Washington State

[northjerseyflyguy]

I'm headed to Washington State for a wedding in a couple of weeks and am having a hard time finding stream info. Before the wedding, I'll be visiting the Olympic and Mt. Rainier National Parks and want to do have a do-it-yourself outing sans guide. Anybody have any recommendations?

Thanks!

[jeffw]

NJFG,

PM sent

Jeff

[Gardenfish]

check out Westfly. Have fun!

Northjerseyflyguy,
The options cover a pretty wide spectrum, can you give us an idea of what sort of fishing you're looking for? A couple of weeks would put you into early September. If you're already planning to visit the Olympic Peninsula, you'll find the westside rivers (Quillayute, Sol Duc, Bogachiel, Calawah, Hoh, Queets, Clearwater) can provide excellent fishing for sea-run cutthroat, summer-run steelhead and maybe some early coho salmon at that time. Most of the rivers that empty into Puget Sound will have sea-run cutthroat returning to them as well as some coho (check the regulations to see if they are open to salmon fishing). Some of them will have summer-run steelhead (Skykomish, North Fork Stillaguamish).

A still largely-overlooked fly fishing opportunity is fishing the beaches of Puget Sound for returning coho salmon and sea-run cutthroat. Both are pretty well beach-oriented and will frequently be found within easy casting distance of the shore.

What you will not find (with a few exceptions) is good fishing for resident trout. Most of the Puget Sound and coastal rivers are relatively poor in year-round food sources and most of the rainbow (steelhead) and coastal cutthroat have adopted an anadromous lifestyle. If you have some more specific questions, e-mail me at psinglet@verizon.net and I'll try to answer anything I can.
Preston

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