Winter Steelhead

So hopefully this will be the first post of many in 2011 that gives you, the reader, a look into the fishing expeditions of the staff and guides here at Creekside. We are always out fishing, whether it be for Steelhead, the Yakima for Trout, or a Puget Sound Beach for Sea-Run Cutts. We'll try to update this weekly, giving the most up to date conditions, flies, and techniques used. So here goes the first of '11.

Since all of our local Puget Sound rivers are now closed to Steelhead fishing, our options are limited to either the Olympic Peninsula's coastal rivers or the Columbia tributaries east of the mountains. All complaining aside, we are fortunate to be just a few hours drive away from Forks, where numerous rivers within a 50 mile radius harbor some of the best runs of native Winter Steelhead in the lower 48.

A buddy and I had a couple days off during this last week, so we packed the truck and boat and headed west. We had a few good days of weather, so all of the rivers were in great shape, and reports from a variety of sources told us that there were plenty of native fish throughout all of the systems.

We floated a couple of rivers over 3 days, and found plenty of fish. The water temperatures ranged from 37-39 degrees, and the weather varied from bright, sunny, and 50 degrees to an outright downpour, which is to be expected in this part of the state. Here are a few pictures of some fish we were able to put our hands on.

Pardon the cheesy grip and grin shots, we'll try for some more well-rounded photos in the next entry, but after all we've never claimed to be professional photographers.

This is the time of year all steelheaders look forward to. Battling high, cold water and ever changing weather conditions in search of these fish can be tough, but sometimes it all comes together and the results are well worth it. If your new to the game, get in touch with us. Our head guide Chris Senyohl has guided these rivers for 15+ years, and knows them as well as anyone in the northwest. He guides strictly on the Forks area rivers from February through mid April. We also have a few other trusted guides we can put you in touch with.

Until the next report, thanks for reading

-JW