What is the Spokane River Scavenger Hunt?
It’s a scavenger hunt with a fly rod! This is a free and fun fly fishing adventure where you have the chance to experience and learn more about fishing on the Spokane River and the opportunities to catch fish right here in the city! It’s also a chance to hang out with other anglers and learn how to fly fish or help someone get into fly fishing.
The Spokane River Scavenger Hunt is open to anyone and all skill levels whether you are brand new to fly fishing or very experienced. It is a one-day event where participants will pair up in teams of two anglers and explore the Spokane River together with the goal of catching different species of fish and completing other objectives along the way.
To provide a little incentive for participants, the winner of the scavenger hunt will receive a free guided fly fishing trip down the Spokane River with local fly fishing instructor and guide, Marc Fryt (from FlyFishSpokane.com).
When and Where
The scavenger hunt will take place on Saturday, September 14th. All participants will meet at 8:00am >at the >Riverfront Park Clocktower>.
Once the event starts, anglers can only fish along the Spokane River between the >Washington-Idaho border to the >boat ramp at the Spokane Wastewater Treatment Plant. Fly fishing in Idaho or downstream of the boat ramp is out-of-bounds.
Participants must be back at the Clocktower by 4:00pm.
Signing Up for the Event
Participants will be in teams of two anglers. >You can sign up as a team or as an individual. Individuals will be paired with another fly fisher ahead of the event.
To sign up, email [email protected].
Scoring and Earning Points
The winner of the event is the team with the most points. Teams earn points by catching different species of fish and taking a photo of the fish species in their net. Fish species are awarded certain points:
- 1 point for a redband trout
- 1 point for a cutthroat (or cutbow) trout
- 1 point for a mountain whitefish
- 1 point for a northern pikeminnow
- 3 points for a largescale sucker
- 1 point for either a smallmouth bass, brown trout, or any other species
Note– The purpose is to catch different species of fish, not quantities of the same fish species. For example, Team A catches one redband trout, one whitefish, one pikeminnow, and one largescale sucker, so they receive 6 points. Team B catches six redband trout, three smallmouth bass, and two brown trout, but they only receive 2 points.
For information about these fish species and fly fishing techniques you can use to catch them, check out the Fish Species List further below.
Additional Points Teams Can Earn:
- 2 points for filling up a Spokane Riverkeeper bag with garbage and returning with it to the Clocktower (one bag will be provided to each team at the start of the event).
- 1 point for finding and taking a photo of a crayfish.
- 1 point for finding and taking a photo of a stonefly, caddis, or mayfly.
- If one person on the team is new to fly fishing (i.e., less than a year of experience) then that team automatically starts out with +2 points.
Rules for the Scavenger Hunt
- All participants must have a valid Washington fishing license. You can purchase that online >here>.
- You can use whatever flies you’d like so long as Washington fishing regulations are followed. Refer to pages 73 and 20 in the >Washington Fishing Regulations for more information. Also, download the free >Washington Fishing Regulations Mobile App which provides an easy and quick way to click on the Spokane River and read the regulations.
- Clean catches, no snagging. “Scout’s Honor”
- You have to take a photo of your fish while it’s in a rubber net.
- Each team can only have two fly fishing setups (i.e., two rods, two fly lines, two reels). Tenkara rods are allowed.
- Only one person on a team can be fishing at time. The other person will act as a safety-observer (in order to prevent any bystanders/onlookers from being hooked by a backcast).
- Once the scavenger hunt begins, personal vehicles/taxis/Uber/Lyft are not allowed. But teams are allowed to walk, use public transportation, bikes (Lime Bikes/Scooters are allowed), roller blade, or whatever else.
- Personal watercraft are not allowed unless one person on your team has a handicap that limits how much walking and maneuvering over rocky areas they can do. If this pertains to your team, then you can use one or two watercraft. However, you can only use one boat launch (i.e., no float trips or using multiple boat launches). Also, you may have a third person to act as an assistant who can help launch, handle, and recover the watercraft, but the assistant is not allowed to fish at all. Lastly, only one person on the team may be fishing at a time.
- In the event of a tie between teams, we’ll have a cast-off: The first team to cast and land a piece of yarn on a paper plate at 30 feet wins. The judge will supply the fly fishing setups for the cast-off.
Safety
A safety brief will be provided the morning of the event.
Participants will need to sign waivers the day of the event.
Anyone in a watercraft must wear a PFD at all times while on the water.
