Methow Valley Fly Fishing

I love the Methow Valley and the North Cascades bordering it. To me this is trout fishing paradise and it rivals Montana in looks and in the quality of the fishing. There are no big famous trout rivers here but if you want intimate rivers and creeks with rainbows, cutthroat and brookies as well as steelhead in the fall then the Methow can't be beat. Add in some alpine and sub-alpine lakes with some big trout and you have a perfect place to trout fish in Washington state. Add in amazing hiking in the summer or cross-country skiing in the winter and you have an outdoor paradise only hours from the Seattle metro region.

Methow Valley Fisheries

Methow Valley fishing can be divided up into four basic fisheries:

River Trout Fishing

The Methow River near Weeman Bridge

The rivers in the Methow are all under special regulations and keep this a quality trout fishery. The primary rivers are the Methow, the Chewuch which connects in Withrop, and the Twisp which connects in the town of the same name. All three of these are open in sections from the first Saturday in June until August 15 and then remain open in sections until Sept 30. Here is a good map showing where the water is open and when.

Usually the rivers fall into great shape by July making July and early August prime time to find trout willing to rise to the fly. A lot of the fish will rise and so I fish a dry much of the time, sometimes with a nymph dropper. Unless I'm getting no action that way I'll rarely resort to a total nymph/indicator setup.

Favorite Flies for the Methow rivers:

I've found the Methow has the largest trout and a good mix of cutthroat and rainbows. While the typical fish is in the 10-13" range I have caught cutts up to 18" in the Methow and I've seen pictures of even bigger fish taken. There are also some enormous whitefish in the river and I've caught a few that I thought were steelhead until I got them to the net. With the size of fish and flies I usually throw a 4-weight on the Chewuch and Twisp and go with either a 4 or 5-weight on the Methow which holds the larger fish. With temps often in the 100's during the day you can leave the waders at home and wade wet if you so prefer, I do.

Small Streams

The small streams of the region are some of my favorite places to fish. Armed with a 6-7' 3 or 4 weight rod (preferably bamboo) and a few small dry flies you can have a blast and even a few fish for dinner if desired. These fish eat dries and fly selection is pretty simple:

Boulder Creek

Boulder Creek is north of Winthrop up FSRoad 52. It is full of brook trout and some very nice cutthroat trout. It is so full of brook trout in fact, there is a 10 fish limit on the creek. Just follow the road up until you get close to the creek, stop, park and fish. It is about that easy.

Boulder Creek Brookie

Robinson Creek

Up the Lost River Road out of Mazama. This creek goes right under the road and the area around the bridge can actually be good though the further you are willing to hike up the trail to fish the better. Full of cutthroat including some nice ones and I've caught a few small brookies in there too.

Robinson Creek Cutthroat

 Robinson Creek

Lakes

There are quite a few lakes in the Methow area from valley lakes to the alpine lakes of the North Cascades National Park. I've only fished a few to date.

Freestone Lake

This is a private lake at the Freestone Inn where we often stay. I've caught rainbows, browns, and once a tiger trout in the lake. It has a natural population of fish and is managed as catch & release. The average fish is about 16" and I've caught a few up to 24" in the lake. These fish feed best at dusk/dawn in the summer months and so I usually limit my fishing to these times when the water is cooler. In the fall the fish will feed much of the day.

I have a few favorite flies for this lake:

I have heard a big black wooly bugger does great but just can't bring myself to throw one. I almost always just sight fish to cruisers, even with the nymph and rarely will bling cast in the lake. Walk around, you will find fish.

Freestone brown trout Nice Freestone rainbow

Black Pine Lake

This is a lake up out of Twisp that I camped at one night when there was still some snow on the ground in May, it was a bit higher than I expected. It was also full of decent sized brook trout that were actually a bit selective in what fly they would eat. I ended up getting a few for dinner on midge emerger patterns more common to the tough lakes in Eastern Washington.

Cutthroat Lake

The name should be "Really Tiny Cutthroat Lake". OK, there has to be a few big fish for there to be so many small fish but the biggest cutthroat I've caught on the lake was about 4" long. The hike in is great though, a simple 2 mile walk from the trailhead off Hwy 20.

Blue Lake

Another nice hike off Hwy 20 just east of Washington Pass. Blue Lake does have decent fish it in, all cutthroats from what I've caught and is worth carrying a fly rod along on the hike.

Methow Steelhead

Every year since about 2005 anglers eagerly await the announcement that the Methow is open for steelhead fishing. This usually happens in early October and then rush is on with the first week or so usually being red hot followed by a slow down. The Methow can put out some amazing steelhead days, I think my best day there was something on the order of 8 fish.

The Methow does have some swing water where an angler can fish traditionally but most people use nymph rigs with indicators. My best days have been with a nymph, not with a swung fly. Still, I prefer to swing flies and usually fish the Methow with my Sage Z-Axis 1160 switch rod, a floating line, and a traditional steelhead pattern. Guides will want you to toss Egg Sucking Leeches or other heavy weighted flies but I tend to stick to traditional wet (or dry) patterns and catch less fish while enjoying my days more.

Shops, Guides, and Resources

  Shops & Guides

Out of Area Guides

Methow Trips