Waters West Newsletter

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August Fishing Forecast

New RIO Lines

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Waters West Fly Fishing

Outfitters

July 31st, 2013

Welcome to the Waters West newsletter. With August just a day away this newsletter starts with our monthly fishing forecast. We finish by letting you know about the new RIO spey lines and running lines. Get out on the water and take advantage of all of the fishing opportunities available this summer.

August Fishing Forecast

August offers great fishing opportunities on the Olympic Peninsula. Summer steelhead, sea-run cutthroat, salmon, and backcountry trout are all available.

Let's start with the saltwater fishing. This is a pink salmon year and August is the peak month for pinks in the saltwater. They will be available to boat anglers along the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Neah Bay to Sequim. Sinking lines and smaller pink flies are the ticket for the humpies. Here's a video of some fishing right off Port Angeles two years ago.

Saltwater Salmon Kayak Fly Fishing

Neah Bay and Sekiu will also have great coho fishing all month long. Stripping baitfish patterns on sinking lines is the go-to technique but these areas also offer amazing popper fishing. You can also search for salmon by bucktailing. We have all of the flies and gear you need to try out the amazing saltwater fly fishing on the Peninsula.

With the massive run of pink salmon, the saltwater cutthroat fisheries will be ignored by most anglers. The fish are still feeding along the beaches in Hood Canal and Puget Sound ready to slam your baitfish pattern. You might want to fish a 6 wt. just in case you tie into a salmon while cutthroat fishing.

The river fishing also remains a great option. The rivers are typically at their lowest in August so floating anything but the glacial rivers is tough. Summer steelhead can become tougher to hook but long leaders and smaller, more natural flies will increase your odds. Summer coho should start entering the Sol Duc this month.

The river trout fishing picks up with runoff now finished. The resident trout of the upper rivers tend to not be super selective and fishing dry flies in the pocket water is one of the best ways to cover water. A few sea-run cutthroat will enter the lower rivers in August, especially if we see any rain.

The trout fishing in Lake Crescent stays good all summer long. RIO makes some great sinking lines that work really well for getting streamer patterns down in Lake Crescent.

There are only a few spots of snow now visible from town. This means clear trails into the high lakes from now until the first snow in a few months. The trout take full advantage of the short season and so should you.

With all of the choices it can be hard to choose which fisheries to target. We recommend trying them all.

New Spey Lines

RIO has some great new products for spey fishing. New tapers, low-stretch cores, and running lines with handling sections make this year's crop of new spey line offerings from RIO very exciting.

RIO Skagit Max & Max Short - RIO Skagit Max heads cast large flies and the fastest of sinking tips with exceptional ease. The unique weight distribution deeply loads rods for long, powerful casts while the subtle taper design generates smooth, easy loops. For anglers using shorter Spey rods, Switch rods, and Single Handed rods, and for tight casting situations, the Max Shorts are a fantastic choice. All Skagit heads are built on an ultra-low stretch core for the maximum in casting and fishing sensitivity.

RIO iFlight & iShort - RIO's iFlight heads are powerful, intermediate Skagit heads (with a short floating back section) that gives anglers deep, slow swings, and cast large flies and the fastest of sinking tips with exceptional ease. The unique weight distribution deeply loads rods for long, powerful casts, while the subtle taper design generates smooth, easy loops. For anglers using shorter Spey rods, Switch rods and Single Handed rods, and for tight casting situations, the iShorts are a fantastic choice. All RIO Skagit heads are built on an untra-low stretch core for the maximum in casting and fishing sensitivity.

RIO Scandi - The RIO Scandi floating head is a very easy casting Scandi style shooting head, built on RIO's ultra-low stretch ConnectCore for the utmost in casting control and sensitivity. It is available in a multitude of lengths and weights to cover all rods and angling situations.

RIO Short Head Spey - The RIO Short Head Spey line is a very easy casting, traditional style Spey line. The head length varies between 40 feet and 50 feet, depending on the line size. The RIO Short Head Spey line is a great choice for traditional Spey anglers using shorter rods and when fishing in tight quarters.

RIO Switch Chucker - The RIO Switch Chucker is a very easy casting, extremely powerful line with a short-head designed to cast indicators, sink tips, and large flies.

RIO ConnectCore Shooting Line - RIO's new ConnectCore Shooting Line is the very best coated shooting line on the market with tremendous assets for the Spey fly fisher. Built on an ultra-low stretch core, it allows anglers to stay perfectly in touch with their fly throughout the swing and feel every slight touch. A thick, highly visible handling section makes it easy to grip the line, and shows when to stop stripping and make the cast.

RIO GripShooter - RIO's new GripShooter is based on the very popular SlickShooter, but it has a thick, coated handling section that makes it very easy to grip in cold and wet conditions.

We look forward to seeing you in the shop and out on the water.

Your Fly Fishing Partners,

Dave, Curt, Sean, Chris and Bella

Waters West | 140 W. Front St., Port Angeles, WA 98362 | (360) 417-0937