Want to take your fly-fishing to a new level? How about hopping on a seaplane, flying down to the South Sound, and chasing sea run cutthroat? Orvis offers monthly floatplane fly-fishing trips. It’s a unique experience offering anglers a “trip of a lifetime in a single day.” The plane can take them to areas that are too far to drive or totally inaccessible by car.
Expert guide Leland Miyawaki says the plane reaches secluded beaches that contain fish that may never have seen an artificial fly. “I am there to show anglers how to read and approach the water and present their fly correctly,” Miyawaki says. “If they hook a fish, I help them land it quickly, take a photo and make sure we release it safely. I hope they come away with a deeper appreciation of one of our most beautiful wild native trout caught on our most beautiful beaches.”
On the last trip it poured rain but the anglers still had a blast. “Three out of the eight people had never caught a sea run cutthroat. They were really excited,” says Miyawaki. “It rained hard, in fact, the heavens opened up. But we laughed our way through it all including a shoreline lunch out in the open with no shelter.”
It’s a relatively new program that’s had a great response. Orvis’s Bellevue store manager Reggie Harris says, “You don’t have to go to Alaska for this experience, it’s literally right here in your back yard. We have this beautiful pristine fishery right here.”
Participants get remote enough to encounter wildlife fascinated by their presence. “As we were fishing one of these very remote beaches that you can only access by plane, a seal popped up and looked at me, down at my fly and just stared at me for 3-4 minutes or so. Then he went down the beach and did the same thing with another angler, just seeing what the hell we were doing there in the first place because he probably had never seen anyone. We also had a couple of eagles fly around us watching to see if we caught anything,” says Harris.
The anglers practice catch and release and a keen respect for nature. “We have to practice good conservation because otherwise there wouldn’t be any fish,” says Harris. “Were’ struggling to get our populations back. If there are no fish, there’s no fly-fishing. It’s such a gift of nature to have the fish in the water and be able to go out and enjoy them.”
Orvis will be offering approximately one floatplane trip per month. Find out more on their Facebook Page , and call 425-452-9138 to register. Call early because there is often a waiting list. In June, they are offering a new option with a bass fishing trip to Eastern Washington to fish the Pot Holes.
Bring waders, fly rod, and reel. Orvis provides the flies and a box lunch that includes a sandwich, chips and fresh fruit.
Written by Leah DeAngelis for RootsRated and legally licensed through the Matcha publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@getmatcha.com.