20 lb. Idaho rainbow

[Quillback]

Southern Idaho angler sets rainbow record at Dworshak Reservoir

[kjackson]

Wow...amazing trout.  Never got a chance to fish Dworshak when I lived in the PNW.  Did fish Roosevelt a lot which had its share of big rainbows, but never did catch one over five pounds or so.  I did catch a Lahontan in Lenore that went 6 or 7 pounds (can't remember which at the moment).  I hooked and lost a couple of really big rainbows in the Spokane River, FWIW.

[BilletHead]

On 1/31/2026 at 8:09 AM, Quillback said:

Southern Idaho angler sets rainbow record at Dworshak Reservoir

 

56 minutes ago, kjackson said:

Wow...amazing trout.  Never got a chance to fish Dworshak when I lived in the PNW.  Did fish Roosevelt a lot which had its share of big rainbows, but never did catch one over five pounds or so.  I did catch a Lahontan in Lenore that went 6 or 7 pounds (can't remember which at the moment).  I hooked and lost a couple of really big rainbows in the Spokane River, FWIW.

    Just to let you two good gentlemen know I would like to pick your brains sometime before August about Dolly varden in Washington State 🤔. Might be a target. 

[Quillback]

1 hour ago, BilletHead said:

 

    Just to let you two good gentlemen know I would like to pick your brains sometime before August about Dolly varden in Washington State 🤔. Might be a target. 

One stream I have fished and would recommend is the North Fork of the Skykomish.  Really neat stream in some fantastic mountain scenery.  It may or may not be open in August, they may close it if the chinook run is low.  Might be a few summer run steelhead up there in August too.  If open, it will probably be what they call "selective fishery rules" which are single barbless hook which would suit you and Pat being fly fishers.

Mainstem Sky below the forks might be open too.  

There aren't a lot of them up there, so your work will be cut out for you if you choose to fish there.

The only place I caught dollies was in the Skykomish incidentally caught while fishing for steelhead, so I don't know a heckuva lot about them.

Here's a link to a post on the WA flyfishing forum.  You could join it and ask around, those guys can be kinda secretive, but if you stress you are there to catch and release they may give you some other places to fish.

There's a guy on there with the handle "smalma" who is very knowledgeable.

Skykomish Dollies | Washington Fly Fishing Forum

[Quillback]

There's a trail that runs up the river once the road ends (I think the road ends there).  Never been on it, but I believe there are a couple of tributary creeks up there too.  I don't know if the dollies get into those tribs, but you would think so.  If you get off the trails it is really rugged country, but you may find fish that have never seen a fly in their lives.  

Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest | North Fork Skykomish Trail 1051 | Forest Service

[kjackson]

Like Quillback, all my dolly catches were incidental to trout, salmon or steelhead fishing.  I caught a few in the upper Bumping River, but they were really small--like under 10 inches. The first dolly I caught was in the Puyallup, but I don't think I'd fish that river. Did catch a bull trout-- kissing cousin-- in Rimrock Lake on the east side of the Cascades.

If I had a life-list desire for a Dolly Varden, I'd head to the Olympic Peninsula and fish the salt beaches. Granted, you'd probably be catching more cutthroat and coho than dollies.  

You might also scroll a bit in the WA fly fishing site, look for comments about the Miyawaki beach popper. I remember some threads about him catching dollies with it (planning on adding that popper to my white bass box).