North Fork Stillaguamish River

The North Fork Stillaguamish has a place in fly fishing history: in 1949 it became the first river anywhere set aside for fly fishing only. It runs west out of the Cascades past Darrington, Swede Heaven, Hazel and Oso, along Highway 530, to meet the South Fork at Arlington. Its fame is the wild summer steelhead that spawn in Deer Creek, which joins the river at Oso. Those fish have been in trouble since logging and slides buried Deer Creek's gravel, and in 2014 the Oso landslide came down across the valley a few miles upstream, near Hazel. Hatchery summer steelhead now make up much of the run.

The rules shape every trip. From the mouth to the Cicero Bridge the river is fly fishing only and catch-and-release from August 29 through November 30, except that you may keep hatchery steelhead, with night closure and no motorized boats. Above the Cicero Bridge, past Oso and Deer Creek to Swede Heaven, the fly-only season is November alone, and no boats are allowed at all. Both reaches reopen to general rules in December for winter steelhead, until January 31 below Cicero and February 15 above. Salmon are closed. Summer fish are in the river from June and peak in July, but the river is closed to them until late August.

Read the flows at the gauge near Arlington, below the Cicero Bridge. This is a wading river with clearly defined runs, and it fishes best in late summer and fall at moderate to low water. As a rough guide it fishes from about 400 to 1,500 CFS, and past about 3,000 it is high and colored. A single-hand rod works; a two-hander helps on the bigger runs. Swing classic summer patterns and small, sparse flies in the clear water.