Get Your Pass to Western Washington Brown Trout.

I consider myself blessed to live in western Washington with all it’s nature and beauty. The one thing that is missing is great Trout Rivers. You know what I am talking about, Rivers like The Madison, The Beaverhead, or The Henrys Fork  places were a guy can catch large browns and rainbows with consistency. Most of Western Washington’s River fishing is seasonal fishing for steelhead and salmon. There is a place however where the local fly fisherman has a shot at that 28in to 30in brown trout and a plethora of rainbows. The lake is bordered on three sides by state park and on one side by SR20 it is common to see deer, otter and birds of prey on any given day at Pass Lake.
Example of a quality Pass Lake Brown.

Pass can be a little finicky. I was out a couple weeks months ago and there was a large hatch coming off. I pulled one of the bugs of the side of my boat and was very excited about the opportunity to match the hatch. There were 16 to 20 inch bows rising all around me. I tried every fly that was close to the hatch in my boxes and was denied. After what seemed like hours of frustration I decided to go back to my mainstay of streamer fishing and managed to keep the skunk off.
Quality Pass lake Bow stripping streamers.

On another day we could do nothing wrong and no matter what we threw we had great fishing including a 22 inch brown on a caddis. I will let the pictures tell this part of story.

  My Friend Hank with his Brown on a caddis.

Another great Brown on the same day on a streamer.

Fly Fishing a cigar and a PBR outstanding combo.
So if you’re looking for your trout fix on the western side of the state give Pass Lake a try. My favorite way to fish the Pass is banging the beach with streamers. Although the Chronomid fishing can be productive as well as dragging leaches and woolly buggers low and slow The lake is not accessible to fish from shore it is a float tube or drift boat show and don’t bring your motor, gas or electric they are not allowed and Pass Lake is fly fish only and C&R. Take quick pictures and get those fish back in the water so we can catch them next time. Have a great time and let FLY LIFE know how you did. I will leave you with a pic of one of my go to fly on Pass Lake.

Zane Wyll

By: Zane Wyll, fly fishing, Washington,drift,brown trout,rainbow,searun cutthroat,steelhead,skiff,flies,fly wallet, swing,nymph,Skagit,Stilly,Sauk,Pass lake,Washington fly fishing,catch and release,fishing with friends,fishing report,fishing trips,free fishing, military fish free,premier fly fishing, west,Idaho,Montana,Mexico,Pesca,bonefish,Snook,driftboat,oars,flyrod,reel.