Washington Fly Fishing Report

[flyguy]

Fishing Report

If you haven't been out fishing yet this year, it's time to get the gear out of the closet and get out there. Make sure you have a new 2011-2012 fishing license. The weather doesn't absolutely suck and the fishing is getting good.

The seasonal lakes (which is most of them) open the last Saturday of this month, April 30th. The state predicts over 300,000 people will fish that day, so it might not be the best day to be on the water unless you enjoy the crowds. Better yet, go fish anyways, but go to a year-round lake like Spencer Lake in Shelton or Kitsap Lake in Bremerton. You'll have the lake probably to yourself and the fishing has been pretty good. Stripping dark colored wooly buggers, chironomid pupas under an indicator, or chironomid emerger/cripple patterns are your best bet. Silvey's Hatching Midge is a great pattern and is probably going to make my list for favorite flies of the year. We will be sending out our 'top picks' for opening weekend in the next email!

The Yakima has been really high the last couple of weeks but is finally starting to drop to a fishable level. With some decent and stable weather expect to see some caddis hatches starting to come off. Gus's Yakima Clinic for this week is full but because we had so many people interested we might be able to schedule another one in May, stay tuned.

Steelhead season on the Olympic Peninsula is starting to wind down. The Hoh River is closed. The Quiluete River streams (Sol Duc, Bogachiel, & Calawah) close at the end of the month. It's pretty quiet out there now except for people fishing for Spring Kings on the Sol Duc. There are fish in Cowlitz, this is a great time to swing flies for steelhead.

Puget Sound beach fishing has been good but inconsistent. Those that are putting their time in on the water are hitting the good fishing more often. Seriously, fish a chum baby fly. Give it a little more than you would any other fly before switching up to try something else. Instead of changing the fly, change your presentation. Twitch it, pull it, go slow, go fast, erratic, etc. Try different retrieves until you find what they want. This fly is a solid producer this time of year. We also have some new locally tied flies in the shop that you beach fishers will be especially excited about. The new one is called the Rock Star Baitfish. We tie it in 5 different colors, come by and check it out! Remember, sea-run cutthroat are always catch and release in Puget Sound. Resident Coho have been fairly active (and big) down at Narrows.