Olympic Peninsula West Side
Tackling Teddy’s Monster Steelhead and Salmon
Author: Terry W. Sheely
Like a raven-black ribbon wrapping a gift to grateful fishermen, U.S. Highway 101 loops around the north and west corners of Olympic National Park (ONP) a vertical chunk of snow-capped spectacular that was the apple in the eye of Outdoorsman President Theodore Roosevelt.
The highway, mostly two-lane, tree shrouded and free-flowing, is itself a declared National Scenic Route that weaves through the wooded solitude in the northwest corner of Washington State to leap some of the finest steelhead and salmon rivers in the country.
Sol Duc, Bogachiel, Calawah, Hoh, Queets, Quinault, Clearwater—internationally famous river names as revered in Europe and Asia as in New York, Detroit and Seattle. These rivers, some fed by glaciers, meander and jostle across the north and west coastal flanks of Olympic Peninsula, and represent some of the most productive wild steelhead and salmon fisheries left in the contiguous United States.
The dark deep runs, boulder gardens, rapids and riffling tailouts of these quick mountain rivers flow out of the park that in 1909 Roosevelt declared a national monument. They still gush through filters of moss, vine maple and devil’s club on the floor of a cedar and spruce rainforest that supports the sea-run fish of legends. Twenty-pound-plus steelhead, chinook salmon that will bottom-out 50-pound scales, coho to brag about and so many sockeye and chums that few count them. This is one of the last places where populations of wild steelhead are
judged by fish managers to be strong enough to support catch-and-eat fisheries, although catch-and-release of wild steelhead is strongly advocated.
Peninsula fishing guide Pat Neal (www.patnealfishermansprayer.com) describes his remote home waters as, “a hundred years from nowhere,” then teased me with his latest adventures on the Sol Duc River that included a trio of 20-pound plus late winter steelhead.
West of the Juan de Fuca Strait city of Port Angeles, U.S. Highway 101 rounds the far corner of the Peninsula and heads south to the crossroads community of Humptulips. Between these two highway stops is the curious town of Forks, pop. 5000, river fish capital of the Peninsula, bunkhouse for a bevy of talented steelhead and salmon guides (www.olympicpeninsulaguidesassociation.com ), where double-ended drift boats and hip-booted pedestrians are more common than traffic lights, and where Bob Gooding delivers the latest where-when-and-on-what terminal rig information across the glass-topped counter at Olympic Sporting Goods (360-374-6330).
A float trip with a good fish guide will lop a few decades off the learning curve for most anglers, yet all of the Peninsula rivers provide generous bank stomping for do-it-yourselfers. Forks rivers are ideal drift boat rivers, yet for amateurs on the oars they can be dangerous, rock banging tests, especially the rush of water in middle and upper sections. Scouting runs with veteran boatmen are strongly advised. Several vehicle shuttle services are available. Check with Gooding. Both fly and conventional tackle setups suit these waters.
The calendar of Forks area fishing goes something like this, floods, droughts, squalls and windstorms withstanding.
Rare runs of summer coho hit several rivers, especially the Sol Duc, in August and continue to filter in through October when the fall silvers arrive. Summer coho average 10 to 12 pounds and are a hoot on light tackle in the low clear late summer water. The Sol Duc is the best for summer silvers, and Highway 101 bridges the river at
several bank-casting accesses above Forks.
The Peninsula’s legendary monster fish however, rarely arrive before late October when a surge of large chinook and coho salmon hit the rivers. Fall chinook, AKA kings, occasionally exceed 60 pounds and have a hefty average of around 30 pounds.
The fall runs of ocean coho (AKA silvers) will run 10 to 20 pounds and swarm intoPeninsula rivers right behind the kings. On fishing trips in late October and early November it’s common to catch kings and silvers plus late summer steelhead, feisty sea-run cutthroat and bull trout. The deeper into November that you fish the more ocean coho you’ll see rolling in the rivers, free-jumping, clogging up the pools. These late silvers are the biggest of the year; great monster hook-nosed cohos that can be caught as late as December.
