Winthrup Advice - Car Camping/Small Stream 2 wt

G

Greg Price

Steelhead
My plan to row the Grande Rhond in NE Oregon fell thru last min.

Grand Rhond is on my bucket list to try. Another bucket list is trout on the Methow River system.

2 goals for this trip.

1. Preview drift boat launches on the Methow. RWD van not good for steep rough launches.
2. Relax car camping. Explore small streams with 2 wt for trout.
Old Man would be proud of me.

Where would you car camp?

Where would you dry fly fish small steams for smallish trout on 2 wt rod?

PMs are welcome as i am discreet about small waters.
 
Yeh - definitely tricky finding open water.

My head spins. So many the good looking small streams. Tricky trying to figure out if they are open , closed or partial open.

My old dog eared Delorms map is a big help in addition to Google maps.
 
Greg Price said:
Tricky trying to figure out if they are open , closed or partial open.
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That's where I find the Fish Washington App is useful. It's gotten a lot more stable over the last couple of years, and the regs updates when starting the app load fairly quickly.
Sam Roffe said:
We use to camp up the Chewuck River. But that is closed waters up there.
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Let's take a look... search

Screenshot_20230620_065618_Fish Washington.jpg
Ok, check the first one
Screenshot_20230620_065917_Fish Washington.jpg
press the highlighted stream at any location Screenshot_20230620_070341_Fish Washington.jpg
Easy peasy.
*Oh, and it works in offline mode so if you are out in the sticks for a few days it still works without the regs updates .
 
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Pearrgin Lake,Lone Fir, Klipchuck all fine.
Once the sun is off the water, the deep pool alongside the Tawlks-Foster suspension bridge just east of Mazama can provide some fun action.
 
I fished the Twisp river back in the late 80,s and had a great time but that's so long ago it must have changed by now. In the 70,s a group of us used to launch a raft at Minam and float the Wallowa to where it joined the Grand Ronde and floated that almost to Troy.. The Wallowa was great for trout, the Ronde not so much.. Your post brought back a lot of good old memories.
 
SurfnFish said:
Pearrgin Lake,Lone Fir, Klipchuck all fine.
Once the sun is off the water, the deep pool alongside the Tawlks-Foster suspension bridge just east of Mazama can provide some fun action.
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The area around the Tawlks-Foster Suspension bridge is closed water except from December 1 to February 28 when it is open for targeting whitefish is legal. It might be a bit cold waiting for the sun to get off the water at that point.
 
JohnB said:
The area around the Tawlks-Foster Suspension bridge is closed water except from December 1 to February 28 when it is open for targeting whitefish is legal. It might be a bit cold waiting for the sun to get off the water at that point.
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obviously confused on the location, had looked at a map tryng to pinpoint the section of the river right alongside the road that we hit every evening, an oblong pool.
 
I just got home from driving the North Cascade Scenic loop (for the first time) from Spokane to Anacortes. The Twisp River (from the road) looked like trout fishing paradise. All the small towns along the way in that area just smacked of epic stream fishing. And I know enough to know that I drove past many world class fishing opportunities. Curiously, however I did not see one single angler along the entire road trip. But I aim to learn much more about the area.
 
Jim in Anacortes said:
I just got home from driving the North Cascade Scenic loop (for the first time) from Spokane to Anacortes. The Twisp River (from the road) looked like trout fishing paradise. All the small towns along the way in that area just smacked of epic stream fishing. And I know enough to know that I drove past many world class fishing opportunities. Curiously, however I did not see one single angler along the entire road trip. But I aim to learn much more about the area.
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I fished the Twisp River once, in water that looked like it should have a lot of trout in it - nada, zero, etc. I imagine that is why you saw no anglers.
 
The Twisp and other Methow tribs are tough fishing. As stated above, there are strict regs that make it tough with limited public access. The Methow would probably be your best bet with limited time. Also some fun lakes up there.
 
Jim in Anacortes said:
I just got home from driving the North Cascade Scenic loop (for the first time) from Spokane to Anacortes. The Twisp River (from the road) looked like trout fishing paradise. All the small towns along the way in that area just smacked of epic stream fishing. And I know enough to know that I drove past many world class fishing opportunities. Curiously, however I did not see one single angler along the entire road trip. But I aim to learn much more about the area.
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Most of those streams in that area are cold still and that is my excuse as to why they don’t put out as well this time of year for me. My best fishing in the area is August and September and I never do as well earlier when streams are cold and runoff heavy.
 
Lots of small stream dry fly water on boulder creek to the north of winthrop. Take NF-37 and drive above boulder falls. The creek is closed below boulder falls to protect migratory fish. Some pics from my last visit
 

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Dave Westburg said:
Lots of small stream dry fly water on boulder creek to the north of winthrop. Take NF-37 and drive above boulder falls. The creek is closed below boulder falls to protect migratory fish. Some pics from my last visit
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I’m gonna be in Winthrop next weekend, on a road trip with the daughter. Thanks for sharing this, I think going to take her there!
 
SalmonberryFinn said:
The stream mentioned above is a dandy. Esp. w/ kids. Pan-sized brook trout, quiet camping, shy black bears. At least that’s what was up there a decade ago!
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Agree. There are native cutts in the stream as well as brookies. I think the brookies have come down from Tiffany Lake in the headwaters.
 
Dave Westburg said:
Lots of small stream dry fly water on boulder creek to the north of winthrop. Take NF-37 and drive above boulder falls. The creek is closed below boulder falls to protect migratory fish. Some pics from my last visit
Click to expand...
Love that area...had a friend build a specific rod just to fish that creek and that is what we called it...a BCS. _______ Creek Special. Nice WSC. I'd rather see brookies on the rock than cutthroat however and I usually don't share the name either, not that it's a big deal either way.
 
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