One of the fish I have been most excited to fish for in Washington is the sea run cutthroat. This scrappy fish isn’t one you will find on the covers of magazines, or talked about in the same breath as the more famous (and much larger) salmon and steelhead of the area. But their aggressive streak, their beautiful coloration, and their eagerness to take a fly have made them favorites of many local fishermen.
Since I am new to the area and wouldn’t have any damn clue where to go, Gig Harbor Fly Shop coworker and guide Justin Waters was kind enough to take me out in pursuit of this salty cutthroat. Justin spends many days on the water, both with clients or just for fun, chasing cutthroat out of kayaks or on foot from the beach. The spot he had in mind for us wasn’t too conducive to launching kayaks, but there is always next time for that.
Fueled by a 4-shot latte (that’ll wake you up in the morning), we cruised up the coast, Justin pointing out access points as we went. In the Puget Sound alone, it’s amazing how much water there is to fish. We stopped at a local creek to check from chums, and actually saw a pod of what seemed to me to be pretty large fish cruising around. There are a lot of fish out here.
I will admit this… Wading the beach is a hell of a lot easier than wading a river. The water isn’t rushing by, the barnacles on the rocks provide a good grip for my poor boots, and there aren’t huge, moss covered boulders everywhere you have to step around. At least, not where we were.
We covered a lot of ground, casting and stepping, casting and stepping. To a river trout fisherman from Montana, trying to fish the Puget Sound is kind of overwhelming. It just looks like a big, flat body of water to me. Justin was very helpful in pointing out current rips, sharing knowledge about the fish and their habits, and getting me set up with the right flies.
The action was pretty slow for most of the day, with the highlights being a large crab I almost stepped on and a pod of sea lions that passed us a couple of times. Apparently most days out fishing for cutthroat aren’t quite that slow… We did finally get into some fish about halfway through our day.
The first solid hit on my fly I instinctively lifted it up to strike, just like in Montana. I lost the fish and Justin told me “No trout sets”. Old habits die hard…
Eventually we both landed two nice fat fish each. For their size, these cutthroat fight pretty damn hard. Even the smaller of my two put a healthy bend in the six weight. The tide forced us back before the afternoon was fully over, and even then we had a bit of trouble making it back to the access with the higher water. Tides are another thing I am just completely clueless about.
My first day of fishing in Washington under my belt, I couldn’t be more stoked. While the fishery is going to slow down quite a bit in the coming months, I’ll be back after the sea run cutthroat.
