How's the fishing on the washougal, they sure plant the hell out of the river with hatchery fish???

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finially someone asks for something i know something about.
I grew up on the Washougal and fished it for 20 years or so. The washougal has suffered some of the most serious decline of any steelhead river. In the early - mid 90s they started lowering the plants in the river for the sake of wild fish. That combined with the poor ocean conditions caused several years where there was no fishable numbers. The last few years however WDFW was started planting more fish and they are surviving better so it can provide some good fishing. The fish are not like they used to be. They are almost all little 6-7 lb fish. They look like they came out of a factory ohh umm maybe they did. They go very dormant in cold water and are not aggressive at all. Bait is by far the best bet I cant emphasize enough these fish are not aggressive!!!
In my opinion they are very poor steelhead.. If you come here please keep every fin clipped steelhead you catch. They are causing problems for our wild fish we have to keep them off the spawning beds!!!!!

sorry forgot the fishing details..

there is a lot of good bank access from the mouth to the 10 mile mark which is located at the washougal river merchantile.
Get all your stuff before you go there isnt anyplace on the river to get fishing stuff. I'd say start fishing around the second week of December fish it hard fish it often these fish shoot through the system to the hatchery, i dont know if they recycle them. Other than that its a pretty straight forward steelhead river Ok i;ll give away one spot. There is a popular drift behind the bowling alley right in town

If you fish summer runs there I'm sure you've seen me. I usually hook 25-35 summer runs in the lower river there every year. I usually fish it very little. But for the winter runs I figured the fish would start coming in in late nov. but wasn't sure. I'll be over to fish it after my vacation. Email if you have any other info.
stlhdr1@hotmail.com
keith

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thanks for the info Robert. I had all but given up on posts from the Washougal. Some person (A kid iam assuming) kept posting all of this bogus info on the board this summer. You may remember He claimed he limited in like 2 minutes....or something to that extent ( with 41b test). Thanks for posting some good info.
I had good luck with spinners and spoons in the summer, how do they fair in the winter?

It's encouraging to hear about better numbers returning. It's not so good to hear about the inferiority of the winter brats. I rarely fish for the winters, but I used to fish the Skamania strain of summer steelhead like a fanatic through the 70's; some in the 80's. These fish are perhaps the most hardy of summer strains; that's why they have been used to plant rivers all over the NW and even the Great Lakes rivers. The Sk. brats fight like nates! It suprises me somewhat that the winters are apparently the opposite. I used to fish very small egg clusters on 6 lb. leader in April and May, then switch to only steelhead flyfishing for them in June and July. Along with the Deschutes R. in Oregon, the 'Shou' was a rare place that I caught (and released) limits of flycaught steelhead. I had to give it up due to foot surgeries that limited my wading; but the pod is improved and I'm dabling again over there. I landed a flycaught over there this summer and it was an exhilerating and naustalgic outing for sure! Got a cataraft too. Since landowners have sown up the Laurel Lane area above the store, where I used to cast flies along side guys like Bill McMillan, I just might have to find a way to float my Cat. thru that section next June. - RT

laurel lane shhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

I used to fish quite a bit with Bill's son we were in the same grade throughout grade and highschool. I feel fortunate to have grown up around some of the real pioneers of steelhead fly fishing in southwest washington. i havent caught a steelhead out of the washougal in about 6 years, but the last one i did get was at Bachmans a 15lb wild buck ran the length of the pool twice.:O)

I keep running into you tonight Rob (our BB too). Hey, were you the kid that stole my steelhead out of the back of my pickup over there, a couple decades ago? ... (jk = just kidding) .

Good morning all;I enjoyed reading a little info about a little river that seems to be forgotten about.
Iwas wondering if any of you flyfish the Washougal regularly?I have just about dedicated myself entirely to the pursuit of flyfishing,it is my preferred method.
I have only visited the Washougal a couple of times,and usually later in the summer when the water is very low.Could you please point me in the right direction,as far as time of year and the like to chase the fish of the Washougal with a fly.
Thank you

Well the Washougal used to have bright
native steelhead 365 days a year. These fish have now been replaced by very inferior hatchery fish. As o stated above these fish go very dormant in cold water and are reluctant to chase flies. If you want to fish it for winter runs i'd recommend starting as soon as we get some rain and hitting it hard as often as possible through january. The washougal is in a narrow canyon i'd recommend brong a rod to throw spoons and spinners with in case the river is high. If you have a boat floating from mile post 3 boat launch to hathaway park is a good float with lots of good fly watter if you can stay above the plug pullers. Standard winter steelhead patterns will do fine.
If you want to catch summer runs i'd start in late may and fish through july. muddlers is about all youll need there. If you have specific questions you can e-mail me roba26@hotmail.com

S&S,

I agree with Rob about both the best timing of mid-May thur the end of July as being best, and quality Steelhead Muddler Minnow flies in size 4 as the best producer on the river during that time period. Bill M. has a book out and I would take a look at that. He used to do well with a Steelhead Caddis which was similar to the Muddler but a sparser tie and no gold tinsel. My second fav was the Golden Deamon with orange hackle, brown wing, and gold tinsel on the body. A great fly swung in the surface film with a floating line, as you would the Muddler, or when the water is up and colored a bit, with a fast sinking tip line. I recall most of the standards, such as a Green Butt Skunk, worked well too. Mark Bachman used to have a flyshop out east of Vancouver and he and Bill M. had some of the best winter steelhead flies around. They were very bright multi-colored sparse ties on heavy wire size 2 hooks, and worked well for winters both dead drifted and swung deep. (I think Mark works in the Welches flyshop, or another one somewhere now?). Anyway, excuse the ramble, but the 'Shou' has great flywater along much of it's fishable sections. Have fun. - RT

Wow, RT I never knew you use to flyfish. Never really thought about doing it here. Are you sure that the fly is the best thing to use there during july. I've always murdered them there on eggs, and when I say murder I mean 4-8 fish evenings in the lower river.

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Hi Keith. I had usually already caught and released all the fish I wanted with eggs by the end of May. Flyfishing isn't necessarily the 'best' way to catch them in July, but it is challenging, a satisfying accomplishment, and a thrill to both feel and see a jolting surface take on a swinging wet fly!!! And playing them on a screaming flyreel is great too. You are a killer with eggs. If you get a little bored with that try flyfishing. With your general skill level I'd bet a quart of my best eggs you'd really get off on flyfishing too. Later. - Steve (RT)

Your probably right RT, but it would kill me in low summer condtions close to tidewater seeing fresh summer steelhead and watching them watch my fly go by. Obviously it is a very successful tactic, it's just that I have been on several occations in these type of conditions when a flyfisherman was working 3-4 fish in a pocket and getting none of these fresh fish to pay attention to anything, then flipping a small cluster of eggs into the top of the run and watch the fish go crazy..
keith

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