Summer certainly took her time giving way to fall this year but the intermittent rain squalls, squishy moss along the forest floors and the colorful foliage rustling in the treetops tell us we've essentially arrived. While we're just barely more than a week or so into the fall season, it already seems like it's slipping by all too quickly. There is October and there is November and those months can be entirely different beasts. Right now, it's still warm enough to get by with a T-shirt on most days and a fleece kept handy for the cooler mornings and evenings is about all you need. Not a bad idea to keep the rain jacket tucked away in the vehicle just in case. You know how it works. If you bring it with you, the dark billowy clouds will hold back their fury. And if you don't? It'll be a damp day afoot and wet car ride home.
People laud the fall colors displayed by trees; the yellows, reds and oranges of vine and big leaf maple if you're west of the Cascades and the aspens and larches in Eastern Washington. They are beautiful for sure, but as anglers, we get to enjoy a whole different palette of intense color in the fish we pursue this time of year. Whether it's a crimson-bodied coho salmon from a misty slough, a pink-bellied west slope cutthroat on the eastside or a golden-hued bull trout with red and orange highlights, everything seems to put on its best suit or dress to welcome in the fall season.
My favorite of these fall fish has always been the brook trout. I don't think there is a prettier salmonid that swims and they are at the apex of their beauty this time of year as they get ready to spawn. I have mixed feelings about the brook trout as a species that is not indigenous to the Northwest. They pose a threat of introgression with our native char, the bull trout and dolly varden these species overlap and potentially compete for resources with other fish. They're probably here for the long haul at this point, however, so we might as well enjoy them. I go looking for fall brookies at least once or twice a season and am always stopped in my tracks when the first one comes to hand, especially a big one. There are at least a few spots around where brook trout in the west can grow to Labradorian proportions. Understandably, most of those locales are guarded under lock and key. I found several nice ones last week on my annual quest and the image of their fiery fall colors will tide me over until next October, long after the cuts on my fingers from their sharp, jagged teeth will have healed.
Pink salmon are beginning to thin out as more coho salmon trickle into our North Sound rivers. With cooler weather, water clarity in the Nooksack and lower Skagit have improved overall. We have a few more weeks to pursue trout in the creeks or venture to a favorite stillwater fishery before the general lake and stream seasons come to a close or it simply gets too cold to be effective. Sea run cutthroat in the open sections of the maintem and NF Stillaguamish River has been a fun alternative to salmon over the last couple of weeks. Fall is also a favorite time on the Yakima River and we've had a lot of customers headed that direction to enjoy the wadeable flows and take in the vibrant autumn scenery of the Eastern Washington high desert. The fishing options are many. Now's the perfect time to stock up on memories to carry you through those tough winter months when the fish are few and the raindrops or snowflakes are many.
Thanks for keeping us really busy over the last month. Shop traffic has remained really steady over the last few weeks. We've added some cool new fly tying materials recently and have some end of the summer and perfect-for-fall warmer layers on sale as well...just in case you were looking for a good excuse to pay us a visit. I have two open spots left for another fall Pacific Salmon fly tying class on Wednesday, October 15th. You can purchase the class on our website or stop by the shop to sign up. The last one filled up quickly so act fast if you want a spot. On Thursday, October 22nd, our North Sound Trout Unlimited Chapter is hosting "Letters & Lagers for Steelhead" at Larabee Brewing. This event will feature Alexei Calambokidis, Trout Unlimited's Washington State Policy Director, to help answer questions about how we can best pressure our local congressmen and women to fully fund WDFW's Quicksilver Portfolio. The Quicksilver Portfolio includes creel and run size monitoring for the Skagit spring catch and release season for winter steelhead, which is a requirement for being able to offer a season. As of right now, there will be no spring steelhead season on the Skagit/Sauk for 2026 without this critical funding, regardless of how many wild steelhead are forecast to return. Whether you fish the Skagit for steelhead or not, show up and learn how to can best make your voice heard. Most fisheries rely on some level of funding to happen and as anglers, we need to let our state know how important these opportunities are to us. Fast forwarding to next month, the Confluence and North Sound TU are bringing the International Fly Fishing Film Tour to the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon on November 6th. You can purchase advance tickets from the Lincoln or on the IF4 website.
Enjoy these colorful days of fall on your favorite body of water. They seem to go by all too quickly. We look forward to hearing all about your latest adventures!
