Coming from Bozeman, Montana I have a pretty high bar regarding what makes a good fly shop. They met that bar without losing a step. Excellent advice on waters to fish, hatches, and flies. read more

I find most fly shops fun and a pleasant experience, because I love to fish. But as a lapsed fly fisherman returning to the sport, some fly shops can be snobby and intimidating. So I judge a shop on whether they can be open to those of us who still have lots to learn and they passed with flying colors. Waters West has reasonable prices, a good assortment of local flies and most importantly, a staff willing to share information. They were helpful and made me feel welcome, even though I was a bit rushed to get out to the Olympic Peninsula. They also have a great website. I look forward to my next visit. read more

Helpful and friendly for freshwater fishing in the area. Loved the dogs! Cuties and quite the welcoming committee!

Great place, with knowledgeable staff. Came in for some Christmas gifts and local advice since all my fly fishing has been trout in California. No hubris, good suggestions, and fun. Now we're looking at booking a guided trip with them. First impresssion is an A+! read more

I ordered about $35.00 worth of tying material I could not find locally and my shipment became delayed in transit and appears to be lost. I advised Dave that I had the post office investigating the package and Dave said not to worry, he'd make sure I got my order. Sure enough, a day later Dave shipped a second addition of my order with no questions asked. I hope they find the original shipment so I can return it to Waters West, but in the mean time, they have my thanks for great customer service! Bert Heinzelman, Nevada City, CA read more

Dad and I went Steelhead fishing in July and we used this place to supply our gear and guides. The first issue I had were with the rented waders. The first pair had a note inside that read "Left foot has a leak." Had I not gone into that breast pocket out of boredom, I'd have had a wet left leg. The second pair they gave me turned out to leak in a much worse area - the crotch! I spent the day feeling as though I'd wet my pants, and without the warm comfortable feeling you get when you actually piss your pants. The second, and much more serious, involved the guide they stuck us with on the first day. Sean means well I think, but he's got serious anger issues and lacks any kind of patience. He can be downright mean. 1. Sean repeatedly asked me to look at him when he was explaining something. This happened probably 20 times that day. Guess what Sean, I can listen to you without looking at you. 2. Sean made me feel anxious due to his excessive hounding about my casting abilities. I pick up things quickly, but two-handed fly casting proved to be difficult for me. He even went so far as to make fun of me. I was always looking over at him to see if he was watching me. This took all the fun out of that day because I was obsessed with his criticism of me. I only wanted to cast correctly and continually wanted his approval for some strange reason. 3. We had to make our own fucking sandwich. That was a first for me after 7 or 8 guided fishing trips. In addition, they were half sandwiches, leaving us hungry. No snacks and only water was provided. When you have breakfast at 4:30am and then have to wait nearly 8 hours to eat again (after casting and walking on slippery rocks for that entire time!), you're gonna be pissed. 4. Sean never backed off of anything, constantly behind us telling us what to do. I've been fly fishing many times, and my father goes twice a year. We're not noobs. 5. Sean got visibly angry at himself at least twice, screaming and swearing loudly. On one occasion, the net was stuck next to the cooler (no fish around, no reason to get upset). Another time getting stuck in the rapids/rocks. I swear a lot, but it's still unprofessional. 6. Sean's boat was old and out of shape. The bow seat i was in would recline back sharply, causing stress on the support beam. He continually chastised me for leaning back as well as many other things. 7. Sean's stress level was out of control during one part of the fast-moving water - the wind had kind of poofed-out my wind breaker and he batted it down sharply with his left hand so he could see a bit better. That was very jarring for me. 8. My Dad hooked a HUGE Steelhead and even after my Dad had told him how experience he was, Sean talked him through it non-stop. Barking orders like mad. Dad was doing a great job and got the monster fish (11-13 lbs approx) within about 8 feet. Sean took the leader in his hand and moved toward the fish. The fish responded by spazzing out, but instead of letting him run a bit, Sean jerked back and the fish wriggled free, getting away -- robbing my Dad of a great picture. It's impossible to blame Sean completely for this particular situation, but I think it would have gone much better if he'd just stayed behind my Dad. He was so bad that I didn't want to give him a tip. In the end we decided that a 12% tip would send a message, especially if we gave the other guide more the next day (and we did, 20% or $ 100, even though we caught NO fish). The only reason this review gets an extra star is due to Curt, the guide we had on day two. The owner of Waters West screwed up big time by hiring Sean and should have done a more proper job of vetting his guides. My Dad and I had a very bad time because of this guy. Curt, who was amazing in every way possible. Well mannered, patient and kind, I never felt belittled in any way. This guy is a true professional. Even though I caught no fish that day, Curt made it a great day anyway. He was a pleasure to be around and allowed me to just take in the beautiful scenery and weather without being worried about someone breathing down my neck. Oh yeah -- he had a HUGE assortment of snacks, drinks and a large and tasty sandwich for lunch. If you're paying this kind of money, you need to make it first class all around. TL;DR: For $500 bucks a day (most I have ever paid, including a trip to New Zealand and NewFoundLand), this was nearly a complete disaster. If you can somehow ensure you get Curt as a guide, I would highly suggest this place. EDIT: We spoke to the owner about the problem and he refunded the $500 for the day. We didn't expect that and he really listened and seemed to empathize with us. Thanks Dave! read more

