Its that gloomy time of the year when one day it's 50 degrees and rainy, the next days it's 25 degrees and snowing, and then back to 50 degrees and sunny. The worst part about this time of year is that all of the Puget Sound rivers have closed to all fishing until June 1ST. As a fly fisherman addicted to standing in rivers, this time of year can be a little tough. Cabin fever sets in, we tie flies we cant use, gain about 15 lbs, and watch too many reruns on TV. However, even though fishing opportunities are running thin in the Seattle are, they are flourishing other places. In particular steelhead fishing on the Olympic Peninsula is in full swing. This time of year produces some of the best steelheading that we see in our state. Unfortunately, it is no secret. Every puffy jacket wearing, instagraming, bearded blogging fly fisherman around makes his or her way out to the Peninsula to chase big natives. Yes, I have a puffy jacket, I like posting pictures to instagram, and I kind of have a blog, but I have not made my way out to the peninsula yet, and likely will not this year. Too many people and too few wild steelhead that don’t need any additional pressure from me. The OP is not the only option right now. It’s a ferry ride and a four hour commute to Forks from my house, but there are also opportunities by heading a couple hours east.
We spent satruday exploring the Cashmere and Dryden area on the Wenatchee river in search of some remaining summer runs. We fished a couple runs with no tugs, but for us it became more of a recon mission. You wont find much information on the internet about good “spots” to fish for steelhead. The best/only way to learn is through exploration. The Wenatchee river can be a difficult place to explore since a good portion of the river is private property inhabited by apple trees. But there are many spots from Leavenworth all the way to the mouth at Confluence Park. I will just say that Google maps has become a very important fishing tool for me.
For us this was mostly a day to just get out swing flies and explore. We did run into the WDFW fish checker guy and he says fishing has been good the past few days. For us it was unfortunate that the weather dropped down the mid 20’s and was snowing when we got there. This didn’t help our fishing and exploring ambition, but it was still nice to be out. The Wenatchee is a pretty wide and shallow river, so you don’t need much weight when swinging flies. I was fishing 10’ of T-11 and unweighted flies and was still having issues getting hung up. Perhaps poly leaders or T-8 would be better suited for some of those wider runs.
Though this time of year is limited, there are still many opportunities out there. I’d recommend making the drive east in search of steel and give the coastal rivers a break. Also open now is the Methow river for steelhead. I have not made it there myself but have seen pictures and reports, and it seems fishing is good out there. These Columbia tribs can open and close at a moments notice, so check the regs before you go. Or find a beach and go chase some sea runs, it’s almost chum fry season.
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