The lower Quinault river is rumored to hold some of the largest, native run steelhead in the lower 48 but despite our best efforts we left with no more evidence than the legions of local Bigfoot hunters. On Friday, a couple coworkers and I had booked a local Quinault guide to lead us on my first river boat fishing experience.
We were fortunate to have a competent guide but from our arrival at the boat ramp we knew our odds of success were going to be low. The river was still full of glacial till from the recent rains and visibility was below a foot. Our best bet to catch a fish was going to be tapping him in the nose with something tasty because he wasn't going to be able to find it any other way.
I got to practice a lot of drift fishing which was a new trick for me. We also tried plugging, bait divers, Sensei's jig and shrimp but all to no avail... not even a nibble for six hours of fishing/floating. Even if we were skunked, the boat experience was well worth it. We covered about eight miles of river, with plenty of minor rapids and sneaky rocks to keep our guide focused.
Its beautiful country with almost no signs of human activity. We saw plenty of bald eagles, flushed the same four ducks a dozen times before they wised up, and pulled the boat out right as the rain started to get serious. I was too ashamed to put it at the top of the post but Sensei proved he was the superior fisherman and saved the day at the last moment with this monster:
We were fortunate to have a competent guide but from our arrival at the boat ramp we knew our odds of success were going to be low. The river was still full of glacial till from the recent rains and visibility was below a foot. Our best bet to catch a fish was going to be tapping him in the nose with something tasty because he wasn't going to be able to find it any other way.
I got to practice a lot of drift fishing which was a new trick for me. We also tried plugging, bait divers, Sensei's jig and shrimp but all to no avail... not even a nibble for six hours of fishing/floating. Even if we were skunked, the boat experience was well worth it. We covered about eight miles of river, with plenty of minor rapids and sneaky rocks to keep our guide focused.
Its beautiful country with almost no signs of human activity. We saw plenty of bald eagles, flushed the same four ducks a dozen times before they wised up, and pulled the boat out right as the rain started to get serious. I was too ashamed to put it at the top of the post but Sensei proved he was the superior fisherman and saved the day at the last moment with this monster:
