Washington Winter Steelhead Update February 2021

While we’ve had some challenging steelhead restrictions to deal with this winter steelhead season, the opportunity still exists to hook into a winter chrome bolt of energy.

While the early runs of mostly hatchery fish have come to a close, we’ve fully transitioned into the late run of winter steelhead, which as of recent years has provided the best opportunity for both hatchery and wild winter steelhead.

As of writing this blog post, I’ve got significant snow melt due to the warmer weather system which has shown up to replace the big snowstorm we had over the weekend.

In looking at the river flows, this snowmelt and rain are finally starting to show up and send rivers on the rise. This means the latter half of the week and into the weekend may be better than trying to run out there tomorrow. We will see.

I’ve only made it out once this month so far and not in the best water conditions, due to travel and competing priorities, but I’m definitely looking to take more advantage of the next 30 days, which are prime time to connect with a late winter steelhead.

Where are the best places to try for winter steelhead right now?

One of the best bets between now and the end of March may end up being the Cowlitz River. Fish are already being caught there. You can use bait and a boat on the Cowlitz in contrast with the Chehalis system, North Sound, and Washington Coast. Full details on the WDFW website and this earlier blog post.

If you are bank-bound, try around Blue Creek on the Cowlitz which is one of the more popular and well-known bank fishing spots in the state. Additionally, with the river being dam-controlled, the flows may be more stable and predictable as other rivers are getting a surge.

Also, in a pleasantly surprising move, we have a steelhead fishery on the Skagit and Sauk rivers in the north Puget Sound. Always consult the WDFW emergency rules before a trip as things could change, but as of this writing fishing for steelhead is open from Saturday – Tuesday from Feb 1 – Apr 13.

The Skagit and Sauk rivers are some of the most beautiful country in the state (anywhere?) and are not always open these days, so especially if you live in the North Sound, you may want to consider these as great options vs traveling 3-4 hours to SW Washington or the Olympic Peninsula.

Speaking of the Olympic Peninsula right now is prime time to be targeting that trophy wild steelhead. While you cannot use bait or fish from a boat, hiring a guide to ferry you down to the best bank fishing spots that are inaccessible without a boat, may be your best option.

Lastly, the Chehalis River system is still putting out good numbers of hatchery fish and tends to be where I spend my time until March when I transition to other rivers.

Questions about how to fish for winter steelhead? You can head over to my recently published master page on the topic of winter steelhead fishing.

You can also check out a short video I made on the topic on our YouTube channel. Please like and subscribe if you haven’t already connected with us there.