A report...with some fishing and fish even ;)

My girl and I bailed out for four days and headed to the mountains...found a secret squirrel spot to set up camp for a few days, nearest neighbors were over a mile away.

Managed to squeeze in one three hour fishing session, and it was pretty darned successful for such a short amount of time...got a couple of big Dollies/Bull Troots, two summer Chinook, one wild summer run, and a handful of rainbows, cutthroat, and a whitefish.

A few pics...

Home for four days...







My Camp Kitchen with Camp Cook





A few views of our back yard, and down the river a little ways...

Backyard





A bit downriver...





And...a couple fishies that managed to stick around long enough for some photos...

A beautiful spring/summer Chinook hen, very spunky!



And a 28" Dolly Varden/Bull Trout with a huge kype...this fish was easily 9 pounds, mebbe a bit more...



Found these tasty little buggers while out on a stroll...



They were sauteed up with dinner about an hour after finding their way into my hands

We were also happy to find that our camping zone, besides being far from anyone or anything else, was well stocked with both red and blue huckleberries, many of which made it into a fantastic cast iron skillet cornbread that my girl whipped up for breakfast on Saturday morning.

All in all...best four days I've spent in quite a while. The first couple of days the alarm went off at 5am for me to get up and fish...didn't even bother with the snooze button, just shut the damn thing right off and went back to bed. Didn't even bother setting it at all the last couple of days...having too much fun hanging out around camp with my girl to go off fishing by myself for more than the one short jaunt I did.

Got a rock stuck in one of my tires, and it developed a leak...but it happened on the way off the mountain on Sunday afternoon and stations with compressors were spread just enough to allow me to get all the way back to I-5 where got it fixed...no biggie.

Unfortunately while waiting to have it fixed I found out that someone had drained one of my accounts of a few thousand bucks by using it to buy clothes and perfume online...but hopefully the bank will follow thru and have that cleaned up in no time.

Not nearly bad enough stuff to even slightly mar how good a time we had

Fish on...

Todd

Nice story telling, great pic's, nice camp setup........used to be my favorite way to "ruff it in the wilds"......later in life, trailer was the way to go....

That looks like fun. Thanks for the report, it was enjoyable.
I haven't been camping in quite a while. I may have to give it a try again.

Great pics... Looks like a great camp spot. No summer run shot??

Solid!

Nice Bull and lady pics. Was that chinook clipped?

Take care,

Ripper of a respite!

Neither Chinook was clipped, the summer run, the other Chinook, and the other big Dolly were not in a photo taking mood...too spunky for solo pics, so no pics.

Fish on...

Todd

Very nice probably the best post I have seen on fishing boards in a last few weeks . Were u up by Wenatchee National forest bytw? It's ok, u can tell:)

Nope...right state, though ;-)

Fish on...

Todd

LOL! I had to pry! At least I got the State right!

Nice post and perfect trip Todd! minus the tire and bank issues.

Is the rvrfsher account good to use ? hope the don't get my CC # headed to the wood this weekend with the wife a toon hope to get a wild fish or two this weekend good post todd. Sorry to hear about loss of money.

Great post. That is what summer in WA is supposed to be like.

I camped with my crew at Kalaloch last weekend. Kids had a ball.

Chanterelles in mid August!? Nicely done. I would not have expected them to be coming up. Great find.

Great pics. Thanks for sharing!

Nice report Todd.
Looks like a great way to spend four days relaxing.
That is one of the biggest brown trout I've ever seen caught in this state......
SF

Your trip rundown put a smile on my face this morning Todd, thanks!

Livin'. L-I-V-I-N'.

Thanks, guys...my girl had not been camping in many years and she was kind of ambivalent about it...but now she is already asking when I will take her again.

I can see a fall camping/coho trip in her future.

stone, that was a mighty fine brown troot

The little patch of chantrelles I found had a few that had already passed into the world of nursery shrooms, a few ready to eat, and a bunch of little baby ones just starting to push thru the detritus on the ground...if no one finds them I will go back and get some more of them soon

Fish on...

Todd

Nice trip Todder.

Looks like a great trip. Awesome river out your back door.

I agree, ss...the area we went to has a handful of campgrounds (reserve, pay, crowded) within 45 minutes...probably five or six entire campgrounds.

The specific area I like to go has five beautiful and "rough" campsites...in six miles of road...the one nearest to wear we camped is a little over a mile away.

I bet we didn't see/hear more than a half a dozen cars or trucks in four days, a few on Saturday and a few on Sunday...there is a little used trailhead another mile and a half up the road from our spot, and that's the end of a long road.

Can't think of why we'd rather pay to stay in a crowded campground if you know how to find spaces like that

Fish on...

Todd

Looks like you share my idea about what camping should be. I can't see paying $30/night to sleep next to 150 yahoos. There aren't a ton of places like that left, but they're the only places I'll go. Of course, I typically don't catch that many awesome fish in the places I go....

Nice-lookin' trip.

great pics todd lady and all. I love seeing fish pics with the fish still in the water, ready for a quick release. good for you.

great pics and report Todd.

I know exactly where you are. Not too many places in this state that I haven't explored in that last 45 years. Don't worry my lips are sealed. I have several more secret spots as well. I have some questions and info I could add about your spot but it's better left alone. Great weekend.

It's not exactly a secret...but the amount of good fishing is relatively unnoticed by the campers all around, and the campers don't venture far from the main trailheads or campgrounds so there is still a lot of empty space up there...been going up there most my life and the busy areas have gotten busier, the wildier areas have stayed that way.

Fish on...

Todd

I was out there weekend before last Todd. It is all that. Nice going.

Sg