Kalama River, WA

So I came home (when I say home I mean the place I grew up) to Vancouver, WA to help my Mom move a little and my buddy Jon asked if I wanted to fish the Kalama River with him Sunday afternoon. He grew up out in Carson and moved to the north Portland area. He asked me some good places to fish out of Vancouver after he gets of work. Depending on what your fishing for and what you have at your disposal for water access there are lots of places to fish. If you want to wade fish though and catch some nice fish, I would always recommend the Kalama River. Located 30ish miles north of the state border this river offers a prime steelhead fishery, especially in the fall. So we today came and we headed to the river with on of his coworker.

Fishing this river for steelhead or salmon (coho was the objective this trip) I would recommend you throw a size 4 or 6 woolly bugger or egg sucking leash on the fly rod in a black or purple pattern. Between the three of us we tried these patterns and even an olive pattern. Jon had the fortune of hooking into fish two and landing one. I also had the fortune of hooking into two fish and landing a third. One of the fish I lost was a big Chinook close to 30lbs. Fumbling helping Jon with the camera (there is no flash in silent mode...) I managed to loose this fish but was able to land a smaller, maybe 20lb, Chinook salmon. The river offers hatchery fish along with native fish. Approximately 2 miles up river from the mouth the river is catch and release only with selective gear regs. I was un able to capture a picture of the fish I landed because when Jon moved to put the hatchery Chinook in a shotgun pose it slipt out of his hand safely into the water. This river is great and would recommend it for any slamon fly angler.

Summary:
Location: Kalama River, Exit 32 off I-5, near Kalama, WA
Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Rod: 8 wt w/ sinking tip with 0x tippet
Tackle: size 4 or 6 egg sucking leach or woolly bugger in black, purple, and olive
Fish: 1
Species: Chinook
Biggest Fish: 20lb
Smallest Fish: N/A
Rating: 8.5/10

 Jon Fighting a Fish

 John Fishing

 The Kalama River and Jon's Coworker

Fighting a Fish Myself

You Can See A Few Fish Running Up River