|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Washington's
Coulee Lakes 15,000 years ago a finger of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet crept south and blocked the flow of the Clark Fork River near the Montana/Idaho border. Over the next 50 years an impoundment filled with water to the depth of over 2000 feet. The surface of this lake was over 4000 feet higher than the Pacific Ocean 400 miles to the |
| west. Geologists have named this huge body of water, Lake Missoula. At its zenith it may have held over 500 cubic miles of water. Suddenly the ice dam broke with such force that the lake was emptied in 48 hours. The resulting flood, equaled 10 times the flow of all the rivers on Earth (60 times the flow of the Amazon). Much like a fire hose in a sand box, it cut across Central Washington at 40-65 miles an hour. Within hours 1600 square miles of grass covered prairie was scoured to the bed rock. In places over 200 feet of top soil was removed and washed to the sea. During the next 2000 years, 40 more of these floods rearranged the landscape. Natural faults and folds in the basalt plateau concentrated the fast flowing water to excavate the basalt bedrock by the cubic mile. When the ancient lake ran dry, the giant river shriveled leaving behind a dry canyon called a coulee. The largest and most | |
|
dramatic of these ancient river beds is Grand Coulee in North Central Washington. Here successive floods carved a steep sided canyon into the bedrock 900 feet deep, up to 8 miles wide and over fifty miles long. Each vista inside the coulee is a geological masterpiece, a sculpture of water carved stone. One of the most striking features of the ancient river that |
 |
|
|
carved this canyon was a 15 mile long set of rapids that culminated with the 200 foot deep water plunging over a 400 foot tall, 3 1/2 mile wide falls. Inside the arid 12,000 year old plunge pool of this giant falls are 9 lakes. Several are of special interest to the fly fisher. Each Lake is unique. Some lakes are always clear, others may be turbid at times. The personality of each lake continually changes |
| with the climate cycles. Some wet years the lakes are full and during dry cycles the lakes diminish. One year a particular lake will be favored and fish populations will flourish, the next year may favor another lake. Some lakes are very alkaline. | |
|
At least one lake in the chain, Soap Lake is lethal to trout. Lake Lenore is so alkaline that the only salmonid specie that can survive there are Lahontan Cutthroats. Lenore is big and open and wind blown. But some years cutthroats there can reach 15 pounds. The average is 3 to 6 pounds. Some Lakes, have |
 |
|
|
populations of bass and bluegills. Blue Lake, Park Lake, Vic Meyer Lake, Perch Lake and Deep Lake are annually stocked with catchable rainbow trout. Vic Meyer Lake has Eastern Brook Trout. The jewel of the bunch is Dry Falls Lake. It is managed as a trophy fly fishing lake. It has a very good population of both rainbow and brown trout that average 14" to 24". These fish can be very picky. During one memorable episode several dozen rainbows rose repeatedly between and around two dozen skilled anglers |
| in float tubes & pontoon boats for a whole day.... few had fear of be impaled with a hook. I know because Patty and I were two of the anglers. We stuck around the next morning after everyone else had left and got even with these PHD trout with tiny midge pupae in the surface film. Boy it was fun.........................................................!!! | |
|
Traveling from The Fly Fishing Shop in Welches, Oregon go northeast about 350 miles through the Columbia River Gorge , across the stunning landscape of the Yakima Indian |
 |
| Reservation
and up the Yakima River Valley. Don't miss
Toppenish, "City of Murals". You enter the downstream end of
the Grand Coulee at the town of Soap Lake. A great base station
for all of the Coulee Lakes is Sun Lakes Park. It is run by the
State of Washington. It offers well manicured fee camping. Sun Lakes Park Resort is where Patty and I stayed. They have a store & cabins and other amenities. It is a pleasant place to stay. 509-632-5291 |
|
|
Ross Gunnison Reels are being closed out at 25% off !!! |
|
 For a comparison chart of all Ross Reels, click here. |
 Black Color Platinum Color |
 |
The Ross Reel Company recently announced that it
has halted production of its popular Gunnison series of fly
reels. It will introduce a new reel to replace the Gunnison this
fall. Therefore we are going to empty our shelves to make room
for the new reel. Whether you're fishing fresh water or saltwater, time has proven that Gunnison reels will perform flawlessly, day-in, day-out. Made in the USA. |
| Channel Cats On The Fly | |
 |
We love the rare and
unusual. Steve Sheffield brought
us this picture of a fine Channel Catfish that he caught with his 5
weight fly rod, T-130 Teeny fly line and a small Brown Wooly Bugger.
He and his friends were
fishing Brownlee Reservoir on the Snake River for Crappie. They were
letting the fly sink to about the 25' level and then retrieving
slowly. His party
caught about two dozen Channel Catfish to 36 inches. Those
are pretty heavy duty fish for five weight fly rods. Catfish aren't
ordinarily thought of as fly rod targets. However, Channel Cats
are highly piscivorous sight feeders. |
| Here is what American Fisheries Society has to say about Channel Catfish in Idaho. | |
Insect Repellent (Is something bugging you?)
3M Ultrathon™
Extraordinary effectiveness for the most
demanding outdoor applications — that’s patented 3M Ultrathon™.
About Ultrathon™
Ultrathon™'s patented 3M Controlled Release
Technology was developed to give US Military personnel
long-lasting protection in challenging situations — so you can
be sure it's the best repellent available for people who spend
time outdoors.
|
| Item | Model | Price | To Top |
| 67777-7 | Ultrathon Insect Repellent, 6 oz (170g) Aerosol Spray Can | $8.50 | |
| 67442-4 | Ultrathon Insect Repellent, Lotion, 2 oz (59ml) tube | $9.00 |
| If you would like to read past "Insiders", click Archives |
| Your commentary is always welcome. Drop us a line: flyfish@flyfishusa.com |
 |
"Where
the forgotten art of customer service has been found". The Fly Fishing Shop, Welches, OR |
|
1(800) 266-3971 |
|
Fish
long & prosper,
Mark & Patty