In December, the angling calendar turns primarily to steelhead with a residual mix of late kings and coho. The steelhead fishery starts with hatchery returns dominated by 7 to 10 pounders, switches to generally bigger wild fish in late February and continues productive straight into April.
All north and west Peninsula rivers follow roughly the same calendar of runs, but there are subtle and sometimes explosive differences.
The Sol Duc is one of the best of the bunch, supporting a year-round fishery for wild and hatchery steelhead with seasonal runs of summer and fall coho, fall chinook, sockeye, chums, pink salmon, cutthroat and bull trout. Almost two thirds of the steelhead catch is wild fish many in the 15 to 20 pound range. This river is a good bank fishing option, weaving back and forth under the highway, and a spectacular drift boat river, but it can be exceptionally tricky for novice boatmen. Summer and early fall flows are low and may turn into bottom-banging, boat-dragging adventures. This river, though, is so scenic that there’s never a bad day, and a fish or two is a bonus.
The Bogachiel is one of THE legends among world-traveling steelhead and salmon fishermen, flowing from the park through moss-swaged trees along Highway 101 to join the Sol Duc a few miles west of Forks. Anglers hit the Bogey for lots of winter and a few summer steelhead, spring and fall chinook, and in the lower river a solid run of fall coho. The late fall chinook fishery is coveted for producing monsters. On the other end of the weight scale, the Bogey also delivers smoking hot sea-run cutthroat trout action in late fall, especially in the lower reaches.
Unless you live here, you’ve probably not heard of the Calawah River, but this Bogachiel tributary is a sleeper for winter and summer steelhead and attracts decent runs of fall kings and silvers.
Another big name must-fish is the Hoh River, easily the top winter steelhead river on thePeninsula and sometimes in the state. The Hoh is a wide, powerful, deep sullen river that heads high in the ice fields of Mt. Olympus and drops steadily until it reaches the ocean 15 miles west of Forks.
The lower river parallels Highway 101 and hides summer and winter steelhead, sea-run cutts, bull trout, spring, summer and fall runs of kings, and fall coho. There’s a huge plant of hatchery steelhead smolts that return to the Hoh full grown and nasty in January and February, followed by a solid surge of wild steelhead in the 15 to 25 pound range that will test tackle well into April. Best fishing bet of the year is fall, October-December when steelhead and mixed salmon runs overlap, and the summer glacial melt ends in the mountains, clearing the Hoh of its notorious green glacial flour.
The most consistent trophy steelhead river on the Peninsula is the Quinault, a fishery that is managed in the important areas by the Quinault Indian Nation. This is a complicated river with excellent access and better than average winter steelhead thanks to a mega stocking program by the tribe. The Quinault is famous for delivering 25 to 30 pound steelhead (the exceptions, not the average), for most steelheaders the fish of a lifetime. The fastest Quinault steelheading is usually in December and January, but for super trophy fish wait until February and March. Fishing requires tribal permits and guides. Call 360-276-8211.
The Port Angles-Forks region along Hwy. 101 is littered with campgrounds, RV parks, and overnight rentals and motels. For accommodation and transportation information check the web at:
www.olympicpeninsula.org or call
Diane Schostak
North Olympic Peninsula Visitor & Convention Bureau,
(360)452-8552, or
Forks Chamber of Commerce,
www.forkswas.com .
As guide Pat Neal points out, the steelhead, salmon, trout and char fishing is only part of the Peninsula’s remote draw, “a hundred years from nowhere.” The other parts of the adventure are glacier-crusted Olympic Mountains, rain forest silence, undammed wild romping rivers, curious otters, elk browsing through cathedrals of conifers, secretive black-tailed deer, the occasional gravel bar black bear, stoic eagles, and emerald moss so deep a napping angler disappears into it.
Forks may be a little light on stop lights and Starbucks’ stands, but for traveling anglers it’s an adventure destination perfectly evolved for fishing fall into winter and coming home with memories and stories so vivid and spectacular that the neighbors may think you’re making them up.
