Where to Go and When to Go There

Flyfishing is like dating, you have to be at the right place at the right time to be successful. I spent the a lot of time over the last few years beating the water and taking notes. One of the keys to a successful day on the water is knowing where to go and when to go there. I put together a table, based on time of year, that should point you in the right direction. Note: I live (and fish primarily) in Northwest Washington. When I mention local lakes, I am referring to lakes in Northwest Washington. When you see a reference to Eastside Lakes, I am talking about lakes in Eastern Washington.

Winter (January, February)

Winter is a time when not may people get out as the water and air can both be very cold. However, I have found some of my best fishing of the year for steelhead, and expecially dolly varden during January and February.

Month	Where to Go	What to Fish For	Food Source	Flies
January	Local Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomids, Leaches, Baitfish	Chironomids, Wooley Buggers, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Local Rivers	Steelhead, Dolley Varden	Shrimp, Whitefish, Leaches	General Practioners, Marabou Streamers, Egg Sucking Leaches
	Eastside Spring Creeks	Rainbows	Scuds, Leaches	Olive Skuds, Wooley Buggers, Leaches
February	Local Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomids, Leaches, Baitfish	Chironomids, Wooley Buggers, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Local Rivers	Steelhead, Dolley Varden	Shrimp, Whitefish, Leaches	General Practioners, Marabou Streamers, Egg Sucking Leaches
	Eastside Spring Creeks	Rainbows	Scuds, Leaches	Olive Skuds, Wooley Buggers, Leaches

Spring (March, April, May)

Spring is a great time of year for fishing. The rains of spring bring the large native steelhead into the local rivers. Hooking into a steelhead can be hard work, but there is probably no bigger thrill than having one put a bend in your rod.

This is also a great time to fish for trout in the local lakes. They are eager to feed after a long winter and become very active when the water warms. This often means hard takes, and long aerobatic runs. I prefer to spend most of my time on the lakes designated as "Selective Fisheries" as you stand a better chance of finding the larger "holdovers" from the previous year.

Month	Where to Go	What to Fish For	Food Source	Flies
March	Local Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomids, Scuds, Damsel Nymphs, Baitfish	Chironomids, Olive Scuds, Olive Willie's/Carey's, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Eastside Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomids, Scuds, Damsel Nymphs, Baitfish	Chironomids, Olive Scuds, Olive Willie's/Carey's, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Local Rivers	Steelhead	Shrimp, Whitefish	General Practioners, Marabou Streamers
	Eastside Rivers	Rainbows	Mayfly, Caddis, Stonefly Numphs	Hare's Ear, Stonefly Nymphs
April	Local Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomids, Scuds, Damsel Nymphs, Baitfish	Chironomids, Olive Scuds, Olive Willie's/Carey's, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Eastside Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomids, Scuds, Damsel Nymphs, Callibaetis Mayflies, Baitfish	Chironomids, Olive Scuds, Olive Willie's/Carey's, Cripple Callibaetis, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Local Rivers	Steelhead	Shrimp, Whitefish	General Practioners, Marabou Streamers
	Eastside Rivers	Rainbows	Caddis, March Browns	Elk Hair Caddis, March Browns
May	Local Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomids, Scuds, Damsel Nymphs, Baitfish	Chironomids, Olive Scuds, Olive Willie's/Carey's, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Eastside Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomids, Scuds, Damsel Nymphs, Callibaetis Mayflies, Baitfish	Chironomids, Olive Scuds, Olive Willie's/Carey's, Cripple Callibaetis, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Eastside Rivers	Rainbows	Caddis, March Browns	Elk Hair Caddis, March Browns

Summer (June, July, August)

Summer is another tought time for fish and fishtermen. With the warm summer days comes warmer lake temperatures, increased algae gowth, and reduced oxygen levels. This can place a lot of stress on trout, which prefer temperatures between 50 and 60 degrees. Furthermore, the winter runoff which filled the rivers in spring has subsided resulting in low and clear conditions. Steelhead move to the deeper holes and streamier well oxygenated riffles for cover.

