Where to Fish - Rocky Ford Creek, WA

This little gem of a spring creek is located in Central Washington, near the town of Ephrata.  while a solid 4 hour drive from Hood River, it is a place that we know and love from years gone by.  It has a storied history and is one of those places in the Northwest that most anglers will find themselves at sometime in their fishing journey.

Some would say that if you haven't fished Rocky Ford Creek, then you haven't truly fly fished in Washington.  It used to be a sort of right-of-passage in Pacific Northwest Fly fishing circles to prove yourself on this ultra-spooky spring creek.  Newbies flocked there and cut their teeth on the large trout found in shallow, clear water.  If you can catch them there, then you are ready for the big leagues.

This gorgeous, crystal clear spring creek is unique.  The creek only flows for a mile or so before losing water quality and volume to the point where there are very few fish downstream of the main area.  There is a hatchery at the top end, a dock for fishing, and the unusual rule that you cannot get into the water.

This creek is part of a larger spring creek complex in central and eastern Washington, which does have a few shiny gems that hold some very large, very spooky, very hidden trout.  Many of us spent many days hiking many miles through the desertscape of central Washington looking for those dinosaur-sized trout hiding in tiny creeks.  Mostly, we never saw them and eventually found ourselves back at Rocky Ford Creek, full of willing-and-eager trout.

It doesn't have the same mystique as it did in the 80s or 90s, but its still a fantastic fishery and a solid local following in Washington.  I mean, they even have a fly and leader vending machine in the nearest town of Ephrata. 

This year-round fishery presents some fantastic challenges.  The main thing is that there are not too many big hatches there.  These fish love scuds, leeches ants and the occasional midge.  A real mayfly hatch is fairly rare, but does happen.  And when it does go off, these big trout can get a little easier to catch.

	Insect	Size	Begin	End
	Scuds	14-20	Jan 1	Dec 31
	Leeches	8-14	Jan 1	Dec 31
	Blue Winged Olive	16-20	Sep 1	April 30
	Midges	18-22	Jan 1	Dec 31
	Tricos	16-22	July 15	Sep 15
	Grasshoppers	4-16	July 15th	September 30th
	Beetles/Ants	12-18	June 15th	October 31