Cowlitz River

Cowlitz River
Cowlitz River

Pricing: $650.00 Full day float trip. For 1 or 2 anglers.
Includes: snacks, beverages, flies, leader and tippet.
Demo gear is available for all our trout and steelhead trips.

It’s hard to pick a season throughout the year when there isn’t something exciting to fish for in the Cowlitz River, which is formed by glacial streams on Mount Rainier and runs 133 miles into the Columbia River in southwest Washington.

There are summer and winter steelhead, Chinook and coho salmon and rainbow and cutthroat trout, all usually in good numbers. Despite a lot of fish, the Cowlitz doesn't get too much pressure from fly fishers. Some people may think the river's just too far away, but it's only about two and a half hours from Seattle.

One of the best times to go is in late summer, typically in August and September, when the river has good numbers of summer-run steelhead and aggressive sea-run cutthroat. That's when the weather/fishing combo usually makes for a splendid day on the river. If you like coho, November is the best time. For winter steelhead, it's December. And for Chinook, try April.

The river has little access for bank anglers, but is easy to handle in a pontoon or drift boat. A popular run is from the Blue Creek hatchery ramp to the takeout at Massey or Mission bar. Key fly: try an egg-sucking woolley bugger in black or purple. Nearly everything in the river will take it.

Please contact us at [email protected] or call 877-347-4874 for more details.