The Twisp, how should I describe it? Twisp was the Methow Native’s word for the wasp and yes there are some on this rough and tumble little river but what I would think of first would be all the fish! Of course there are what seems like a million steelhead smolt in the river as well though there are more than a few nice cutthroat, resident redband and of course chunky cuttbows.

The Twisp meets the Methow in the town of Twisp and starts in the mountains to the west of town almost parallel with Lake Chelan, just separated by a short pass at the end of many of the Twisps tributary drainages. The lakes situated in the top of some of these drainages have produced Washington States record Westslope Cutthroat as well as the standing state record Golden Trout.

But back to river, fishing the Twisp is one of my favorite ways to start the year as it seems to come down soonest from the spring run-off and the fishing is great. I like fishing the Twisp with either a dry-dropper or on the swing and as the water calms down I love to skate bugs. The water being short and fast with many grabby rocks can prove a bit tricky for nymphing which is why I prefer dry, drop or swing.

The Twisp is usually fishable starting in the first week or two of June depending on flows. All rivers in the state now open May 25th, whether they are fishable at such point would be to the angler’s judgment. Being a small stream like the Chewuch all fishing on the Twisp is walk and wade if you are interested in booking a trip with us on the Twisp, Chewuch or Methow Rivers just click on our Guides page and drop us a line we’ll get you on the water having fun!