The secret for me to fish during the week is location. I literally live 1
minute from the N.F. Stilly. 7 minutes from the Sauk. 23 minutes from the
Skagit. My daily commute takes me along the entire fishable length of the
N.F. Stilly. Once I reach Arlington I have a choice of which route I want
to take. I can follow the mainstem Stilly down to Silvana or take the
Stanwood-Bryant road and check out Pilchuck Creek.
The long days of summer are best because I can get up early and hit a few
holes and still make it to work on time. On the weekends I often get up,
fish, and make it home about the time everyone is getting up.
My gear is always in my vehicle. My breathable waders (Dan Bailey's by the
way that are 3 years old and leak) dry out fairly quickly but my wading
shoes(Hodgeman's that were dirt cheap and have served an excess of 250
outings) rarely ever get dry. My 4-Runner usually smells like an old wet
dog.
My wife understands the fishing obsession as she was married to a local
fishing guide for over ten years and even worked in a fishing camp in
Alaska for a couple of summers. We have 2 small boys (a 2 year old and a 7
month baby) and we both work full time. So even though she understands, it
it very difficult to schedule fishing time that impacts family time. If we
lived anywhere else I probably would not be fishing much. The closures of
rivers last spring was very hard on me.........I was forced to go to
Alaska in April to get my steelhead fix!