Month	Where to Go	What to Fish For	Food Source	Flies
June	Local Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomid Pupa, Scuds, Damsel Nymphs, Leaches, Baitfish	Blood Worms, Olive Scuds, Olive Willie's/Carey's, Leach Patterns, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Eastside Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomids, Scuds, Damsel Nymphs, Callibaetis Nymphs & Mayflies, Baitfish	Chironomids, Olive Scuds, Olive Willie's/Carey's, Skip Nymph, Cripple Callibaetis, Adams, Poly Wing Spinners, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Local Rivers	Steelhead	Shrimp, Baitfish	General Practioners, Marabou Streamers
	Eastside Rivers	Rainbows	Caddis, Mayflies, Stoneflies	Elk Hair Caddis, Hare's Ear Nymphs, Parachute Adams, Adams, Stonefly Nymphs, Stoneflies
July	Local Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomid Pupa, Damsel Nymphs, Dragonfly Nymphs, Leaches Baitfish	Blood Worms, Olive Willie's/Carey's, Dragonfly Nymphs, Leach Pattens, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Eastside Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomids, Damsel Nymphs, Dragonfly Nymphs, Callibaetis Nymphs & Mayflies, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin	Chironomids, Olive Willie's/Carey's, Dragonfly Nymphs, Skip Nymph, Cripple Callibaetis, Adams, Poly Wing Spinners, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Local Rivers	Steelhead	Shrimp, Baitfish	General Practioners, Marabou Streamers
	Eastside Rivers	Rainbows	Caddis, Mayflies, Stoneflies	Elk Hair Caddis, Hare's Ear Nymphs, Parachute Adams, Adams, Stonefly Nymphs, Stoneflies
August	Local Lakes	Rainbows	Chironomid Pupa, Dragonfly Nymphs, Leaches	Blood Worms, Dragonfly Nymphs, Leach Pattens
	Eastside Lakes	Rainbows	Chironomids, Dragonfly Nymphs, Leaches	Chironomids, Dragonfly Nymphs, Leach Patterns
	Local Rivers	SRC, Steelhead	Baitfish, Caddis, October Caddis	Spiders & Reverse Spiders, Elk Hair Caddis, Skated Polar Shrimp, Orange Stimulator, Flutterning Caddis, Wakers, Bombers
	Local Rivers	Dolly Varden, Chinook	Whitefish, Egg Sucking Whitfish	#2 white marabou streamers, #2 egg sucking white marabou streamers
	Eastside Rivers	Rainbows, Steelhead	Caddis, October Caddis, Stoneflies	Elk Hair Caddis, Skated Polar Shrimp, Stimulators, Flutterning Caddis, Wakers, Bombers
	Puget Sound	Silvers	Baitfish	Mickey Fin, Clousers, Bucktail Streamers

Fall (September, October, November, December)

Fall is my favorite time of the year. Temperatures cool and lakes return to their optimal feeding conditions. Trout eagerly feed and are not very selecite, trying to put on weight for the upcoming winter. This is also the time of year when the anadramous fish enter the rivers. Species include Sea Run Cutthrout (SRC), Pink Salmon, Sockeye Salmon, Silver Salmon, King Salmon, Chum Salmon, and Native Summer Steelhead. Not hard to understand why I like this time of year.

Month	Where to Go	What to Fish For	Food Source	Flies
September	Local Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomids, Scuds, Leaches, Baitfish	Chironomids, Olive Scuds, Black, Olive, or Brown Wooley buggers, Leaches, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Eastside Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomids, Scuds, Leaches, Baitfish	Chironomids, Olive Scuds, Black, Olive, or Brown Wooley buggers, Leaches, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Local Rivers	SRC, Steelhead, Pink and Silver Salmon	Caddis, October Caddis, Baitfish, Squid	Polar Shrimp (Skated), Elk Hair Caddis, Stimulators, Bucktail Streamers, Weighted Marabou Streamers (Jig Style),
	Eastside Rivers	Rainbows, Steelhead	Caddis, October Caddis, Stoneflies	Elk Hair Caddis, Stimulators
October	Local Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomids, Scuds, Leaches, Baitfish	Chironomids, Olive Scuds, Black, Olive, or Brown Wooley buggers, Leaches, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Eastside Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomids, Scuds, Leaches, Baitfish	Chironomids, Olive Scuds, Black, Olive, or Brown Wooley buggers, Leaches, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Local Rivers	SRC, Steelhead, Chum Salmon, Pink and Silver Salmon	Caddis, October Caddis, Baitfish, Plankton, Leaches, Squid	Polar Shrimp (Skated), Elk Hair Caddis, Stimulators, Bucktail Streamers, Small Marabou/Bunny streamers in Black, Pink, Green, Chartruse, Green or Orange Egg Sucking Leaches, Weighted Marabou Streamers (Jig Style)
	Eastside Rivers	Rainbows, Steelhead	Caddis, October Caddis, Stoneflies	Elk Hair Caddis, Stimulators
November	Local Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomids, Leaches, Baitfish	Chironomids, Black, Olive, or Brown Wooley buggers, Bunny Leaches, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Eastside Lakes	Rainbows, Browns	Chironomids, Leaches, Baitfish	Chironomids, Black, Olive, or Brown Wooley buggers, Bunny Leaches, Muddler Minnows, Grey Ghost, Mickey Fin
	Local Rivers	Steelhead, Chum and Silver Salmon	Caddis, October Caddis, Baitfish, Plankton, Leaches	Polar Shrimp (Skated), Elk Hair Caddis, Stimulators, Bucktail Streamers, Small Marabou/Bunny streamers in Black, Pink, Green, Chartruse, Egg Sucking Leaches with Green or Orange Eggs
December	Local Rivers	Steelhead, Chum Salmon	Baitfish, Leaches, Plankton, Leaches	Marabou Streamers, Egg Sucking Leaches, Small Marabou/Bunny streamers in Black, Pink, Green, Chartruse, Egg Sucking Leaches with Green or Orange Eggs

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