Northwest Fishing Reports

Hello fellow fishermen. Mike, first let me congratulate you and your associates on a fantastic website!! We have nothing like this in NJ with the detail that you show with a basic membership.The photos are breathtaking and the info voluminous. Of course to be fair to my home state, your mountain lakes far outshine ours in size and scenery.

I am flying out to WA in mid-July to spend a week with some friends and driving around by myself. I will be driving from Sea-Tac on Interstate 90 East going through Snoqualmie Pass and Blewett Pass to Route 97 north to Tonasket. I also plan to drive through the Northern Cascades to Anacortes and maybe take a ferry on the way down to the airport.

My main difficulty is that I am on permanent disability, so most of my fishing opportunities will have to be from shore on any lakes/rivers I encounter. I walk with a cane and not very far. I will be driving along and stopping where I can and need to park close to where I will toss a line. I will have fly & spinning outfits and will be releasing anything I catch.

I will be taking a few cameras because I have never been west of the Mississippi River and am really looking forward to this trip! I just hope if I catch anything decent there aren't any grizzlies watching me!

John

Hello,
I agree, this website is super and a wonderful resource. Mike and the Team keep it current which is a great strength.
If you do head to the San Juan Islands, come see us on Orcas Island. There is decent fishing from shore and a dock at Cascade Lake for large mouth bass, trout (though more difficult in the summer) and sunfish.
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There are so many lakes and streams that you'll be passing by, where would one even start? Where do your friends live, approximately? I've been told over and over when visiting other places, utilize a guide or charter. Google Lake Chelan and separately Lake Omak. Yeah, if you want one of the prettiest fish in the state, Lake Omak, Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, not much of a fight, best to get a guide since it's too long to learn... but the prettiest fish in WA fresh water. We do have a guide here that is a sponsor of the site, I've never fished with him but heard only good things... he does Omak very well, check the vids section here at the site. If a guide isn't your thing, that's alright, lots of lakes are very easily accessible, you could try a few... you'd have to check the seasons, regs, Dry Falls seems popular, but float tube mostly... you could hit Lake Concunally(sp) there's a whole series of lakes that run north out of there, all the way up to Tonasket? I've caught trout and small mouth all through there years ago. Check the map, see what ya can see, give a hollar back....

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Beautiful route you're traveling. Shore fishing trout on a selective regs lake near Anacortes would be souh of there on Whitby Island, Pass lake in Skagit county. Good shore spots for people with limited mobility, some big fish, fly fishing.

Mike, you do a great job here. The photos alone are to die for. The only reason I haven't mentioned a guide, is I don't know if I will have a whole or half day to just dedicate to fishing. I know on a fishing vacation a guide is definitely the way to go if you want to catch fish. But this is mainly a shooting party weekend so relaxation and photography/scenery is secondary as for fishing. If I can just hang by a stream, river or lake with a cigar and hope for nice weather, I know I will be happier than I am now. I agree your state is beautiful. My favorite western is Shane and between WY & WA a lot of the scenery was shot in and around there. Of course the Rockies get the press but the Cascades are one of the places where God lives! I would love to do something with the famous rivers (Columbia, Snake, etc.) but with my mobility lakes may be a better bet. Anything I catch that looks significant will be photographed for the website. The cutthroat are gorgeous (although our Eastern Rainbows are very pretty too).

Thanks again guys, I guess I really should try to get close to Rainier but I haven't read how close I have to get to get a decent pic?

John

My friend is a few miles east of Tonasket and I know with Omak close by I will throw a few flies there. Then Grand Coulee Dam isn't too far as well. My big problem will be bringing enough cigars for a week and film for my Pentax 645 and memory cards for my Nikon Digital SLR!

There's a bunch of small fly lakes up by Tonasket and record Rainbows on the Columbia on either side of Grand Coulee. I would suggest a box of smoke minimum for a week of vacation, I know I'd smoke 'em If you Stopped by the Yakima you could pick up a guide out of one of the fly shops in Ellensburg (it's on 90) and you could do a half or full day drift on a Blue Ribbon Trout River. Just gotta climb in the boat, they have all the gear, all you have to do is cast, they'll put right on them. You could probably just show and get a guide. Sounds like a fun trip!

Thank you all for your kind suggestions! I certainly will fill you in when I return. And I am sure I will have a few specifics until just before I leave. The tendency in a situation like mine is to do too much. But I guess the weather will do some restricting for me as well. This trip is a big test for me and I want everything to go well so she doesn't worry about me and I can take some more. Now that I am thinking about it a half day with a guide & a fly rod may be doable. I will definitely check it out.

Long story short I have a rare variety of a rare disease (Neurosarcoidosis). Got benign growths in my brain and spinal cord (ironic for a Chiropractor, huh). They are also on my Pituitary and I have all kinds of symptoms from the havoc it places on all my glands! Fatigue, double vision, dizziness, etc. That is why I allowed extra time. I can tell you I already feel like a kid at Christmas.

A guided trip in a drift boat should be pretty easy for you. I'm sure the guide would help you in and out and they have nice casting rests to lean on and a seat to sit on. They supply everything you need for the trip.