Steelheaders are a peculiar breed. Those that choose to swing flies for steelhead might be the weirdest of them all. I should know, it's what I like to do. For many, it's an obsession that commands us to wade the river through some of the worst weather of the year, convinces us to shun work responsibilities, strain relationships and spend equal parts time in your head and knee deep in icy water, just waiting for that coveted tug to happen. When it eventually happens and you connect with one of the Northwest's most iconic fish, you're reinvigorated and all jazzed up to cancel your appointments just to make that synapse fire again ASAP. Even when you endure week after fishless week, you still force yourself to clamor out of bed at an ungodly hour and soldier into the cold drizzle to swing a favorite run, you whisper to yourself, "Today will be the day." And you're right about that just often enough to keep that cycle cranking full throttle until the season eventually closes or the fish simply stop coming.
At one point in my life, I operated that way for close to eleven months out of the year, seeking to scratch that perpetual steelhead itch on rivers throughout the Northwest. Back then, May was the only month that most of our rivers closed to protect spawning steelhead. I'd take the month and venture to the desert in Eastern Washington to catch big rainbows in the rich and fertile lakes or patrol the lily pads on a local pond looking for the biggest largemouth bass I could get my hands on. After a quick few weeks, June would come around and you'd find me back on the steelhead grind along the North Fork of the Stilly or occasionally up on the Skykomish.
Steelhead are like diamonds, each one is unique. Some are so chrome they almost hurt your eyes to look at, with ghostly transparent fins and sea lice holding on for dear life above the anal fin. Some have deep black spots, maybe a splash of rose on their gill plates. A big buck is sometimes crimson red on the sides, blazing like fire as it slices the river on its next searing run. Some fight doggedly and refuse to show themselves. Others erupt into to air repeatedly, twisting and contorting above the river momentarily as prisms reflect in the shower of spray. Some nab your fly and blitz downstream so quickly it can feel like they're a quarter mile away from you before your brain finally registers just how connected you are to this powerful wild creature.
Much of a steelhead's life remains mysterious. Where did they go out in the broad blue ocean? Where are they headed? What have they seen along their protracted journeys that ultimately led to your fly stuck neatly in the corner of their jaw? Where do they end up once you gently loosen your grasp from their tail and they sprint off into the current? Certainly, all fish are special in some way or another and we all play favorites in our angling choices, but people that fish for steelhead are a distinctively passionate lot.
These days, we are lucky if we get a short season on our Puget Sound rivers where our angling endeavors actually coincide with the homecoming of winter steelhead. Most of our wild steelhead summer rivers in the North Sound are closed and the certainty of chasing summer fish on the Columbia River tributaries remains anything but certain in recent years. It was a blessing to fish another winter/spring season on the Skagit and Sauk this year and while it proved exceptionally challenging to find fish some weeks, I truly enjoyed connecting with a cherished river, its special fish and meeting so many equally zealous friends and anglers along the way.
Washington's 2025-2027 biennial budget proposal has allocated $0 to the WDFW for steelhead and salmon monitoring, which would pay for spawning estimates, collecting angler data, fishery planning efforts and preparation of fishery management plans for steelhead fisheries. WDFW requested $1.6 million dollars to continue funding this program, also known as the Quicksilver Portfolio. Without funding, the Skagit Steelhead spring fishery will not happen, important data collection to monitor and track wild steelhead populations in North Puget Sound will largely cease. North Sound Trout Unlimited has a very well-written Action Alert set up to help us as anglers and concerned members of a community make our voices heard to our local representatives. I would urge you to take a moment to read it and reach out to your state legislators via phone or email to demand full funding for steelhead monitoring in the North Sound. There's a link to look up your local district representatives within the Action Alert to make this process very easy for you.
Beyond the end of the Skagit Spring Season, there's a whole lot of other fishing opportunities springing up this month, from the general lowland lake opener on Saturday, April 26th, bass lakes warming up, bugs hatching on the Yakima, and chum fry getting eaten in the lowermost Skagit and along the North Sound beaches. We're excited to get out there, especially with a little bit of sunshine in the upcoming forecast. The new Washington license year began on April 1st, so if you haven't already, make sure to pick up your new fishing license. We'll break it all down a bit further in our full fishing report.
