Never Too Early to Plan (Before It Gets Too Late)

Fishing is at the core of our club. It’s even in our name. Outings offer two of the most valued benefits, social interaction and fly-fishing education. 

Our December newsletter included a full-page schedule of outings for the new year. I encourage you to print it out and keep it for your annual calendar planning. It includes some new and familiar destinations I hope you will want to consider. I’m already making reservations at the overnight trips. As with last year, I intend to host all of these events (although I did miss last year’s Snoqualmie River trip due to a light case of Covid).

Pull out your calendars and start marking down some of these events for 2023. You’ll have more fun, make more friends and improve your knowledge of this soul-restoring sport.

A preponderance of the outings will take place on Saturdays immediately following the monthly meetings. This allows me one last opportunity to plug the outing. Details about the fishing location will be provided as outing dates approach, and signup sheets will be posted on clipboards at the in-person meetings two months prior to each event. Expect earlier planning notifications for overnight outings. You can also email me at dfrazier@wavecable.com or call me on my cell, (360) 265-6963, to get added to the participation list.

The importance of seasonality in fly-fishing was also factored into this schedule. Anticipated river flows (Little Deschutes River), hatches (Hexagnenia at Merrill Lake), weather/spawn (Lake Kapowsin), fish runs (pink and coho salmon for Dash Point; coho, steelhead and cutthroat at the Cowlitz)), lunar stages (sqwala activity on the Yakima), overcrowding (Rocky Ford) and stocking programs (triploids in Leech Lake) were also part of the alchemy. 

Save-the-Date Shout-Out: PSFF’s long-established Park Lake outing will be held per tradition on the third weekend of May, this year being May 19-21. When making your reservations with the Sun Village Resort, think about adding days if you want to explore the abundance of great waters in the area. Sun Village Resort is situated between Park and Blue lakes, both of which fish great for rainbows (and some browns) but you can also easily reach Lenore Lake (Lahontan cutthroat), Dry Falls Lake, Deep Lake, Banks Lake and Rocky Ford spring creek, among many others. If you haven’t been on this outing, or haven’t been for awhile, please jump on this one. Check out sunvillageresort.com for reservations (tents, RVs and cabins).

I’ve also scheduled four bonus outings: The Northwest Fly-Tyer and Fishing Expo in Albany, OR (March 10-11), Mineral Lake (May 27), Lake Kapowsin (June 10), and Cowlitz River ( Sept. 16-18). And wait, there’s more! I’ll be adding “flash” outings whenever I see special opportunities. Many of these will be mid-week meet-ups with less advance warning. Keep your eyes open for announcements on our club communication platforms.

My plan is to attend each club meeting and, to the best of my ability, act as a gillie at each outing. I will try to make myself available at the arrival times to gab with members and answer any lingering questions. I do not pretend to be an expert, but like so many of you, I know just enough to give some tactical advice. I’ll also be leaning on you to spill the beans!
 
David Frazier,
Outings Director