Highlights:

Flyfishing for landlocked salmon on the dam hole on Grand Lake Stream in Maine with my brother. I met him in Beaufort, N.C., and we drove up pulling his boat to a really nice lodge in West Grand Lake, near the stream. We were expecting only small mouth bass on the many lakes around West Grand Lake. We stopped at L.L. Bean's on the way up and everybody said the landlocked fishing was over. We got to the lodge and the landlocks were still stacked below the dam. For five days it was up before breakfast to fish the landlocks, back to the lodge for breakfast, out to the lakes for small mouth (great fun on a bug rod with deerhair poppers), back for supper, then to the dam for landlocks until dark. We were the only ones at the lodge, they rearranged their meal schedule to accommodate the fishing schedule. Then there was the Scotch and cigars in front of a fire back in our cabin before bedtime. Heaven on earth.

Bummer. Having to leave.

Highlight no. 2. We stayed the next week for our family vacations on the water near Boothbay Harbor in Maine. Caught Striped Bass using small live tinker mackerel right off the dock in back of our rental.

Bummer. Having to leave.

Highlight no. 3. A week flyfishing on the Ruby River near Sheridan Montana in August. The Ruby was in great shape despite the lack of rainfall and the fires burning. We never saw a fire, but you almost always could smell some smoke. Very little pressure on the river due to bad overall publicity due to fires, lack of rain, etc. Lots of big browns on hoppers. Thank God for hoppers so fly fishers like me don't have to be very skilled.

Bummer. The Big Hole was closed due to low water. I hope this didn't depress the fish to the extent that they won't recover by next year.

Highlight no. 4. A great morning on the salt off Cabo San Lucas. Nothing big, but lots of 10 to 15 pound yellow fin tuna. They make a great first run and we took some fresh fish to a local restaurant. Had a big plate of raw tuna and all had dinner on tuna cooked three different ways, along with a big bucket of ice cold Pacifico, all outside overlooking the harbor.

Bummer. For some reason, my credit card would not work down in Cabo. Barely had enough money to get back home. Highly embarrassed to have to leach off my hosts to conserve scant cash.

Highlight no. 5. Two great days on the salt off Mazatlan with two good buddies and a great host. Looking for billfish but found none. Again, lots of yellow fin and, this time, a good number of dorado jacks. Good fighters on light gear. Again, had this cooked fresh at a local, seaside restaurant. No credit card problems this time.

Bummer. A Costco-sized case of Montezuma's revenge. Now I know exactly what that is.

Highlight no. 6. A three-day camping trip to the Tucanon river with a fishing buddy and his dad and sister. Tons of rainbows on any fly you cast. We even got in on a deer hunt after my friend's sister spotted a wounded deer by the side of the river. She went out to the road, flagged down two hunters and they finished off the wounded animal. There is nothing like sitting around a campfire with friends, telling stories and drinking beer after a great day's fishing. No bummers to report here.

Highlight no. 7. Concentrating on the Kalama this entire year and learning a little something about a few holes. Caught a little something of everything the river had to offer in each season. I fought a huge fish for about fifteen minutes and that was an intense thrill. I originally thought it was a spring salmon, but the more I think, it may have been a huge steelhead. That's what the friend I was with thinks. I'll never really know.

Bummer. I nearly drowned myself one day on the Kalama, stupidly trying to wade across the river. Was swept down a thigh-deep unfeatured riffle into a long, deep, slow-moving pool. Waders filled half-way up. I'll always remember how the sky looked from underneath the water as I got sucked into that pool. I'll never forget the relief I felt once I was able to bob back to the bank and crawl out of the river onto the bank.

It's been a great year!

Best was 8lb native on a DRY fly on the Ronde, 3 summerruns landed on wets in one day. Worst was hearing of the upcoming n. sound closures, my goal was a 20+ lb sauk/skagit native on the fly this spring.

Highlights:

1. Fall silvers on a few rivers, both north and south. Every trip meant all the hookups I wanted, and leaving for home with two fat egg-laden hens at the end of the day.

2. Hitting my own personal Zipperlip this summer three times. First day, seven steelies hooked, five landed. Second day, four hooked, all landed. Third day on limited time, two hooked and landed. Two hatcheries in the cooler each day.

3. Fishing the "tough luck" chums on the Skykomish until my arms ached. Fished the TU chum derby, weigh-in at 3:30, fifteen fish later back in town eating breakfast at 11:00, watching the Husky game at the Keg 'n Cue in Monroe, then weighing in #2 and #3 in the derby.

4. One week later, taking my girlfriend for her first salmon fishing trip back to my "spot" on the Sky. She hooks seven and lands four chums. Better than that, they hooked her. She can't wait to get out fishing since then.

