N
estled at the base of the Pasayten Wilderness, north
of Winthrop, Washington, are the cold, clear waters of
the Chewuch River. The Chewuch is the beginning of
a modern day success story with its contribution
to natural rearing of Methow River steelhead and salmon.
Natural preservation of its headwaters in the Pasayten
Wilderness and quality land management by its neighbors
lends itself to a pristine river shed surrounded by the beauty
of the high desert meeting the pines.
To preserve the spawning habitat of the Chewuch, her waters
have been closed to steelhead fishing for decades. One of
the grand gestures we’ve done to help preserve these wild
fish—shouldn’t we all have a sacred refuge? Luckily, we can
still enjoy these holy waters even just for a brief time. For the
past 10 years or so, the river has opened the Saturday before
Memorial Day through August 15th, with the fishable days
often limited by runoff (well into July-except in recent history).
The best and most epic days I can remember from my
childhood fishing the Chewuch came in late July to August—
with the arrival of hoppers. Hopper fishing on the Chewuch
has a long history, filled with local lore of epic cutthroat
caught with massive boils on twitched Dave’s hoppers. Now
with the adaption of foam flies, it’s taken hopper fishing on the
upper Methow and Chewuch to the next level. I’m not here to
bore you with a lecture on the effectiveness of hopper fishing
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