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I spent (Spent: The wing position of many aquatic insects when they fall on the water after mating. The wings of both sides lay flat on the water. The word may be used to describe insects with their wings in that position, as well as the position itself.) ten mid-October days in central Idaho almost-but-not-quite getting shots at mule deer bucks, and at one point I found a free evening (the 17th) to wet a line in the famous Nature Conservancy stretch of scenic Silver Creek. I don't know that I've ever seen so many fish, especially nice fish, in one place. That explains why so many other anglers were also there on a very windy October afternoon.

However, the conditions were tough and my skills weren't quite up to the task. Strong wind ripped relentlessly through the valley, suppressing insect activity as well as making stealthy casting a challenge. Fish occasionally rose to tiny BWOs, but only a handful rose consistently. Trying various techniques, I missed some strikes and caught one small brown.

A friend who recently moved to Washington joined me October 6th for a fishing float through a lower part of the Yakima River Canyon. The fish were fairly uncooperative. I lost a mid-sized rainbow on a streamer, but they generally weren't interested in those the rest of the time. Small blue-winged olives were hatching at times throughout the afternoon, and they provided the only real action of the day, but the fish rising to them were mostly small. They were a fun challenge, though, because two of the three spots we found pods of fish rising required very difficult casts. They were rising in shaded back eddies, always on the far side of a long stretch of fast, deep water. It was a great opportunity to practice various trick casts that pile up slack at the end, trying to give my flies 2-second drifts instead of 1-second drifts. It's rewarding when that works just right and draws a strike.

This was also the first real test of my new Flycraft Stealth raft, which had only previously been out for a 1-hour evening trip down part of the Snoqualmie. I'm thrilled with it so far. For a craft small enough to easily carry and load on top of my Jeep by myself, it feels exceptionally stable. The build quality and layout are excellent. It rows like a drift boat, but it's more nimble, and it has a similar ability to instantly drop anchor and fish. I've never had that in a boat before and was giddy about it once I figured out I could anchor in moderate current and fish places I couldn't reach otherwise. I also really enjoyed being able to just drop anchor in the shallows and step out of the boat to wade, without having to pull it up on shore or tie it off. That's such a minor nuisance in most other boats, I never would have guessed I'd take so much pleasure in circumventing it.