North 40 Fly Shop eMagazine October 2016 | Page 20

STILLWATER
STEELHEAD
ALTERNATIVES
by Wayne Jordan

O

nce October rolls around, most people
will be hunting, steelhead fishing,
watching football or a combination of the
three. Very few people are still chasing trout,
which is fine by me. The hard part is always
deciding where to go. Do I head to a lake
or a river? Washington, Idaho or Montana?
Tough decisions I know, but those are the
challenges we face in Coeur d’Alene and
Spokane.
Looking at the constantly changing weather
forecast is usually the ultimate deciding
factor for me. 20-30 mph gusts and raining?
Yeah, I probably won’t be inflating the float
tube today. Calm and sunny? Time to hit one
of my favorite eastern Washington lakes!
The lakes of eastern Washington have a vast
amount of aquatic life that provides protein
to fast-growing trout. It’s not uncommon to
catch fish over 20 inches and with cutthroat,
rainbows, tigers, brook and brown trout
inhabiting many of these lakes, you can add
a little variety to your fly fishing game.

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