Think Pink

I've had two spectacular guided days this fall. Early in the pink salmon season I fished the Skykomish with guide Chris Senyohl in October. These were the first pinks I caught on a fly. I used his sinking line 6-weight and flies he tied -- pink ones.

This is a nice bright female pink. Probably the one I took home for dinner. If they are bled immediately and kept cold they are quite good to eat. I caught a bunch and took two home for dinner.

This is the male humpy, caught that evening after a significant rain storm. It was very cool to be out on the river during the dump.

Yesterday I spent the day on the Sauk River, which empties into the Skagit. It's a great bull trout and steelhead river. I caught a couple of nice bull trout on a Spey or Skagit rod, but my friend Scott Hood landed the most and the biggest fish. Scott is the head of Trout Unlimited in Oklahoma and on the TU board of trustees. It was a real honor to fish with him. We estimated the bull trout below to be about 25-inches.

We both fished Skagit rods. He had a black fly and I had a white and later a grey fly. Our guide, Andrew Grillos, put us on the fish and paddled a mean rubber boat all day. I fished the Skagit with him two years ago. He taught me two-handed casting and how to fish for bull trout and steelhead.

I highly recommend both Chris and Andrew.