Fly Fishing Columbia River Basin Steelhead Rivers

Pricing:  Full Day $550 – $100 Additional 3rd Angler – All equipment included – Fishing License, WA Sales Tax and Gratuity not included
Season:  All year but varies from river to river
Species:  Wild Steelhead
EWA Cancellation Policy

Columbia River steelhead are found a broad range of watersheds from the top of eastern Washington all the way down to tributaries below Bonneville Dam.  Because these steelhead are returning to watersheds cover well over 300 miles of the Columbia River, their arrival time to their natal rivers varies considerably.  These rivers are all Columbia River tribs:

Cowlitz River
Klickitat River
Grande Ronde River
Methow River
Wenatchee River
Kalama River

With the Methow and Wenatchee way up or over in eastern Washington depending on how you look at it, these fish have to pass more than 5 giant hydro power dams enroute to these two rivers which takes them a bit more time.  So summer fish end up in the drainage more in the late summer, early fall and into early winter.  The Grande Ronde and Klickitat also fall into this category so look for the seasons on these rivers to correspond accordingly.

Lower Columbia River steelhead rivers include the Cowlitz, Lewis, Toutle and Kalama to name a few.  Most of these are below the first dam so fish leaving the Pacific Ocean can be up river and to their natal river within a day or two providing a more timely arrival and season for both winter and summer steelhead.

Additional Information:

Flies:  Intruders, General Practitioner, Metal Detector, Mega Moal, Skagit Minnows, Morrish’s Trailer Trash, River Rats, Fergus Rock Star, Skunks, Purple Perils, Skykomish Sunrises
Ideal Flows:  See different recommended river flows here
Clothing/Equipment Lists:  Summer season, Winter season
Rods and Lines:  11 1/2 – 13 1/3 foot, 5-8wt spey rods, Rage, Skagit, Scandi, Scout and OPST heads with various tips from floating T-10, T-14 and T-18
Species: Steelhead
Duration:  Full day trip 8-9 hours fishing time
Distance from Seattle:  1 hour to 7  hours