back to CalendarKlickitat River Outing
The River
- Fall is a great time of year for fishing the beautiful Pacific Northwest, so check the calendar and set aside the weekend to join us on the Klick. The good part of the wild steelhead resource in this part of the mid-Columbia is actually holding its own. The river's glacial character limits angling effectiveness a good share of the season, and the entire upper section of the river flows through the Yakima Indian reservation, providing a sort of sanctuary not found in other systems. The Klickitat is big, often heavy water. I like a 10-1/2 foot single-hander and a 14 foot spey for wind and line control; both are 9-weights. Others like 6-weights. I like floating lines, but others find sink-tips useful on some runs. 10- and 12-pound tippets are recommended.
- When the sun drops behind the canyon wall, it will get cold. Plan on nighttime temperatures 20-30 degrees colder than the Portland metropolitan area. Daytime temperatures are usually mild in the fall-similar to the Deschutes-but plan to bring extra warm clothes and your heaviest sleeping bag for those cold nights in the foothills of the Simcoe Mountains. Like the Deschutes, the Klickitat is blessed with poison oak, deer ticks and rattlesnakes. The wading can be petty tough as well. I'm not trying to scare anyone off; I just want people to know what they're getting into.
The Fish
- Klickitat summer fish are a mixture of wild and Skamania stock hatchery fish, plus an unknown number of wild and hatchery fish from outside the basin that "dip in" to the lower river seeking relief from high Bonneville pool temperatures. The river's glacial influence from Mount Adams tends to keep the water off-color and the visibility down until late in the year.
Safety
- This outing will be during the second week of the rifle deer season, so I generally pack a blaze orange hunting vest for walking through the streamside brush; my dog wears a his blaze orange hunting collar. Better safe than sorry.
Flies
- A lot of anglers favor small dark flies, and your favorite patterns should work as well as any. The Klickitat is famous for its Fall caddis hatches, so Muddlers (#4-#2) and Bombers (#8-#4) in natural and black deer hair can be very effective and have provided the bulk of my limited success the past few years. Again, personal preference ought to dictate your fly selection; you need to fish with confidence.
Directions
- Take Washington State Road 14 east to the Town of Lyle. Just after crossing the Klickitat, take SR 142 north and follow the river for about 20 miles, the road then switchbacks up to the plateau. At about Milepost 24, take the Glenwood turnoff heading west toward Mount Adams. After 9 miles, you'll see the green WDFW "Stinson Flat" sign. Take the dirt road about a half-mile down the hill, and you're there. Look for the CSF sign and banner. If you miss the turnoff, you'll come to Lydel Bridge after about a mile - turn around and try again.
Contact
- To contact the outing Fishmaster, go to the Calendar page.