Our Book is done -

Brian's Big Skagit Dolly Varden

 Our Book is done (finally). Editing our writing was not fun, I pitty the fool. You can buy it at Barnes and Noble for the Nook or on the Kindle. It is made up of stories or that revolve around our guiding or fishing experiences. We tried to make it light harted with some funny stuff. Check it out and let us know what you think, unless you don't like it then you can kiss it : )
 
I am really looking forward to some peninsula fishing, I had one of my best seasons last year. We caught some nice WILD Steelhead. I will be focused on the Queets River but will also fish the Upper Quinault, Clearwater, Hoh, Boggi, And Sol Duc. 
I do have some availability but weekend dates are becoming limited. I''ll start fishing out there from Feb 15th and end around April 30th.
Peninsula School Dates are Feb 24 -26th with some availability.

I do have a guy looking for a partner to split a trip on Saturday Feb 18th.

If you area single and want to do a trip let me know some dates that work for you I'll probably be able to hook you up with a partner.

Locally we have some casting classes and a 5 hour fishing class float trip on the Sky - Both have availability - check the links on our home page for info.
NEW - We will be doing some 4-5 hr lakes classes starting April 15th through the summer. Multiple lakes around the sound to choose from. Also look for our 3 day Methow trout trip. I am putting a page together for that too.

See ya,  Mike & Dennis Dickson
 

I have been fishing the Skykomish and Skagit for the past month. On the Sky I have been floating from High Bridge to Sultan or doing walk-ins above high bridge. I have seen most of the fish come the Reiter area. The further away I got the slower the fishing was.
On the Skagit we have hooked a couple steelhead but the expected target would be Dolly Varden. The up side of catching the dollys is you can expect to catch multiple fish and this is the time of year I find some of the biggest ones, a few days ago we caught one that was 7+ pounds. I literally thought it was a salmon for a few minutes.
Most of the local rivers will shut down on Feb 1st and Feb 15th in some areas. No Catch and release season. I;m not sure if we will ever get that back. It seams like we get a little less each year.

I am really looking forward to some peninsula fishing, I had one of my best seasons last year. We caught some nice WILD Steelhead. I will be focused on the Queets River but will also fish the Upper Quinault, Clearwater, Hoh, Boggi, And Sol Duc. 
I do have some availability but weekend dates are becoming limited. I''ll start fishing out there from Feb 15th and end around April 30th.
Peninsula School Dates are Feb 24 -26th with some availability.

I do have a guy looking for a partner to split a trip on Saturday Feb 18th.

If you area single and want to do a trip let me know some dates that work for you I'll probably be able to hook you up with a partner.

Locally we have some casting classes and a 5 hour fishing class float trip on the Sky - Both have availability - check the links on our home page for info.
NEW - We will be doing some 4-5 hr lakes classes starting April 15th through the summer. Multiple lakes around the sound to choose from.

Join our Facebook page 

Hi Guys,

We are getting geared up for our winter/spring spring season. Starting Dec 1^st we are discounting our local trips to $300 till Jan 31st. Our peninsula trips are starting to book up and weekend dates are first to go. For 2 or more days of O.P. fishing you get a $50 discount for each day.

Fishing over there starts in Feb till May with prime time on the Queets from March – April 15^th. A few rivers will close on April 15^th. After that I will fish the Bogi and Sol Duc till May. 

Need a unique Christmas idea? Get a gift certificate! Buy any $ amount and it will be a credit that is good for a year. We will throw in a dozen flies for every certificate over $150

Streamsideflyshop.com will have free shipping from Dec – March. I have a few new flies and we are fully stocked.

For summer trout fishing look for our multiple day trout camp on the Methow River.

Happy holidays,

Mike & Dennis Dickson

425-330-9506

Skagit Coho

I have mostly been fishing the skagit in between trips running back and forth from the Methow river. 
The local scene has been pretty fun. This is that time of year that you never know what you are going to hook. In the last week we have hooked coho, steelhead, sea run cutts, dolly varden, chum and even a rainbow.
Me and Chris (pictured on the right) planned to fish the skagit last friday. I thought, on the was we would stop off and hit a little run on the stilly on our way there. We had to drive by it anyways. We stopped off and hit the nice steelie. Once we got to the skagit we hooked some salmon, Dolly's and also hit another steelead.
I do have a guy looking for a partner on the Skagit on the 18th.

The weather on the Methow has cooled off and your likely to have ice in the guides for the first couple hours in the morning. The fishing has also slowed with the cold temps. The river is still low and likely to stay low as most of the moisure just turns to snow. Hwy 20 was a pretty interesting drive with a trailer behind me, snow dumping and about a foot of snow on the road as I was headed back home. I made fresh tracks most of the way back over the pass. WDOT will probably close Hwy 20 soon.

I am starting to book for the Peninsula now.  I'll fish from Feb - the end of April. Prime time is from March - April 15th. Dennis isn't going to fish over there next season. He got frustrated with the drive and the river blowing out.

