Happyshort

In the State of Washington rivers run big. I guess with all that rain the water has to go somewhere. The Cowlitz River is no exception. At places in the river the Cowlitz is a 100 yards wide. It can be waded in places but a boat is needed to get to the prime gravel bars. Steelhead school up behind these gravel bars waiting for the random salmon roe that float off the redds. Cowlitz River steelhead fishing can be successful with a variety of techniques. With a spinning reel and rod, you can bounce roe or use a lure like a Jackall Aragon in green or red. The Sunfish green is my favorite because it most closely represents the salmon parr. Holding the lure in the feeding area while giving it some back and forth action is the most successful. When fishing from gravel bars be careful not to disturb any redds. If you don’t know what a redd looks like have someone point one out to you. After that they become quite easy to recognize.

For fly fisherman there are many techniques that can be employed. Swinging streamers through the feeding area is both effective and you get the hardest strikes. Let the streamer dangle a while at the end of the swing. Casting from a boat with a weighed line through the gravel bar and into the pool at the tail with a nymph or Glo bug will give you subtle strikes but big steelhead. Nymphs I would recommend are the Polar Shrimp, the Hare’s Ear and the Golden PT. There is a third method that I would like to tell you about taught to me by the best nymph fisherman I have ever seen.

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