Amber & Medical

[Lotech Joe]

Does anyone know how the ice doing at either of these lakes. The early opener was the day before yesterday but the weather said DON'T GO.

[Marc Martyn]

Raf will know, PM him. He lives in Medical Lake and walks his dog around it every day.

[Lotech Joe]

Raf will know, PM him. He lives in Medical Lake and walks his dog around it every day.

I just did. Hope to hear something soon. I'm not financially ready, but I'm emotionally late. LOL

[Lotech Joe]

Not good news yet. Still socked in until 2nd or 3rd week in March. Then really cold.

[raffensg64]

Yeah, Medical is socked in. Guys were ice fishing Silver this morning, just a mile away. If past years are any indication, Amber will open up about 7-10 days before Medical. Amber opens up from the launch to the south end (shallow water) first. The water warms quickly once the sun hits the rocks on the west side. Medical's north end opened up before the south end the last couple years as the shallow waters along the bank warmed. Good luck, guys! I'm outta here in just 12 days and, unfortunately, may never fish here again.

To all that have shared a tip, kind word or technique, I say THANK YOU! I have the fondest memories of eastern WA, it's fisheries and it's folks. I will truly miss this area and it's waters. While AK will undoubtedly provide me with new opportunities, I'm convinced it's still water action won't compare to Amber, Medical, Coffeepot, McDowell, McGinnis, Omak and a slew of others. I'm truly blessed to have lived in this part of our great country.

I'll check in on y'all from time to time! Keep the reports and the pics coming!

-Raff

[Rooscooter]

Yeah, Medical is socked in. Guys were ice fishing Silver this morning, just a mile away. If past years are any indication, Amber will open up about 7-10 days before Medical. Amber opens up from the launch to the south end (shallow water) first. The water warms quickly once the sun hits the rocks on the west side. Medical's north end opened up before the south end the last couple years as the shallow waters along the bank warmed. Good luck, guys! I'm outta here in just 12 days and, unfortunately, may never fish here again.

To all that have shared a tip, kind word or technique, I say THANK YOU! I have the fondest memories of eastern WA, it's fisheries and it's folks. I will truly miss this area and it's waters. While AK will undoubtedly provide me with new opportunities, I'm convinced it's still water action won't compare to Amber, Medical, Coffeepot, McDowell, McGinnis, Omak and a slew of others. I'm truly blessed to have lived in this part of our great country.

I'll check in on y'all from time to time! Keep the reports and the pics coming!

-Raff

Raff, I for one will be sad to see you go. We had a good time on N. Silver a couple of years ago. Good luck up there. I'm sure you will find somewhere to fish......

Again, Good Luck and take care,

[Marc Martyn]

Raff- They have internet up there[thumbup] Keep in touch.

[Lotech Joe]

raff,
Take my blessings with you. Then invite me up for a fly fishing adventure for GIANT rainbows and Arctic Grayling. Be happy and enjoy life. Bye my friend, and stay in touch.

[dbk]

Gary, fishing Medical and Amber will not be the same once you are gone. Fishing those lakes with you has been a great blessing to me (even that day on Medical last summer when you caught like 30 fish to my one and my indicator was right next to yours with the same flies! - I would gladly take another day with you on the water like that, but am grateful for the days we had.

God bless you my friend. I look forward to seeing you on your way through the border and God-willing, in Alaska to wet a line with you again.

[raffensg64]

Dave, I will never forget that solitary fisherman, anchored midway between Amber's launch and the east bank, hammering fish out deep while everybody else futilely worked the shallows! After several days of what seemed like the movie "Groundhog Day", I finally kicked on over and asked you your secret. Over a course of several trips, I made that sink line and chironomid trick my own, and passed your wisdom to Gator and Den. They, too, have embraced it as the most productive late Spring and Summer technique they've ever seen! In your absence, there the three of us were, anchored down in line at 20-25 yard intervals in 25-35' of water, working the depths via a technique you don't even like!!!

I spent many a time watching you nymph trout from the bottoms of streams and rivers, in holes that I couldn't get a touch! Try as I might, I couldn't get that mend and swing down to more than occasional fish (the dumb ones, I'm sure)........although the one time I asked you to talk me through it, I hit one. I called you over in the hole right below T.J. Meechoch (sp) Bridge on the Spokane and asked you to help me cover some water I knew held fish. You talked me through the cast, the location, and followed with "mend....mend...mend...mend...." I followed your instructions as best a novice could and.......BAM! Fish on! I lost that fish but was amazed, and still am, at how I hadn't had a touch in the 9-10 previous casts. Thank goodness I throw a mean dry fly and in most rivers other than the Spokane, trout are willing customers to dries!

Our trips to the C'DA river and others, those times at Amber and Medical, running the "mosquito gauntlet" at McDowell while pulling two pontoons, stacked, on one wheel, explaining a midge pattern and watching you tie a near-perfect imitation while in the field.....now that's the stuff that memories and good times are made of!

We will get together again, my friend, whether in AK or WA. In the interim, I'm going to have to make sure you have Den and Gator's numbers, so that the three of you can get together when you come into town.

P.S. I found Den's net today, the one your borrowed and returned to me later, under a pile of things while cleaning the garage today. Thank God he's been ice fishing and hasn't needed it! I'll be seeing him, too, prior to my departure, and will get it back to him. No worries.....you can blame me! Den will understand!

Talk to you soon, Father Dave, and will see you in a couple weeks as we pass through!

[dbk]

Gary, watching you "get it"- putting it all together to get the right drift and put that fly on the fish that day on the Spokane in water that is not easy to nymph - remains one of my favorite memories on the Spokane. I learned to fly fish on the Spokane and if I wanted to catch fish consistently, you had to get down to where the fish were. It was so cool to watch you execute and be rewarded with a hit- did not matter that the fish was not brought to hand. Everything that preceded it was "perfect"- the cast, mend (multiple mends actually) and drift remain etched in my memory. As is the day on the NF of the C'DA watching you slay cutts on the surface fishing the shallow riffles with some type of ragged, ugly, "caddis" type thing that just killed em... What they heck are using I remember asking you. Then you showed me and I knew then that its not the fly, but the fly fisherman that matters. If you can catch fish with that thing, you can fish....

You may have learned the sink line technique from me, but you took to a whole new level.... Its funny because I rarely use it anymore even though I used to slay fish that in my 'pre-Rome' days.... Gator, Den and you have took many a fish using that technique... if in a small way I was part of that, I'm grateful. I look forward to getting out with them. Gator actually called me the other night and wants to meet me at Omak lake sometime soon. Email me Den's number when you have a chance as I will be coming in this spring to fish Amber and Medical. It'd be good to see him again. Glad you found his net- would not want him thinking a priest stole his net!

Give me a shout when you come through. You will be driving right by the church and my house on your way to the border. When you do make it to Alaska, we expect updates on what you find out about the fishing there. From what I hear, there is a few fish to be caught in Alaska...

See you soon.

[Marc Martyn]

Raff-

Although we only fished together a few times on Amber and Medical, it was truly a pleasure each time. We tried to get together a few other times, but things came up and it didn't work out. I do regret that.

I will especially miss your cordial gentlemanly posts on the forum. You have been a great source of truthful and accurate information for many of us in the area. Thank you for your contributions to the site. We all appreciated it.

Alaska is a big state my friend. Don't get lost![scared] Seriously, I hope you enjoy every moment up there. Please keep in touch with us down in the lower 48 on WL.com. O.K.?:)

This reminds me of when I was in the service. You meet and become good friends with someone, have some kick ass good times together and then Uncle Sugar sends them off to another part of the world. Damn.