Holy crap. That was so much fun.
Well it’s mid October here in the PNW and the colors of Fall are in full effect. Leaves painted gold, green and red fill every hillside, and layers of fog roll down the valley. Our neighbors chimney puffs smoke with the odor of charred wood as the thermostat continues to drop outside. Time to break out the Bootfoots. The inevitable grip of old man winter is just around the corner. But before all this change was happening? I was a flats guide.
I started to pay closer attention to warm water species a few years ago, maybe 5. One Spring morning my buddy Pete invited me to try my luck, and after a brief summary on technique and presentation we proceeded to get our stalk on in the flooded grass plains of Sauvies Island. All it took was my first fish and I was hooked. Sight fishing to spooky, large fish within an hr of Portland? Yes please. The hunt, the anticipation, and the initial run was checking all the boxes for me.
Unfortunately, the conditions on that particular day were extremely uncommon. You need just the right amount of snow pack and warm weather, mixed with rain to raise the Willamette River to the correct level where flooding occurs in those fields. Then you’re going to need full sunshine and little to no wind. My dream of sight fishing all summer long was quickly destroyed. That was my reality for another year or so until I began hearing people talking abut the Columbia, or Big C. I was hearing the term “flats” being thrown around a lot, and stories of stalking large fish in clear water seemed to be common in some small circles. It was one slippery slop, and within a month I had spent way too many hours on google earth, and even more hours hiking the WA and OR side, scouting, stalking, and hunting.
I quickly realized, “This is not for me.” Meaning I was covering far too few miles a day on foot. Insert; Power Boat.
Holy crap. This is so much fun.
What proceeded to unfold over the next summer was nothing short of amazing. Poling in a world of water with no one around, being covered up in more fish than I could have ever have imagined. Tailers, everywhere. Large fish. Warm water. Sight fishing. I feel like I had won the lottery. Now I am aware that we are smack dab in the middle of the golden years for this fishery. Within 5 or 6 years Im sure they’ll be other guides out there. But for now? It’s just me and my clients having the time of our lives.
If you’d like to book a day for next summer you can contact me through this website or text me directly at
(503) 784-4623
July and August have already started to fill so I would not wait to book!
