I had an opportunity to go fish the summer steelhead run on the Cowlitz River in mid-August.  The run was winding down, and many of the guides were moving off the river to make the transition to saltwater salmon fishing, especially along the infamous “Buoy 10”, but the State had just increased the limit to 3 fish per day (steelhead) on the river, so we hoped that the run would still be fast and furious.  I’d never fished the Cowlitz before and we had booked two days of guided fishing, midweek no less, to ensure our success.

The Cowlitz River begins its life on the west side of Mt. Rainier and flows southwest until it eventually feeds the Columbia River near Longview, WA, more than 130 miles away.  The river is dammed in several places, creating large reservoirs such as Riffe Lake and Mayfield Lake.  There are salmon and trout hatcheries along the river, and an active “separator operation” is in place to transport migrating fish above the dams so that they can continue their journey to spawn, due to the absence of fish ladders.  As far as I’m aware, Tacoma Power holds this responsibility (as they own the dams), but I will do further research and provide more details to ensure accuracy here.

Some trivia:  For the winter steelhead fishing season, 2001-2002, the Cowlitz was ranked #1 by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for stream catch, with 16, 572 fish being caught.  That’s nearly 4 times as many fish as the #2 river, the Wynoochee, at 4,436 fish.  So, if you want a good chance of catching steelhead, the Cowlitz would be a good bet.

While this trip was geared towards bait drifting, I was hoping that the fishing would be fast enough to allow a relative newbie fly fisherman such as myself to put down the bait chuckin’ rod and swing a Purple Peril off the end of my intermediate sink line.  As it turned out, that opportunity never really presented itself, but despite that, we had a tremendous amount of fun, saw some great scenery and got into quite a few fish.  It truly was a great trip.  Here’s a run-down of the two days:

Monday, August 11

You know, a couple weeks prior to this, I’d been thinking 10 days of fishing from pre-dawn to post-dusk every day was going to be fantastic.  And here I was, tired and almost becoming apathetic towards fishing!  Who woulda ever thought that going on a purely fishing vacation could be so exhausting?  I must be getting old…

So, after a 7 hour drive on Sunday to Chehalis, I crashed for the evening and got up at the bright and cheery hour of 3:30 a.m., so that we could load up and meet our guide for the next two days at 4:15 a.m. a few miles down the freeway.  Although I’d been thinking that sleeping in wouldn’t be a bad option, I must admit that the prospect of hooking into a 12 pound rocket had me quite alert and eager to get going.  I hadn’t been fishing for steelhead in years - more years than I care to relate here – and I was really, really looking forward to this.  This was about to be the Crown Jewel in an already outstanding week of fishing.

We met up with the Guide and he led us off in the dark through the chilly pre-dawn air, winding along farm roads through dense trees and lush foliage, all completely black in the heavy mist, save for what glowed in the headlights.  We eventually turned off the pavement and begin to descend down a steep graded road, arriving at the Mission Bar boat launch.  For the two days, we basically fished the stretch from just above the boat launch, as far upriver as Blue Creek.  We had more success near Blue Creek, but did pick up fish all over the river.

Despite surface similarities, every body of water has its own unique character, especially in its sound.  There’s the crash and roar of water pounding large obstacles in a steep decline, deafening in its character, the soft gurgle of small brooks quickly trickling over small riffles, and everything imaginable in between.  Turning off the engine and getting out of the rig, we became aware of a powerful, subterranean reverberation that was barely detectable in the blackness – the signature sound of a large volume of water boiling at speed past us unobstructed.

This was a strong river.

Okay, a note to those of you who are from a warmer climate – always take warm clothes when traveling to the Northwest, even in the summer.  I borrowed a wool jacket while I was there, as I do not own any particularly warm clothing anymore, having lived in SoCal and Arizona for the last 10 years now.  And for the first morning, a t-shirt and a coat was marginally bearable – it was only  48 degrees, and running up river made it even colder!We got everything into the boat and headed up river, still in the dark, flat out and on plane.  This is where you decide to have faith in your Guide and his knowledge of the river.  Traveling in a 25-foot jet boat at a high rate of speed, up an unknown river in the dark, is an exercise in trust.

We went up a couple of miles and pulled on to the beach to prepare our gear for the day.  A handful of Loomis GLX ultra light steelhead spin rods (model #STR1141S), designed specifically for bait drifting from a boat, rigged up with egg loops, would be the main tool for both days. We also had a couple of Loomis rods (sorry, didn’t catch the model number) rigged with heavier line and spoons, in case the fish were feeling more rambunctious.

Scenery along the river was terrific.  Much of the river has homes along it, but are set back a bit and blend in well with the trees – no tract housing here.  There were several osprey in the area, and we got to see a pair learn to fly, their parents circling above them and calling words of encouragement to them.  One took off and joined the folks, while the other looked a little tipsy on the edge of the nest.  With enough cajoling, it eventually took that first leap off the edge, and flew up with the others for some family soaring - a pretty cool thing to see.

The prerequisite deer were hanging out, and there were also two pairs of nesting bald eagles.  Though I’ve seen many, many eagles in my day, they still impress the heck out of me.  They always have that air of power and majesty that commands respect from everything around them. Gotta love the attitude!  I suppose that comes from being at the top of their respective food chain.