just wondering what everybody thinks is the best river to fish in western wa. for size and numbers of fish,steelhead,salmon,dollys just curious i don't know this area very well so i am trying to learn it thanks,Bruce

The Skykomish of course.

i could tell you, but then i'd have to kill you...

You must be kidding.

The one where the fish are bitting of course.

head west, take a right before the bridge, first left(about a quarter mile), follow to the bend, park at the gate walk in half mile, downriver , take your pick of the holes, look for fish rolling, good luck

Man.. I can almost make sense out of those directions

The 1 in your backyard rates high on my list

It's the one I am on when I am on it

Get out and explore,It's the best way to find out what your looking for.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE
P.S. The north fork of the south east side of the" can't tell ya" holds pretty nice fish.

Firstly, SW British Columbia (Harrison River, Chilliwack/Vedder, Fraser, Squamish/Cheakamus, Stave, etc.) generally has better river fishing than Washington State. It’s mostly where I go.

I reviewed Washington State’s catch statistics pamphlet for salmon recently, and the Columbia River (lotsa water, however), Sekiu (saltwater), Ilwaco (saltwater), and the Samish River (consider it’s tiny size, folks!) jumped out at me as some of the most prolific salmon fisheries in our state.

The Columbia River is arguably the “best” spring-time King salmon fishery in our state. Bright spring fish. During the peak, at the best spots, 5+ kings for some guide boats has not been terribly unusual the last 2 years. Some of it’s river mouths can be great, too. Vernita area probably has the best autumn King river fishing in the state.

Below Bonneville, and on the Willamette R. by Portland, we’ve hooked hard-fighting 2-3 lb. shad on almost every cast if we back-bounce the spoon in June. All things being equal, a boat helps keep the crowding down.

If you want to fish with a real young kid, forget the rivers and take them to Lake Terrell near Ferndale. My 4 year-old nephew averages MORE THAN ONE tiny panfish PER CAST when we use 3 baits/hooks on his line. Yes, it’s legal. Little kids don’t mind small fish…they want action. Fish from a boat, in the warmest months of the year. Use a bigger bait/lure on the bottom of the 3 baits/lures if you want to also catch the occasional decent sized bass, too. Fish the deepest water on Terrell if you do want the largest panfish.
Moses Lake in September can be similar, with bigger fish, often.
Or try Moses Lake the 3rd week in March, by the I-90 bridge, and you can see your line twitch often…just from so many huge perch bumping into your LINE down below!

During odd numbered years we’ve caught pink salmon every 3 casts or so on the Skagit in September with pink curl-tail jigs from a boat! Skykomish can be great for pinks too…I saw pictures of TWO different alleged all-tackle all-time world’s record pink salmon caught there last year!

Tatoosh Island (saltwater) west of Neah Bay is so good in late August for coho that I've put my cut-plug herring six inches under the surface, trolled only THREE FEET behind the boat, and SEEN a coho hit it every 3 minutes or so! Fun! Gotta put a dummy flasher off a downrigger about 30 inches below the herring.

Sekiu (saltwater) and Neah Bay out in the strait for pink salmon in August is arguably the most prolific saltwater salmon option in the state.

Bonneville area is world-class for world-class-sized fish (I’m talking here about 6-10’+ sturgeon in June….I got a 9 footer last year.)

Hood Canal rivers and salt-water creek mouths, in November for chums, can yield some of the highest fish-checker catch rates for salmon that I’ve seen anywhere. I’ve also seen some boats play 25 to 40+ chums per day. Not all fish are fair-hooked, however.

For those who don’t mind someone else sometimes fishing THREE FEET from you, then the Samish River in late Sept. has very high catch rates, especially considering it's no bigger than some “creeks”. Chinook and coho. 1900 salmon hooked a few years ago, in the fall.

Lake Washington is hot for sockeye trolling, in some years. As with everything, you gotta hit them at the right TIME!

The best resident rainbow trout streams are the Skagit where it’s in CANADA (3 hour drive from Bellingham, believe it or not), and the Yakima River in September, and Rocky Ford, in my (not so) humble opinion.

If you don't mind crowds hit the Cowlitz w/in 7 days of Christmas or so (and in the summer) for steelhead. More steelies caught on the Cow than any other river in the state (except maybe the huge Columbia.) Cowlitz can be good for salmon too.

The "Bogey" on the peninsula is maybe the best river in January or so, for steelhead. Peninsula streams can be great for salmon in October, too!

The Skykomish is decent for chum in late Nov./early Dec. And one of the best winter/summer steelhead streams in Puget Sound. But most folks gotta work hard to catch very many steelies.

The Skagit River in March, from a boat, can be good for catch and release of large steelhead...but steelhead are way harder to catch than salmon! Also, it’s the most noteworthy Dolly river (and the Sauk River) in Puget Sound and probably the state. Good for chum in even-numbered years, especially.

If you’re bank-bound, then getting a 20’ semi-v jet boat will put you miles ahead in catching more fish, at many fisheries anyway! Can’t afford one?…there’s no law that says you can’t spend you kids’ college-education fund on a boat!

If shoulder-to-shoulder crowds are a problem, then also use the above-mentioned boat to hit the saltwater….or hike well away from the main bridges on rivers.

The samish has been getting some good numbers of fish back. Excellent chinook returns. Good coho numbers too. Steelhead should be good too.

thanks for the info guys.dale excellant reply i really appreiciate it thanks,Bruce

Dale D,
good break down on our fisheries

somewhere in all that are the zlips evwerybody is woried about.

I would vote for the Frazier River during Sockeye time. What a blast!!!!.......warm weather, lots of fish, not that far away, and lots of area to absorb the crowds.

My second vote would be the Wind River for spring chinook. The quality of the fish is the main attraction, but the river itself has a very nice feel, look, and smell to it.