Fly Fishing Green River, Auburn WA, Fall

Photo byJordan StewartonUnsplash

I mentioned in a previous article that I didn’t really feel like I had what you would call a home water. Though I lived on the White River for five years, I never fished it much compared with other bodies of water in Washington State or even the California Delta.

In terms of time spent on a river though, the Green River from Auburn Washington and east up into Ravensdale would be the closest thing I have to a home water. Actually, there is another small spring creek in Eastern Washington that would qualify as home waters for me well, but I’m sworn to secrecy in regards to that one.

On the Green River I spent most of my time fishing a section just off of Highway 18 in Auburn. It is probably one of the most accessible, and unfortunately most crowded when the salmon are running, places on the Green River to fish. When the water levels are low enough and if you don’t mind a lot of wading this section of the Green River can be an excellent spot for fly fishing. The south side of the river is the best side for wading and fly fishing. The north side is a solid brush choked cliff for a very long ways if you go down stream. To find any fishable/castable water going up stream requires, what I’m pretty sure is now an illegal, crossing of a railroad bridge. The mouth of Soos Creek is right there, so when the salmon are running up the hatchery upstream and it is one of those rare days when no one else is fishing that spot, it can be worth the effort. At least it used to be. I’m not sure if potentially breaking the law and maybe getting a huge fine is worth slightly better access to fish or not.

On this section of the Green River I have caught mostly small Rainbows (5-10 inches, catch and release of course), Coho and Chum Salmon in September through late November, and a few Steelhead in both the Fall and Winter. White Fish are fairly common too. Summer is a good time for the small Rainbows. And larger ones, up to fourteen inches are possible. I have seen other people catch them up to this size using bait or spoons, though I’ve never been that lucky. I believe these is a summer run of Steelhead on the Green River as well. I have a friend of a friend that lives on the Green River Gorge and he let us fish a section in the gorge that is on his property a few times in the summer. I had what I’m pretty sure was a ten pound Steelhead take an Elk Hair Caddis, put a tremendous bend in the poor little three weight rod that I was using for Rainbows at the time, before breaking me off.

One other unfortunate thing that you have to consider now though when you fish this spot is the potential for your car be broken into. I know this has been a real problem in the past on this part of the river, so it is best not to keep anything of value visible in your vehicle while you are on the water.

The other spot I’ve mainly fished on the Green River was just inside Flaming Geyser Park near Black Diamond. I mostly just messed around in the Spring for small Rainbows and went for Chum Salmon in the late Fall. Summer is usually a madhouse at Flaming Geyser especially on the weekend when all the teenagers and young people are floating the river. Spring, late Fall, and early Winter are good though for Trout, Chum Salmon, and Steelhead.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any videos about fly fishing on the Green River in Washington, but this video about jig fishing for Salmon is the right area on the Green River and probably close to the right time of year.