Lakes
The year round lowland lakes are now routinely seeing water temperatures reaching the at least the mid-40's. This means bugs are hatching and, at some point along their slow trajectory to struggle through the meniscus and fly away, trout will be snacking on them. The report from Pass Lake has been that the chironomids are still generally on the small side. Lots of #16's and #18's and we've seen success on Black Red Butts with a silver rib, Fro-Yo's, Green/Olive Black Ribbed, Olive Ice Cream Cones, Rick's Prom Midge and Chromies. Some days the fish are feeding closer to the bottom and others in the mid water column so be prepared to fish a few different chironomid tactics to find success. You should be set up to fish both shallow (7-8') with a fixed indicator and closer to the bottom with a long leader and tapered slip indicator set up, as well as naked (long leader/no indicator) to explore more of the water column on a single presentation. If you're new to the chironomid game, drop by the shop and we'll happily give you some guidance on our favorite set ups and tactics. Aside from chironomids, Lake Dragons, Hale Bopps, Chan's Ruby Eyed Leech or BMW's worked slowly around the weed beds can also pay off.
The general lowland lake opener happens on Saturday, April 26th. If you're curious about how many and what sized trout are getting dumped in your favorite stillwater you can find that information in the WDFW stocking reports. Planted trout tend to be less savvy about actual food for the first several weeks in their new digs, so general attractor patterns like small Woolly Buggers, Carey Specials (we really love the red or green ones), Diawl Bachs, Soft Hackles and Flashback Pheasant Tails tend to work really well. As we get into May, these patterns continue to work but you can also find trout beginning to eat the same things you would expect them to feast on. If you find fish rising on the surface, Tom Thumbs, Parachute Adams and gray or brown Elk Hair Caddis often work well. Sometimes stripping them back so that they produce a wake on the surface works even better than just letting them sit there.
Largemouth bass are getting a little more active with the warming weather and large dark subsurface patterns like Bass Masters, Bass Turds and Mini Dragon Tails worked slowly near structure can get the job done on Terrell, Fazon, Wiser and other area bass lakes. We're likely a few weeks of hotter days away from the bluegill action picking up on Fazon but we're definitely looking forward to it.
Rivers
The Skagit spring catch and release steelhead fishery closed a few days ahead of schedule this year and April 10th was the last day. The early closure came as a result of a downgraded run size with WDFW projecting a return of just over 5000 steelhead, a couple of thousand fewer than originally expected. Most area rivers and streams will not reopen until the end of May or early June depending on the fishery. The lowermost Skagit from the Memorial Highway Bridge down to the mouth of both forks is open for trout and the bull and cutthroat fishing has been decent as scores of tiny fry from last fall's mega chum run make their way towards the salt. Look for shallow woody structure and areas where a stronger current may drive unsuspecting fry into an ambush zone. Chumbody's Baby, Chum Baby's, and Lord of the Frys are key patterns to have on hand along with some larger profiled baitfish patterns like Sir Sticks A Lot, white Dali Llamas, white Sculpzillas and even a few topwater flies like the Waking Wounded. The river is a bit high yet in the lower portion but with a week of drier weather predicted in the coming days, the Skagit should drop into prime shape.
Skagit guide, Jordan Treadway with Tread Waters Fly Fishing and some friends are organizing a float and trash clean up on the Skagit River on Sunday, April 20th. Meet at Howard Miller Steelhead Park at 8am. This is a great way to celebrate Earth Day, experience a day on the water on our favorite local river with some cool folks and help make the watershed an even prettier place for all of us to enjoy. You can reach out to Jordan via his website or message him on Instagram @treadwatersfly for more details.
Further afield, the Yakima has been fishing well this spring with Skwala nymphs and dries, Squirminators, Blowtorches, Pearl Lightning Bugs and KJ Hot Ribbed Hare's Ears being effective patterns. Hatches have been a mix of Skwala stoneflies, Blue Winged Olives and a few March Browns as well.
If you're already missing standing in the river and waving a big two handed rod or have been thinking about giving it a try this year, don't forget that we have Speyapalooza coming up on Saturday, May 3rd and hope to see you there. Also, the deadline is fast approaching for shirt/hoody preorders for North Sound Trout Unlimited's special edition Speyapalooza 2025 design created by our good friend Max Parsons. We'll have a very limited number available to purchase at the event so be sure to order yours in advance. Also, for anyone that didn't like the shirt blank that last year's shirts were printed on, we'll be using the same ultra-soft, ultra-supple Next Level shirts we use for our Confluence Shop tees this year. Order yours now!
Beaches
We're finally beginning to see some sea run bull trout and a few cutthroat showing off the North Sound beaches around Whidbey Island, and right on cue, chum fry staging along the salty shores. Chum babies and small white or olive/white Clousers are effective. Teo just tied up a fresh batch of Chum Babies so we have plenty at the shop. The bulls will also go for some larger stuff like the Psychedelic Herring, Shock & Awe, Deep Minnow Stinger and Flash Drive. Don't forget your stripping basket. It's usually the first thing I forget after a several month hiatus from beach fishing.