Northwest Steelheading

Spey casting at my favorite run on the Snoqualmie River

I moved to Washington in 1990 with dreams of steelhead.  Having taken one steelhead trip to Michigan while in the Midwest the steelhead had a mystique about it and I yearned to catch one of these ocean going rainbows in one of the great Northwest steelhead rivers.  Unfortunately, I moved to the Northwest about the time steelhead were in decline and I spent a few years trying to catch one with no luck.  After leaving work in 2000 I started steelheading again and in 2002 finally succeeded in landing 4 steelhead in about an hour on the famous Deschutes River in Central Oregon.  Since that time I spend some time on steelhead waters each year depending on how the runs are going.  The Deschutes has become an annual trip now, I fish the Snoqualmie summer runs before work, and try to get to one of the other desert rivers each season.

Steelhead Rivers

• Snoqualmie River - my "home" river just 15 minutes from my house
• Deschutes River - my favorite steelhead river
• Methow River - another favorite when it is open for fishing
• Wenatchee River - another eastern Washington river that was closed for many years but re-opened in 2007
• North Fork Stilliguamish - hallowed waters which I rarely fish these days

Steelhead Flies

I have caught all my steelhead on basically 2 patterns with several colors in the one pattern. 

Streetwalker

The Streetwalker was responsible for my first Deschutes fish on a spey rod and has since caught several other Deschutes fish plus most of my Snoqualmie fish.

Painted Lady

The Painted Lady is a creation of Jay Paulson of AmazingFlies.com and has worked in every color and every river we've tried it in.     

Steelhead Trips

• Deschutes - August 28-30, 2008
• Skagit - December 21, 2007
• Wentachee - November 1, 2007
• Deschutes - October 18-22, 2007