Washington Fishing: Practical Tips for Every Season and Water
Washington offers an unusually diverse mix of fisheries, from salty Puget Sound salmon to alpine trout, river steelhead, and warmwater bass and walleye. On the coast and inside the Sound, plan around tides and bait presence—if birds are working and current is moving, troll small herring or anchovy behind flashers for coho, or run deeper, slower presentations for chinook. In freshwater, lowland lakes wake up early with stocked rainbow trout; slow-troll small wedding rings or spinners tipped with corn or worm, or still-fish PowerBait just off bottom. For kokanee, scale down to light leaders and micro-hoochies with dodgers, then fine-tune speed until rods start popping. Columbia River walleye respond to blade baits and slow-death rigs on current seams, while smallmouth on the Snake and Columbia love crankbaits and tube jigs worked across rocky points. Eastern Washington’s arid lakes heat up fast—get out at first light, fish shade and wind-blown banks, and don’t overlook subtle offshore humps.
Rivers fish best when you read the water: target walking-speed seams, heads and tails of pools, and soft edges below riffles. Swing spoons for steelhead in broad tailouts, drift beads or yarnies through mid-depth lanes, and keep your feet moving until you find willing fish. Lakes respond to pattern more than place—watch your sonar, set a repeatable trolling path, and adjust depth as the sun climbs. In clear water, drop fluorocarbon and downsize; in stained water, add vibration and flash. Wind can be a friend: it stacks plankton, bait, and predators on the windward side. When bank fishing, pack light—one versatile spinning rod, a small box of inline spinners, spoons, jig heads, and a couple slip-float setups will cover most situations. For boaters, keep gear simple and sharp: fresh hooks, tuned dodgers, and organized leaders save more fish than any gadget. Above all, stay flexible—Washington’s best bites belong to anglers who adapt to conditions, not to calendars.
Top 10 Fishing Spots in Washington
- Puget Sound (Marine Areas around Seattle, Tacoma, and the Kitsap Peninsula)
- Columbia River (from the Gorge to the Tri-Cities and upstream)
- Lake Washington (trout, perch, seasonal cutthroat, and occasional bass)
- Lake Chelan (kokanee, lake trout, cutthroat)
- Banks Lake (smallmouth, walleye, trout)
- Yakima River (wild trout, year-round productivity)
- Olympic Peninsula Rivers (Hoh, Sol Duc, Bogachiel) for salmon and steelhead
- Potholes Reservoir (walleye, largemouth, smallmouth, panfish)
- Lake Roosevelt (kokanee, rainbow trout, walleye)
- Snake River (smallmouth bass and walleye along channel edges and rock structure)