Trout Fishing on the Touchet River

Jack Chandler playing a small brown trout in the Touchet River near Waitsburg, Washington

I have hooked a small brown trout in a section of the Touchet River known as Hogeye Hollow. Browns and juvenile steelhead coexist in this stretch of the river, and the browns are usually a couple of inches longer than the largest of the smolts. This guy measured eleven inches.

Jack Chandler unhooking that selfsame small brown trout

Even with a barbless hook, it's sometimes difficult to shake a fish loose. This one had created a monstrous tangle in my net, so I had to hold him through the fabric to work the fly out of his lower lip. If it had taken a minute longer, I probably would have let him keep the fly as a souvenir.

Jack Chandler waiting for a burger in Dayton, Washington

The main attraction of the City of Dayton is Gasoline Alley, a hamburger stand built around a replica of Buddy Holly's 1958 tour bus. Here I am, sitting in the bus and waiting for them to finish cooking my deluxe burger. That thing on the table in the foreground is a cardboard model of a '57 Chevy.

Dayton, Washington Guide To Fun & Information