In search of Bigfoot and Steelhead

Anyone who swings a fly for steelhead knows of the fabled rivers on the Olympic Peninsula, the Hoh, Sol Duc, Calawah, and Bogachiel. With incredible runs of wild winter steelhead, these rivers are what we dream about. I was finally able to make it over for a short week to swing some flies, mostly on the Hoh and for a day on the Sol Duc. To say that it is a long drive is an understatement. Eleven hours to Seattle, an hour ferry ride, and 3.5 hours to the coast can drive someone crazy (and to make matters worse, I was lacking some quality tunes to keep me occupied). 

I met a couple others in Seattle, Zach and Ian, and we didn’t get to Forks until around 11 p.m. By 7 a.m. we were on the Hoh with the boats ready. The river looked perfect and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, which was a pleasant surprise considering that area only averages two days of sunshine during the entire month of March. I was giving some spey casting pointers to Ian at a run near the put in, when all of a sudden Zach lets out a yelp and by time I turned back around upstream the fish had pulled him into his backing all the way across the river. Not fifteen seconds into the battle, the knot broke. We all know how disappointing that can be, but being that it happened on his fifth cast there was a cloud of excitement hanging over us and we just knew that it was going to be a great day. As we pushed off down the river, we fished hard all morning and into the afternoon, stopping at every run and working down them methodically. Ian landed a nice Dolly, which was a great break in our fishless day to that point. 

We pulled into the takeout, Ian and Zach decided they would run the shuttle and fish for the rest of the evening at the run near the put-in and I stayed at the takeout and worked through the pool there. Not more than 20 minutes into the swing-step routine, something pounded my #4 intruder right at the end of the swing. The fish made a great run and jump and before I knew it I had him in the shallows. That three minute fight is what I drove over 900 miles for and I can tell you, it was well worth it. It was a wild fish of about 6 lbs. and covered in a sheet of pure chrome. I snapped a quick picture and slipped it back into the water.

The next day went very similar to the first’ we fished lots of great looking water, had an abundance of sunshine, but never touched a fish. Days like that can be discouraging, but anyone who has fished for steelhead understands that it is part of the game. It is hard to complain about a fishless day when you are in such amazing country. This part of the OP receives over 140 inches of precipitation a year, that’s almost twelve feet compared to fifteen inches Great Falls averages yearly. The surrounding forest is incredibly thick, dominated by old growth spruce, cedar, fir, and the largest stands of aspens I have ever seen. Some of you will disagree with me, but if Bigfoot exists, this is where. 

I had my camera on me at all times, I’ve always wanted to be the guy getting interviewed on the Discovery Channel about his Bigfoot sighting, heck I would probably write a book on it. That night we went to sleep with the sound of rain pounding on the Cabin where we stayed. If any of you ever wants to do this trip, I would highly recommend not camping, but instead staying at the Hoh Valley Hideaway. It worked out perfectly for us. It was close to the river, dry, and very comfortable.

We woke up the next morning to everything being soaked. We floated the lower section of the river and by time we got the boats in the water, it was a downpour. If you didn’t have a great raincoat, water was going to find a way in. Yet again, we fished hard all day without even a tug. At this point the group morale had hit what I thought was rock bottom. 

As the sun was setting, we came around a bend and saw the pickup so Ian and I decided to fish a smaller side channel just above the takeout. I followed Ian down the run and about halfway down, Ian backed out of the water and went running for trees with a roll of toilet paper in hand. Once I got down to where Ian was, I laid out a cast and about 3/4 of the way through the swing I felt a tug. Before I could blink, I was tied onto a pissed off fish who was pulling line out of my reel. Ian must have been watching the whole thing from his throne, because in the distance I heard, "Steelhead?"

I yelled back and he came running, waders around his ankles. This fish was much larger than my first and made a spectacular jump right in the middle of the river. I will forever have that image stuck in my head, it was a perfect silhouette against the setting sun. I worked the fish towards the bank and as I got it in the shallows it came unbuttoned. I was left with a huge smile and trembling legs. That’s what fly fishing is all about, yeah it would have been nice to land it, but it was the tug and the fight that I’ll always remember.

The rest of the trip got cut short by a downpour and the river completely blowing out. The area received 2.5 inches of rain in 48 hours, the Hoh jumped from 1800 cfs to 9000 cfs in less than a day. The gravel bar boat ramps were well under water and the water clarity had characteristics similar to chocolate milk. With this, we tried to float the Sol Duc and that’s exactly what it turned into a float trip without even fishing. It was pouring rain and the river was completely blown. If I ever make it back, I will spend more time on the Sol Duc, it was a little smaller water and looked like a great place to swing some flies.

Looking back on this trip, I put almost 2000 miles on my truck, broke the tip on my new rod, lost the handle on my reel, drank too many beers and not enough water, found out I have more than just a few holes in my waders, never saw Bigfoot, didn’t take enough pictures, became a much better spey caster, landed a beautiful fish and lost a battle with another.

There is so much more about steelheading than catching fish, this is the hardest thing to explain to others who have never been. Someday I will be back there, spey rod in hand, with the hope of tying into another chromer fresh out of the Pacific.

--Ben Sidor