Like a raven-black ribbon wrapping a gift to grateful fishermen, U.S. Highway 101 loops around the north and west corners of Olympic National Park (ONP) a vertical chunk of snow-capped spectacular that was the apple in the eye of Outdoorsman President Theodore Roosevelt.
The highway, mostly two-lane, tree shrouded and free-flowing, is itself a declared National Scenic Route that weaves through the wooded solitude in the northwest corner of Washington State to leap some of the finest steelhead and salmon rivers in the country.
Sol Duc, Bogachiel, Calawah, Hoh, Queets, Quinault, Clearwater—internationally famous river names as revered in Europe and Asia as in New York, Detroit and Seattle. These rivers, some fed by glaciers, meander and jostle across the north and west coastal flanks of Olympic Peninsula, and represent some of the most productive wild steelhead and salmon fisheries left in the contiguous United States.
The dark deep runs, boulder gardens, rapids and riffling tailouts of these quick mountain rivers flow out of the park that in 1909 Roosevelt declared a national monument. They still gush through filters of moss, vine maple and devil’s club on the floor of a cedar and spruce rainforest that supports the sea-run fish of legends. Twenty-pound-plus steelhead, chinook salmon that will bottom-out 50-pound scales, coho to brag about and so many sockeye and chums that few count them. This is one of the last places where populations of wild steelhead are
judged by fish managers to be strong enough to support catch-and-eat fisheries, although catch-and-release of wild steelhead is strongly advocated.
Peninsula fishing guide Pat Neal (www.patnealfishermansprayer.com) describes his remote home waters as, “a hundred years from nowhere,” then teased me with his latest adventures on the Sol Duc River that included a trio of 20-pound plus late winter steelhead.
West of the Juan de Fuca Strait city of Port Angeles, U.S. Highway 101 rounds the far corner of the Peninsula and heads south to the crossroads community of Humptulips. Between these two highway stops is the curious town of Forks, pop. 5000, river fish capital of the Peninsula, bunkhouse for a bevy of talented steelhead and salmon guides (www.olympicpeninsulaguidesassociation.com ), where double-ended drift boats and hip-booted pedestrians are more common than traffic lights, and where Bob Gooding delivers the latest where-when-and-on-what terminal rig information across the glass-topped counter at Olympic Sporting Goods (360-374-6330).
A float trip with a good fish guide will lop a few decades off the learning curve for most anglers, yet all of the Peninsula rivers provide generous bank stomping for do-it-yourselfers. Forks rivers are ideal drift boat rivers, yet for amateurs on the oars they can be dangerous, rock banging tests, especially the rush of water in middle and upper sections. Scouting runs with veteran boatmen are strongly advised. Several vehicle shuttle services are available. Check with Gooding. Both fly and conventional tackle setups suit these waters.
The calendar of Forks area fishing goes something like this, floods, droughts, squalls and windstorms withstanding.
Rare runs of summer coho hit several rivers, especially the Sol Duc, in August and continue to filter in through October when the fall silvers arrive. Summer coho average 10 to 12 pounds and are a hoot on light tackle in the low clear late summer water. The Sol Duc is the best for summer silvers, and Highway 101 bridges the river at
several bank-casting accesses above Forks.
The Peninsula’s legendary monster fish however, rarely arrive before late October when a surge of large chinook and coho salmon hit the rivers. Fall chinook, AKA kings, occasionally exceed 60 pounds and have a hefty average of around 30 pounds.
The fall runs of ocean coho (AKA silvers) will run 10 to 20 pounds and swarm intoPeninsula rivers right behind the kings. On fishing trips in late October and early November it’s common to catch kings and silvers plus late summer steelhead, feisty sea-run cutthroat and bull trout. The deeper into November that you fish the more ocean coho you’ll see rolling in the rivers, free-jumping, clogging up the pools. These late silvers are the biggest of the year; great monster hook-nosed cohos that can be caught as late as December.
