We are currently not running this program. Mike and Scott are guiding in Alaska at Royal Wolf Lodge.
The first thing that comes to mind when trying to describe this area is - super productive. There are three incredible rivers that we'll frequent in this area, the Cowlitz, Kalama, and Lewis Rivers. Annually, the big Cowlitz River and the mid sized Lewis River battle it out as Washington State's most productive summer steelhead streams, while the diminutive (by comparison) Kalama River holds it's own for it's size. Each year the combination of these three rivers account for nearly 15,000 summer run steelhead caught by anglers!
If the production alone hasn't got you convinced enough to book a trip there's also the quality of the fly water. With three distinctly different sized rivers to choose from there's something for everyone. From long easy to wade gravel bars that hold fish near and far to deep, greasy, bouldery pools, they're ideal for both single and double handed rods. All these rivers have such an abundance of great fly water that we would match them against any of the more famous (and more fished) summer steelhead fly fishing destinations in the Northwest. The Kalama even has a designated fly fishing only section ("The Holy Water").
All three rivers are tributaries of the lower Columbia River and are tidally influenced in their lower reaches. That of course makes for very fresh, very bright ocean run fish. These rivers drain a fair portion of the North Cascade Mountain Range including Mount Rainier, Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens. The Latter flooded the Toutle River, a tributary of the Cowlitz, with volcanic mudflows when it erupted in May of 1980. That event turned out to be of some importance to fisheries science in that we found out that the resiliency of our steelhead and salmon runs are far greater than previously known. These are rural rivers a full two hours from the nearest large population bases of Portland and Seattle and so doesn't receive the pressure that you might think.
Natural beauty abounds as well does the wildlife that will catch your eye throughout the day. Book a trip today, you'll be glad you did.
