I'm moving from the Palouse area to south Seattle in a few months and have been thoroughly warned that I'll find myself in a flyfishing desert on the west side of the state. From what I understand, the glacial melt (and silt load) makes many of the rivers either unfishable or straight up uninhabitable for resident trout, and the snowmelt streams are small, inaccessible, and mostly only hold small fish. I thought maybe tailwaters from some of the reservoirs would be good to check out, but it looks like most of them are closed waters.
I'm leaving some real gems on the east side, several of which are never mentioned online, so I'm not looking for anyone to divulge classified info here. Instead, I'm hoping for help on reading thin blue lines. Are there any general characteristics of good water on the west side that I can be on the lookout for? Any general regions of that half of the state that are worth exploring? Any basic rules of them about river character?
I'm trying to stay optimistic about not having to drive over a pass every time I want access to good water.
Pic: spring creek (no, not that one) rainbow on the east side
Posted by CahabaCartography
2 Comments
As a W.W. Angler and blue liner here are my tips:
1. The cascades have a ton of creeks up near seattle that do have some pretty good trout.
2. Skagit river and tributaries.
3. Salt water fly fishing (you’ll have to go south a little for the better water). Searun cuttthroat are a year round fishery that can be caught from shore at a lot of beaches, specifically look for estuaries.
4. The yakima river isn’t that far 😛.
Get ready to speak anadromous buddy