Chasing Coastal Chrome

Chasing Coastal Chrome

After taking my first trip to Washington’s Olympic Peninsula 4 years ago, I was quickly enamored by the vast rainforest environment, glacial blue rivers and elusive winter-run steelhead that call these waters home. It’s now become an annual priority to make the long trek West for a chance at encountering some of these incredible fish. When my friends Chris and Bjorn suggested putting this year’s trip together, I didn’t need to think twice.

Upon arriving at our rental and getting settled in, we spent the evening dialing in our floats for the week and rigging everything up. There’s something about the anticipation and prep work that I love almost as much as the fishing itself. I’m pretty sure we had enough gear in the raft to outfit a fly shop, so there were no details being overlooked.

Our first day was a good warm up. A couple of fish hooked and lost, giving us some confidence that there were fish around and we were on the right track. Water conditions were a bit too clear for our liking, so we chose a different river to spend the next few days on to increase our odds. Trying to predict weather and water conditions in a temperate rainforest is no sure bet, but we sure were happy with the decision we made.

Not long into the next day, I had a brief encounter with my first fish. A couple of headshakes and a quick chrome flash before a thrown hook. Opportunities are hard to come by, so I felt a bit dejected. But I got right back to fishing and was quickly rewarded with a hard fighting buck that ended up being my best of the trip. It’s always great having a buddy that will hustle up the bank to net a fish for you as well.

The next few days seemed to go by in a blur. Fish landed and lost, grade A steelhead water seemingly around every corner, and great times spent with friends in one of the coolest places in the state. Oh, and rain, lots of rain. I don’t think I was ever fully dry for about 5 days straight. But that’s the price to pay for a chance at one of these incredible fish.

One of the biggest takeaways I had from this trip was to target non-traditional water. At least 90% of the fish we hooked were in small pockets, boulder gardens or sneaky areas other anglers may have passed up. I love the long, perfect runs as much as anyone else, but exploring the margins made a huge difference for our success. Don’t be afraid to check out the tiny side channel or that swirly bucket everyone else floated past without looking twice.

Enjoy some pics from our adventure!