Ok, it's that time of year again! Parker and the family will be camping at the end of July up at La Wis Wis campground, about 3 miles from Packwood. Or, so they tell me.

From what I have gathered, it's somehwhat on, or near the upper Cowlitz.

Ok, for you upper Cow and Packwood-Fishing experts, what should Parker plan on fishing for over there?

Trout? Steelhead? Suckers? Nothing?

Good bug tossing waters? Dries? Nymphs? Bait?

Any summer runs up there?

Ideally, this "fishing" would all be within walking distance of my campsite.

Any help, suggestions, thoughts, etc, would be appreciated.

Don't worry, as we always bring plenty of beer, so we got that part covered!

hehe....I've been there. awesome campground except for the lack of anadromous fishies.

Saw some real nice trout lurking about but no takers.

I see you are bringing beer. Bring a six pack more than you think you'll need.

I've done well with the fly rod on the upper Cispus which is close to there but probably not walking distance. Have fun.

good call.

the cispus is cool if for no other reason than to just check out.

i've heard a few stories about 'the old days' from up there.

There is a boat ramp and a dock at the campground right on the Cispus and some limited bank access. You should be able to catch some trout there and some real big suckers too. It's a lot of fun as long as you aren't expecting anything exceptional. You have definitely picked a good time to go as far as weather. Bring your camera as there are a lot of deer down there and the bucks are in velvet.

Take your bug rod over to Butter Creek for some outstanding native Brookie action. I've seen steelhead in that creek but not too many. If you want to take the kiddies someplace, grab a box of crawlers down at the store and head to Skate Creek. They put brooders in there and sometimes you get into some nice hold over stocker rainbows. Otherwise, the action is mostly what are called "Skate Creek Regulars". 10 to 14 " Rainbows. The upper Cispus should be heating up for trout about now. They seem to like the little green panther martin spinners. I hope that doesn't reveal any one's favorite zipper water.
I'm going to be camping above lake Cle-Ellum this weekend. That's bug rod water there. Have a good one.
G

Woops! I was thinking of Cowlits Falls campground.

I've stayed at La Wis Wis too but that was a while ago. There are some small trout in there and it is a beautiful area. Fly fishing is how I caught them last time I was there but I didn't catch anything over about 10".

Packwood Lake used to be great for cutts, but it's walk-in show. Leech Lake at the top of the pass is pretty good still I've been told, but you need to check the regs. If you bring a boat, hop down to Riffe Lake for landlocked coho, some trout, some kokanee, good smallmouth fishing. You can also do your thing off the fishing bridge at the head of the lake-- at Taidnapum (or however it's spelled) campground. There also is a fair shore fishery at Swofford Pond, but I think it's mostly spiny rays.

Good luck,

Keith

There's a major creek that I won't name, but it joins the river there and is on the maps. It is absolutely, butt-crushingly inaccessable. But I hiked in one time, took over an hour to bust 400 yards of brush to reach it, and found not a footstep or piece of paper, and dozens of willing tiny wild cutthroats. A size 14 yellow humpy was all that was required. I maybe caught 40 over a couple of hours. Biggest was maybe 10 inches. But it was very, very pretty and the fish were the prettiest trout you could imagine.