North 40 Fly Shop eMagazine February 2015 | Page 34

T

is the season so they say. Not the
season you’re thinking of: Santa has
come and gone and I hope he was as
good to you as he was to me (got to love
those North 40 gift cards). It’s a long slow
season of waiting for the steelhead to get
serious about moving up the Okanogan
and for the weather to break so we can
move around a little. So what do we,
at the North 40 Fly Shop, during these
periods of winter splendor? Quick trips
to Omak Lake are the perfect cure for
those mid-winter blues and the holiday
hangover.
Omak Lake is home to some mammoth
Lahontan cutthroat trout, and the winter
fishery can be phenomenal. This is the
time of year where pods of fish cruise the
shelves around the lake before the prespawn period. This type of fishing favors
the big cast and long retrieve. Since these
fish can be readily targeted from the

shore a rod must be able to store enough
energy to cast the length of the line and
must be able to handle floating and
sinking lines with equal ease.
My choice for this fishery is the Sage One
690. This is what George Cook refers to
as the “30-06” of fly rods, the “do all” stick.
This has never been more true for any
rod than the Sage One 9 foot 6 weight.
This rod accentuates the abilities of any
fly caster and moves more line than any
other six weight rod that I’ve ever cast.
You can shoot to your backing quickly and
effortlessly; a huge help when casting with
winter attire. The ability to utilize as much
fishing time as possible when you can
get out is a huge advantage and not
throwing your shoulder and