Fishing is lots of fun, a chance to spend quality time with family and friends, and an opportunity to enjoy the fresh air and fascinating sights and sounds of the great outdoors. Fishing combines a nature experience with the thrill of a bobber disappearing beneath the water’s surface or the jolt of a fat trout hitting a trolled lure. It’s an activity you can do alone, but an experience that’s best shared with others. Here in Washington, there are places to fish within easy reach of almost everyone, something to fish for year-round.

While catching fish is a big part of the fun, anglers can have a great time even when the fish aren’t biting. Kids and families can learn a great deal about Washington’s natural environment during a day on the water. The state’s freshwater and saltwater fishing spots are teeming with wildlife, including insects, frogs, turtles, hawks, eagles, otters, seals, deer, bear, elk and other creatures to look for when the fishing action slows. For some anglers, seeing what’s around the next bend in the stream, visiting a lake for the first time or exploring a new stretch of shoreline by boat is a big part of the fishing adventure. Others simply enjoy the chance to cast a line into the water, lean against a tree or drift with the breeze in a small boat, and read a good book, laugh and talk with a fishing buddy, or just relax, not really caring whether the fish bite or not.

Sure, it’s fun to catch fish, but most anglers will admit that some of their best fishing trips were times when they caught nothing at all.