Last Wednesday, I had the pleasure of guiding a charming family on the upper Big T. I must admit I was a little concerned because of the recent drop in flow from Olympia Dam from 20-14cfs. Six cfs may not sound like much, but at this level that was about 25%. Those conditions require very small stuff and a methodical approach. My guests were 15 and 10 years old. The ten year old had never fly fished. I was expecting a challenging day. Well it was, and they were up to the challenge.

The ice is out at Mother Lake on the Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch, so my buddy Eric and I decided to go see what how those big Bows faired over the winter. The answer is yowza. We got a dozen to the net; all on Kolanda's Bellyache Minnow. The smallest was 19 inches and the largest was 22 inches all with bulging bellies. Click here for video.