5. Last big one, fishing the upper S.Fk. Stilly the last day of October. Many silvers, but six steelies, four nates and two hatcheries. This in about four hours.

Bummers:

1. Missed the Baker R. sockeyes by a week. Caught one all day. Heard "shoulda been here last week" forty times.

2. Broke two GL3's this fall. Still broken in my basement.

3. Closure of the spring steelheading in Puget Sound. Major bummer. Hope you coasties don't mind a few million more fishermen this spring.

Not a very good year for me after having my best year in 1999. I did manage to get some summer runs at the not so zipperlip river near the Oregon coast. Last two trips there on Labor Day and Fathers Day weekends I managed to get some steelies. Caught my first river silvers on the other side of the canal this fall. The best part are the eggs in my freezer.

Totally skunked on the northwest side of the Olympic Peninsula this year fishing for steelies. I think the low/slow water had alot to do with it. Did have one takedown on a plug the first and only time I went down in a driftboat last spring. Got an agressive bite last week, first cast, on a sandshrimp, on a small river that reminds me of the river I fish in Oregon.

Whew! Where to start...

Highlights....Sekiu coho! In thirty years I've never seen coho fishing this hot in the Straits...Olympic peninsula summer steelhead, was the best steelheading I've ever seen out there!! Numbers of both hatchery and wild steelehad were amazing. Every stream was gangbusters from June through October. The best fly fishing this side of the ***** River in B.C. Sea run cutthroat are at their greatest populations also, the entire south Sound beaches were crawling with big, wild sea trout....and then the coho fishing in the river on the coast!! God, I miss summer!

Lowlights...only the fact that because of low water in November, chums were never there.

So far, it's been a fabulous early season on the Coast for winter runs. Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends...

At the first of the year it was the nates on the home rivers EF, Kalama, Washougal, we took several in the teens but only one on the washougal over 20. Took 4 trips to the penninsula and released many, many fish on the Bogey, Duc, Calawah, upper hoh, and the D** well a fun small creek up there. The hoko and liar elwah and dungenous in the spring were awesome.
For springers didn't go much further than my backyard NF Lewis, Kalama, Willamette had some great days with one day hooking 14 on the Lewis. Summerruns- Unreal fishing on the Lewis's Kalama, washougal-three 7-9 fish days, Big White salmon with days catching over 20.
The silvers- I've never seen the # of silvers that I did as the Lewis. It was tougher this year than others to get these buggers to bite but overall my buddy and myself probably boated 400-500 silvers in Sept-Nov. Chinook- we probably hooked a couple hundred chinook also incidently there, We had several 6-10 fish days out at the mouth of the cowlitz with the highlight fish being caught by my boss who hasn't fished much in his life, he took a 51 lb. king on Aug 26th absolutely a georgeous fish.
For the winter fish we have only just begun,

The vicious cycle that keeps me smiling and alive and going strong every day is ready to begin again and I just can't wait for this spring, summer, fall, winter, spring, summer, fall, winter. It never ends!!!!!!!!

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My canidate for bomb of the year is Allstate insurance company.

Dec 21 1999 my son was towing my jetsled up interstate 5 about 1230 in the afternoon. Clear day no rain dry streets.

traffic slowed and the sled was rearended by a gal from california, she received a ticket from WSP. We were not contacted until jan 13 2000, and then they claimed our tail lights were not working properly. WSP disproved that fact. Allstate hired a "marine surveyor" loosely used term. He said my boat was worth 1500. scrap price was 80.00 I ahve had to hire an Attorney and another marine surveyor to disprove the original. My surveyor says my boat is comparable to a woolridge alaskan 18. Their surveyor says the boat is comparable to a hewescraft river runner. weled construction comapred to riveted construction and material thickness, mine is 140 thousands, hewescraft is .120 bottom .060 sides. PLEASE DO NOT USE ALLSTATE INSURANCE THEY WILL SCREW YOU. My insurance will not cover due to the fact my was towing the boat with his truck. His insurance says they will not cover because it is not his boat and the insurance commissioners office says they can do that legally.
Beware everyone who tows a boat and double check your insurance.

Flyfishing for Coho and Cutties in the salt with Capt. Keith Robbins was the most fun I have had in 3 years.

Montana sucked this year, but it was pretty and better than working.

Really Good:
- Wind Springers
- Lake Michigan Kings and Steelhead
- Peninsula Summer Steelhead and Silvers

Really Bad:
- Seacrest Summer Kings
- Samish Summer Kings
- Hoh Fall Kings



[This message has been edited by Hohwaiian (edited 12-24-2000).]