot tub.

"To Fish is to Hope" Abel Casting for Recovery Reel

Abel Super 5N Large Arbor Reel:  Casting for Recovery 

Abel has teamed up with non-profit organization Casting for Recovery to help promote breast cancer awareness and breast cancer therapy and rehabilitation.  These reels are build to order and can be purchased online.

The reel with custom options would normally retail for $875, however the Casting for Recovery version is $700 of which $100 is tax deductible. Buy your's today.

Casting for Recovery “provides an opportunity for women whose lives have been profoundly affected by the disease to gather in a natural setting and learn the sport of fly-fishing. Just as importantly, the retreats offer an opportunity to meet new friends, network, exchange information, and have fun." Abel reels are precision machined from 6061-T651 cold finished aerospace grade aluminum with Teflon® sealed bearings and utilize a cork drag system made entirely in the California factory. The Super 5N Large Arbor will handle both 5 and 6-weight lines. The Abel Super Series 5N Large Arbor fly reel will feature the following:

• Abel decked out this reel with custom CFR purple with matching CFR pink handle, drag knob, and foot.
• Drag knob appropriately engraved "To Fish is to Hope".
• CFR logo and pink ribbon fish on the spool.

The reel with custom options would normally retail for $875, however the Casting for Recovery version is $700 of which $100 is tax deductible. 

www.gorgeflyshop.com/PINK   |   www.castingforrecovery.org

Back from the Palometa Club

Fly Fishing at the Palometa Club

Travis and Greg are back from their Mexico trip and getting back into the rhythm of things again. Be sure to be signed up to our newsletter for our May 21st Magazine Edition for a recap and to catch the G. Loomis NRX vs Sage ONE showdown. As always, its FREE.

Vote in the comment section below to cast your vote for your favorite.

To Catch a bud...

This really is a fishing story, but first a brief introduction.

I married a great guy. He’s smart, kind, and patient with me (most of the time). He can fix almost anything and he’s athletically gifted (too much praise? Well, suck it up.) We love all of the same things – skiing, windsurfing, river trips, and even our nutso dog, Kash. Oh, and fishing, especially swinging for steelhead. Rich got us addicted to that, but let’s get back to him - he is also analytical and deliberate. Nothing is done without forethought, a plan, a map into the future. We couldn’t be more alike; and we couldn’t be more different. I’m the kind of person who is still alive by sheer tenacity and a certain amount of luck. I was not blessed with a speck of “situational awareness”. In fact, I could be the driving force behind the development of “Personal Body-Bubble-Wrap”.

For example: On one of our early spey excursions to the Klickitat, I managed to fling a weighted, leechy fly into the seat of my waders. In an attempt to free myself, I took off my waist belt and the attached wading staff. I promptly dropped those into the river, and when it dawned on me that I was beltless and staffless, I stumbled frantically after them, spey rod in hand, butt still trapped by the fly. OK, the rest is obvious. I took a late evening swim in the Klick and never came near a fish. In fact, I think I scared them all away. I can just imagine Rich upstream scratching his smart head wondering what the hell I was doing. Luckily for me, the day had just about completed its fade into dark. We hauled my soggy ass home.

I have other examples, but that should suffice. Now onto the fishing story.

After a particularly successful and totally enjoyable camp trip on The Deschutes in September, I decided I needed (well, actually wanted) a new spey rod. I plotted a way to stash pieces of money here and there so that when the right stick showed up, I’d be able to buy it. I sort of let Rich know my thoughts, but I didn’t reveal the entirety of my plan. Then the planets aligned and Rich and I borrowed some demos from our pals at The Gorge Fly Shop. And just to set the record straight, this is not an advertisement for the rod I eventually purchased.

Down to the mouth of the Hood we went. We strung up our demo Sage One (7116) Switch, the Sage One (7126) Spey, and Rich’s very own and favorite rod (a 7 weight Sage TCX) for the sake of comparison. It was about 2:00 in the afternoon. Rich was seriously fishing, and I was mostly casting. The magic hour arrived – we all recognize it – that time of day when shadows lengthen and the sun turns an easy gold.

Mt. Hood

The mouth of the Hood is not a serene place. Vehicles thunder across the highway bridge, dogs bark on their way to the Spit, fishermen jockey for position. For sanity’s sake, I plugged myself into my ear buds and my MP3 player. Then it was cast and re-cast, and occasionally swing. This is where life gets interesting.

