Austin's Northwest Adventures - Coast guard certified and with over 20 years experience, we fish the northwest from Lake Roosevelt to Buoy 10. If catching Salmon, walleye, Kokanee, or Sturgeon is your goal, we are a full time guide service for Washington's hottest fisheries. Fish in comfort with top of the line equipment, call us today!
My first trip to Armstrong. Arrived at 5:30AM, inflated pontoon boat, set up my poles, loaded the boat and was on the water by 6:00AM. Water temp. at 10' was 64 degrees. Steady, light rain falling for first hour and a half. About 6:30, C&R first fish on a black/sparkle Beadhead Wooly Bugger, on the west side of the lake. About a 12" beautifully colored and hard fighting Rainbow. Figured to be a great day!...Wrong,..., for me! Lots of fish rising on a very flat lake. Cast several dries, but they weren't interested in my offerings. Trolled 6-8 favorite flies, none drew a hit. About 9:00AM another boat hit the water, then two float tubes... a bit later, another boat and then a pontoon boat. That was all the company I had. Boat fishermen were trolling with bait (worms?). They were having some success. I watched the tubers catch a couple trout, they were using Carey Specials, casting in toward the shore, over cover (lots of snags and logs in the lake). About 11:00, I quit trolling and cast a Damsel Fly nymph along the shoreline... had two subtle hits, but nothing to show for that either. Out of desperation, trolled a couple Flatfish patterns, then a couple Rapalas... nothing. About 1:00, the skies opened up and it began to rain, seriously. I got to the launch about 2:00, just as the fellow in the other pontoon boat arrived. He was a longtime Armstrong fisher... said that he generally had great luck in the lake on chironomids, but the fish weren't interested today. He did catch several fish on a big, black Dragonfly nymph, trolled very fast. Why of course!! A big, heavy, bottom dwelling, slow moving nymph, trolled on the top at mach speed... why didn't I think of that!!?? With the warm temperatures in the lake and at the surface, I had figured that "slower" would be the ticket. Come to think of it, I did think to myself that the bait trollers were moving really fast... I'll file that one away! I rated the trip a 3, not because I caught fish, but because others obviously were. There are some great fish in the lake, judging by the fish I saw rising and swirling on top. A wonderful lake with lots of natural cover. It'll be on my short list of lakes to return to another day! Learned a lot this time out! Tight lines all!
Nice report - thanks! I haven't fished Armstrong, but have been lately thinking about trying the fly rods there. How was the water quality/clarity? I've heard it can get quite soupy.
Thanks, guitarfisher. Water was definitely stained brown, but not unusual with all those snags. WALakes map shows maximum depth at only 25', so water clarity could be a real problem. Not real bad yesterday. Lots of top water stuff (leaves, flowers, etc.) from the surrounding vegetation... but all that vegetation is what makes for great fly-fishing! By all means, give it a go sometime! Just think, "super-fast Dragonfly nymphs!!!"
Although from 2012, still a good story to read. I am new to this site and would like to meet members from this area to fish with. I'm from Arlington and fish Armstrong and the Stilly regularly.
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Austin's Northwest Adventures - Coast guard certified and with over 20 years experience, we fish the northwest from Lake Roosevelt to Buoy 10. If catching Salmon, walleye, Kokanee, or Sturgeon is your goal, we are a full time guide service for Washington's hottest fisheries. Fish in comfort with top of the line equipment, call us today!