Waters West - Fishing Near Me - Port Angeles, Washington

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The best fly shop in Washington. Extremely diverse tying selection, helpful and knowledgeable staff. They have stuff here you can't find anywhere else- it's a shame that people who are not actually interested in the sport seem to be the only ones leaving bad reviews. read more

We used Waters West for a guided day of fly fishing last week, with Justin as our guide. My son (17 years old) and I have gone on many guided trips over the years and this was one of our favorites, with Justin being without a doubt the best guide we've had. For starters, we realized that we couldn't use our rental car for the day so that the rest of the family wouldn't be stranded, so Justin picked us up right at our rented house. On the drive to our first location, I told Justin that I'm not much of a fly fisherman, but that my son loves it, and if he could help to teach him any pointers and just download as much information as he knew about anything fly-fishing related (tying flies, fish behavior, casting techniques, etc.), that would be appreciated. He immediately went into "teacher" mode. It was very impressive to watch those two talk about fishing the ENTIRE DAY, and Justin was always passing on wisdom, not just about fishing, but about respecting habitats, and leaving fish for people to enjoy for many future years to come. We fished at Lake Crescent for the first half of the day, catching some Beardslee trout, which are found only in this lake and no place else in the world (see photo). We then went to the Sol Duc River, but first he made us some really good sandwiches that were appreciated. I decided to not fish for this part of the day because I could see that those two had a real connection, and figured that I would be taking away time that they could spend together. So instead I shot photos, waded in the beautiful river, and watched the guys working the pools and hooking trout. Even though I wasn't fishing, I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon because I could see how much my son was appreciating the one on one attention he got from Justin. Justin is a true teacher, and it's great to see somebody doing what they were meant to do for a living. They hooked some trout and pulled a couple in....but more important than the fish we caught was the knowledge we learned that will be used in the future. Thanks for all your efforts Justin, we hope to see you again soon. read more

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Wanted to get some advice and tackle for fishing around the park in the creeks or rivers for salmon or trout. 1- Girl recommended flies and tackle for trout. Turns out the real fishing right now is all salmon and according to the people on the water there's not really any trout around. 2- they said we didn't need a fishing license, which is true, but you still need to buy some card. Lucky we didn't get a ticket. 3- Wouldn't give us any spots to fish, and the spots we mentioned they said we're good. Turns out those rivers were all closed to fishing. Not sure how a tackle shop wouldn't know this. 4- owner never really said a word to us even though we spent about 500 bucks. Just felt like we got ripped off by them not telling us most areas were closed to fishing and just not giving one accurate piece of information at all. read more

Just had a full day walk-in guided trip with Justin fishing for trout and my experience was absolutely first rate. Justin is highly knowledgeable about the OP rivers and clearly a very experienced guide. I have a reasonable amount of experience fly fishing, but as advertised I believe he would be a great guide for someone who is new to the sport as well. He's patient, personable, and low key - he clearly wants people to have a great time and will do everything he can to make that happen. Washington has had its driest summer on record, but Justin got me into good flow and directed me to beautiful sea-run cutts. It was all dry fly fishing and a blast. I could not be happier with the experience. No matter how much fly fishing you've done, stow your ego for the day and Justin will teach you some new tricks and how to best approach these rivers. Since this was my only day fishing on the trip, I rented gear through Waters West. The Simms waders were in perfect shape and the rod and reel were well suited for the river and the fishing. Also, I just plain enjoyed spending the day with Justin. It was a full day of fishing and the time just flew by. He got just as excited as I did at every strike and catch and that made the experience all the more fun. I highly recommend him as a guide - I don't think you could do better. read more

+ you can rent a fly fishing rod for $25 and waders for $20 - I found the man who ran the store a bit rude. The young man (maybe his son?) was much nicer and taught us how to use the rods after we asked for some tips since neither my boyfriend or I had gone before. We weren't looking for a full blown lesson, just some tips. The young man taught us how to cast but kept saying anything beyond that would cost $. Fine. However, it got to a point where we were apologetic for asking any questions. They just weren't very friendly. - They recommended that we go to a lake, even though the fishing lines they gave us were not made for lake fishing. A man who was watching us fish, later came to us to say we were pretty good at casting (thanks young man from the store!) but our lines were meant for the river and thus, not heavy enough for lake fishing. Also, the lake was not that great for fishing since the water was too warm. Sigh. Nonetheless, I had fun despite not being set up for success. read more

The proprietor, Dave, is an experienced angler and guide. The stock in the store is spectacular and Dave knows how to show you the right way to use it. If you're into fly tying, the store stocks more than any other store I've been in. Well worth the trip. read more

Waters West is a great fly shop. Whenever I call to talk about OP rivers Dave or whoever is handling the phone answers whatever questions I have patiently and knowledgeably. I live in Seattle so when I buy flies I ask Dave to select them for me and leave them in a place I can find them when I drive through Port Angeles after hours. The flies he selects for me are thoughtful and work well. It is a pleasure dealing with this shop - true professionals! Eric A. Olson read more

the tying selection is one of the best (both in quality and quantity) ive ever seen. exotic stuff too that is hard to come by Curt is an awesome guide too. very patient and knowledgeable. read more

We stopped in quickly, new to fishing in the area, and they were very nice in explaining what we may need and where to go. They have a massive selection of flies and very knowledgable and friendly. read more