In December, the angling calendar turns primarily to steelhead with a residual mix of late kings and coho. The steelhead fishery starts with hatchery returns dominated by 7 to 10 pounders, switches to generally bigger wild fish in late February and continues productive straight into April.
All north and west Peninsula rivers follow roughly the same calendar of runs, but there are subtle and sometimes explosive differences.
The Sol Duc is one of the best of the bunch, supporting a year-round fishery for wild and hatchery steelhead with seasonal runs of summer and fall coho, fall chinook, sockeye, chums, pink salmon, cutthroat and bull trout. Almost two thirds of the steelhead catch is wild fish many in the 15 to 20 pound range. This river is a good bank fishing option, weaving back and forth under the highway, and a spectacular drift boat river, but it can be exceptionally tricky for novice boatmen. Summer and early fall flows are low and may turn into bottom-banging, boat-dragging adventures. This river, though, is so scenic that there’s never a bad day, and a fish or two is a bonus.
The Bogachiel is one of THE legends among world-traveling steelhead and salmon fishermen, flowing from the park through moss-swaged trees along Highway 101 to join the Sol Duc a few miles west of Forks. Anglers hit the Bogey for lots of winter and a few summer steelhead, spring and fall chinook, and in the lower river a solid run of fall coho. The late fall chinook fishery is coveted for producing monsters. On the other end of the weight scale, the Bogey also delivers smoking hot sea-run cutthroat trout action in late fall, especially in the lower reaches.
Unless you live here, you’ve probably not heard of the Calawah River, but this Bogachiel tributary is a sleeper for winter and summer steelhead and attracts decent runs of fall kings and silvers.
Another big name must-fish is the Hoh River, easily the top winter steelhead river on thePeninsula and sometimes in the state. The Hoh is a wide, powerful, deep sullen river that heads high in the ice fields of Mt. Olympus and drops steadily until it reaches the ocean 15 miles west of Forks.
The lower river parallels Highway 101 and hides summer and winter steelhead, sea-run cutts, bull trout, spring, summer and fall runs of kings, and fall coho. There’s a huge plant of hatchery steelhead smolts that return to the Hoh full grown and nasty in January and February, followed by a solid surge of wild steelhead in the 15 to 25 pound range that will test tackle well into April. Best fishing bet of the year is fall, October-December when steelhead and mixed salmon runs overlap, and the summer glacial melt ends in the mountains, clearing the Hoh of its notorious green glacial flour.
The most consistent trophy steelhead river on the Peninsula is the Quinault, a fishery that is managed in the important areas by the Quinault Indian Nation. This is a complicated river with excellent access and better than average winter steelhead thanks to a mega stocking program by the tribe. The Quinault is famous for delivering 25 to 30 pound steelhead (the exceptions, not the average), for most steelheaders the fish of a lifetime. The fastest Quinault steelheading is usually in December and January, but for super trophy fish wait until February and March. Fishing requires tribal permits and guides. Call 360-276-8211.
The Port Angles-Forks region along Hwy. 101 is littered with campgrounds, RV parks, and overnight rentals and motels. For accommodation and transportation information check the web at:
www.olympicpeninsula.org or call
Diane Schostak
North Olympic Peninsula Visitor & Convention Bureau,
(360)452-8552, or
Forks Chamber of Commerce,
www.forkswas.com .
As guide Pat Neal points out, the steelhead, salmon, trout and char fishing is only part of the Peninsula’s remote draw, “a hundred years from nowhere.” The other parts of the adventure are glacier-crusted Olympic Mountains, rain forest silence, undammed wild romping rivers, curious otters, elk browsing through cathedrals of conifers, secretive black-tailed deer, the occasional gravel bar black bear, stoic eagles, and emerald moss so deep a napping angler disappears into it.
Forks may be a little light on stop lights and Starbucks’ stands, but for traveling anglers it’s an adventure destination perfectly evolved for fishing fall into winter and coming home with memories and stories so vivid and spectacular that the neighbors may think you’re making them up.
