West Slope Cutthroat

[Quillback]

20 hours ago, Johnsfolly said:

@dpitt congrats. Sounds like a great time. I have a trip to Portland in Nov, so did a quick look at whether a day trip could be made from Portland. Looks too far😒.

@JohnsfollyCheck this river out, it is in Washington. Don't know how long of a drive from Portland,  but should be less than 2 hours.  I have fished it, lots of bank access on the lower river, summer steelhead and still might be a few coho left in November.  

Where to Fish in the Hood River area - Klickitat River — Big Y Fly Co

[kjackson]

The Yakima's tributary, the Bumping River can be good as well, or at least, it used to be. It was my family's "mountain" destination for our trips; we usually camped just below the lake..  Probably was the place I caught my first fish on a fly.

And if you are planning a longer fall trip, it might be worth checking out the Olympic Peninsula  and its population of searun cutthroat.

[WestCentralFisher]

Awesome. I think Westslope cutties are my favorite fish. They're exactly as gorgeous as the places in which they live. 

[dpitt]

On 7/26/2025 at 6:17 AM, Quillback said:

If you are out there in the fall, take a look at the Yakima below Ellensburg.  The river gets irrigation runoff during the summer and is too high to fish, but in the fall it drops to fishable levels.  Plenty of bank access in the canyon below Ellensburg, there is also a walking bridge to cross to the other side.  It is all catch and release single barbless hooks regulated so there are plenty of wild rainbows.  A few cutts too.  

It's a popular fishery, but with catch and release regs there is a robust population of wild trout.

I think it's about a 1.5 hour drive from Wenatchee.  Here's a writeup:

The Avid Angler | Fly Fishing Shop Seattle, WA | Fishing Conditions | Water Profiles | Rivers | Yakima River

Thanks will check this out and forwarding the article to my son so he can do some recon before I get out there again.