I really love this time of year. The streams in our region have all dropped into fishing shape, the weather is steaming hot, and there is nothing better than splashing around in shorts and tennis casting flies to trout in the cool water. The Icicle River is right in my backyard in Leavenworth, and I love to drive up there in the afternoons to cool off and wind down. The stream is loaded with small rainbow and an angler can keep very busy catching and releasing fish until dark. The Entiat is also loaded with small rainbow, cutthroat and brook trout. You have to drive above Entiat Falls to fish the stream, but it’s worth the trip. The Methow River offers larger fish. Rainbow and cutthroat in this stream can exceed 20 inches, and that’s handful when fishing with light tackle. There are some big bull trout in the Methow, too, and these need to be carefully released. I caught one that must have weighed 6 pounds while steelhead fishing last winter. Further north, a couple of my favorite streams are the San Poil and the Kettle rivers. Both of these offer fast action for smaller rainbow, with some really big fish a possibility. Fishing on all these streams will be excellent into the early fall.