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Grew up fishing the Lake Washington creek in my backyard so have a fondness for small streams.
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I've had better small stream fishing on the east slope of the cascades. The streams seem to be lower gradient and there's a longer growing season. There are some gems...
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The small streams on the West slope of the cascades are usually pocket water plunge pools with a fish a pool but small fish. I'm not giving up secrets when I mention the Taylor River (catch and release and close to Seattle) because it has miles of fishable water, much of it accessible off a trail. The tributaries of the Skykomish and Foss and the Beckler have fish as well as do multiple small streams in the Skagit drainage. Try to find a small stream with a falls or blockage which prevents the migratory fish from accessing it. The trout will be more numerous and a little bigger.
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@MattB is right that many small streams go quiet in October. Not sure what's going on. Maybe the fish are migrating downstream to find bigger water where they can overwinter.
A small stream right along the road often isn't so good. If it bends away from the road the fishing will be better. I've found some jewels like this which involve a hike...
Thanks truely appreciate the honesty and all the informationFWIW, small PNW creeks are both the easiest to get general advice on and the worst for specific advice. This is mostly because the west side of the cascades just doesn't have the kind of moving water trout fisheries that you can find in other parts of the country. Our moving water fisheries (and habitat) are all based around salmon and other anadromous fish. So any creeks that have decent sized wild trout in them tend to be kept close to the vest, and if they are shared, it's usually person to person and not posted on the internet. This goes double if the person asking is looking to take trout for the dinner table (not implying that you are). Few folks here are morally opposed to killing fish to eat and lots of us take a fish for the grill or oven at various times. But many of us have no interest in seeing a rare thing like a productive west side creek made even more rare by pointing someone to a creek if they are going to be taking fish home from it.
On the other hand, one, almost universal, truth about cascade creeks is that if you can find one with a barrier to salmon passage (waterfall, dam, etc) you are very likely to find a population of wild trout living above it. Now, you need to be able to enjoy catching 5-9" fish. Anything over 12" is a genuine hawg in these waters and worthy of pride. But if you find satisfaction in that game, you can have many delightful days on water you have all to yourself. It is why I have ended up owning six different 3-4wt rods.
A few suggestions:
- Go down to the Confluence Fly Shop in Bham and buy a copy of the "Delorme Atlas & Gazetteer: Washington" (or, if you aren't headed south in the near future, check your local bookstore or grab it on Amazon). Then sit down with your drink of choice some evening and start following blue lines looking for creeks with a barrier to fish passage. Then figure out what logging road or trail you need to access that section of creek.
- While you're at Confluence, buy a handful of creek flies and ask Scott or Brandon for a few beginner hints. No, they won't give up the super secret spots either. But they are exactly the kind of guys who give you some pointers in the right direction to go along with your reciept.
- Start hanging out with the 4th Corner Fly Fishers club. Attend a few meetings or events. Those guys know a ton about fishing in NW Washington and buying a beer or two will get you both good advice and some new friends.
Welcome to the forum and good luck!