Olympic Peninsula, Washington
Sam Sickles Reports
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| Sam Sickles | Steelhead Outfitters |
I spend around 150-200 days per year steelheading and guiding steelhead. Admittedly there are places I haven’t been and things I haven’t done but, I have a pretty good grip on what’s what! For me steelheading is about the pursuit of the absolute beast and one of the epicenters of where that happens in the world is unquestionably the
Olympic Peninsula. In order moving North they include the
Queets/Clearwater, the
Quinault, the
Hoh, the
Bogy (
Bogachiel), the
Callawah, and the mighty
Sol Duc. None of these rivers are the same even though they are all within a 60 minute drive from
Forks, WA and all of these rivers kickout monster fish. I’m only gonna talk about the ones I’ve fished.
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| "150-200 days per year Steelheading" |
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| All hands on deck |
This is not the kind of place where you hire a guide, he takes you out,
and you put the fish of a lifetime on deck. It could happen but most likely not. It’s also not the kind place you just show up, do what you know how to do and find success…in fact far from it! This is the A-club! There are multiple local anglers with
30 pounders notched into their fighting butt. One drive into Forks on the tourist route and you’ll see twenty pounders mounted…no one local even turns a head…big deal! We lost a super hot 18 pounder on the Hoh our first day there in front of a local guide, his comment, “You guys need a bigger net, don’t want that to happen on a thirty!”. Translated, “that was an average fish, don’t do it on a good one”! Really? Yeah, really! Day two we lost a fish that if not twenty was close, we never had a chance. Boulders mid stream, boat moving down river with no place to stop or get out, twenty pounder going nuclear, changing directions, flying under water making a wake like a Trident Submarine, heading 45 degrees upriver through the rocks 100, 150, 200 feet upriver and away, heads back downriver briefly…gone, heartbroken. This isn’t Canada; having a thick wallet doesn’t get you a goliath fish, they’re earned, every one of them. The fish below came off the Hoh two days after I left. Jeff Brazda’s crew put this thing on deck, the angler was a fifty year vet, “biggest steelhead he’s caught anywhere he’s fished”. Brazda said, “second biggest fish he’s seen…ever!” Seriously, this is where you pay your dues, period.
