Northwest Fishing Reports

Just a simple question. How long does the fly fishing season usually go around here? Do people fly fish in the winter?

The first place that comes to mind is Rock Ford Creek. It feeds the north end of Moses Lake, and can be accessed off of Hwy 17 just east of Ephrata, WA. It has giant Rainbows produced at a locally owned hatchery. It's private property, but you are allowed to fish it if you follow the rules. Catch & Release only and NO WADING ALLOWED. It's a spring creek and the water stays somewhere around 55 degrees year 'round. It stays open year 'round, but you may want to bring some chap stick in the winter. Both for your lips and to help keep your guides from icing up. BTW, the fish are extremely educated. Most all of them carry the nickname Scarface.

You can fish it in the summer also, but the rattlesnakes outnumber the fish that time of year.

I have my best success of the year on the low-land "wet side" lakes during the winter and early spring months. Usually stripping leeches, buggers, or slow-moving chironomids. If there's open water, you'll find me out there on weekends on the pontoon.

guitarfisher wrote:I have my best success of the year on the low-land "wet side" lakes during the winter and early spring months. Usually stripping leeches, buggers, or slow-moving chironomids. If there's open water, you'll find me out there on weekends on the pontoon.

BTW - I'm talking about the waters that are legally open in the colder months.

Larger lakes on the wet side are normally open year round. Kitsap, long, island, all kitsap just to name 3. Look at regs.

I have fond memories of drifting size 18 chronies and nymphs in Crab Creek during January and February. The water was lower then due to little runoff and the fish were podded up in the holes. Some days were colder than others but the fish always cooperated......and the rattlesnakes were thankfully a no-show! As Joe mentioned, this creek is also spring fed with water that stays around 50 degrees, keeping the fish active. However, in lakes where the water drops to say 38-40 degrees, fishing can be tough as the fish are mostly inactive. The feeds are usually not hatch dependent and when they do occur they are very short-lived, say 15-20 minutes. Miss this window and you'll get visited by a skunk! Keep your patterns very small during the winter and fish them slowly, with a vertical presentation.

What about any areas in the Renton (Seattle) area? I only have a freshwater liscense so I'm aware of my limitations.... along with the fact that I Just got set up for the first time with a fly rod this Christmas. (noob) Thanks!
-Tim

You can fly fish anywhere you'd normal fish. In open lakes, and rivers for the same species you'd fish for other ways. There are searun cuts and steelhead in the rivers right now. Try the Green river up by Flaming Geyser.

natetreat wrote:You can fly fish anywhere you'd normal fish. In open lakes, and rivers for the same species you'd fish for other ways. There are searun cuts and steelhead in the rivers right now. Try the Green river up by Flaming Geyser.

In addition to Nate's suggestions, there are dozens of small lakes in the immediate King, Pierce, Snohomish county area that are well suited for stillwater fly fishing. A couple of notables are Rattlesnake (check regs for selective rules) near North Bend and Beaver and Alice near Issaquah. Further out, try other selective rule favorites: Munn, Lone, and Pass.

Thanks for the ideas. I usually spend my time at Lake Desire, Shady, Spring, Coulon piers.

Lotech Joe wrote:The first place that comes to mind is Rock Ford Creek. It feeds the north end of Moses Lake, and can be accessed off of Hwy 17 just east of Ephrata, WA. It has giant Rainbows produced at a locally owned hatchery. It's private property, but you are allowed to fish it if you follow the rules. Catch & Release only and NO WADING ALLOWED. It's a spring creek and the water stays somewhere around 55 degrees year 'round. It stays open year 'round, but you may want to bring some chap stick in the winter. Both for your lips and to help keep your guides from icing up. BTW, the fish are extremely educated. Most all of them carry the nickname Scarface.

You can fish it in the summer also, but the rattlesnakes outnumber the fish that time of year.

I've fished Rocky Ford three times since January 1st. Caught trout on two of the trips using scuds and glo bugs (egg imitations). The weather tomorrow looks reasonably nice so tomorrow will be the 4th trip.

Oh, there are no rattlesnakes out now.

Tim,

Lakes and rivers are great, but don't forget about the big pond, Puget Sound. I was tossing Klouser Minnows and Sand-lace imitators just this morning in area 9 at Picnic Point park. You can catch Sea Run Cuts most of the year by wading in the Sound and fishing the tide change resident Coho and Chinook also. Try to cast for the rip line and strip your fly back to you. KEEP AN EYE ON THE TIDE if you are fishing the flood. It is easy to get stranded.

Especially if you're just starting out give the salt a try. The best part is you usually have ample room behind you, so you will have less hang ups while your practicing.

Send me a PM if you want more areas.

Hank

Check out lake boron in renton. I do well in the shallows this time of year.

zen leecher wrote:

Lotech Joe wrote:The first place that comes to mind is Rock Ford Creek. It feeds the north end of Moses Lake, and can be accessed off of Hwy 17 just east of Ephrata, WA. It has giant Rainbows produced at a locally owned hatchery. It's private property, but you are allowed to fish it if you follow the rules. Catch & Release only and NO WADING ALLOWED. It's a spring creek and the water stays somewhere around 55 degrees year 'round. It stays open year 'round, but you may want to bring some chap stick in the winter. Both for your lips and to help keep your guides from icing up. BTW, the fish are extremely educated. Most all of them carry the nickname Scarface.

You can fish it in the summer also, but the rattlesnakes outnumber the fish that time of year.

I've fished Rocky Ford three times since January 1st. Caught trout on two of the trips using scuds and glo bugs (egg imitations). The weather tomorrow looks reasonably nice so tomorrow will be the 4th trip.

Oh, there are no rattlesnakes out now.

Been out a total of 9 trips to RF now.... caught trout on 6 of the trips. It's starting to get a bit popular as Saturday there were 25 vehicles parked when I left.

I've been to Rocky Ford a total of 13 trips so far. Trips 10, 11 and 12 were a bit of a dry spell. Today was a nasty day to fish. Temp was 35 and there was a wind. Funny thing is the fish started to bite. I caught 5 and missed 4-5 more. This was in about 2 1/2 hours of fishing before I quit and went home.

Trip 12 was the bad one. Didn't even get one strike. At least on all the others I had fish on or missed strikes.

Todays fly was a #18 krystal flash chironomid. Got a bunch of missed strikes after I lost one fish. Finally checked the hook and half of it was broke off. Those little hooks don't take much stress.