Black Heron Fly Fishing

The Cowlitz river is a premium summer and winter steelhead fly fishing river with the largest runs of summer steelhead on the west coast of the United States. Please feel free to contact us about run timing and availability at 360-575-3970 Office. The main part of the summer run arrives from June through early December and the main winter run has changed from NovemberDecember to early February through April due to hatchery changes in plants.

The trips arranged by John on the Cowlitz river are premium quality with all your needs taken care of. The day begins by meeting your guide at 4:00am who will transport you to your fishing destination on the Cowlitz river. A typical days fishing begins at 5:30am and ends around 2:30pm. Some trips run longer depending on the day. You are the customer and may choose to spend more time. We will stay till your ready to leave so long as I can get the boat on the trailer before dark.

We provide all equipment for the trips except for rain gear, waders, boots and fishing licenses.

We provide quality fly fishing rods and reels for your trip, along with all the leaders, sinking tips, flies and instruction you will need. We are professional casting instructors for both single and double handed fly fishing.

Our wooden drift boat was custom built and is an excellent boat for fishnig from due to its quiet nature. Although not a large boat it handles 3 persons comfortably. Thanks to the nature of wood we have a warm boat during the winter and cool boat during the summer providing a very comfortable experience.

All lunches are provided for your trip along with any drinks and snacks you may want. If you have dietary concerns please let us know and we will do what we can to accomodate you. The meals we provide are all carefully prepared during the morning and stored for the trip using coolers, providing maximum safety for our clients and ourselves.

As a Washington State Licensed Game Fish Guide we carry a First Aid Kit and are certified in First Aid and CPR. We are also trained in Advanced First Aid techniques through Oregon State University. Besides the first aid we are also insured and carry proof of insurance which we show if requested.

We predominantly use Spey and Switch rods during our trips but if you choose to use single hand rods please let us know so we can accomodate your needs. The most common technique we use on the Cowlitz river is the down and accross cast using a sinking leader and a tube fly. We have also been known to throw a large indicator with a deeply sunken fly
on to make a drastic change of pace, sometimes taking the steelies by surprize and generating a strike.

During our trips we frequently run accross wildlife such as Deer, Elk, Eagles, Otters, Salmon spawning in their beds, Hawks and other Birds like swallows which have a large project on one of the clay banks we drift by. We strongly encourage you to bring a camera while on these trips as you will probably make good use of it.

Our base rate is $300.00 for a single person and $250.00 per person for 2 people. Payment may be made only by calling or meeting in person. This is to make sure your trip is scheduled properly and time can be arranged.
We accept Visa, Mastercard and Discover Card and of course Cash. Sales Tax is charged on every trip due to the the service being used inside the state of Washington.

Many of our customers have been members of the Wounded Warrior program or Project Healing Waters. We stand behind our American soldiers from all Armed forces, Army, Air Force Navy and Coast Guard. Our best to you and Thank you for your service.

If you have any questions of concerns please feel free to call us and we will try to answer your questions.

Thank you,

John Kendall, Owner Guide
Black Heron Fly Fishing
105 Debbie Street
Longview, WA 98632
360-575-3970 office
johnkendall_56@msn.com email