Northwest Fishing Reports

Not sure if thi is the right place to post this but I am fairly new to camping here in washington and looking for a established camp ground to take the wife and kids to that we can both wake up to the sound of the river and be able for the kids to fish it. I myself have been in the Army for 12+ years now and usually just sleep out in a mummy bag where ever but the Mrs and chillins are not very hard core. It needs to be a decent extablished campground for a couple tents and outhouses w/ water. Being able to fish bait would be nice also. It is way easier to let the kids toss a worm in then have them trying to cast every ten seconds. All that leads to is me getting them unsnagged or out of the trees over and over..HA..We live in Kirkland just off the 405 and I would like to keep it within an hour or so if possible. Anyone have any ideas for me?

I'm sure their plenty of other options but I've stayed at Kanaskat State Park(Just outside of Enumclaw) Pretty nice place,all the sites are about a 3 minute walk from the Green River.Their is 1 primitive spot on the river.
Good luck on your search

kevinb wrote:I'm sure their plenty of other options but I've stayed at Kanaskat State Park(Just outside of Enumclaw) Pretty nice place,all the sites are about a 3 minute walk from the Green River.Their is 1 primitive spot on the river.
Good luck on your search

Kanaskat is a great place to camp was there last year.We stayed there while attending the Brad Paisley concert.Also there is a lake down the street called Deep Lake I caught a couple trout fly fishing from shore there.Kanaskat gets my vote.

I'd be careful with kids and western WA rivers until after the snow melt is done. There is potential for high running water if it's a hot weekend and the snow is really melting.

I'm assuming the kids are little.

I SUGGEST ICICLE RIVER CAMPGROUND. 3 MILES OUTSIDE OF LEAVENWORTH. THE ICICLE ROLLS RIGHT BY YOUR TENT. TROUT FISHING OPENED ON JUNE 1ST. FISH HATCHERY WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE, AND, WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE SLEEPING LADY IS RIGHT NEXT DOOR. VERY BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY AND THE KIDS WILL LOVE IT.

It's not a river, and it's a bit further away than you're looking for....but you might want to take a look at Deception Pass State Park.
Over 200 camping sights from walk-in to full hookups, several less than 40-50yds from Cranberry Lake which offers plenty of shore fishing as well as a large, public dock. Also very close to the salt.

Within a few miles of Deception Pass are several other great lakes for fishing including Pass lake, Heart Lake, Lake Erie, Lake Campbell, Little Cranberry Lake, Whistle Lake, and at least a couple more.
Also several miles of hiking and great scenery.

The only downfall is that Dec. Pass is adjacent to the base on Whidbey Island, so there is a fair amount of noise from incoming aircraft.

Wow, you guys are great! thanks for all of the spots. Someone PM'ed me and we went to Verlot Camp Ground just past Granite falls and it was great. The fishing wasn't the best and the water was awfully silty but we had a great time. I will definitely check out Icicle Campground soon also. Appreciate the help, this is a great website!

I just got back from Icicle this weekend. We got there friday around 7 and most of the camping sites were taken. The road has been washed out right past Ida creek campground, so there's not much to choose from. We stayed at upper johhny and had a good time. It took me awhile to find a decent fishing spot with the water so high, and good river access was above the washout. I found a few spots near the campground that just kept taking lures. The ideal spot is lower down the river by the fish hatchery. there is a boat launch, a dock, and plenty of shoreline to fish with no rapids. Plus the chinook run up to that point along with the steelhead. Plenty of parking. We also did a tube float down the icicle by "float leavenworth". I had my 2 year old with me and it got bumpy in a few spots but was mostly calm, clear, and FREEZING. We are allready making plans to go back in a few months. Campground was clean, spots were raked with a picnic bench and fire pit in each. Onsite campground host was very friendly. 13.00 a night

GIAN,
GLAD YOU HAD FUN UP THERE. HEADING UP NEXT WEDNESDAY FOR 5 DAYS. IM HOPING THE WATER IS DOWN A TAD. SUCKS THAT YOU LOST A FEW LURES. I TRY AND GET THOSE MULTI-PACKS OF ROOSTER TAILS, DUE TO THE FAST WATER, AND THE ROCKS BEING "GRABBY". CANT BEAT THE VIEWS, THOUGH!!!!

Icicle is great.I love it up there.Try Johnny Creek or 4th of July campgrounds.Both have some decent pools for swimming and fishing.The other river that is nice with alot of camp areas is the American river going into Cowiche off White pass.Im not sure the hiway #.Close by is Tinkham up near Snoqualmie pass and its on the South Fork Snoqualmie.Exit 40 I think on I-90

Try Salmon La Sac campground on the Cle Elum River. It is roughly 1.5-2 hours from where you live depending on the traffic and how fast you drive. The predominent species here is brookies, rainbows, cutthroat, bull trout and the occasional lake trout. The fishing is fairly consistant with a 1/16 oz rooster tail during the summer. The fishing here may be questionable as of this moment because of the bad winter we had, but on a normal year if you fish it right, you can catch a lot of trout here at this time through september. Most of the fish that you can expect to catch will range between 6-10", but there are enough 12-16" fish to keep it fun.

Hint: try further upriver towards Tuquala Lake for better action.