[Soremouth'r]

My birthdays coming up and every year i take a trip out to winthrop to do a little fishing in the summer. I usually go in late july or early august but would like to try to get out there next month. With the weaker snow pack this year is the river going to be fishable in early june? In past years ive seen that it doesnt usually lay down until mid july or so. Anyone who lives out there or knows wanna help me out? Thanks

 

[Lugan]

If you had asked a few months ago, the answer might have been 'yes' due to the low snow pack. But in the past month we've had freaky weather and the snowpack has roughly caught up to where it should be for this time of year, so early June seems unlikely.

Snowpack data can be viewed here: http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/data/water/wcs/gis/maps/wa_swepctnormal.pdf

 

[Cactus]

When does the Methow usually start up? I can't take ANY time off in August but I don't want to wait until September and risk an early close.

 

[Big Tuna]

I believe it opens June 1, but the deciding factor is flows.

 

[Schlab]

I doubt it will be very fishable in early June, more then likely high and muddy.

 

[Alex MacDonald]

Same with the Icicle; we don't plan on fishing it until middle July at the earliest, and there's plenty of snow up high! In fact, we got snow a week ago Monday, for most of the morning. Now, it's raining here in Leavenworth, but it may well be snowing up in the high country. We tend to hike into the smaller creeks like Mountaineer rather than try to fish the bigger ones. I don't know which ones are available in the Methow area, but you might consider that. Winthrop's a nice little town, and the scenery's really nice!

 

[BDD]

When it opens and when it fishes well are two different things. Historically, rivers opened June 1. However the state wide opening date was changed recently to the first Saturday in June. The river will likely be clear enough to fish by the June opener but it will be running relatively high for fishing purposes, causing the fishing...and catching to be more difficult than later on in the summer after the levels drop and the temperature rises.