Rivers
After a long, hot and dry summer, it's nice to see some periodic rain cycles coming through the region. Particularly when it comes to salmon, I've long thought of these big downpours as a reset button for the rivers. A push of water encourages fish that have been in the system for a while to move along and do their thing. At the same time it green lights new fish to take advantage of the freshet and come into the river bright, active and aggressive...just the way we like them. The North and South Forks of the Nooksack opened on October 1st and both have good numbers of coho in them. The Skagit has had a good showing of coho as well. Watch the WDFW emergency rules or subscribe to get their alerts as there have been a number of sectional closures on the Skagit to allow for tribal fishing.
We tend to carry two fly boxes with coho in mind. One is tailored towards higher, more turbid flows and holds the bigger, Alaska-type bunny and marabou flies. Showgirls, Pixies Revenge, Manhattan Beach and Popsicle Alaskabous, Dali Llamas (the ones with the big cones that are wretched to cast but catch a ton of salmon), Starlight Leeches and the like. The other is for clear and often lower water like you typically encounter on the SF Nooksack or Skagit above the Sauk. This box has smaller flies in #6 or #8, like Chartreuse, Olive or Green Flash Rolled Muddlers, Coastal Buggers, Hot Bead Buggers and Coho Buggers. One might take a peek in the second box and assume these are trout flies. Indeed, this second box doubles as a fantastic selection for sea run cutthroat in the rivers too but make no mistake, in clear water these patterns will catch the heck out of coho too. If you'd like to learn to tie a variety of both big and small salmon patterns, sign up for our Pacific Salmon fly tying class on October 15th.
Sea run cutthroat fishing on the Stilly has been pretty good overall. The mainstem is now open and the NF Stilly is open up to the Cicero Bridge, with the remainder of the NF opening in mid-November. Hot Bead Buggers, Rolled Muddlers, Mickey Finns, BH Raccoons and Pocket Rockets are all great cutthroat choices. If you're still encountering old dogged pinks around, switching to topwater presentations for cutthroat is a wise choice to avoid the salmon. Adult Cranes, Foam Run Caddis, Big Boned Caddis or Muddlers skated and skittered on the surface can be really productive.
In the trout world, you've got through the end of the month for a few last visits to a favorite mountain stream. Standard dries like Para Wulffs and Orange Stimulators are good fall choices and a yellow or orange Partridge Soft Hackle swung just subsurface is a fine option as well. If you're headed over to the Yakima, a dry/dropper setup featuring an October Caddis dry fly and a small nymph trailing a few feet behind like a pearl or gold Lightning Bug, Holo Point Jig or Olive Hot Spot Jig works really well. As does swinging October Caddis pupae patterns like Rio's Caddy Shack in orange or the Morrish Deep October Pupa. If streamers are more your jam, fall is an excellent time to swing Sculpzillas, Mini Dalai Lamas, Pocket Rockets, Sheila Sculpin and GB Kiwi Muddlers.
Lakes
If you're looking for a quiet piece of waterfront real estate, many of our lakes are grossly neglected in the fall and you can virtually have the place to yourself. Trout are plump from a long season of feeding and looking to pack away a few more big meals for the winter ahead. BH Mini Leeches, BH Hale Bopps, Chan's Ruby Eyed Leech and BMW's are great patterns this time of year in the absence of any sort of hatch activity. Balanced Jelly Leeches in black or olive are also a great choice under an indicator on shoals and near drop offs. On calm days, hatching midges may bring trout to the surface where you can tempt them with Brooks Sprouts, CDC Hatching Midges, Midge Winkers or Griffith's Gnats. Pass Lake near Anacortes remains closed due to high levels of toxic algae. October is our favorite time of year to fish Ross Lake in the North Cascades. It's not an easy place to get to let alone get a boat on, but if you happen to be staying at the Resort or are renting a boat from them for a day or two, you'll find some great fishing on Franke Shiners, Thin Mints, Baby Fat Minnows and White or Olive Zonkers.
Beaches
Saltwater salmon closed for the most part in the North Sound, with only Marine Area 8-1 (Deception Pass) remaining open through October 12th. Sea run cutthroat beaches are open year round, though a high percentage of our North Sound fish ascend the larger area rivers like the Skagit and Stillaguamish in the fall and their numbers tend to be pretty sparse in the saltwater until springtime.