Washington, Olympic Peninsula: Fly Fishing For Native Pacific Steelhead

by | Fresh Water

Fly Fishing Washington Olympic Penninsula State SteelheadWashington Steelhead Video

I have been reading about Native Steelhead in the Pacific Northwest for some time. I would scroll the web scanning sites and pictures of giant, bright fish, in beautiful settings. Upon returning from a Steelhead trip in November it was difficult to pick up a 5 wt and start casting to the same trout I had been fishing for all summer. Instead I booked a flight to Seattle, WA. The Steelhead itch slowly passed and I was casting to the local trout again, trying to dial into the winter fishing. Fast forward to March and I found myself making the 3 hour drive from Seattle to Forks in search of the fish I have only seen in the hands of other anglers. The glacial rivers were accented by the bright green forests that line their banks and the mountains seemed to come right out of the ocean. Everything that I had read about was now unfolding right in front of me. It was interesting to learn about the gauntlet that these fish have to run through in order to spawn. If they make it past the sea lions, whales and adult salmon, they then might run into nets that are strung across the river by local tribes (which can vary day to day) . From there they are hunted by Bald Eagles and Anglers. This can make it extremely difficult to even find a fish and then you have to put your drift on its nose and hope you get a take. But, when all the variables come together and you get manageable river flows and some cooperating fish the fishing can be great. Instead of trying to figure out the local fishery we fished for two days with two of the hardest working guides I have ever met, Jeff Brazda and Dan “Rooster” Leavens. Day one was a bit slow only hooking 2 fish that both came unbuttoned but the float was remarkable. The raft floated along the Aqua Blue Hoh River through a dense moss covered rainforest. Giant logs and log jams lined the river bank showing us how high the river can get when flows reach 100,000 cfs. Since you are only looking for a few fish here and there the guides are constantly communicating via cell phone and helping each other how ever they can, and the word on the Hoh was that no one was hooking up. The next day Rooster showed us some different water and 50 yards from the boat launch I was into my first Pacific Steelhead. We landed the chrome hen that was estimated around 12lbs and watched it swim into the sunrise. The bite was good on the Bogachiel River all day; we hooked eight and landed six, with our best being around 18lbs. I am now back in the Mountains with the same dilemma I had in November, how much is a flight to Alaska?

13 Comments

  1. jeremy on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    joey,

    NICE work brotha! … great video, great guitar playin’ and great fish! .. Looks absolutely beautiful on the Olympic Penninsula! And the steelhead … just amazing. I would love to make it there someday and try my luck with some Washington State steelhead …. great work joey .. gonna watch the video again ..

  2. Austin on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Wow joey great video! I dig the song too. those west coast steelhead seem like the real deal, i would love to hook up to one someday.

  3. alex on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Joey, what a trip man, beautiful film work all around the boards. Love the tune, and thank you for bringing me back to the great pacific norwest.. Looks exactly how I remember it misty mornings, warm rain,deep dense vegetation massive pines with canopies of moss and unlimited beautiful rivers.. and huge fish…I love it cheers
    Alex

  4. hedrush999 on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    I’d say it was worth the wait. Way to teach your girlfriend to use the camera. You think she wants to learn to pole a boat?

  5. joey on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    My buddy jason was on his camera not my girl. But she is pretty good. She likes the images of the fish as much as I do. She might want to learn to pole, I have had her on the oars out here.

  6. Boz on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Joey,

    Sweet video, beautiful water and some great steel. Loved the color of the Hoh…gotta run out there some day.

    Thanks for sharing.

  7. simpson on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    joey,
    great video man. sweet water and incredible steel. i hope to make it out to the west coast soon to explore its rivers. -Ed

  8. 069backcast on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    My cabin feaver is boiling my blood right out of my fricken head.
    Soon so soon in the State of NH. we will have nice river fishing

  9. jinxed247 on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Awesome job!!! Great video and story!

  10. greg on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    great Video and the music was a good match. Part of it being an amazing story, I was told there was no Steelie season this year, but I didn’t ask about the penninsula. I learned when asking use the term any rivers and areas. Thanks great video.

  11. MrJams on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Joey – great video. Glad to see you made it to the NW. Drop me a line if you’re ever in the Vancouver/Seattle area again – I moved to Vancouver in January and have the luxury of waters like the Squamish, Lilloett and Thompson in my backyard.

    Cheers – James

  12. msanchez on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    increible!!! hermosas truchas
    felicitaciones!!!!

  13. joe-m on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    WOW what a trip! Great video cant wait to get out west see you soon