Wired to my headphones I couldn’t hear much of anything, but I looked upriver and noticed Rich sending me some type of signal, so I pulled the plugs out of my ears. He was trying to tell me that the guy on the far bank was fighting a fish and to make myself small, as in invisible, until the fish was landed. I stopped casting so I wouldn’t ruin his fight. When things quieted down, I decided to take one last cast and make a final swing through the run with the Sage One Switch. I was already in love with the rod, but my casts come and go, so I wanted to make sure it was me that was making them go away and not the rod. Finishing off the swing, I turned to wade upstream to Rich (I was done, and I wanted to trade rods one last time) when WHAM! SLAM! Yank to the bank (that was one lesson I learned and relearned a lot of times). Off like a laser, air borne on the far side, with me reeling in for all I was worth, and then he screamed back out again. Rich slowly “raced” down to me fully confident that I could handle this wild buck on my own. I had it in, and Rich grabbed the leader, but then let it go. My reel stopped turning, the line lost pressure. I looked down. My left earphone was backstroking to the Columbia, the other was jammed deep into the running line of my reel. The fish was 5 feet away from us, then 50 feet away, then deep into its hidey hole (or wherever steelhead go to recover from an adrenaline surge). So much for the soothing effects of music. I had found yet another way to NOT land a fish.

At the 10, the 20 oh the 50 and it's... gone.

These are the kinds of things that happen to me. This would never happen to Rich. Only me. I’ve never been a gentle learner. But I did make our local (and favorite) fly shop really happy. The very next day I plunked down my credit card and left the store with a brand spanking new Sage One Switch.

I didn’t choose the rod. It chose me. It’s the ONE. It really is.

Fly fish wisdom

The One

A little Fly Fishing Wisdom

The only story is that these wild fish have some extra horsepower!!!!!!!!  And that, after you choose a fly and a presentation stick to it.  Right before this fish railroaded my fly I was thinking to myself "should I have put on something smaller, darker, brighter, bigger, etc, etc..........."  Just pick the fly and do your best to present your swing in a way that it always feels like it should be "the one"!!!!!!

Palometa Club: Never Ready...

My Tropical Fly fishing adventure trip is booked...Now what do I need to make this a great trip!

Greg Darling: Photo taken on 2009 Trip

While this may sound strange to some but for me getting ready for a fishing trip is fun in itself. The planning, anticipation and gear preparation is exciting. Its the years of learning the sport, learning the species and collecting gear that now it comes down to using the knowledge to put together all the stuff that will make a great trip without hauling a truck load of gear to the airport and spending all your fun money on luggage fees.

This Trip is taking me to sunny tropics on the northeastern edge of Ascension Bay to the Palometa Club in Punta Allen, Mexico where the Permit are big, Bonefish are plentiful and Margaritas are waiting for you when you arrive back at base after a day of adventurous fishing.

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Tips and Tricks for Traveling Fun

John Garrett: Traveling Fun

Traveling Fun

One could certainly wax poetic and become mired in philosophy while trying to channel your inner Norman in order to understand this obsession with fly fishing. But at the core,fly fishing is so much damn fun. And we spend thousands of dollars for travel fly fishing because it’s really really fun. Last month, I covered what to pack to remedy our medical woes when abroad, and this month, I’d like to suggest tips, tricks and gadgets to maximize the fun aside from the fishing aspects.

Read More

Find the rest of this story and future articles in our Travel section at Gorge Fly Shop.

Arapaima Jungle Fishin'

Do you daydream about fly fishing? Since you are reading this, of course you do! Are the dreams ever about fly fishing in the wild and remote jungle of Guyana for Arapaima? What is an Arapaima? A fish that lives in freshwater, grows to over 300 lbs and will eat a fly….. sometimes. So put down that beer and hit the weight room to get ready to have even a chance at landing one of these monsters.

In 2012 anglers sponsored by Costa del Mar did exploratory fishing in the hopes of having a sustainable catch and release fly fishery that would benefit the local tribe. They lost the first 17 fish they hooked up. They came back for more punishment, braking fly lines and rods, but resulting fish to hand.

It is amazing that these extraordinary fish are still around as they are extinct in other places. What will help preserve these fish and the ecosystem they live in is signing up and fishing for them. They fish only 5 weeks per year, with 4 anglers per week. Yes, that is 20 anglers per year. The money goes to the local tribe to have their land and waters remain intact. There is pressure to mine and log their land.

They made a very compelling movie about all of this. 

Just a little preview

The next available space is November 8-15, 2014. The rate is $6000 per person. Please email or call if you are interested in living the jungle dream for a week.

Jerry Swanson

Fish Head Expeditions, LLC

jerry@fishheadexpeditions.com

503-539-1451.