I have the week off for vacation and my youngest son, Wesly, came up to do some fishing with his old dad. I taught all my sons (three) to fly-fish years ago, and it remains the best and happiest of times when we can hit a river again. Don't know how many of these trips I'll be able to make, as the old legs are a bit wobbly now. We headed for the North Fork of the Snoqualmie, had never been on this one before.
Arrived at the river about 8:00AM... temperature was 54 degrees. Stopped at first bridge on North Fork Road and began to fish. Area has huge boulders and trees to the water's edge, making fishing difficult. Lots of "fly-eating" trees! Despite the difficult water, Wes landed two Rainbow and I one, all in the 8" to 9" range. Lost a dozen more. We fished 'til noon and returned to the truck for lunch... then decided to head upstream. Traveled to second bridge (bright red!) that spans Lennox Creek. A short hike down to the river, and we discovered a much more friendly environment for fly-fishing. Deep holes under snags and downfalls, with fast water in and out of the holes. Wes had started the day with an Elk Hair Caddis, while I went nymph. Wes changed up to a Yellow Stimulator and began to hit fish. I, a bit more stubborn, tried several nymph patterns, then my favotire, the Muddler, then the Spruce Fly... all to no avail. Finally, seeing "the light", I tied on a #10 Yellow Stimulator and began catching fish. Between the two of us, we caught above twenty fish, all in the 8"to 9" range. Each of us turned over larger fish, but they were extremely wary. The best I had was at least 12", darted out from under a fallen tree, with fast water flowing under, he took my fly and as I set the hook, the fly and tippet parted... don't know if I had fish or tree at the moment the fly left me!
Among the fish we caught (all C&R, of course!) were Rainbow, Cutthroat, and Dolly Varden. There was no discernable hatch coming off during the day, but we did see Caddis, Stonefly and Mayfly as well as Cranefly, and other terrestrials. Toward late afternoon saw many Yellow Sallies and larger Stoneflies. Left the river at 7:00PM.
I know to some (many?), catching 8" to 9" trout is not worth the time spent. But, being on a pristine, gin clear river, unspoiled by human garbage and sharing the day with my son... that is heaven... and I wouldn't trade it for a boatload of 10# Steelhead! Did't see an empty beer can all day! No food or tackle wrappers... no miles of knotted and rotting monofilament on the river bank. Just the sounds of river and forest. Only tracks I saw were deer, elk, coyote, and possibly bobcat. An incredible day to remember the rest of my life! PTL!

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