Washington Fly Fishing

[JoshMann44]

I want to start to fly fish...

Were are good places to fish in Washington?

[Frank Whiton]

Hi Josh,

Welcome to the forum. You live in a great fly fishing area. Looking forward to your post.

This is such a broad question it is hard to answer. We need to know what area you live in, at least the county. Do you have a boat, waders, float tube and can you hike?

If you live on the West coast then most of the coastal rivers will have trout and maybe Steelhead. If you live close to the Oregon boarder then any of the rivers that empty into the Columbia will hold fish. If you can hike then pick a spot on the river that is away from the road. I highly recommend you get a guide book for Washington and Oregon if you are located where you can fish Oregon. When I lived in Washington I fished Oregon more than Washington. I also highly recommend you go to your local fly shop and get real friendly with the owner. The best way to do that is to buy some flies and other gear. Your local fly shop will be a great source about where to fish and what flies to use. The forum can help you with your equipment.

Your first job is not where to fish but what gear you need and how to cast. Fly casting is not hard but it takes some practice. So I would talk to my local fly shop and figure out what you will be fishing for and what equipment you need.

Frank

[racine]

Your in flyfishing heaven out there so your opportunities are endless. If your just starting I'd avoid steelheading and go right for trout first. As an example when I lived by Olympia we made an annual warm up trek to a semi private lake called Double Rainbow( Rocky Ford, Lake Lenice, etc...). You paid a very modest fee but the trout fought hard and long. Growing up in Colorado I never knew trout could take my 6 wt into the backing, but they did, several times. That will give you fishing fever and a good primer for the sport. That said I'd join a local club, meet some fellow fishers and find the newer and hotter hotspots( Puget Sound Flyfishers, South Sound Flyfishers, etc...). Good luck, I wish I could share more but my Washington files are in the attic somewhere unknown and it's been 8 yrs since. I'll repost when I remember more...

[Guy M]

I've had a blast fishing in many places around the state. Some that come to mind are; Sol Duc river on the Olympic Peninsula, the famous Rocky Ford creek near Ephrata, the Yakima River, Starvation Lake north of Spokane, Lenice, Lenore, Dry Falls, Chopaka... And more... There's good fly fishing avail for steelhead, several species of trout, smallmouth bass and even carp... Hard to think of a corner of the state that doesn't have some decent fishing someplace.

Regards, Guy

[fin??whatfin??]

hey there are few i know of, on the west side the clearwater, wynoochye, some little creeks in mountains, spider lake(hard to access) the quinalt in my opinion just about any river or lake is good though. on the east side naches and yakima are good ones that i have been to.
the skookumchuck is good to lots of salmon and the humptulips if there not to many drunk parties.

[dogger]

The disease is taking me to Washington 2nd week of March, any suggests in and around Seattle area, think that is roughly where I'll be staying, but want to get out for steelhead and anything else that might be fun while I am out there.

Any local shops, groups or websites for that area?

Dog

[MBWCC]

Originally Posted by dogger

The disease is taking me to Washington 2nd week of March, any suggests in and around Seattle area, think that is roughly where I'll be staying, but want to get out for steelhead and anything else that might be fun while I am out there.

Any local shops, groups or websites for that area?

Dog

I found myself in Seattle last August at a convention. One day at lunch I discovered that I had free time between 1 PM and 7 PM. I found Patrick's Fly Shop ( Patrick's Fly Shop - Fly Casting 201 ) in the phonebook and discovered that the shop was only a few blocks from the convention center. The gentleman at the shop was kind enough to help me purchase a Washington State non-resident license on-line using the shop's PC and also allowed me to use the shop's printer to print the license (the shop is not a fishing license dealer). He then gave me advice regarding a very nice fly fishing river I could reach in ~30 minutes driving time from the convention center, which flies would work on that river, and even gave me detailed instructions regarding where I should fish the river and where in the river I would find fish. I followed his instructions and my first & second casts took hits I was too shocked to hook, but my third cast hooked an 18" wild rainbow; the rest of the day was pretty much within the same theme.

If you can, visit Patrick's Fly Shop when you are in Seattle--I'll let the shop give you the river's name and location.

[dogger]

Thanks for the info, I will look them up!

Any ideas of what fish might be in the rivers, etc. Did you rent gear or did you have your own equipment?

Thanks,

Dog

[MBWCC]

Originally Posted by dogger

Thanks for the info, I will look them up!

Any ideas of what fish might be in the rivers, etc. Did you rent gear or did you have your own equipment?

Thanks,

Dog

That afternoon and the following day were my only Seattle fishing experience to date so I can't tell you anything about fish to expect other than that the river I fished both days contained wild rainbows.

I had my own equipment. I pack a 4-piece, 8'6" 5wt fly rod & reel plus waders & boots on pretty much all business trips (I have a wheeled duffle bag that is my constant 2nd bag on the airlines).

[dogger]

Originally Posted by MBWCC

I found myself in Seattle last August at a convention. One day at lunch I discovered that I had free time between 1 PM and 7 PM. I found Patrick's Fly Shop ( Patrick's Fly Shop - Fly Casting 201 ) in the phonebook and discovered that the shop was only a few blocks from the convention center. The gentleman at the shop was kind enough to help me purchase a Washington State non-resident license on-line using the shop's PC and also allowed me to use the shop's printer to print the license (the shop is not a fishing license dealer). He then gave me advice regarding a very nice fly fishing river I could reach in ~30 minutes driving time from the convention center, which flies would work on that river, and even gave me detailed instructions regarding where I should fish the river and where in the river I would find fish. I followed his instructions and my first & second casts took hits I was too shocked to hook, but my third cast hooked an 18" wild rainbow; the rest of the day was pretty much within the same theme.

If you can, visit Patrick's Fly Shop when you are in Seattle--I'll let the shop give you the river's name and location.

could I ask, what direction did you go, north or south of Seattle?

I just called Patrick's shop, got a couple suggestions, thanks for the pointers!