North 40 Fly Shop eMagazine July 2016 | Page 63

Okanogan and another in Riverside. The lower river is accessible by boat from a couple of places, but use caution in some areas for shallow water. In and around Okanogan and Omak, there are a few places that have proven to be quite productive along with Riverside. Like I said before, most people in the area are pretty tight lipped about good locations, so it may take some exploring… or you can stop in to the shop and we can give you a direction to go in. Lately, the use of switch rods and commando heads has really been taking off on the upper Okanogan. Swinging flies in shorts for smallies is a great way to get your game on for steelhead season (might as well get some sun on those legs before you adopt the Simms G3 tan line for the winter). "Though it might not carry the glamour of chasing chrome; bronze backs on sunny days can be a welcome change to numb fingers and frozen guides." In addition to the Okanogan, our local lakes can produce some behemoth bass. Leader, Whitestone, Spectackle, Palmer, Osoyoos and Rufus Woods all harbor bronze and bucket mouth “slabs.” A couple of lakes on the Colville Confederated Tribe (Buffalo, Twin Lakes and Washburn Pond) are known to be inhabited with Leviathans. Like any type of fishing, you’ll have to work them yourself to figure out the “when and what.” What works for me may not work for you.