The Wenatchee River is opening to steelhead fishing Monday, Oct. 22 for the first time in 10 years. I used to fish it every fall since 1973. I hear some predictions that it will be very crowded when it opens, but I wonder. Maybe with drift fishermen, but it seems like a lot of the guys who are fly fishing for steelhead have taken it up in the last 10 years and aren't likely familiar with the river. That's my guess at least.

Crowded or not, I'm planning to fish it a few days next week for old time's sake if nothing else. Anyone from here planning to give it a try? I know the run size isn't nearly as large as that predicted for the Methow, but I know where most of the Wenatchee fish live. So I ought to have a decent chance.

Sg

Sg- i will likely head over for a chukar/steelhead trip. We are going for the pheasant opener to Dayton so i might be able to work my way north on the return trip. good luck.
david

I plan on hitting it in early november, never have fished it but always wanted to give it a shot. Think ill be doing a loop and hitting the methow on way home and stop by skagit/stilly as well...good luck up there next week.

I fished it ONCE before they closed it 10 years ago. Have always kicked myself for not going back a few more times that year, but it kicked my a$$ (don't even think of wading that river without spikes or cleats).

I'll probably go sometime in November (especially if the Thompson doesn't open). It's a beautiful river and I always felt a bit cheated that I didn't get to fish it more. Plus I live within a 2 hr drive these days, so even sweeter.

I think the crowds will descend, but I don't care as it's close enough for me to do a day trip during the week. The only issue is that access is less than 10 years ago - floating might be the way to go.

Good Luck!

Brian

Brian,

I was thinking that those new to the W might not be aware that it wades like the Thompson. I always wear cleats and carry a wading staff there, and thought that might give me an advantage. I could fish while others are struggling to stand upright.

Sg

salmo, what days are you planning on going? I was thinking about heading over next week.
Justin

Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri. I have a Wed meeting.

sg, is it worth it to take the pontoon and just drift it or is there enough access without it? theres some pretty good whitewater even below leavenworth correct?

The lower river is not as nasty as Tumwater Canyon, but still deserves your respect.

I'm looking forward to sampling not only the steelhead, but also the resident trout. The closure and then restrictions, on the Methow, did wonders for the resident fish. 10 years of closure on the Wenatchee, I'd guess, should produce some amazing fish. I'm also looking forward to less pressure on my home water.

Good luck, guys.

i was contemplating fishing it thur. ive sworn for the past few years that if it ever did open, i would not fish it because of the crowds that i knew would be there but i just cant help myself.

Summerrun,

It's floatable downstream of Leavenworth, but deserves anyone's respect. Don't try floating over Dryden dam, for instance. And there's a couple other hairy spots as I recall. There used to be plenty of bank access, but the grapevine is saying a lot of that has been posted - don't know why if no one's been trespassing to fish it. I plan to take my raft.

PS,

There should be some resident trout. It would be naive to think no one's been fishing it for 10 years just because it was closed. People being people and all. But the reduced pressure may have allowed the trout population to increase in numbers and size. I hadn't been thinking of that.

Sparks,

If you're coming over, email me. If you haven't fished it, don't bother unless you bring both stream cleats and a wading staff. Think Thompson River slick.

Sg

Sg-
I am unsure of your current email so I sent you a private message.

any reports? it did open today right?

Apparently it was busy. The river's higher than I prefer it, so I'm waiting 'til Thursday to try it.

Sg

Sparkey, are you two timing me, I am in for Thursday

Lotta' fish caught near the mouth yesterday according to an article in the Wenatchee World. Hope a few are further up river.

We floated from Monitor to the mouth on Monday and Tuesday. It was pretty much a scouting trip since we had never fished it before. The fish we did catch were caught from the raft since all of the runs had fishers and we tried to give them a wide berth.

I was surprised by the lack of trout as we didn't catch any. I assumed they would have been represented in the catch more than they were. But then again, there is probably more higher up in the system. I wanted to do a different float on Tuesday just to see some new water but the "captain" wanted to do the same float since we did pretty good the first day and he didn't want to "leave fish to find fish".

One of the better moments was drifting down to the mouth. We saw steelhead, chinook, sturgeon, suckers, whitefish, and bass; all in pretty shallow, clear water.

Sg, I'd swing behind you down a run anytime! I got lots of vacation to use up.

Take warning on the wading issue. I have been running around in my studs all year without mishap. Out of respect for my friend's raft, I didn't wear them. First spot we could wade, down I went with only a little water down my waders. Luckily I gave him first pass so he didn't see me fall. Only my pride was hurt. Three days on the Thompson and I never came close to falling. The first 3 minutes of fishing the Wenatchee I was bobbing like a barrell of apples at a kids Halloween party.

Dave,

I was thinking the river was a bit high at 986 cfs, so I didn't go Mon or Tues. What did you think of it? I plan on fishing tomorrow, and I have my stream cleats and wading staff already in the car.

Sg

Sg,

I have nothing to compare it to since I never did fish it before but I'd say it may have been a little high for greased line fishing only because it would take a pretty aggressive fish to take a fly near the surface from its holding lie. The other technique would be to fish skinnier holding water. After the first three days with all the pressure I'm guessing the fish are looking for some sactuary water, meaning they could be looking for some non-traditional holding water. Monday the fish were pretty aggressive but by Tuesday, they were not near as aggressive, meaning the pressure was getting to them.

I wanted to float so I could scout for walk in spots later and the extra water didn't hurt in that regard. There are about 8 runs that I'd want to fish again. Some are relatively accessible by foot but then they get lots of pressure too. Fish are spread throughout the system. The trick will be to find some secluded water and fish it hard.