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Winter Steelhead, March 2015

3K views 31 replies 20 participants last post by  Matthäus 
#1 ·
Hi,

I am planning for 4-5 days trip in the 3rd week of March 2015 and is looking for recommendations for a river that will give me the best probability of getting a few grabs from fresh run wild Steelhead on the swing with a Spey rod.

Two possibilities I am considering right now are Forks, WA and the Gold River on Vancouver Island. I am inclining more towards Forks WA as it is more affordable. Accommodation and guiding services on the Gold River seems to be really costly as compared to every where else and I'm not sure I can afford it. Nevertheless, I am also hearing that Forks can get rather crowded in Mar too...

Any recommendations for other locations and guides would be much appreciated. As mentioned, key consideration is to get a few grabs from wild Steelhead and not to be skunked over the 4-5 days. I spent 4 days on the North Umpqua in Mar 2014, incredible and beautiful river to fish, but the river blew out for 2 days and I blanked out on the remaining 2 in very high water...

Thanks in advance for any recommendations or suggestions. Please PM if you don't want to advertise your locations in public.

Best Regards
 
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#2 ·
You should go fish the hoh. Not cause you will slay but because the traffic is unreal. You then might come away with the thought that more regulation like the deuchutes is necessary to protect the fish and experience. If you want to fish go to Canada. If you want to be astounded go to forks. No fishing from a boat would greatly benefit this place. Now cue all the "sport guys don't matter the Indians are netting them, so I might as well bead up as many as possible" rhetoric. Canada might cost but it's high quality and high ethics. I love Canada. Canadians have manners and ethics. A polite people to be sure.
 
#3 ·
Any recommendations for other locations and guides would be much appreciated. As mentioned, key consideration is to get a few grabs from wild Steelhead and not to be skunked over the 4-5 days. I spent 4 days on the North Umpqua in Mar 2014, incredible and beautiful river to fish, but the river blew out for 2 days and I blanked out on the remaining 2 in very high water...
Unfortunately this is just the name of the game when it comes to steelheading in March. It doesn't matter where you go, the weather might not cooperate and the rivers may very well be blown for days on end.
 
#4 ·
Flycaster99,

Given your criteria, I recommend the Cowlitz in March. Because it is controlled by dams, it is the river most likely to remain in shape for 5 full consecutive days in March. Both the Gold or other V.I. rivers and Forks area rivers are at about 50% risk of going out during part or all of your planned fishing time. While most of the Cowlitz steelhead are of hatchery origin, despite disbelief there actually are a few hundred wild steelhead that run in the February - April timeframe as well. It is less crowded than the Hoh, and your odds of hooking up would probably be higher.

Sg
 
#5 ·
The links to Wild Steelhead Coalition in your post aren't working. I wasn't sure why you were linking to them, unless you thought we weren't sure what a wild steelhead is. Or maybe you just want to advertise for them. Either way, I would do what Salmo says. I don't know where you are coming from, but stay in Washington and support our guides. Many of them are on this forum giving out knowledge and it would be nice to see the hotels, restaurants, and guides benefit from that. Have fun and post a report when you are finished with your trip!
 
#12 ·
Yeah guides are really struggling out there. I mean there's only 5000 registered wa guides, 3400 on the op. As far as hotels and the like, totally dead cause fishing traffic is so minimum. Really hurting, gotta support all those license carrying conservationist helping the resource and crowd issues. Seriously though if you are flying from singapore forks wouldn't even be on my radar. Go someplace cool. Forks is only cool if you live in Seattle or live for the twilight series.
 
#6 ·
Any recommendations for other locations and guides would be much appreciated. As mentioned, key consideration is to get a few grabs from wild Steelhead and not to be skunked over the 4-5 days. I spent 4 days on the North Umpqua in Mar 2014, incredible and beautiful river to fish, but the river blew out for 2 days and I blanked out on the remaining 2 in very high water...
Your odds of being blown out during any winter steelheading trip between November-April are pretty high...and even higher than many places if you're in the Forks area...that's the nature of the beast. Even if the Forks area rivers are in, your odds of getting skunked during a 4 day trip swinging flies is quite high...especially if you are on your own and have no real knowledge of the locale.

If I were you I'd also look at what Oregon has to offer outside of the NU.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for sharing and the recommendations. I live in Singapore and need to fly 20++ hours just to get to Seattle, so getting a blown out river upon arrival can be a little discouraging... The stocked fish on the Cowlitz may be a way out in exchange for wild fish... I would appreciate any recommendations for a good Spey fishing Guide on the Cowlitz that is familiar and knowledgable with Swing fly waters. Thanks again!
 
#22 ·
Another point for your consideration: Track the Forex ( foreign exchange ) rate, at present 1US$ gets you 1.162CA$, that is a 16+% discount on everything Canadian, by March given the trend it could more and since you are coming from Singapore I think you would find B.C. Canada much more hospitable on many levels. Good luck on what ever you choose.
 
#26 ·
If the money is tight, I can't see why you can't do a "do it your selfer", on the Gold. I certainly wouldn't drift it without prior knowledge but walk in spots are pretty obvious. As noted, most Van Isle streams are at the mercy of the weather. Campbell River would provide better options for accommodation and alternate directions to head.
 
#27 ·
Thanks for sharing and the recommendations. I live in Singapore and need to fly 20++ hours just to get to Seattle, so getting a blown out river upon arrival can be a little discouraging... The stocked fish on the Cowlitz may be a way out in exchange for wild fish... I would appreciate any recommendations for a good Spey fishing Guide on the Cowlitz that is familiar and knowledgable with Swing fly waters. Thanks again!
I'm pretty sure Steve Buckner is still guiding, he's a great guide for the Cowlitz.
http://www.northwestflyfisherman.com/contact_information.htm
 
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