Steelhead Trip Report: Olympic Peninsula

Sunny and chrome

When a window of opportunity presents itself I'm usually not one to pass it up. It's been decades since I've personally fished the Olympic Peninsula, and this was a first for my brother Mike. So, when Bo made plans with a mutual friend of ours to meet on the OP I reinstated the offer to join them on a last minute trip.

I've fished the north coast of Oregon a couple of times, and when I was a teenager, I had the opportunity to fish rivers like the Queets, Humptulips, and Wynoochee. The iconic Hoh, Bogichiel, and Sol Duc Rivers, however, have not been checked off our bucket list.

We arrived in Forks, WA last Wednesday and after a bit of rain the sun was going to shine for the first two days of our three days of fishing. Rain leading up to the trip also had spiked the rivers so clear skies were needed to drop the levels back to a fishable state. We ended up opting for the Hoh River the first day and with Bo's wisdom and experience from previous trips to the region the choice paid off. Bo connected with an incredible wild buck steelhead about halfway through the float. The fish had been resting in a bucket behind structure along the bank and as we drifted past Bo hooked up with a well placed cast and drift. Wild OP winter run steelhead have a bit more fight in them since they don't have to swim past numerous dams and hundreds of miles like our A-run summer steelhead we see on the Grande Ronde and Snake Rivers. It was Bo's largest steelhead to date landed.

The second day was shaping up to be another rare blue bird day on the coast. After the success of the first Hoh River float we opted for the next float downstream from where we took out the day before. Boat traffic was heavier which made jockeying for a run trickier though we still found plenty of spots to hit from the Rio Craft raft and some great swing water when we stopped. Before the afternoon clouds rolled in I had a semi-brief encounter with a smaller chrome bright hen steelhead. As we drifted along the bank the indicator went down in a likely holding water with good structure. Without an ideal location to land the feisty steelhead, we towed her across to a gravel bar where she decided she had enough of my shenanigans, gave me one last good run, a double barrel roll and shook the hook. Such is steelheading.

Saturday brought the classic rain of the Olympic Pensiula and Hoh rain forest. About 1.5 inches fell that day. We had the motivation of a gnat but eventually we all mustered the energy to hit a few runs on foot. Mike and I opted for the upper Hoh River which was still hanging in clarity wise. Bo and friends headed to the Bogachiel and Sol Duc. The Bogi was a short lived option and blew out as Bo fished it. They found some water to fish on the Sol Duc which remains clear under most circumstances.

Mike and I explored a bit during the drive over and back, and we also found time to hike around Olympic National Park on the rainy Saturday. While the trip ended on a soggy note we all had a great time and enjoyed fishing new water with the bonus of a couple of steelhead connections.

Kenyon is OP bound soon so we will have another trip report from him as well!