Thread: Best trout fishing ~2 hrs from Seattle

Just moved to Seattle and am looking for some info on local rivers.

Got two days off of work next week and could use some advice. Doing an overnighter is an option, but am curious on learning about possible day trips. I would love to get off the beaten path, but anywhere is fine.

Where would you go?
What flies would you take?

Thanks.

I live in CO, so I can't really help you much but:

http://www.amazon.com/Flyfishers-Was...ing+washington

GET IT...seriously. I have two, one in my truck at all times and one in the house. I would love a third for at work.

The Yak has the best river trout fishing within 2hrs.

Right now, the Yakima is the only place river-wise, at least from what i hear. Pass Lake would be worth a trip if you have a pontoon, canoe, boat, etc. A drive to OR would be worth it if for the Deschutes or any number of other rivers. In a month or so the small cascade creeks are worth hitting w/ a 2 or 3 weigth. I moved to Seattle from Denver over a year ago and have wondered the same question and think I'm gonna get into the beach fishing for local salmon and sea run cutthroats in addition to the traditional trout fishing. Hard to not do it when I live a mile from one of the better fishing metro beaches. PM me if you're ever interested in going after some sea run cutthroats.

Sounds good dtown. Thinking about heading to the yak and checking it out. I also found and older copy of Greg Thomas' book on Google Books. Check it out here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=cqN...page&q&f=false

I am in Everett for 3 weeks training. Well yesterday I traveled over the the Yak. Dustin at The Evening Hatch hooked me up with some spots, if you go reukk, stop and talk to him.

Lots of Golden stones on the farming section but no heads were up. Nymphed a few fish there.

Headed into the lower canyon area and nymphed some more up. Most fish ate a golden stone nymph or red worm. Tried many other nymph combos, but this one proved most successfull.

Fishing was not easy by any means. Had to really work for all my fish. Biggest fish landed was 17" with most around 14. Landed a total of 15 fish in 5 hours fo fishing and I flogged the shit outa that water. Talked to many guides and they all were having similar or even worse results.

That was the first time I fished that river and can see that it has potential for a great day of fishing. Water levels were a little high making wading a little tough. Floating would be key on this river.

well first off, the trout fishing in WA sucks giant ass. Its terrible. The Yakima is the best fishing in the state and it kinda sucks, fucking washed out invasive McCloud river fish that were stocked for decades in that river. However if you drive north or south a few hours, across some borders you can find some native fish to throw at. Redbands down south are amazing... There are some cuttys in the mountains on both sides of the cascades, westslope on the dry side are good, get high in the drainages and have fun.

But really I'd go to Patrick's fly shop, are Puget Sound Fly company and talk Sea Run Cutts, which are miraculous fish.

Or go look for bass... Seriously.

Canada, Oregon, and Idaho all have MUCH better fishing though.

The East side of the state is much better for trout. Once the flow slows down a bit in late spring most dry flies are solid. Stock up on Caddis, Royal Wuff, Adams, et al.

Stocked lakes that are everywhere around Seattle area are pretty good, especially if you have a boat. Wooly Buggers and worms slay.

Nymphs are hit and miss for me but other people seem to have luck with them.

I use a 4 wt exclusively and have a ton of fun. Hike-to destinations are fun. You'll want to camp to get the goods. Get a 4 piece.

right now... saltwater sea-run cutthroat.
late summer - fall - puget sound and coastal rivers for sea-run cutthroat

you can stay on the wetside of the state and find plenty of decent fishing. it can be challenging but the searching has it's own rewards.

While in general the river trout fishing sucks on the West side of the Cascades, the lake fishing is decent, especially the alpine lakes. I used to go up along the S. Fork of the Stillaguamish and hit those lakes like Boardman (for brookies) or Coal/North Lakes, Lake 22, etc. Even the lakes up along I-90 are decent since most of the traffic are hikers who don't fish.

If you have to fish rivers, there are some fish in the Snoqualmie (try the old pilings in Duvall). The Tolt is largely barren and should be closed to fishing.

Well, APM, you and I agree on something.

Reukk, a good rule of thumb for the PNW rivers is that the west slope coastal rivers that are heavily forested are full of tannic acid and are generally low in fertility. They blow out for weeks in the winter and if they don't source from a glacier then they run near dry in August. Look at some of those rivers and you immediately notice a bare minimum of moss and algae to support a food chain. Generally speaking, a clear or tannic-stained river full of clean rocks is relatively infertile and holds small populations of coastal cutthroats that are dinks by most standards. That is good for anadromous salmonids that use those infertile waters to reproduce, i.e. fewer and smaller resident trout mean fewer predators for the smolts. Dry fly guys in west OR are stoked to catch a 16" native coastal cutt. Larger searun cutts come into the rivers seasonally to eat smolts. Its all about the steelhead, really. For me, 6"-12" trout....well, shit... I could go catch 50 dinks this afternoon if I gave a rat's ass about them. The highly fertile, alkaline ph creeks here are loaded with 'em and 99% of the rods out on any given day are on a larger river, not Dinky creek. Such familiarity breeds contempt...

Compared to its neighbors, tho, WA does have poor record for fishery management with a long history of putting a priority on harvest numbers. Wild fish runs on the Olympic rivers took a hell of a beating from meatheads before catch and release rules were introduced to save remnant populations. OR was a decade ahead of WA ahead in going to C&R for all wild steelhead. And then there's the matter of tribal treaty gill netting rights....