If you get a chance check out - http://washingtonanglerspac.com/

Happy fishing,

Mike & Dennis




 

John's first Steelhead

I fished the Methow the for 5 days over last weekend into early this last week. The water was real loowww and real clear but felt fishy. The fishing preassure wasn't bad at all if you float. Most days we were the only boat on our float. The weather was amazing, warmer than usual and with the fall colors and some sun it was absolutely beautiful. I would love to have a place over there some day.   

Methow Steelhead

Since I have been back I have been doing casting classes and schools. On the local scene fishing has been pretty good. There is a decent number of coho around and more chums showing up daily.

One of our guys on Wednesday class hooked a huge chum that fought like crazy. We were getting close to landing it when it made it's last run and the guy broke it off. He had only caught trout before that. Needless to say he was blown away by the fish's strength.

A good sized chum could keep you busy for a while not to mention wear your arm out.

I will be fishing locally for Coho, chum salmon and dollys in between trips to the Methow River for steelies. I do have availability for some of these trips if interested. I have a guy looking for a partner for Nov. 19th on the skagit for Chums/silvers/dollys.

I am also starting to book for the winter/spring steelhead season on the Olympic Peninsula and locally (when/if open). It would be nice if we could get our local wild steelhead runs back up in fishable numbers for a catch and release season but it looks like things are going the other direction.There is a push to shut our local rivers down 2 weeks earlier to the end of Jan. Some of my local gear friends may loose there sturgeon fisheries too. Slowly we get less and less. Instead of complaining I'll try to help. Here is a link to check out about a new political organization that will fight for anglers and our fish -  http://washingtonanglerspac.com/

 

WACPAC is a recreational fisherman supported Political Action Committee that provides funding for candidates for state legislative and state-wide political office in Washington State. Recipients of PAC funds are selected based on their willingness to listen to our message and share our vision of Conserving our State’s Marine Resources. WACPAC is committed to making Washington a world class fishery by restoring our wild Salmon & Steelhead runs and protecting our sturgeon, bottom fish and crab.

Happy fishing,

Mike and Dennis Dickson

Post G.R. 2011

Tony's Wild Steelhead

I recently got back from a few weeks of fishing on the Grande Ronde. The season was bitter sweet.

Dad ran a few trips on the lower Ronde before I got there and gave me good reports of nice numbers of wild fish they were catching. They were mostly fishing dries too.

I was pretty stoked to fish one of my favorite rivers and hit some fish. Even though the water was low when I arrived there where fish around. My first few trips went great. On my second and third trip in we had a little push of rain and hit a nice pulse of fish with quite a few hook ups.

Shortly after that I got a flu bug that took the wind out of my sail. Being booked every day I had to nut up and run the trips. There were quite a few other guides and patrons that got sick too. That time of year I guess,

Then Bill Vail, the Owner of Boggans Oasis restaurant had a serious stroke. Bill and his wife Farrell make all the lunches for the guides, host most of the client lodging, and are the heart and soul of the upper Washington stretch of the Grande Ronde.

It’s was pretty amazing to see the local community give its support. Guides, friends and local ranchers were even stopping by to lend a hand when they could. I haven’t heard the latest on Bills status but I know he will have months of rehab and wish him and Farrell the best. Even though we got another pulse of rain this last week over there the fishing was slower. I expected another nice shot of fish with the 2^nd higher water but it never came. We had to work for them.

I will be fishing locally for Coho,  chum salmon and dollys in between trips to the Methow River for steelies. I do have availability for some of these trips if interested. I have a guy looking for a partner for Nov. 19th on the skagit for Chums/silvers/dollys.

For new anglers we are running 5 hour schools and casting classes multiple times a month with availability. I did a casting class on the Stilly yesterday and saw a few salmon rolling around at Blue Stilly Park.

I am also starting to book for the winter/spring steelhead season on the Olympic Peninsula and locally (when available). It would be nice if we could get our local wild steelhead runs back up in fishable numbers for a catch and release season. Last year a buddy of mine fished the Sauk right before it closed and hooked 4 fish.

In the 2012 season also look for a multiple day trout camp on the Methow next summer.

Happy fishing,

Mike and Dennis Dickson

From Salmon back to Steelhead...

Nick's Big Ass Humpy

I have been fishing every day this month so the blog is a bit behind. More like catching! There is lots of fish and it has been killer. Mostly pinks but have caught dollys, sea run cutts, silvers, a random steelie, and a older king that peeled off most of one guys line till we broke it off.

I am headed over to the Grande Ronde for a few weeks for some steelhead this Sat. Pop's has been there for most of a week. He said that the water is low but they were finding multiple fish each day. Most on dries.

After the G.R. I will fish Chum/silvers/dollys in between trips to the Methow for steelhead. I do have availability for those, the G.R. stuff is booked up.

Fall is a good time to be a fishermen. Get out and get some!

Mike and Dennis